Mick Jones turns 66 today....Mick Jones of the Clash.  One tends to think of the Clash as Joe Strummer's band, and one would tend to be right. Joe was the band's lead singer and primary spokesman and singer, but he wrote most of the songs with Mick or the rest of the band.  Mick, however, sang lead on 2 of the band's 3 mainstream hits (or maybe 3 of 4). In fact, for the casual listener, Mick may well be the voice of the Clash. When the band got experimental on Sandinista , he sang on the more straight forward pieces: power pop and rock. What we have hear is a collection of those songs on which he sings the lead - "Hitsville U.K.", with his girlfriend, Ellen Foley. It's great stuff. As I listen to this playlist, I realize that some of my favorite  Sandinista   tracks are those wherein Mick took the lead vocals.  Happy Birthday, Mick. The other Mick Jones, from Foreigner, is older. His birthday is in December.

With a day or so left on my quarantine, I'll not be going out for St. Patrick's Day. I do, however, have a show to recommend: Joe Strummer fronting the Pogues in London on December 11, 1991. If you'd rather on youtube: I remember hearing that he had taken on the vocal duties after Shane left. I was skeptical...but I shouldn't have been. It was a good fit. Joe had filled in on guitar for the band in 1987-88 and had produced Hell's Ditch in 1990.  He does justice to the the band's tunes and their backing on the Clash songs works. I only wish they'd covered " Shane's Dentist ".

Phoney Beatlemania had bitten the dust...so they said...and yet is the Clash, opening for the Who...and at Shea Stadium no less. Doesn't seem very punk, that. Not that they'd been punk for quite awhile. Recorded on October 13, 1982, as the Who were in the middle of their first last tour, I wasn't expecting much. I was surprised. It is a good album, songs from every stage of their career, played with energy...arguably more than I remember the headliners showing on that tour.