The Clash – London Calling

The punk influence was there on ‘Kids In America’ in a very obvious way – you can hear that. I was a young teenager when punk broke but I was also a huge fan of ABBA. I loved punk’s smashing down of what had come before. Pop became a dirty word, even though I’d been fed on a steady diet of it since the 60s – and what a fantastic diet that was. So when punk came along and said, ‘fuck all of that stuff’, from a philosophical point of view, I wasn’t on the same page. But I was still a teenager with a lot of attitude like most teenagers and I picked up on that energy and of course there was some great music – I really loved that music became so raw again. But it didn’t stop me also being a huge fan of Mud or Slade.

I loved the Sex Pistols too. I loved all of them when they used to turn up on TV shows and were just really obtuse and rude. I found it really funny. I remember I was going out with a musician who was doing a session in a studio and John Lydon was somewhere on the premises. It was some beautiful place like Air Studios. I just remember being terrified the whole time of bumping into him! I didn’t in the end, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Just knowing that I was within a few metres of him made me feel uncomfortable. But I loved that he put people on edge so much and that he still does. I know his life is very different now but there’s always something still amazing to me about him. He’s one of my idols.

I went to see The Clash at The Lyceum on the Strand in the early 80s and they were amazing. They made a great sound. Joe was a great vocalist, crazy, rough and raw. Barely hitting anything that resembled a note, but always sounding in tune. I don’t really know how he did it.