#pat gilbert

An American journalist brought up The Jam's recent accusation that The Clash had sold out. Asked what constituted a sell-out, Mick Jones hit back, 'What happens is all the tickets go on sale for a concert, right, and people go and buy them, and if as many go and buy them as there are tickets, that constitutes a sell-out.'

The band would stay up every night and talk to anyone who wanted to talk. They weren't just out to meet cute girls. They were available to all their fans. It was the roadies' job to get their fans into the dressing room and the hotel, which was the opposite to other bands. They wanted to know what the fans were thinking. That helped inspire them.

The producer issue was a thorny one: the band's experience with Guy Stevens and Lee Perry, both of whom on paper looked ideal candidates, suggested The Clash's sound wasn't easy for any outsider, however cool or crazy, to nail on tape. Late one night at their Canonbury squat, Joe and Roadent brainstormed the problem and came up with a name: John Lennon. 'I think we had a bit of an inferiority complex at the time' recalls Roadent. 'I finally got John Lennon's phone number in New York and said to Joe, 'Right, come on, we can do this!' And he was like, "Nah, he wouldn't be interested in us." And then I lost my phone book, so we never did ring him. I think he would have been absolutely great.