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New Clash autobiography, an illustrated mash-up

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In Sunday’s books section, editor David L. Ulin looks at the new book ‘The Clash’ from Grand Central Publishing. Although frontman Joe Strummer died in 2002, he is credited as one of the book’s four authors -- with singer-guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon. The book combines interviews, photos and fliers into a kind of exhaustive scrapbook. But, despite the book’s nearly 400 pages, Ulin writes, ‘the band’s true legacy may be that it couldn’t be encapsulated, that the stridency of its politics and the power of its performances had to be experienced on its own terms.’ Which seems like more than enough invitation to share this clip of them performing ‘London Calling’ in Tokyo.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

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