Movie of the Week: The Clash At The Roxy, January 1st, 1977 (Julien Temple)

Built around the earliest, until now unseen, footage of the Clash in concert, filmed by Julien Temple as they opened the infamous Roxy club in a dilapidated Covent Garden on January 1st 1977, this show takes us on a time-travelling trip back to that strange planet that was Great Britain in the late 1970s and the moment when punk emerged into the mainstream consciousness.

Featuring the voices of Joe Strummer and the Clash from the time, and intercutting the raw and visceral footage of this iconic show, with telling moments from the BBC's New Year's Eve, Hogmanay and New Year's Day schedules of nearly 40 years ago, it celebrates that great enduring British custom of getting together, en masse and often substantially the worse for wear, to usher in the New Year.

New Year's Day is when we collectively take the time to reflect on the year that has just gone by and ponder what the new one might hold in store for us. Unknown to the unsuspecting British public, 1977 was of course the annus mirabilis of punk. The year in which the Clash themselves took off, catching the imagination of the nation's youth.

As their iconic song, 1977, counts us down to midnight, we'll share with them and Joe Strummer, in previously unseen interviews from the time, their hopes and predictions for the 12 months ahead.

Hat tip to CoS and Fact Mag.

Dec. 5, 1986: New Order plays for Ruth Polsky

The Punk Rock Movie by Don Letts

Here's one of those something-specials that pops up every once in a while on YouTube or Google Video: the full version of The Punk Rock Movie by Don Letts. Shot, for the most part, in and around the Roxy in London in 1977, the film features live footage of The Clash, the Sex Pistols, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs, Generation X, Slaughter and the Dogs, The Slits, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Eater, Subway Sect, X-Ray Spex, Alternative TV and Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers, as well as some backstage footage of Generation X, The Slits and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Of course it's not the greatest movie in the world, but it's priceless for one main reason - this is the way it was, and Letts was smart enough to make a record of what was happening. Thank god.

On a personal note, this film is notable for one thing - my friend Daisy was 16 at the time, and her boyfriend was Mark Perry, lead singer of Alternative Television. You can see her in the scene with ATV recording.

The Tube - A Night In NYC

Big ups to Brian Turner over at WFMU who found this gem on YouTube.

The Tube was a great 80's pop show in the UK hosted by several folks including Jools Holland and Leslie Ash (as seen here). It ran from 1982-1987.

This episode finds them exploring the nightlife of New York in the 80's...from the looks of it, I'd guess it's 1983 or so. There's incredible footage as they hit Danceteria, the Roxy, and and all of the hot spots of the day. They speak to the clubgoers, the DJ's, producers...this is really a fantastic artifact! If you weren't there, but wish you were, this will give you a decent taste of it.