Tag Archives: Paul Simonon

From Merrie Land, out now on Studio 13.

It’s been eleven years since the last album from The Good, The Bad & The Queen, the band featuring members of The Clash, Blur, The Verve and Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat (which is also the name of Allen’s autobiography). And man…what an eleven years it’s been.

Just as America is struggling in the Trump years with questions of patriotism vs. nationalism and democracy vs. authoritarianism, the United Kingdom is facing a very public break up with the European Union that would make Pete Davidson cringe. The Good, The Bad & The Queen explores the very question of what it is to be English in this modern world and the answers are anything but easy.

“Gun to the Head” sees a return for the creepy ventriloquist dummy who reintroduced us to the band in the lead-off video for “Merrie Land” (after the jump). If the the truth comes from the mouths of babes, what can we expect from a dummy? It turns out that it’s maudlin carnival music and a hard dose of reality.

I was a dedicated follower of Oasis back when Albarn was warring with the Gallaghers in the 90s, but have really taken to the bookish pop sensibilities he’s brought to pop music. The first album from The Good, The Bad & The Queen is still in frequent rotation around my house and if the first two singles represent the album, then I’ll be listening intently to the continuation of the story. And taking notes…

The Good, The Bad & The Queen: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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The Good, The Bad, and the Queen – The Good, The Bad, and the Queen

April 12, 2007 Derek Phillips Leave a comment

The Good, The Bad, and the Queen The Good, The Bad, and the Queen – The Good, The Bad, and the Queen (Virgin)

Not to state the obvious, but we’re living in troubled times. Wars spreading and the heavy hand of government and commerce coming down with impunity to crush anyone who stands in the way make for an uneasy populace. I don’t know what it would take to kick the public into revolt but Damon Albarn clearly hopes it comes soon and he’s prepared the soundtrack.

Teaming with ex-Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Nigerian percussionist Tony Allen, Albarn once again stretches his musical legs with an album that is one part Gorillaz pop, one part old school dub, and more than a pinch of subversive politicing.

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A Message from Glorious Noise

December 2, 2002 Jake Brown Leave a comment

Over the past two years we’ve gotten a lot of emails about the background image and logo of Glorious Noise. Both are based on a photograph of the Clash in concert taken by Pennie Smith. We thought the image best represented everything we love about rock and roll, and after months of trying to track her down, Pennie has graciously granted Glorious Noise permission to use the image as the backdrop of our site, a site dedicated to how rock and roll can change your life.

However, Pennie and Clash bassist Paul Simonon, pictured in the photo, decided years ago to never license the image for merchandising or marketing. To respect their wishes, Glorious Noise will discontinue our line of merchandise featuring an image designed by our own Pat La Penna and based on Ms. Smith’s famous photograph. All GLONO merchandise featuring the “smashing guitar” image will be removed from our store this Friday, December 8.

We sincerely thank Pennie Smith for granting us permission to use her photograph, and we respect her unwavering dedication to the agreement she and Simonon made. After all, there’s more to life than money and that’s rock and roll!

Update: Here’s what GLONO looked like back then…via the Wayback Machine.

Rock and roll can change your life.