The Clash 1979 Canadian TV backstage interview

Complete interview segment of the Clash backstage at the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto, Canada with the Undertones which was originally broadcast on CITY TV's New Music Program in 1979. The New Music was hosted by J.D. Roberts (aka CNN's John Roberts) and Jeanne Bekker (later host of Fashion Television). This clip includes the infamous concert aftermath with Cosmo Vinyl counting the ripped out seats at the venue. This rare interview was shown/re-broadcast during the Joe Strummer death coverage.

[@1vertigodown]

He describes london calling, one of the best albums of all time, as " well you know, its got some music on it"

[@narcissisticidiot1727]

Joe being a sarcastic asshole 😂

[@davetommo4739]

@@narcissisticidiot1727 You know him? I loved Joe's dead pan attitude. I have been on the receiving end a few times. I love that man RIP Mr Mellor

[@fatman1288]

Joe strummer,Nicky topper Headon, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones are seriously some of the coolest guys who ever lived!

[@andrewbrown1463]

“Give it all you’ve got or forget it.” I live my life by these words Joe, thank you. Total inspiration.

[@ca77721]

"You gotta give it all you got or forget it"

[@BrianAchterberg928]

3:42 Joe is asked about money and making money. Joe told the absolute truth. The Clash didn’t start making money(profit) until just after London Calling came out. Then they spent that “profit” on more touring, rehearsal space, and recording. The Clash was a “nose to the grindstone” band. They NEVER stopped. The Clash THE ONLY BAND THAT MATTERS!!! ✊❤️❤️✊

[@brandytoor]

I SHARED A PLANET WITH THIS GUY !

[@dunbarlarry]

Strummer sounds disillusioned, disappointed and frustrated, by the way, and that would fuel the huge energy and creativity of London Calling. You can hear some of that album's themes boiling to the surface.

[@Heston68]

Totally, great post.

[@WhiskeyYouth]

HAN SOLO INTERVIEWING STRUMMER?????? MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!

[@mr.cifuentes1779]

LOL

[@ludvik199t]

Joe strummer is the best thing in rock Ever So smart, serious and living

[@xvissualmadnessx]

Hahaha "the kids in high school don't listen to us"...then came London Calling

[@PODMTHC]

London calling was just a carbon copy of the early 70s rolling stones

[@caternovk4419]

@@PODMTHC talk about a hot take 😐😩

[@daveycrockett9640]

@@PODMTHCThat statement tells me you don't know either band's music very well.

[@ButtonsBootsHat]

Does anyone else think Joe's accent is amazingly sexy?

[@deveroth8871]

no.

[@PBANDSNOW]

I love The Clash, greatest band of all time.

[@Heston68]

Succinct but true

[@jasontimperley9199]

They were brilliant

[@marvinbregenzer3106]

After Pink Floyd

[@spartacusromanus]

@@peterpinsent9304 💩

[@johnnyssik]

@@peterpinsent9304 Buy a clue 🗝️

[@Nieghorn]

It's a great point Joe makes about live music. I've got sick of seeing bands that don't try when they give a concert. I'm not asking for musical brilliance, but there's a difference between losing a note or missing a cue because you're giving it your all and being complacent.

[@Heston68]

Great post, sums the Clash up, and why I love them.

[@chillkootmarkowee8738]

Joe Strummer never brags, never cheats, always believed in working hard and satisfying the customer ( the audience ), go big or go home mentality.

[@Alsatiagent]

When JD Roberts and Jeannie Bekker used to show up with City TV cameras at punk clubs in Toronto they were harassed until they left. Just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I'm glad they handled it well and got footage like this.

[@vestaxwax]

as a kid growing up in the prairies they were the ones (along with CBC's BNW) who were my lifeline to good music. fact is, the new music magazine opened my eyes/ears to so many great bands. i guess they do look like squares compared to punk rockers, regardless, i've had a lifelong respect for JD, Jeanne, DD, and all the others in those early days of canadian music TV.

[@ericmalone3213]

The blonde haired young woman at the beginning of this clip is Joe Strummer's girlfriend, Gabriel "Gabby" Salter. She appears later, standing next to Joe. The interviewer obviously doesn't understand what the word "ligging:" means. A Ligger is British slang for a person who hangs out backstage with rock groups, taking advantage of the catered food and "refreshments". It's funny that Gabby says that she's ligging, as she was an official member of the Clash Entourage. In his interview, Joe is very much putting on his "Joe Strummer" act, being cranky, complaining, making existential statements, painting a dire portrait of the group's plight, etc. Away from the cameras, Joe was quite different, full of goofy humor and silliness, which the rest of the Clash and their crew of Johnny Green & The Baker shared in private. The "Joe Strummer" character was an imitation of the personality of ever-disputatious Clash manager Bernard Rhodes. If you haven't read Pat Gilbert's biography of The Clash, give it the squint. It corrects several errors in the previous Clash biography by Marcus Gray. This video clip is a great period artefact. CHEERS

[@mafoomatty7494]

joe was a genius,,utter legend

[@spartacusromanus]

@@peterpinsent9304 You are a jealous guy...🤣

[@joeselstrudel]

I could be wrong, but I do believe the blonde they talk to about the chairs and is sitting next to Joe for part of the interview is Gaby Salter, his long term girlfriend.

[@GrungeGirl83]

It's obscene that he's been gone almost 12 years.

[@judeforrester6641]

GrungeGirl83 14 now

[@JayZombie1216]

18 now....crazy. I just turned seven a 6 days before he croaked. I remember seeing it on MTV at my uncle's house and my uncle freaked out. He immediately put on London Calling and I was hooked ever since.

[@sylvie8324]

18

[@duffbaker9554]

@@sylvie8324 20 and the void is larger than ever..

[@davetommo4739]

@@duffbaker9554 He lives on in my music I channel him when writing dave tommo , check out my tunes. Last real punk shouting

[@qtpysusie54]

Fifteen years since Joe's passing. He's still around.

[@davetommo4739]

He is I channel Joe (my old mate) through my dave tommo music here on this platform , find me and say hi.

[@squinkque]

In my old age I find new respect for the slightly over the hill rock journo doing the interview. He was not trying to be fake, he was trying to challenge Joe a little, nowadays everyone's so hip, withit and wow, no one would question something they don't really know anything about. Everyone acts as if they are down with the kids. I ain't down with the kids. I wasn't back then. I hated everything the kids were into. In my school they listened to Juice Newton and Kenny Rodgers. The kids sucked.

[@aokottawa]

That "slightly over the hill journo" is John Roberts, now of Fox News. Then he was called JD Roberts, and was about 23 years old here.

[@WDClarke]

squinkque Yes, the kids were not always all right. My friends and I DJed a school dance, attempting to redress the Air Supply/Reo Speedwagon/Styx ballad quotient, and Student Council were none too impressed, apologizing to the student body during homeroom announcements the next school day. Now, we were playing a bit too much classic rock perhaps, not enough Clash/Undertones/Ska Revival in retrospect, but at least we weren't "playing with the queen of hearts"

[@danktank9971]

I'm not down with kids either

[@jessica_jam4386]

squinkque I wasn’t down with the kids even when I was a kid that’s why hitting my thirties didn’t feel too weird

[@1cloom]

when I was in high school I was one of about 5 that listened to Punk 1975-1979!

[@Craigke1964]

Disco JD Roberts interviewing Joe Strummer. Worlds definitely collided there. Can you imagine seeing the Clash with the Undertones? What do we have today to compare to that?

[@FetaCheese222]

Hahaha. Looks like I just found the inspiration for "Everybody smash up your seats and rock to this brand new beat!".

[@TAKETHE5TH]

Great footage never seen it before.Thanks for putting up.

[@matedog2]

Thanks so much for putting this up, I had never seen it.

[@chloeag321]

i love 3:42 when the interview ask 'what about the money behind the clash?' and someone in the background just laughs really LOUD hahaha

[@luketia]

Strummer is rather Dylanesque.

[@JuciyLucy]

Mick in that boater hat kills me!

[@alastairwest5200]

+lucy holt ACADEMIC...

[@davetommo4739]

@@alastairwest5200 Mick was a sweetheart

[@FootyCrazyM8]

Could literally be a scene from spinal tap

[@PODMTHC]

Joe was amazingly articulate, he truly was a proper artist, one of a kind.

[@stever1944]

Thanks for posting it, haven't seen it in years. Interviewer is J.D. Roberts who is now John Roberts on CNN.

[@jessica_jam4386]

Wish I could’ve seen them live:( I love the albums, but I can tell from watching footage on here of them live, it would’ve been crazy to be there. Lots of energy in the room that can’t be faked you either have got it or you don’t and The Clash had it

[@kylecduncan]

I had the extreme privilege of seeing them live three times. Twice in ‘84 with the English Beat at the Hollywood Palladium, and once with The Who at the LA Coliseum. It was a transformative experience, especially seeing them at the relatively smaller Palladium where it was GA and you could dance like at a proper punk show. I wore shorts and a cut-off Give ‘Em Enough Rope T because it was at least 90 degrees in there. A right workout.

[@strumbolli]

I love the way the Undertones take the piss.

[@VanHellsing12]

Barely 27 years old here and head set, shoulders high. Brilliant!

[@stefanhamilton8713]

"This is what a proper group does." Fuck yeah.

[@gentillygirl545]

Mick Jones is correct. I was so miserable as a teen being forced to hear freaking Cocaine, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd 24/7. When I heard Punk and New Wave in the late 70s, a light bulb went off in my head, and I am so very grateful!

[@4darin5]

Wooo two of my favorite people, Han Solo and Joe Strummer!!!

[@johnjackson8783]

I was at that gig. Still got the bootleg t -shirt. It was slated for the International Centre but moved to the O'Keefe Centre (Sony Centre today). The crowd's energy was great despite the oversized venue. The Undertones' Feargal Sharkey had real presence. Cosmo Vinyl muscled in entr'acte, and the Clash was the dog's bollocks. JD Roberts was out of his depth but exhibiting early signs of "Up Your Own Arseitis", as you can see.

[@ciaran6309]

Well done to our Derry boys. Under occupation seriously back then, Derry people still came through it all. 👍

[@KowalskiVanishing_Point]

Remember seeing this concert. Undertones and clash fantastic! Think B-girls opened up for them.

[@briteness]

Whatcha got against making baskets out of raffia, Joe?

[@clashpie]

Never seen this vid before so found it very interesting indeed. Joe never changes bless him.

[@acinodras]

Joe Strummer was an amazing man. I can not believe that was 30 years ago. Getting old is a real mindfuck.

[@SuperstarNeilC]

@thecoolestfreak The blond chick is Gaby Salter. In 1978 Strummer started a relationship with Gaby shortly after her 17th birthday. The couple remained together for 14 years and had two daughters, Jazz and Lola

[@ASAMOAH24]

LEGENDS...EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.

[@joedaw3003]

A man of his convictions about his words in music

[@clashboy1977]

everybody smash up your seats and rock to this brand new beat!

[@SlavicPurpose07]

i think we're fortunate to have ever experianced such a man/human being in joe strummer, what i would have done to meet him & i have nothing but good things to say about him.....

[@PulseInterstellar]

"You gotta give it all you got, or forget it."

[@davetommo4739]

You should have seen the venues in Pompey after we partied with The Clash. Joe And Paul were like brothers to us X lucky to have been part of this. Down to earth no pop stars here

[@Foxtrot84]

Kids in high school didn't know about them then. Kids in my high school don't know about them now. What a shame...

[@rockerstarblack]

YES!

[@lisaschmid9576]

Joe Strummer Forever 🖤

[@victorymansions]

This is the scene after the concert: Our inanimate fallen heroes, also known as chairs...

[@BlackAlbino2000]

Joe Strummer absolute legend

[@andyharrier]

So glad they spend so much time of the video on chairs instead of on the band, aren't you Augustus? Why yes I am yes I am. As he takes off his hat and puts it on the stage

[@jill5917]

Those Irish guys were AWESOME

[@daniberlanga]

+Jillian Adams The Undertones are amazing!

[@satoterror]

They had teenage kicks back then mate ;)

[@callsignstatic6872]

LOVES !

[@justme_66]

Wow, 2:55 "We try harder" Joe Strummer. $8 a concert ticket!! 8:12 Joe is Brilliant!

[@johnjackson8783]

Minimum wage was $2.65 then......

[@freya8133]

Not that much higher now, and concert tickets are $200.00+​@@johnjackson8783

[@frenchkids]

I like the interviewer. He listenes to Joe with an intensity. He doesn't take his eyes of him.

[@TheModdy]

Joe I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@L3SlLeYh]

The blonde chick is so lucky I would be blessed to even be in the same room as joe

[@maximumronron9397]

actually it's his girlfriend ;)

[@emmawow769]

And the mother of his children

[@jessica_jam4386]

@@maximumronron9397 lucky lady

[@stefano720420]

Beautiful Gaby Salter!!

[@daveycrockett9640]

JD Roberts the interviewer used to be with Much Music in Toronto. Now he's John Roberts White House correspondent.

[@parkermcintyre6046]

I agree with Mr,brass men 25 ,I heard & saw S.L.F.last tear @ Lee's Palace In T.O. & they've still got the Fire!

[@jaymusseato]

this is so great i'm going to die.

[@4runnerJr]

@monnakiko You're absolutely right - Joe S was such a down-to-earth but brilliant person..he had a very analytical/polical mind & great personality ,impossible to duplicate..he was/is the heart & soul of the band (I believe) although Mick J is tremendously talented as well..

[@PBANDSNOW]

i love the counting

[@josephrobinson2531]

what a man Joe Strummer was.

[@cpj93070]

6:46 looks like a late Beatle John Lennon lookalike lol

[@MoltenCoreMusic]

+Chris Jones (cj93070) ---the guy you're referring to has been known throughout the years as Lewk the Kook. :)

[@georgegreenland7573]

Joe: *giving a really deep speech* Topper: PEW PEW PEW

[@ripsaa2693]

I love Jos Strummer....how f ing cool

[@DanAgger5]

UNDERTONES ARE AMAZING

[@queenswanwhite]

"derry would be a bore without the riots" best quote everrrrrrr

[@bitchette]

Is there a possibility to get subtitles, or another version somewhere ? My English isn't good enough to understand fully...

[@judeforrester6641]

Joe in the interview reminds of your one from the commitments even though they before the commitments

[@finnmoore4192]

Joe and Paul are the coolest ppl

[@adds3566]

the clash and the undertones would have been a great gig!

Do you have a time machine?

[@eronackerman565]

The Undertones!! Nice surprise

[@Heston68]

"Vinyl Cosmo"

[@rick1913]

JOE STRUMMER R.I.P.

[@jam1ga]

The Real Deal here boys and girls.True Passion and Talent

[@sonetlumiere12345678]

Fuckin love ya Joe. What a legend.

[@LarzGustafsson]

I love the Buzzcocks.

[@ericcrawford9827]

''The dole, or rock and roll''. 70's U.K. was a self destructive mess. I saw The Clash in '79, I formed a band. The future is frightening.

[@kentborges5114]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE !

[@T800System]

"you gotta give it all you got or FORGET it"

[@thestr8person]

Every news item in America (and I remember some in England) seems to include the "Tommy gun" video! I guess it was probably their most watchable cleanly recorded video.

[@seymorekeester2193]

RIP John......jj

[@minigiganten]

what was the first song in the beginning?

[@jamaral81]

To great band, The Clash and The Undertones. Although Joe had mixed feelings about the Buzzcocks, another great band.

[@Thekijuju]

What's the name if the song in the beginning?

[@cycheng9577]

Joe yer so dreamy

[@UnrecycleRubdish]

"It ain't poetry or ping pong balls"

[@MyWhaat]

Simonon ... ♥

[@SuperGrimupnorth]

at 7.05 joe tells the undertone lad to SHHH because Joe didnt want to crowd to know why, the Clash just said local council said no

[@LarzGustafsson]

The name is Cosmo Vinyl, not the other way around.

[@allmodcons]

R.iP Joe. IcOn then ICON NOW