Bonds Residency
Three weeks & 17 gigs that shook up New York and America.
The Bloods opened the show f/b The Bush Tetras.
For more about The Bloods see the bio on the Women in
Punk site:
last updated 24 Sept 2005
cdr cdr – distant clear -slight distortion - aud. master - Sound 4 - time 101.51min - d-mast - tracks 25
This is Annie Toone, member of no wave band The
Bloods. Thanks for using my piece about Joe 'punk rock
heart' on your site, thanks.
It was one of the high points of my life, sharing the stage (and dressingroom) with The Clash. Also the tetras and us were called punkfunk or no wave cuz of our funky component. That mix and the fact that we were all girl was a big appeal for The Clash.
thanks again for all your great documentation and a great site!
-A Toone
There is a school of thought, particularly in the music press, that The Clash were at their peak at Bonds. Thanks to the recordings circulating from all the 17 shows we can draw our own conclusions from the ample evidence available.
Certainly over the first 7 concerts The Clash were able to produce night after night, powerful professional performances that retained much of the passion and fury of their early years but now added greater musicianship, pacing and variety of musical styles. None of these Bonds shows however match the heights reached at Turin and Florence a few weeks earlier or the best of earlier years.
Tonight’s Bonds show is typical with consistently strong and committed performances but Mick’s playing ranges from the inspired to at times lazy and ineffective, and the improvisations always interesting are not always effective.
The heavily bootlegged professionally recorded FM radio sourced show is often wrongly credited with this date. It is in fact from the 9th June concert with the From Here To Eternity concert from the 13th June. These two pro-recordings are often credited as being one and the same but a listen to Bankrobber for example from the circulating FHTE outtakes clearly shows this is not the case.
The Venue
See the 28th May review for details.
From audience DAT master.
Same taper and equipment as the earlier recordings, (all from the audience DAT master) so a pretty similar sound again. First impressions due to the lower volume suggest that this is a weaker sound but there is as much detail and clarity as usual, although a touch flatter with some minor distortion.
An edit just before Washington Bullets brings an improvement in sound; louder, fuller and crisper although the distance limitations remain.
The recording starts as a fine London Calling is counted in with plenty of ‘controlled feedback’ from Mick. The sound is a little flatter than usual but soon picks up. Next Safe European Home blasts in and Mick plays around interestingly to begin with his guitar parts on the end section but then seems to lose interest.
The band are still in the process of warming up on The Leader but are responding to another very noticeably enthusiastic and noisy Bonds audience.
Train In Vain is brought back again to its 4th position in the set and there is a change in the arrangement (and in later gigs) with an extended instrumental break after “..speak to me”. During this tonight Mick speaks to the audience but his words are unclear. The audience are very appreciative and before a fine White Man In Hammersmith Palais Joe responds with a pleased “Yeah, yeah, yeah…it was like a morgue in here last night – attack, attack, attack!” Joe as usual adlibs over the final section but his words sadly are unclear due to the sound quality limitations.
An extended This Is Radio Clash is followed by the return of Corner Soul and then Guns of Brixton; all fine performances but unexceptional. The Call Up tonight though is inspired. It’s preceded by Joe’s “Any minute now the drums will play” and Mick’s firework sounding effects are prominent but effective. It’s a very fine performance, tighter and more spirited than most of the earlier Bond’s performances of this underrated live Clash song.
It’s straight in then to a fine Bankrobber and then Joe asks the audience, “come on lets have some encouragement” and certainly gets it, the audience going wild for a stunning (at Bonds now recharged and reworked), Complete Control. There is an extra long teased out start, and the band really tear into the song, Mick’s solo verges on the histrionic, and when the song ends abruptly, the audience roar their approval.
An edit begins the 2nd CD with Joe adlibbing over the beginning of Lightning Strikes “lightning strikes at random, random”. Mick adds some great guitar, the band in strong form, and Joe adlibs aplenty (although largely unclear). A fine Ivan Meets GI Joe next and then Charlie Don't Surf with a lengthy intro, “into the darkness”, Mick’s improvised guitar work here though is less effective.
Magnificent Seven tonight is shorter but very tight, powerful and effective; “keep your eyes on front, keep your eyes straight ahead”.
Broadway appropriately gets its live debut at Bonds, with the same arrangement as later performances. Mick’s guitar fills are great and inventive but an abrupt ending shows the arrangement live is not quite worked out yet. “Its time to work” shouts Joe before Somebody Got Murdered, which builds from a very slow intro into a very good performance. Career Opportunities is dropped from the set and replaced by Police and Thieves with a new intro; Topper plays the drum intro but Mick now plays the melody over the top as Topper keeps the drum rolls going before the usual reggae chords kick in. Whether intentional or not its very effective, the band continuing to reinvigorate songs that had been staples in previous live sets.
Mick’s playing is inventive and improvised but as previously at times tonight more interesting than especially memorable. Next Clampdown crashes in with Mick again improvising around his usual guitar intro. Joe’s (and Mick’s) vocals are impassioned and Joe rants powerfully over Topper’s drumming over the suitably climactic finale to the song and the main set.
An edit begins the first encore with as usual One More Time, which has a lengthy Topper intro as presumably the rest of the band return to the stage, and then finally Joe’s rhythm guitar comes in. There’s no Mick guitar sound to begin with so either a sound problem or Mick has not made it back from the dressing room! There is a lengthy instrumental gap mid song but Mick’s crucial contribution to the song is somewhat lacking so it is not a memorable performance.
An edit before Brand New Cadillac brings a better performance and an improvement in sound, fuller bass but distance problems remain. A further edit before Washington Bullets and the sound now is noticeably louder, fuller and clearer, this is the best sound on the recording and continues through to the end. There is lots of cheering mid song as presumably the El Salvador leaflets are released from the ceiling onto the audience. Tonight’s speech from the El Salvadorian is mostly unclear but Mick’s playing here is some of the most inventive and enjoyable tonight. It’s straight into then an impassioned Janie Jones to bring the encore to a close.
An edit before the second encore, which begins with Armagideon Time. Joe adlibs aplenty during a strong performance with Mick’s playing and effects particularly enjoyable. A shorter concert than those previously ends in fine style as Joe screams New York's Burning and the band then tear through London’s Burning.
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London Calling |
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Any further info / reviews
appreciated
2. Newspaper & Magazine Articles
Band Arrives at JFK
3 newspaper photos
Private Super8mm film footage of the rucus outside Bonds
30 April New York Post
On the Town
New York Calling The Clash
..tickets go on sale tomorrow...
2 May - New York Post
10,000 Clash fans queue for tickets for only US appearance
6 mounted police and 12 squad cars to control the crowd
NME - Win a week in New York with The Clash!
Early May - New York Post
Bonds Sold Out - Christgua
Blister Fanzine
A weeks at Bonds (main piece)
Cover Only
BMC desperately wants the inside pages!!
NYC Advert for Magnificent 7 & Bonds dates
24 May - New York News
Passport Impasses Crimps Clash's style
5 British Groups left at Heathrow
Clint Roswell
New York Times 24 May
scan or text
26 May - New York Daily News
Clash Promise 'Something Special'
Clint Roswell
29 May - New York News
For Bonds Disco it was double capacity or nothing. Police and Fire Dept shut down Bonds. Vincent Lee
30 May - New York News?
city and Disco Clash, and Clash cools it
Disco forced to close - extra dates
Larry Sutton
30 May New York Post?
City calls a truce in Clash wars and the band plays on. Building Dept Inspectors have lifted a vacate order...
31 - May New York Times?
scan or text
Stephen Holden
31 May - New York Times Gig review
The Clash rocks with raw energy
Ira Mayer
New York Times June 3, 1981
Clash Melee Points Up Danger of Overselling
by Robert Palmer
Bondage at Bonds (full text version)
Creem - Sept 81
Clash face unrully mobs - Bondage at Bonds
Michael Barnard
First page only
Under Fire in New York - NME
Clash forced to lplay 16 date season after ticket fiasco - When the Clash landed at Kenney Airport last Tuesday, it was nore than clear that America wanted the band... Mick Farren
How The Clash Fed The Wonderbread Generation, Made The Mountain Come to Mohammed - And Other Miracles
Mick Farren, NME, 20 June 1981
The winner of NME's Flatter The Clash competition checks out the ramifications when an English band's world is at Bonds. KOSMO VINYL shoots both fists heavenward, for all the world like a man who had just scored for West Ham at Wembley. "I got the news on every channel! I got the news on every channel!....
Boston Rock Summer 81 No 19
1.. 2.. 3.. 4..
Face NO 16 August 1981
1.. 2..
MOJO Clash Special No79
pages 1.. 2.. 3..
Fanzine piece by: J Blocher
can some1 transcribe this it is very poor
Clash Contre Mafia - French Mag
1.. 2.. 3.. 4..
translation required
Anne Toone from The Bloods remembers opening for the Clash
The Clash on Broadway Part 1
Chris Salewicz, Mojo, August 1994
IF THERE WAS ONE PIVOTAL EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE Clash's assault on the USA it was the season of 17 shows they played at Bond's, a tacky former disco on Broadway and Times Square, New York, New York in May and June 1981.
The Clash on Broadway Part 2
Chris Salewicz, Mojo, August 1994
Joe Strummer talks to Chris Salewicz. When was the first time you toured America? I think it was in 1978. We went to finish off Give 'Em Enough Rope in San Francisco. So it would have been to tour that.
Best Magazine [French]
6 page review with photos form Bonds
...page1&2 ...page3&4 ... page5&6
3. Posters, video, photos
The Clash @ Bonds NYC 1981
joe streno's blog
Photos, comments
Posters and Radio / TV Commentary
Radio interview with Mick/Kosmo backstage after the opening night
Bonds Photos 1
1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6..
Bonds Photos 2
1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7..
Clash & Slits at Bonds 1981 photos
{ joe streno } seattle wa
www.go2jo.com
Radio Commentary on ticket fiasco - 20mins
NBC TV on ticket fiasco 3mins video
CBS Live tapes
Quote, "Eventually, via Jeff Jones at Legacy in New York, I contacted Bruce Dickinson who'd worked at CBS in the 1970s and 80s and was a fan of the band. He knew of a company in the States who specialised in archiving live radio tapes. They had two nights of the Clash at Bonds on Broadway and two nights in Boston."
Bonds Photos
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...play on music: “6 Seconds To Watch” by Ennio Morricone, from For A Few Dollars More...Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five are among the opening acts...after the first gig of the original seven-show run, the NYC fire marshall orders the club closed for safety reasons; eventually, the shows are rescheduled to accomodate all ticket-holders... A strike in Britain had left 5 British bands in the UK and only 3 managed to make it with the Clash. Only the Slits, Funkapolitan and The Equators, who were slated for the matinee shows, made it. Left behind were the remains of Selector, The B-People , The Bell Stars, Aswad and most of all Theatre of Hate whom Mick had produced their debut album. There were two opening acts each night: one British or Jamaican and one American. Hopefully the correct artists are listed by the correct dates. Support Acts included Grandmaster Flash and the Treacherous Three, The Sirens, The Sugerhill Gang, Funkapolitan, Lee Perry, Texan bard Joe Ely, and a forgotten horn-section-and-skinny-tie band called the Nitecaps. And, plucked fresh off the stage of CBGB's, Miller Miller Miller & Sloane and a KRAUT who had formed 3 weeks earlier with only 3 demo songs and who never played live. Plus bands that showed The Clash’s continuing identification and admiration for punk; The Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, The Fall, The Slits, and The Bloods (not to mention The Brattles!). ESG a womans funk band from New York. The Rockets and the Equators were scheduled for the first matinee show which got cancelled.
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Bonds Times Square, New York |
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| Support The Sirens and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Thanks to Laura for the following info on the Sirens... From: "Laura DJ" <dejesuslauraann-at-gmail.com> i noticed you have the sirens on the tour date list from 81 as playing with treacherous three, that's not true, I was one of the Sirens, the guitarist, and we played after Grand Master Flash, and before the Clash. It was my idea to support the Clash. My manager charlie martin who built the sound system at CB's and Bonds was getting directions from the owners/managers who were in jail (studio 54 fame) and i had read an article in the nme or soho news or one of the music papers of the day and joe strummer said in the article they like all girl bands opening up for their shows. So i ran over to charlie showed him the article and suggested he get on the phone and reach out to his contacts and get the clash. The rest is history. He did it and we opened their first show at bonds. Grand Master Flash opened for us! |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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May 30 |
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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Matinee show cancelled by NYC Building Dept - Riots |
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May 30 |
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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Evening show cancelled by NYC Building Dept |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| Bad Brains and the Slits opened | ||
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| The Treacherous Three |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| The Bloods opened the show f/b The Bush Tetras. |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| Four female singers singing accapella and Lee Perry opened | ||
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (afternoon) I was at the June 6th matinee show in 1981 in Bond's. The Dead Kennedys did NOT perform then. It was the Hi-School band The Brattles who opened the matinee show, followed by Funkopolitin. The "We love you clash" that is heard mid-show is caused by a mic that fell into the audience. Joe just watched kind of amused while these guys in the first rows yelled into the mic. After a while, the roadies got it back and set it up again. | ||
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (evening) The Dead Kennedys? | ||
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| The Fall were the support act. This is the pro-recorded concert. | ||
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| Allen Ginsberg makes an appearance | ||
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (afternoon) Hi-School band The Brattles opened the matinee show, plus The Rock-cats? who they had a slap bass and played Stray Cats-type music. | ||
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Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (evening) The Dead Kennedys | ||
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