The Clash’s Paul Simonon has stated that he wouldn’t have reunited the band for £1million.
The iconic punk bassist has explained that while the members were contemplating a reunion in the ‘90s – after parting ways in 1986 – there were numerous reasons why the prospect never materialised, including his feud with bandmate Mick Jones.
“There was talk between me, Joe [Strummer], Mick and Mick’s manager, Gary Kurfirst, who was looking after Mick in B.A.D. But it didn’t happen for lots of reasons,” he explained to MOJO. “I was getting pissed off with Mick.”
He continued, explaining how even the financial incentive to reform wasn’t enough for him to pursue the idea at the time: “I said, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ Mick said, ‘Why not? You’ll get a million pounds.’ That pissed me off even more. So I said, ‘I don’t want a fucking million pounds.’”
“I think he was a bit shocked that I wasn’t keen on the idea,” he added. “And I don’t think Joe would have really wanted to do it either. For me, The Clash story was over.”
While the punk veterans decided against the decision to reform back in the ‘90s, the opportunity did arise again shortly after, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 2003 – a month after the death of the guitarist in December 2002.
Once again, the band declined the offer to reunite for the event and, in 2013, the bassist stated that he believed the reformation would have hindered their legacy. “It’s a better story at the end of the day that we didn’t get back together… It seems like we would have squandered what we’d achieved by reforming,” he told Billboard at the time.
“Why do people get together? Why do bands reform? Oh, they’re good mates. Well, that’s nice. It’s usually because of a financial situation that has to be adhered to. Basically, everyone’s broke.” Former bandmate Mick Jones agreed, adding: “That’s it, really. It didn’t happen. It never seemed right. We didn’t want to do it.”
The punk group released six studio albums including ‘London Calling’, ‘Sandinista!’ and ‘Combat Rock’ before their split in 1986. In his time following his work with The Clash, Simonon has gone on to play in the supergroup The Good, the Bad and the Queen and performed on the Gorillaz album ‘Plastic Beach’ in 2010. The latter also featured a guest appearance from Mick Jones.
More recently, the bassist has teamed up with singer-songwriter Galen Ayres for a new project. This May, the pair are set to release their debut album, ‘Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?’, under the name Galen & Paul. The LP will comprise a collection of bilingual duets, with both singers singing in English and Spanish, and explore a variety of European music cultures.
In other The Clash news, last November it was announced that the band’s guitarist Keith Levene had died aged 65. “It is with great sadness I report that my close friend and legendary Public Image Limited guitarist Keith Levene passed away on Friday 11th November,” author and writer Adam Hammond wrote at the time.
“As well as helping to make PiL the most important band of the age, Keith also founded The Clash with Mick Jones and had a major influence on their early sound. So much of what we listen to today owes much to Keith’s work, some of it acknowledged, most of it not.”
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