FROM RECORD COLLECTOR:

Still without an official UK DVD release at the time of writing, first-time filmmaker Danny Garcia’s interview-based documentary The Rise And Fall Of The Clash attempts to discover why rock’n’roll’s self-styled last gang in town imploded just as they had the world at their feet, post-Combat Rock. This paperback companion to the film conveniently breaks down into two distinct halves. Written in the first person, the initial rapid-fire chapters chart blag-friendly super-fan Garcia’s dogged two-year quest to persuade members of The Clash’s inner circle to reveal all on camera, while the latter half presents the resulting film script in its warts’n’all entirety.

Garcia deserves credit for encouraging both Mick Jones and Terry Chimes to be especially candid, while well-placed insiders such as The Slits’ Viv Albertine, Strummer biographer Chris Salewicz and RC contributor Kris Needs also offer frank insights into the crucial issues (the disastrous sackings of Mick and Topper, the elusive role of manager/ agent provocateur Bernie Rhodes) leading to the band’s downfall. Previously unpublished photos and a surprisingly gripping account of the band’s final days from Cut The Crap-era recruits Nick Sheppard and Pete Howard will seduce…