Black Market Clash Exhibition & Pop-Up Store

Yesterday I went back in time to the '70s to meet The Clash when I visited the 'Black Market Clash' exhibition and pop-up store on Berwick Street in Soho. Soho is a much tamer place these days than it was back in the '70s, even down to the very polite and smiling bouncer on the door of the exhibition (well, I assume he was a bouncer since he didn't move from the door). Clean white walls and everything nicely spaced out shouts out that this is more than just another small shop trying to be trendy, and so it is.

The Clash have remastered, re-packaged and re-released their studio albums and the exhibition is part of the launch of the records. And the nice thing is that they're involved in the whole thing - Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. No nameless technician re-mastering their music, they've largely done it themselves and have donated their own stuff to the exhibition, like Paul's broken guitar underneath the Penny Jones photo of him on the cover of 'London Calling'.

You can buy the remastered records in different formats and packages, vinyl as well as CD. The top of the range edition comes in a ghetto-blaster styled box (designed by Paul) with a range of extras including a DVD, CDs of rarities, badges and other stuff. The package is just shy of £100 and looks good. Or you can buy the albums in a tour-box designed box with your very own cut out 'Clash' stencil. Or you can buy the new compilation double album 'Hits Back' that reproduces the gig The Clash played in Brixton in 1982. Or you can buy the albums individually. I bought the tour-box set.

The exhibition and pop-up store are in an empty shop on Berwick Street. It's quite small but holds some great memories. The ground floor has a few guitars and stuff, but the gems are downstairs in the basement with posters on the walls and one long wall glassed off and fronted with a pink partition with the word 'Clash' cut out so you can see the memorabilia inside.

There are records in the original sleeves, hand-written lyrics, tee shirts and jackets worn by the band, posters (including the poster for the Sex Pistols gig at the Screen on the Green), gold records, badges... ooo loads of stuff! I particularly liked a photo I've never seen and which I've seen thousands of times - the original black and white photo of the band on the cover of the first album. The original is of three young lads being a bit sulky and moody, not scary or menacing at all until the designer got it, added the ripped effects to the record sleeve and there you have it, a classic punk cover.

It's a fun exhibition and a trip down memory lane for those of us old enough to have been there back in the day. It's only open until 22 September so, if you get the chance, pop in and take a look. The shop at the front of full of stuff - including the remastered records. You can even buy a Clash mug if you want to...

And there's more...

Take a listen to the Radio 4 Front Row interview from a few weeks ago with Mick, Paul, Topper and an old interview with Joe here.