Clash Reunion Called Off

Displeased that reports of a Clash reunion had overshadowed a tribute to Ian Dury planned at London's Brixton Academy June 16, Joe Strummer has taken himself off the bill.

"It's a delicate situation," his manager Simon Moran said. "The last thing he wants to do is offend the memory of Ian Dury, or offend the charity [Cancer BACUP]. His concern was to raise money for cancer. He never planned for all this fuss."

Mick Jones is still scheduled to perform, but will take the stage separately from Nicky "Topper" Headon, said Trisha Ronane, who handles Clash-related affairs. There's no word yet whether Paul Simonon is also still on the bill, though he was the Clash member closest to Dury, Ronane said.

According to a Web site dedicated to Ian Dury, www.blockheads.co.uk, Jones is supposed to sing Dury's "I'm Partial to Your Abracadabra" as part of his set. The site also reports that a Dury tribute album titled Brand New Boots and Panties is in the works and is to include contributions from Paul McCartney, Billy Bragg, Robbie Williams and Madness.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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