De Niro, Cannibals and Punk Rock: Mick Jones Narrates the True Adventures of the Clash

Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, Topper Headon and Paul Simonon (from left) in 1977.

The cover of the Clash's 1977 debut shows only three members, because it was taken after drummer Terry Chimes left the group. "We took that shot right around the corner from our rehearsal space, which was an old British railway shed," says Mick Jones. "All our records show a progression, but I love that one."

Mick Jones and bassist Paul Simonon protesting with Sex Pistol Glen Matlock outside the headquarters of the British National Front, an ultra-right-wing political party with Nazi beliefs. "There was a massive anti-fascist movement at the time," says Jones.

In 1976, the NME ran a story about a Clash fan who bit off her boyfriend's earlobe during a London show – behavior Mick Jones says "wasn't unusual" at their early club performances. "I've got to be honest – it was just a piece of the lobe," he says, "Like a Mike Tyson kind of thing."

A poster for The Night of Pure Energy gig held October 23rd, 1976 a London's Institute Of Contemporary Arts.

Paul Simonon poses with an air gun at Rehearsals Rehearsals studios alongside Joe Strummer and Mick Jones.

Paul Simonon in a doorway at Rehearsals Rehearsasls.

One of The Clash's first pictures with new drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon.

Mick Jones (left) and Joe Strummer onstage in 1978.

"This photo really encapsulates Joe [Strummer]'s passion," Mick Jones says of this late-Seventies shot. "The interesting thing is that Joe was left-handed, but he played a right-handed guitar. It meant his most dexterous hand was opposite where it usually is."

Mick Jones onstage at the 1978 Rock Against Racism concert in London. "It was our largest audience to date," he says. "The Tom Robinson Band headlined it, but we're the ones everyone remembers."

Strummer and Robert De Niro in 1980. "We had a cameo in Scorsese's The King of Comedy," says Jones. "When he was cutting Raging Bull, we got to see some of it. It was cool, because Raging Bull was the film of the time and London Calling was the record of that time."