Why have I never seen this video? Nick (Topper) lives 100 yards from me and I have known him well for many years, still I never knew this little gem existed
@@masayorimoto6499 not exactly, everyone in Dover knew who he was during the punk glory days but he had moved to London during this time but moved back to Dover shortly after his exit from the bank. I bought a house in Dover in the 80s and it just happened to be 2 doors from Nick (Topper) we saw each other most days and became mates. The Clash were my favourite
Sorry don’t know what happened there, the Clash had always been my favourite band during this time and to this day so it is a privilege to live so close
@@brendanirish2170 sorry Brendan, this message has only just reached me, I am happy to ask him, he is a very friendly and amiable guy, he does not live in London however but in a village near Dover
Hi all, my mum was the singer on this track and is not the woman in the video. My mum still sings for the railway swing band elsewhere on RU-vid, check her out.
Story checks out. Your mum is credited on the 12"record sleeve, and that is her singing in those Railway Swing Band videos. Cool! Too bad they had some actress mime over her singing in this video though.
Joe said they were not as good after sacking him . Maybe they should have given time to sort himself out but as Joe said at the time things moved very fast in the group . Although of course Joe later said his biggest regrets were sacking both Topper and Mick.
Solid drummer, Topper is. And nice to see someone playing a Premier kit. To this day, my early-80's Premiers are my favorite drums. Plus, I got 'em for 150 bucks and a half-gallon of tequila from a burnt-out surfer dude in Ocean Beach.
Wow, Topper looks wasted away here. This is four years after he was booted from The Clash for his heroin problems, time during which he did not get better. He continued to get worse, apparently (by his own account) living in squats, offing his possessions for drug money, and picking up a case of hepatitis C, before finally getting clean in the early 2000s. He looks and sounds much healthier and happier today. Go Topper.
Got the album - can't blame him for trying and loving the soul and jazz influences close to his heart. One talented guy wrecked by heroin but what a drummer, Topper - the Clash's man/weapon to reckon with and still an inspiration to watch. Get back in there, Topper !
Topper tells a story in the book Mad, Bad & Dangerous: The Book of Drummers Tales by Spike Webb. He says that what got him to clean himself up was when he was watching The Clash get inducted into the RnR HOF on telly without him while he was in a soup kitchen.
Mate, I cannot tell you how many times I have searched for this video clip over the years and never found it. I grew up with it in the 80's and always loved it so much! I haven't seen this since then and it brought tears to my eyes. I'm forever greatful, thank you so much :D
One of the very few rock drummers of all time to use paradiddle on toms over the execution. Unique drummer. A stellar reference together with ian paice for who approached drumming early 80ies
wow never knew he could drum like this.I see clash in a different light now.matched grip looks strange for this style of music but the man's got some technique. buddy probably wouldn't approve but what the heck.great stuff topper!
Which drum set are you referring to; white or red? 😂 I would take both kits and this brass snare drum.. I don't see what Premier series of drums and snare he use in this video. The only thing that sounds strange is the snare drum sound, especially when Topper play solo on snare drum.. Sound engineer or producer, made that snare sound too muffled with an overtighted snarewire, and on this recording lacks natural "ringing" sound and sustain of a metal drum with a stronger top and slightly less tighten bottom drum heads, and pretty slacked snare wires. Then you would have a "singing snare" sound, a real "big band" snare sound..
Amazing. I refuse to get into subjective debates about who the best guitarist, drummer, etc. of all time is. All I can say is that if I had my choice of what drummer I'd prefer to listen to above all others, Topper is my pick.
Just a few add ons -Topper wasn't really 'a jazz drummer' before the Clash - he had played in a hard rock bands ,one called Fury (but sacked for 'not hitting the drums hard enough')also played as a pick up musician ,often playing Clubs& US military bases doing soul, blues ,charts etc .but was a fan of jazz- his post Clash lp 'Waking up' is worth a listen -& to my knowledge didn't usually wear eyeliner -thanks for upload TS99 .
On first album The Clash, drummer was Terry Chimes. Topper was played drums on second album and all touring (even before second album Give'em enough rope), and last album with The Clash was Combat Rock. After he's been sacked im May 1982, the band was dead.
Love this! Tops and Gluggo looking stylish, flashy, and classy (and Clashy) as always! Topper looks a bit like a Bowie here with the eyeliner, except his forehead is way too big. Sort of like a Numan or Kraftwerk member, I think. I can't think who it reminds me of.
agreed that it's creepy - he look really rough - I bought this when it came out and just loved it - never knew there was a video - strange as it is it's good to see. Topper will always be the Drumming Man!
This is a nice cover which captures much of the spirit of the original recording. The vocal and instrumental tracks were pre-recorded in a studio and later lip-synched and acted out for the filming of this video. Although she does a good job in the video, I have read that the girl acting as the singer in the video did not do the singing on the audio recording. She was hired just to act as the singer for the filming of the video at some point after the voice and instrumental tracks were laid down and finalized. I don't know if that's true since there don't seem to be any photos of "Didi Sketcher" online for comparison. I'm not sure about the musicians in the video other than the drummer. They may or may not be the same musicians we hear on the audio recording, which is all pretty standard "making of a music video" stuff. I'm reasonably sure it's actually TH on the drum track, though.
G'day, do you still have your raw video source or even VHS of this video? I'm after the best source possible for a doco I am working on.... would really appreciate the help! Please reply here and let me know the best way to get in touch, as youtube has disabled private messages... thanks!
AAAhhhh... are you disappointed? I feel so bad for you. He wasn't trying to be Buddy Rich, just having a bit of fun. And his drug use is nobody's business but his.
Topper is so underrated but this video/song is painful. Imagine if he had presented this to Joe, Mick and Paul for Combat Rock instead of Rock the Casbah?
He's so good he can change his clothes in between drum rolls without missing a beat. That was a little weird. Jacket changed from a white one to a red one and an Adidas jacket in there too. Must be freezing time or something.
10 лет назад
sexy girl. Bad song (or average one). Great Topper. But look at the damages of heroin…