Havana 3am - Reach The Rock

[ricknettles]

For my money Simonon's Havana 3am album was as close to The Clash as any of the others' solo work. Simonon may not have been the most musically talented member of The Clash and he rarely sang lead, but his unusual meshing of bass styles (seamlessly switching from a reggae beat emphasis to rock or rockabiilly in the same song) and use of a pick instead of strumming is much of what gave The Clash their unique sound.

Thought about this album today and how much I appreciated its release in '91.

[MrEdwinvalbuena]

its imposible to find the lyrics of this song, can anybody post them pls!!, thanks

[Dickdiamond007]

Yaaaay !! saw them at the Leadmill in Sheffield,they did Red Angel Dragnet and Something Else! Great gig!

[GoddessOfThe4Strings]

The Clash was, well...The Clash. All these guys have/had other projects, like Havana, etc. Many musicians do, and often these projects sound nothing like the bands they're famous for. Havana 3 am is, always has been, awesome! And...Gorillaz...something completely different and very cool. Now my kids and I can both enjoy Paul's work! I'm a bassist, and, for me, Paul's bass lines are some of the best. I'll listen to anything he does/has done.

[jsbret2729]

Kinda reminds me of guns of brixton

[Sami7685]

Wow! I am a Clash nerd, but I find that every satellite project of Paul's, Mick's, and Joe's (RIP) create music that I love. Now to see what Topper's up to... (Awesome job here fro Paul!)

[sweeetxfire]

i'm glad paul did a little rockabilly, it really suits him well.

DAMN THIS IS GOOD.

[pirateXsatellite]

not bad actually. i need to check out what simonon's doing now.

[thedt]

This was basically my theme song in high school. Love this song!

[RockinBlues4]

wow, great song!! gotta wonder why i havent listen Havana 3am before! =OO

[salvy1984]

cool video east los angeles haa

[scooteratreides]

Man, have I missed this. Into the playlist you go! I'm combing youtube for music of better days and compiling a channel called The Dead Art of Modern Rock. Anyone with suggestions is welcome, or anyone who just wants to remember when MTV was worth a damn.

[313mandroid]

Awesome Song!! Great Band!!

[NZRand0m]

Sounds a lot like Strummer in this song.

[illegaldrum1]

awoke my memories when we were teddy boys... 2 decades ago... great times...

[EdwoodCA]

LOVE this band. Great song from a great album. Too bad the video edit cuts out half of Gary's solo. Listen to the album track to hear it all.

[hockeyrocks5757]

I have the full song uploaded (no vid though) on my profile

[EdwoodCA]

Aw, thanks man.  But, thankfully, I have the CD! Thanks again!

[hockeyrocks5757]

Yea i have the cd too! Its amazing. Criminally underrated

[azzageht]

saw them way back glasgow king tuts

[NuNegus]

Simmo is a sick bassist...

[retroqueen]

One of the best songs ever....

[annizable]

I just love this one.....mmmm....!

[AppoCC119]

Amazing song, but...is it just me or does Paul suddenly swap between a red and a blue shirt?

[annizable]

I noticed that too......I suppose he change just for fun.....:) so we shall have somthing to wonder about.

[fatcat669]

this is really good. i find it interesting that while Mick Jones, who was the great musician of the Clash" formed a really shitty band called Big Audio Dynamite, and the supposedly lesser talented musician Paul Simonon went on to form the much better Havana 3a.m. this song is really good.

[1oxymoron1]

Big Audio Dynamite where ok went to see them a few times, Havana 3am where good but Paul was just a Bass Player lets not get to excited Mick n Joe taught him to play anyway he wasnt that great in reality he didnt right the songs or music in this band either.

[wirebead]

Find another bassist who moved as cool as Paul did.  You could spend an entire show just admiring how cool his damn moves were! Who moves that cool? Flea? Nobody!

[Khultan]

Big Audio Dynamite is a shitty band?!? That's rather a hurtful tone, mate. And quite untrue.

[NuNegus]

I agree. I think a lot of people who outright criticize groups like BAD, Havana 3am, or the Mescaleros sort of do it because they want these new bands to sound like the Clash.

While the Clash may have been their biggest thing, people need to realize that a great musician's talent doesn't have to be shown in just one way, one style of music, or one phase of their career.

To say that Mick, Joe, Paul, and Topper were only good in the Clash is to negate their talents.

Peace and love!

[Khultan]

Music trends come and go, but in both instances something carries over. For example, Mick Jones (and Joe Strummer, too) early interest in burgeoning NYC hip hop, led to the Magnificent 7 and, I believe, Radio Clash (I understand that it is a much more better reworking of Queen's 'Another one bites the dust' in that it communicates and relates to the struggling class in the population). Tellingly, the Clash are about change and responding to a changing human psyche environment.

[Demony007]

These new bands!?

This song is 20 years old man.

[NuNegus]

I meant "new" in relative context; I know how old this song is - I was saying "new bands that emerged from the Clash".

[Erectoralporicy]

@NuNegus

Well, I can agree with that, but at the same.. I'm thinking most people were just dying for The Clash to reunite.

Also, anyone out there have any info on Good the Bad and the Queen?? Like, is there going to be a follow-up album or was it just a one time sort of thing?

[fatcat669]

i was really stoned 4 months ago when i wrote this

i think i was smoking every day all day

thanks for the reply though havent listened to this song since

[ElBetoMarcico]

es buenísimo esto.

[watfordkev]

Saw them live a couple of times they should have been BIG!

[starvengers67]

good song

[rtypedave]

Great band

[ughaghugh]

oh mygod I have to get this cd NOW!

[iggytretiak]

do it! it's effing awesome!

[hockeyrocks5757]

Just ordered this cd, I can't wait!

[street13si]

Great song, great band ...

[AppoCC119]

Paul Simonon is just sickingly cool in this video. Or really, everywhere. Sickingly cool I say!

[sallamota]

good video focusing in  east los angeles

[PunkGrrl41]

This song is simply great.

[HORSJEU]

GOOD FOR PAUL BUT WHOS THAT DRUMMER

[wolfisloose]

the singer sounds similar to Joe in some parts

[Skaajj]

yh i can see what u mean

[iggytretiak]

I fear no blade!

[aajoeyjo]

I got to see these guys live in Austin twice in one week. They positively rocked! Thanks for posting this!

[doraa91]

love this music! Makes me smile (Paul!)

[salvy1984]

bad ass song man long live england and los angeles

[robbanzana]

Paul looks so out of place in this video. He's doing his thing, moving around and being all rythmic while the others just stand there.

[ARAO155]

it was ok at the time but yeah i see cheesy

i saw the min nyc they were good though

[HarrytheHorse]

I saw them in a psuedo Mexican bar, Break For The Boarder or something, in London about '88 0r'89 I think it was. They had a great sound and Paul was still the coolest bass slinger, but although Gary was great I think it was hard to see Paul as the bassman for another band when he was such an indelible icon of The Clash.

[retroqueen]

wasn't the singer in another band?? Didn't he die too?

[mozrocker]

Nigel Dixon was in a British rockabilly group Whirlwind. They were great!!

[loveisking]

Paul simonon,solo para entendidos!!!!!!!

[birdshot]

How did Paul Simonon go from being in a badass band like The Clash to being in this cheesy band?

[irishdrummer01]

Cheesy band?? whats so cheesy about it?

[slagit]

Funny I saw them in Golden Gate Park, SF in an afternoon show. Wild stuff! Time sure flies!

[irishdrummer01]

anyone know the bass tabs to this song?

[irishdrummer01]

what an amazing band, too bad the didnt go very far. it looks the they are holding cardboard guitars!:P

[easylife9225]

irishdrummer01, you wouldnt happen to be brandon would you?

[sraitupcrazyduh]

i remember seeing this on 120 min. back when dave kendall was the host.i think it was back in 91.i was so stoked when i heard them.

[ufopsi]

Wow, that was music. Great one.

[chiakinakaike]

Classic! ^^ I never saw the video for this...thanks so much for posting it! :) "Reach the Rock" and "Surf in the City" were my two fave Havana 3am songs. ^^

[miketb42]

when was the old los angeles barrio footage edited in? the original copy of the i.r.s. record company video didn't have those edits in there. and if that's the case, where are shots of perez pardo (the inspiration behind the name of the band...his albums called "havanna at midnight" and "havana 3am"...check out the rest of the cd, especially "the hardest game"..brilliant!!!!

[toured87]

I've never had the chance to listen to Havana 3am, this is awesome!!!!

[xclashmp88x]

<33

[ANGELSVEN]

I like that spooky breakdown before Gary Myrick's guitar solo. I like the director, too. And the guys look great - love the clothes. Also, like the reggae-styled accents on the 2 and 4.

Carol

[travtravisty]

thank you so much I.m the old drummer

[fafsa89]

and don't forget Gary Myrick on guitar. Great guitarist. GM and the Figures first LP.

[punkrocklover8]

i love paul simonon!!! he was so hot then especially in the CLASH

[streetparade]

Damn, Paul Simonon has got to be the coolest white man ever. Check him at 1:58, c'est magnifique. I only wish the camera was on him the whole time.

[Django1974]

Never heard Paul's band before. Cool clip with excellent sound :)

[springynoodle]

this is so awesome. the more i watch the better it gets - and look at paul's moves!

[sham64]

Excellent ! Didn't even know this vid existed

[fugitive29]

wow, i had no idea there was a video. i love them, they are my second favorite band, only beaten by The Clash. thank you so much for posting this.

[springynoodle]

YEY more paul simonon clips!

RIP Nigel Dixon