Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, Hammersmith Odeon, London, Britain, 12-26-1979 to 12-29-1979: Part 2: Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Matumbi & the Clash

This is Part 2 of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. It was actually a series of four concerts in a row, so it makes sense to post each of the concerts separately.

For the first night, the only musical act was Queen. But for this second night, there were three acts: Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Matumbi, and the Clash, in that order. I've numbered the songs so you can put all four parts together in the same folder if you want. That's why the first track here is already track 25.

I explained some in my Part 1 write-up how the only officially released album from this concerts was a double album that is now long out of print. Merely two of the songs here come from that. Luckily, a lot of music has come out unofficially on bootleg. Decades later, one bootleg emerged that was about as long as the official double album and had excellent sound quality. It seems these all were songs that were being considered for the album but didn't quite make the cut. That's where I got all but one of the songs but Ian Dury and the Blockheads and all the songs by Matumbi.

But the only full set to emerge from this show was the one by the Clash. Unfortunately, although it's supposedly a soundboard recording, that recording merely sounds okay. My intention has been to only use the songs that had very good sound quality. So first I included the songs from either the official album - "Armagideon Time" - and the ones from that bootleg mentioned above - "Bankrobber" and "London Calling." 

Then I listened to the bootleg of the Clash's full set to see if any more songs sounded good enough to fit here. I decided on three more: "Jimmy Jazz," "Train in Vain," and "Jamie Jones." I picked them mainly on the basis on the instruments. When certain instruments were prominent, the recording sounded murkier. I also tinkered with those three to make them sound better. But there was only so much I could do, so those three still sound rougher than the others here. By the way, this version of "Train in Vain" is interesting for how unusually fast the tempo is compared to how the band usually played the song.

I had never heard of Matumbi before this. They were one of the most popular British reggae bands in the late 1970s. However, their 1979 song "Point of View [Squeeze a Little Lovin']" was their only Top Forty hit in Britain. They fizzled out then broke up in the early 1980s.

There's a lot more music played than what is presented here. Since there is a bootleg of the whole Clash set, we know they played 16 songs, yet I've only included six of them. I assume it was similar with Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Matumbi, though maybe their sets were shorter since they were the opening acts. If anyone has any of the other songs for this concert or the other ones with worthy sound quality, please let me know and I'll add them in.

This album is an hour and 11 minutes long.

25 talk (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
26 Clever Trevor (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
27 Blackmail Man (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
28 Blockheads (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
29 talk (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
30 My Ol' Man (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
31 Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
32 talk (Ian Dury & the Blockheads)
33 Sweet Gene Vincent (Ian Dury & the Blockheads with Mick Jones)
34 Empire Road (Matumbi)
35 talk (Matumbi)
36 Come with Me (Matumbi)
37 After Tonight (Matumbi)
38 talk (Matumbi)
39 Point of View [Squeeze a Little Lovin'] (Matumbi)
40 Jimmy Jazz (Clash)
41 talk (Clash)
42 Train in Vain (Clash)
43 Bankrobber (Clash)
44 Janie Jones (Clash)
45 Armagideon Time (Clash)
46 London Calling (Clash)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15511418/ConcrtsforthPeoplofKmpchea_1979_Day2IanDryMtumbiClsh.zip.html

The cover photo is of the Clash and was taken from this exact concert. On the right side in the background, you can see a big, round United Nations logo used for the Kampuchea concerts.