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My dog ‘Cuba’

The Turtle by Robin Clarijs

The iconic “The Clash” graffitti, spray painted in 1976 on one of the concrete pillars underneath the Westway elevated motorway, a fitting symbolism for a band that has always been considered as one of the pillars of the punk scene.

Adrian Boot, one of Britain’s best known music photographers, thought of this as the ideal inner city location for a Clash photo-session:

“…Towards the end of 1977 the Westway boasted none of its present day urban beautification. Instead it was just another post-war depressed, undeveloped, graffiti covered wasteland with a grey 60′s concrete elevated urban freeway overshadowing the neighbourhood….”.

To quote Jon Savage, the high-profile writer during the glory days of British punk:

“…The only signs of life came from the punk rock groups (…) When I think of the punk years, I always think of one particular spot … From the end of 1976, one of the stanchions holding up the Westway was emblazoned with large graffiti which said simply, ‘The Clash’. When first sprayed the graffiti laid a psychic boundary marker for the group – This was their manor, this was how they saw London….”

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