Clash archivist dusts off rare concert footage

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - These are tough times for the grizzled music veterans of the pop culture wars.

The revolutions they instigated during the past five decades -- from the birth of rock 'n' roll and the hippie movement, to the rise of punk and hip-hop -- merely paved the way for the cult of celebrity and bling.

Vietnam, Watergate and England's industrial decay were a gold mine for songwriters in the 1960s and '70s; the Iraq war, not so much.

"The culture's got pretty soft and conservative these days, I think," said British filmmaker Don Letts, a tastemaker on London's punk rock scene in the 1970s. "To me, it feels like punk rock never happened, man.

"In the punk rock days we used to say, 'Never trust anybody over 30.' And sometimes when I look around I think maybe I shouldn't trust anybody under 30!"

Letts, 52, among other pursuits, is the archivist for the Clash, one of many punk rock groups he befriended back in the day. Inspired by the movement's anti-establishment, do-it-yourself ethos, he picked up a Super 8 camera and started documenting his favourite bands.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. Born in London to Jamaican parents, he introduced scenesters to reggae during his DJ stints at the Roxy nightclub. His musician pals co-opted reggae's heavy bass lines and musical reportage.

"And they didn't mind the marijuana either. It has to be said," Letts recalled.