Hand written and signed Clas Set Lists and Song Lyrics

( SB87341 & SB8342 ) have been fully authenticated by Autograph COA .

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Permalink Reply by JACK STRAW on July 24, 2023 at 11:04am

However the Song Lyrics have come back from Autograph COA as inconclusive ? Everything is from the same source and provenance from the UK way back in 1998 . Any Clash collectors out there ? Any input or opinions would be greatly appreciated . Ultra rare hand written Song Lyrics for " Whats My Name " 1976 !

Permalink Reply by John William on July 24, 2023 at 11:48am

Nope

Permalink Reply by Kai Jones on July 24, 2023 at 2:05pm

They all look same hand to my eye. Especially the black set. But Im no expert - not even a novice when it comes to Clash. Totally green.

Permalink Reply by John William on July 24, 2023 at 11:48am

None of these signatures are real.

Permalink Reply by JACK STRAW on July 24, 2023 at 12:35pm

Care to elaborate and go into more detail ? You base your opinion on what exactly ? Do you have an expert Clash / Punk Rock back ground ? Like I said both of the Set Lists have already been hand examined by Autograph COA and certified as authentic . Go to Autograph COAs website and enter ( SB87341 & SB87342 ) They have come back as "Inconclusive " on the first batch of lyrics , after initially pre certificating them as authentic ( See PC214493 , PC214494 & PC 214495 ) Which means they have NOT been able to reach a consensus and firm conclusion either way , and thus have no opinion. If they were indeed clear and obvious fakes ,they would have said so .

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 24, 2023 at 12:54pm

Jack Straw,

You asked for opinions. You can ask John why he feels the way he does, and about his experience, but don't be nasty about it. This is a community where members try to help each other.

Permalink Reply by John William on July 24, 2023 at 12:57pm

Autograph COA is being generous. Inconclusive doesn’t mean real. Authentic means authentic. These are period correct AUTHENTIC clash signatures from that period.

Permalink Reply by JACK STRAW on July 24, 2023 at 1:28pm

John : I have plenty of the Chicken Scratch style of signing as well --- mostly on records . The Set Lists and Song Lyrics are from a Clash insiders personal collection and thus I belive were signed more boldly to be saved for posterity . This notation is from the back of " Police & Thieves Lyric . " Mick Can you pick up the bread and guns " Paul . Is this closer to the style you refer to ? RE : Admin : Please re read my post . In what way , shape or form was I being nasty or disrespectful ?

Permalink Reply by John William on July 24, 2023 at 1:45pm

When you say “clash insiders” what do you mean? Names? References? Affiliation? I think you are getting bogus stories that sound fantastical, but the bottom line is you can’t align those “signatures” with known examples. Sorry.

Permalink Reply by JACK STRAW on July 24, 2023 at 3:01pm

I got the entire collection in 1998 from a lady in Crydon UK . Very long story short , her Nephew was either a Roadie or Sound Engineer ( she was not sure which ) not only for the Clash but a lot of the other Punk Rock bands of the era as well . I think he was a mate of Micks . He apparently got caught up in a Heroin ring and was arrested and subsequently died in prison . His van sat in her Garage for years . In 1998 she was retiring , selling her house and moving to Spain . In the process of cleaning out her garage , she and her Grand son opened up the van and found it stuffed with musical equipment and boxes and boxes of records , as well as the paper material . She listed some of the Clash 45s on ebay and I bought them all . I asked her if she had any more and she said she did but that I would not be interested because somebody had written their names all over them . With the help of her grandson she sent me additional photos and when I realized they were signed by the band we struck a deal and when I got the second shipment in the mail to my surprise it also contained the First batch of Set Lists and Lyrics ( or "Letters " as she called them ) which she had thrown in for absolutely free . At first I did not know what I was even looking at , as at the time , I did not even know what a Set List was , but the second I saw the Lyrics to " White Riot " I knew what that was . I contacted her once again and asked her if she had any more " Letters" and she said she had boxes of them, which she had intended to throw out in the rubbish bin . I persuaded her not to and assured her , that I would be more then interested in them . Now at the time hardly anyone was collecting Clash / Punk Rock items , so there was really no market for them . I tried repeatedly in vain to convince her and her Grandson of the historical significance of the so called " Letters" to no avail . But being an honest man and the fact that she was retiring to Spain , we negotiated a fair price and the collection became mine . So there was absolutely no fraud or deception on their part for a big payoff or profit ,as they did not even know what they even possessed and they just gave the first batch away to me for free and were going to throw the rest in the trash . " White Riot " 1976