Paul Simonon biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Musician, painter. Bass player for the groundbreaking English punk rock band The Clash, Paul Simonon was born December 15, 1955, in London, England. Raised middle-class, Simonon, who attended predominantly black schools as a child, developed an early appreciation for soul and Jamaican music that would later influence his work with The Clash.

His love for art, and his obvious talent for it, eventually earned him a scholarship to a local art school. But his passion for music never subsided, and in the early 1970s he cut his teeth as a bass player in a punk band called London SS.

Through it he formed a lasting friendship with the group's guitarist, Mick Jones. In 1976 the pair took in a performance of a band called the 101ers. Headed up by singer Joe Strummer, the group had earned some early notoriety for playing a couple of gigs with up-and-coming British punk band the Sex Pistols.

The Clash

Later in 1976, Jones, Simonon and Strummer were formally introduced by their common friend and eventual manager, Bernie Rhodes. From that introduction, The Clash was formed. The group's name came from Simonon, who had noticed how often the term "clash" was used in an edition of the London Standard newspaper. Drummer Terry Chimes joined the group a short time later.

In January 1977, The Clash signed with CBS Records for £100,000. The group's self-titled debut album, which was recorded in just three weekends, came out that April.

The record, with future punk-rock anthems like "White Riot," "I'm So Bored with the USA" and "London's Burning," quickly propelled The Clash, who would spend the next decade largely singing about revolution and the working class, into stardom.

The group's follow-up album, Give 'Em Enough Rope, hit British record stores in 1978. About a year later, the band delivered what many rock critics and fans consider The Clash's best album, London Calling, a double-record effort that meshed the best of the 1970s punk rock sound with a refined level of lyrics and smarts that would help usher in the new decade.

The recording also featured the band's first American hit, "Train in Vain," as well as Simonon's best-known composition, "The Guns of Brixton," which he sang. Rolling Stone magazine later voted London Calling the best album of the 1980s.

For his part, Simonon's art school background played no small role in the band's success. Much of the band's look emanated from Simonon, from its early Jackson Pollock–like paint-splattered graphics and style to its later military-inspired dress.

Simonon's personal style and natural good looks also helped anchor the appearance of the band. "He was just there, looking fantastic...the bastard," Jones later recalled.