The Rise And Fall Of The Clash Documentary Now Available To Stream On Qello

Legendary punk band The Clash disbanded at the height of their success in the mid-1980s. The documentary The Rise and Fall of The Clash details what made the band work and what caused them to go their separate ways. Video streaming site Qello has now made that documentary available for viewing.

Qello is the leading on-demand streaming service for full-length HD concert films and music documentaries. It has members in more than 100 countries, and those members get full access to all of its titles with their paid subscription. The film subjects range from classics, like Bob Dylan and Ray Charles, to more modern fare, like Beyonce and Radiohead.

The Rise and Fall of The Clash is a 2012 documentary directed by Danny Garcia. It covers an insider’s perspective of what went wrong when the punk rock outfit was doing so well. Their downfall happened just after they played Shea Stadium in New York City. Before finding out what led to the demise of the band though, the documentary focuses on what made the band successful in the first place and what obstacles they faced on the way to international fame.

Garcia interviewed Mick Jones of The Clash, as well as a number of people from The Clash’s social and business circles, including singer Pearl Harbour, poet Jock Scot, Clash security guard Ray Jordan and Vic Godard, a member of another British punk group called The Subway Sect. Each of those people, plus several more, gives pieces of a larger picture, where all of the stories come together to explain the history of the band.

Among the topics discussed is how the four group members fit together, since each had his own style and musical preference. All of the members were intellectual and ended up working well together for a decade as The Clash. There is also time spent on manager Bernie Rhodes, who was a major influence on what the band wrote about. Rhodes was one of the reasons The Clash became famous for writing about politics, but he was also a source of discord and trouble. The documentary has a common theme of showing both sides of the coin.

To see a more in-depth analysis of The Clash and to gain a better understanding of what went right and what went wrong, check out The Rise and Fall of The Clash on Qello.