BERNIE RHODES

'Bernie Rhodes' was the manager of legendary English punk rock band The Clash. He was instrumental in the band's formation in 1976, was fired in 1978 but then rehired in 1981 and managed them until their break-up in 1986. He also managed Subway Sect and ska band The Specials in 1979, shortly after these bands formed. The intro to the Specials song "Gangsters," ''Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue'', was a reference to him getting their guitars and equipment back after they were confiscated by a hotel in Paris (even though the band had done nothing wrong). Also, the line "Now the king told his boogiemen/You have to let that raga drop" of the Clash's famous "Rock The Casbah" refers to Rhodes being angry that the track "Sean Flynn" from the Clash's album "Combat Rock" exceeded eight minutes in length - he reportedly said "Must everything be an Indian raga?".
Rhodes was also responsible for potting John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) in The Kings Road and getting him to audition as singer for The Sex Pistols in Malcolm McLaren's shop SEX.
In a television interview, Joe Strummer of The Clash said, after drawing the camera to Bernie sleeping against a wall, "He invented punk", referring ironically to a statement of Rhodes himself. The scene and the statement are featured in the documentary ''Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten''.
On May 2nd, 2007 Rhodes caused outrage at a London event, "Clash Culture" at Central St Martins College of Art and Design when he said "If you want to sort out crime in London, sort out the niggers in Peckham"[1]
In the July 2007 issue of Mojo, Rhodes claimed he was taken out of context.

He also said the offending statement was quoted out of context and was actually in relation to possible future government policy, [It was] saying that the government had a plan to solve crime in Peckham by linking with a potential call-up if the war goes bad, then they would be looking toward these people first. It's being discussed, it's not the fantasy of mad Mr. Rhodes...

Only a few pictures of Rhodes during his days as the Clash's manager can be found. A lot of them were destroyed by Paul Simonon's then-girlfriend Pearl Harbour, who believed him to be a bad influence on the members of the Clash.

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Bibliography

★ Gilbert, Pat. 2004. ''Passion is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash'', Aurum Press Ltd. Hardback: ISBN 1-84513-017-0. Paperback: ISBN 1-84513-113-4. US Paperback: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81434-X.

★ Gray, Marcus. 2001 ''Return of The Last Gang In Town'', Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 1-900924-16-1.

★ Gray, Marcus. 1995. ''Last Gang In Town: The Story and Myth of The Clash'', Fourth Estate Limited. ISBN 1-85702-146-0.

Websites

Bernie Rhodes's website http://bernardrhodes.com/