Happy Birthday, Topper Headon

Happy fifty eighth birthday today (May 30th) to Nicolas Bowen "Topper" Headon, the rock and roll drummer for the British punk band the Clash.

Born in Crockenhill, north of Kent, Headon started playing drums and an early age. He lists jazz drummer Billy Cobham as an influence. In 1973, he played in a progressive rock group called Mirkwood for a year and a half.

The Clash - Combat Rock

Today (May 14th) marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the fifth studio album by the Clash. Combat Rock was originally planned as a seventeen-track double album with the title Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg but was cut back a twelve song single album during production.

Chart-wise, it reached its highest spot in the rock band's native UK, number 2; it also went to number 12 in Canada, number 9 in Sweden, and number 7 in Norway. In the US, it peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 200 and spent sixty one weeks on the chart total.