Mick Jones gives shot of praise for Terri Hooley biopic

Clash legend Mick Jones has given the ‘thumbs up’ to the Terri Hooley biopic that Gary Lightbody and David Holmes are hoping to have on the big screen in 2009.
“He was the Tony Wilson of Belfast, wasn’t he?” Jones reflected last week when Hot Press ran into him at the Jack Daniel’s Legendary Mash in Tennessee. “There was the famous time when The Clash were supposed to play the Ulster Hall, but the gig got pulled and a load of punks rioted. We were in the Europa Hotel while all this mayhem was going on outside.”
Were the scriptwriters to include the episode in the film whom would Mick want playing him?
“Richard E. Grant and Jerry Seinfeld both look a bit like me, but they’re too fucking old now. I’ll leave it up to the casting director!”
On a more downbeat note, Mick was saddened to hear via the internet of his friend Pete Doherty’s imprisonment.
“They didn’t have to do that,” he rues. “It’s unnecessary. Pete’s a really sweet guy who’s been doing his best to get clean. What’s the point of locking him up for however many weeks it’s going to be? There are more drugs inside jail than there are out of it.”
Also in Tennessee were Irish JD set winners Snowman who, as part of their prize, got to spend some quality studio time with Drive-By-Truckers, Bob Mould and REM producer David Barbe.
“We were in this amazing place called The Tracking Room, which has been used by everyone from U2 and Julio Iglesias to Steve Earle and Shania Twain,” guitarist Keith Clancy enthuses. “Working with David made us realise how much a top producer does. He was full of ideas, and even when it got to six in the morning wanted to keep going.”
For a full report on the Jack Daniel’s Legendary Mash, see the next issue of Hot Press out on Thursday April 24.