It’s hard to say that punk ever died, given that both its distinctly non-hippie anti-authoritarian spirit and its fashion sensibilities have survived over four decades now, but its ongoing vigor doesn’t stop its own lifelong adherents from proclaiming it dead anyway. Some would pin the death of punk on the Sex Pistols’ Winterland concert. Others still peg the death of punk at the time of death of a given leading figure from that scene (much of that sort of sentiment accompanied the recent passing of Tommy Erdelyi, the last original Ramone—definitely a very sad milestone), evidently blind to the reality that a sufficiently compelling ethos will survive the last gasps of its originators. But if boring social media poutrage is our metric, punk dies anew literally every time a goofy punk-related consumer product hits the shelves, whether it’s Sex Pistols credit cards or Sex Pistols shoes. It’s invariably a lot of semi-coherent hurfdurf about rebellion being co-opted for corporate consumer products that ignores the plain fact that all those Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash and DEVO albums have themselves always been corporate consumer products.

Look for those exact comment threads to be repeated today, as Converse has announced two styles of Chuck Taylors—inarguably one of punk’s go-to uniform items—honoring the Clash. More specifically, their issue this week is pegged to the 40th anniversary of the 100 Club Punk Special festival, a historically significant two day event at which the Clash appeared with the Sex Pistols. The bill also featured Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Damned, and the Buzzcocks. Seriously, what would you give to be able to time-travel for that? Both of the shoe designs feature skull motifs that featured in the band’s graphics, a pink pair wallpapered with the “Radio Clash” skull-and-lightining-bolt imagery, and a black leather pair with the artwork from the “Straight to Hell” single stitched in.
 

 

 
Audio of the 100 Club event is, for a punk show in 1976, appropriately ad hoc and shitty, but here’s some of the Clash’s set, including “White Riot,” “London’s Burning,” and “I’m So Bored with the USA,” all of which would end up on their indelible debut album.
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
What the actual fuck? Barney’s is selling Black Flag shirts for $265
Holy shit, Converse is making a wearable wah-wah pedal