Finding it hard to interest labels at home, they released their debut album in Japan before IRS Records stepped in to give it a UK release.
Gary Myrick had played guitar on the John Waite hit 'Missing You' in the mid-80's, whilst Simonon had followed his creative urges post-Clash and concentrated on painting, before embarking on an undoubtedly Che Guevara inspired motorcycle trip through Southern America and Mexico. The experiences of this period featured in the subsequent return to music, which Simonon described as an attempt to match the singing styles of Gene Vincent and Billy Fury with electronic drum sounds, and guitars that sounded like motorcycle engines. Other musical influences thrown into the mix included rockabilly, reggae, latin and spaghetti western soundtracks - it was immediately obvious that Simonon had more to do with the Clash's post-'London Calling' diversity than he is given credit for. The band name they chose was taken from an obscure album by Latin musician Perez Prado, who is most famous for providing the music to a Guiness advert in the late '90's.
Their debut album proved that this approach was partially successful although no subsequent releases followed immediately, with Simonon continuing to follow his career as an artist ahead of that of a musician. He now makes an adequate living from this and has no plans to return to music, although rumours of Clash re-unions are forever appearing. Sadly, Dixon died of cancer making any Havana 3am re-union impossible.
A further Havana 3am release appeared without Simonon, billed as Gary Myrick and Havana 3am, but Myrick subsequently ditched the name and pursued a solo career.
IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE HAVANA 3AM: The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite, Gary Myrick, Joe Strummer.