Wikipedia:WikiProject The Clash/List of related articles
List of related articles and materials (a big container).
Band Members and Associates
editNote - dates indicate period in which each person worked in or for the band. Top importance articles are indicated in bold
Members
edit- Joe Strummer (1976-1985) Guitar and vocals
- Mick Jones (1976-1983) Guitar and vocals
- Paul Simonon (1976-1985) Bass and vocals
- Topper Headon (1977-1982) Drums
- Terry Chimes (1976-1977; 1982) Drums
- Keith Levene (1976-1977) Guitar
- Nick Sheppard (1983-1985) Guitar
- Vince White (1983-1985) Guitar
- Pete Howard (1983-1985) Drums
- Rob Harper (1976-1977) Drums
Additional Musicians
edit- Bernie Rhodes – Drum machine programming on Cut the Crap
- Mikey Dread – Vocals on "Living in Fame"
- Mickey Gallagher (1979; 1980; 1985) Keyboards on London Calling, Sandinista!, and Cut the Crap
- Norman Watt-Roy (1980) Bass on "The Magnificent Seven", "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)", and Cut the Crap
- Tymon Dogg (1980; 1982) Violin, vocals on "Lose This Skin", and piano on "Death Is a Star"
- Ellen Foley (1980; 1982) Vocals on "Hitsville UK", and "Car Jamming"
- Luke Gallagher (1980) Vocals on "Career Opportunities"
- Ben Gallagher (1980) Vocals on "Career Opportunities"
- Maria Gallagher (1980) Vocals on "Broadway"
- Dennis Ferrante (1980) ??? on ???
- Bob Jones (1980) ??? on Sandinista!
- The Irish Horns (1979) Brass on London Calling
- J. P. Nicholson – keyborads on Sandinista!
- David Payne – sax on Sandinista!
- Ray Gasconne on Sandinista!
- Band Sgt. Dave Yates on Sandinista!
- Den Hegarty – vocals on Sandinista!
- Gary Barnacle – sax on Sandinista!
- Bill Barnacle – trumpet on Sandinista!
- Jody Winscott on Sandinista!
- Ivan Julian – guitar on Sandinista!
- Noel Tempo Bailey on Sandinista!
- Anthony Nelson Steelie on Sandinista!
- Lew Lewis – vocals, harmonica on Sandinista!
- Gerald Baxter-Warman on Sandinista!
- Terry McQuade on Sandinista!
- Rudolf Adolphus Jordan on Sandinista!
- Battersea on Sandinista!
- Allen Ginsberg – Guest vocals on "Ghetto Defendant"
- Futura 2000 – Guest vocals on "Overpowered by Funk"
- Joe Ely – Backing vocals on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
- Poly Mandell – Keyboards on "Overpowered by Funk"
- Gary Barnacle – Saxophone on "Sean Flynn"
- Pablo Labritain (1976) Drums
Producers
edit- Mikey Dread
- Mickey Foote
- Bill Price
- Lee "Scratch" Perry
- Sandy Pearlman
- Guy Stevens
- Glyn Johns
- Bernie Rhodes
- Jerry Green???
- Johnny Green
- Caroline Coon
- Ray Staff (Clash on Broadway and various remasters)
- Damon Albarn
- Blackhill Enterprises
People associated with The Clash
edit- Pennie Smith (??? - ???) photographer
- Bob Gruen (??? - ???) photographer
- Kate Simon (1977) photographer The Clash (album) front cover
- Rocco Macauley (1977) photographer The Clash (album) back cover
- Shane MacGowan
- Bernard Sumner
- Ian Brown
- John Squire
- Tony Parsons (British journalist)
- Anthony Roman
- Jim Goodwin
- Julien Temple film director
- Danny Boyle
- Carl Barat
- Richard Archer
- Irvine Welsh
- Nick Hornby
- Stuart Peace
- Sharleen Spiteri
- Tim Burgess
- Mike D
- Bobby Gillespie
- Steve Jones
- Pete Townshend
- Elizabeth Young
See also - [[Notable or frequent contributors to The Clash]]
Associated Acts
editTimeline
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| Start | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joe Strummer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mick Jones | Nick Sheppard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| K. Levene | Vince White | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paul Simonon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Chimes | Topper Headon | Chimes | Pete Howard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Album release | Vocals and guitar | Guitar | Bass guitar | Drums and percussion |
Genres
edit"The Clash were classic punk". punk77.co.uk.
This section is undercontruction. However, you are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well....
Genres-The Clash UK+USA
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "Janie Jones" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Remote Control" | Punk rock |
| |
| "I'm So Bored with the USA" | Punk rock |
| |
| "White Riot" | Punk rock |
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| "Hate and War" | Punk rock |
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| "What's My Name?" | Punk rock |
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| "Deny" | Punk rock |
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| "London's Burning" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Career Opportunities" | Punk rock, rock |
| |
| "Cheat" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Protex Blue" | Punk rock |
| |
| Police and Thieves" | Reggae, punk rock |
|
One of the band's first reggae tunes. Appeared on their 1977 album The Clash. Junior Murvin, who wrote the song, exclaimed "They've ruined the work of Jah!" after hearing the bands rendition of his tune. | |
| 48 Hours" | Punk rock |
| |
| Garageland" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Clash City Rockers" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Complete Control" | Punk rock, alternative rock???, rock??? |
| |
| "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" | Reggae, Ska, punk rock |
|
The band's first attempt to mix ska with reggae and punk rock. Inspired an event where they went to see and reggae show in Hammersmith Palais and were the only white people attending the show. They were also disappointed in the apparent "sellout" of the reggae that they heard that night. This event inspired the title and the line "U.K. pop-reggae". | |
| "I Fought the Law" | Punk rock, rock |
| |
| "Jail Guitar Doors" | Punk rock |
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The Clash UK+USA
| |
Genres-Give 'Em Enough Rope
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "Safe European Home" | Punk rock, Melody, Harmony, Worker, Maker. |
|
Mick Jones and Joe Strummer took a trip to Jamaica in early '78. They were robbed several times on the trip, hence the chorus; "I went to the place where every white face is an invitation to robbery. An' sitting here in my safe European home, Don't wanna go back there again." | |
| "English Civil War" | Punk rock, traditional, rock |
| |
| "Tommy Gun" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Julie's in the Drug Squad" | Rock, punk rock |
|
Influenced from the 1970s drug crackdown "Operation Julie". | |
| "Last Gang in Town" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Guns on the Roof" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Drug-Stabbing Time" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Stay Free" | Punk rock, alternative rock |
| |
| "Cheapskates" | Punk rock |
| |
| "All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)" | Punk rock |
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Give 'Em Enough Rope
| |
Genres-London Calling
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "London Calling" | Hard rock, rock, reggae, punk rock |
| |
| "Brand New Cadillac" | Rock and roll, rockabilly |
| |
| "Jimmy Jazz" | Jazz, reggae |
| |
| "Hateful" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Rudie Can't Fail" | Ska, reggae |
| |
| "Spanish Bombs" | Alternative rock, post-punk |
| |
| "The Right Profile" | Post-punk, Calypso??? |
| |
| "Lost in the Supermarket" | Ballad, rock |
| |
| "Clampdown" | Alternative rock, punk rock |
| |
| "The Guns of Brixton" | Reggae rock |
| |
| "Wrong 'Em Boyo" (Clive Alphonso) | Ska, ska/pop, reggae, rocksteady |
| |
| "Death or Glory" | Rock??? |
| |
| "Koka Kola" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "The Card Cheat" | ALternative rock, post-punk |
| |
| "Lover's Rock" | Lovers rock??? |
| |
| "Four Horseman" | Rock, rocksteady???, punk rock??? |
| |
| "I'm Not Down" | Rock??? |
| |
| "Revolution Rock" | Reggae |
| |
| "Train in Vain" | Rock, alternative rock, post-punk |
| |
London Calling
| |
Genres-Black Market Clash+Super-Cheat
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "Capital Radio One" | Punk rock???, alternative rock |
| |
| "The Prisoner" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Pressure Drop" | Reggae |
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| "The City of the Dead" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Time Is Tight" | Memphis soul, Instrumental rock |
| |
| "Bankrobber/Robber Dub" | Reggae, Dub |
| |
| "Armagideon Time" | Reggae |
| |
| "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" | Dub, reggae |
| |
| "1977" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Listen" | Instrumental, rock??? |
| |
| "1-2 Crush on You" | Rock and roll, rock, Ska???, rockabilly???, Lovers rock???, Roots???, punk rock??? |
| |
| "Groovy Times" | Rock, punk rock??? |
| |
| "Gates of the West" | Rock |
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| "Capital Radio Two" | Punk rock |
| |
| "Robber Dub" | Dub |
| |
| "The Cool Out" | Instrumental, post-punk, dance-punk, funk |
| |
| "Stop the World" | Reggae |
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| "The Magnificent Dance" | Dance |
| |
| "Radio Clash" | Rap, dance-punk, dance, Pop |
| |
| "First Night Back in London" | Dub, reggae, 2 Tone, Ska??? |
| |
| "Long Time Jerk" | Rockabilly???, Dub???, reggae???, punk rock??? |
| |
| "Cool Confusion" | Reggae, Dub |
| |
| "Mustapha Dance" | Dance |
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Black Market Clash+Super-Cheat
| |
Genres-Sandinista!
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "The Magnificent Seven" | Funk rock, post-punk, rap rock, reggae rock, dance-punk |
| |
| "Hitsville UK" | Pop??? |
| |
| "Junco Partner" | Reggae |
| |
| "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" | ??? |
| |
| "The Leader" | Swing, boogie rock |
| |
| "Something About England" | Pop??? |
| |
| "Rebel Waltz" | Waltz |
| |
| "Look Here" | Jazz, R&B |
| |
| "The Crooked Beat" | Reggae |
| |
| "Somebody Got Murdered" | Rock??? |
| |
| "One More Time" | Reggae |
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| "One More Dub" | Dub |
| |
| "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" | ??? |
| |
| "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" | Alternative rock |
| |
| "Corner Soul" | Soul??? |
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| "Let's Go Crazy" | ??? |
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| "If Music Could Talk" | ??? |
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| "The Sound of Sinners" | Gospel |
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| "Police on My Back" | Punk rock, reggae |
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| "Midnight Log" | Boogie rock |
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| "The Equaliser" | Reggae |
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| "The Call Up" | Post-punk, dance-punk, funk |
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| "Washington Bullets" | Caribbean music, reggae rock |
| |
| "Broadway" | ??? |
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| "Lose This Skin" | ??? |
| |
| "Charlie Don't Surf (song)" | Reggae, soft rock, rock |
| |
| "Mensforth Hill" | ??? |
| |
| "Junkie Slip" | Jazz??? |
| |
| "Kingston Advice" | Reggae |
| |
| "The Street Parade" | Alternative rock, post-punk |
| |
| "Version City" | Dub |
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| "Living in Fame" | Dub |
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| "Silicone on Sapphire" | Dub |
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| "Version Pardner" | Dub |
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| "Career Opportunities" | Pop??? |
| |
| "Shepherds Delight" | ??? |
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Sandinista!
| |
Genres-Combat Rock
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "Know Your Rights" | Punk rock, rock??? |
| |
| "Car Jamming" | Reggae |
| |
| "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" | Rock, Pop??? |
| |
| "Rock the Casbah" | Rock |
| |
| "Red Angel Dragnet" | Rock???, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "Straight to Hell" | Reggae, rock, alternative rock, Post-punk |
| |
| "Overpowered by Funk" | Funk, dance-punk |
| |
| "Atom Tan" | Alternative rock, rock??? |
| |
| "Sean Flynn" | ??? |
| |
| "Ghetto Defendant" | ??? |
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| "Inoculated City" | ??? |
| |
| "Death Is a Star" | ??? |
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Combat Rock
| |
Genres-Cut the Crap
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "Dictator" | Post-punk??? |
| |
| "Dirty Punk" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "We Are the Clash" | Punk rock, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "Are You Red..Y" | Dance-punk???, alternative rock???, Post-punk??? |
| |
| "Cool Under Heat" | Post-punk???, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "Movers and Shakers" | Punk rock, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "This Is England" | Rock, punk rock |
| |
| "Three Card Trick" | Reggae, dance-punk, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "Play to Win" | Post-punk, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "Fingerpoppin'" | Dance-punk, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "North and South" | Post-punk???, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "Life is Wild" | Punk rock, alternative rock??? |
| |
| "Do It Now" | Reggae???, Post-punk??? |
| |
The Clash UK+USA
| |
Genres-Other songs
edit| Song | Genres |
|---|---|
| "One Emotion" | ??? |
| |
| "Every Little Bit Hurts" | Soul??? |
| |
| "Bankrobber" | Reggae |
| |
| "Paul's Tune" | Reggae, Instrumental??? |
| |
| "Koka Kola, Advertising & Cocaine" | ??? |
| |
| "Lonesome Me" | ??? |
| |
| "The Police Walked in 4 Jazz" | ??? |
| |
| "Up-Toon (Inst.)" | Instrumental??? |
| |
| "Walking the Slidewalk" | ??? |
| |
| "Where You Gonna Go (Soweto)" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "The Man in Me" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Working and Waiting" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Heart & Mind" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Justice Tonight" | Reggae |
| |
| "Kick It Over" | Reggae |
| |
| "Rockers Galore...UK Tour" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Radio One" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Radio 5" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "This Is Radio Clash" | Dance-punk, rap |
| |
| "Outside Broadcast" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Sex Mad Roar" | Punk rock??? |
| |
| "Louie Louie" | Rock and roll |
| |
| "I Know What I Think About You" (a.k.a. "I Know What You Do") | Rock and roll |
| |
| "Deadly Serious" | Rock and roll |
| |
| "The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too" | ??? |
| |
| "Kill Time" | ??? |
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| "Walk Evil Talk" | ??? |
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Other songs
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Genres-TOTAL
editTOTAL
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The Clash discography and Songs
editSingles
editUK Singles
edit- "White Riot", The Clash, 18 March, 1977 38
- "Capital Radio One", -, -, 1 April, 1977
- "Remote Control", The Clash, -, 13 May, 1977
- "Complete Control", -, 28, 23 September, 1977
- "Clash City Rockers", -, 35, 17 February, 1978
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais", -, 32, 16 June, 1978
- "Tommy Gun", Give 'Em Enough Rope, 19, 24 November, 1978
- "English Civil War", Give 'Em Enough Rope, 25, 23 February, 1979
- "London Calling", London Calling, 11, 7 December, 1979
- "Bankrobber", -, 12, 8 August, 1980
- "The Call Up", Sandinista!, 40, 28 November, 1980
- "Hitsville UK", Sandinista!, 56, 16 January, 1981
- "The Magnificent Seven", Sandinista!, 34, 10 April, 1981
- "This is Radio Clash", -, 47, 20 November, 1981
- "Know Your Rights", Combat Rock, 43, 23 April, 1982
- "Rock the Casbah", Combat Rock, 30, 11 June, 1982
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" / "Straight To Hell", Combat Rock, 17, 17 September, 1982
- "This Is England", Cut the Crap, 24, 30 September, 1985
- "I Fought the Law", The Cost of Living (EP), 29, 29 February, 1988
- "London Calling" (re-release), London Calling, 46, 25 April, 1988
- The Guns of Brixton (Remixes), London Calling, 57, 9 July, 1990
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (re-release), Combat Rock, 1, 18 February, 1991
- "Rock the Casbah" (re-release), Combat Rock, 15, 1 April, 1991
- "London Calling" (second re-release), London Calling, 64, 27 May, 1991
- "Train In Vain (Stand By Me)" (re-release), London Calling, -, 14 October, 1991
US Singles
edit- "I Fought the Law" / "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais", -, -, July 26, 1979
- "Train In Vain (Stand By Me)" / "London Calling", London Calling, 23, 1980
- "Hitsville UK", Sandinista!, -, February 17, 1981
- "The Magnificent Seven", Sandinista!, -, March 27, 1981
- "This Is Radio Clash", -, -, November 25, 1981
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go", Combat Rock, 45, June 10, 1982
- "Rock the Casbah", Combat Rock, 8, September 16, 1982
Clash singles chronology
edit| connollyco | rateyourmusic | Wikipedia |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 March White Riot | 1977 White Riot / 1977 CBS 5058 | White Riot |
| 1977 May Remote Control | 1977 Remote Control / London's Burning [live] S CBS 5293 | Remote Control |
| 1977 September Complete Control | 1977 Complete Control / City of the Dead S CBS 5664 | Complete Control |
| 1978 February Clash City Rockers | 1978 Clash City Rockers / Jail Guitar Doors CBS 5834 | Clash City Rockers |
| 1978 June White Man In Hammersmith Palais | 1978 (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais / The Prisoner | (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais |
| --- | 1978 I Fought the Law / (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais 50738 | --- |
| 1978 November Tommy Gun | 1978 Tommy Gun / 1-2 Crush On You S CBS 6788 | Tommy Gun |
| 1979 February English Civil War | 1979 English Civil War / Pressure Drop 7082 1 26 | English Civil War |
| 1979 July I Fought the Law | --- | I Fought the Law |
| --- | 1979 Groovy Times / Gates of the West (NOT FOR SALE Epic AE7 1178) | Groovy Times |
| 1979 December London Calling | 1979 London Calling / Armagideon Time 7 issues | London Calling |
| --- | 1980 Clampdown / The Guns of Brixton (Australia 7" Vinyl Epic ES 486) | Clampdown |
| --- | 1980 Hitsville UK (UK CBS 9480) | Hitsville UK |
| 1980 February Train In Vain (Stand By Me) | 1980 Train in Vain (Stand by Me) / London Calling | Train in Vain |
| 1980 August Bankrobber | 1980 Bankrobber / Rockers Galore 8323 | Bankrobber |
| 1980 November The Call-Up | 1980 The Call Up / Stop the World | The Call-Up |
| 1981 January Hitsville UK | Hitsville UK 7" Vinyl Epic 51013 (USA ed.) | --- |
| 1981 April The Magnificent Seven | 1981 The Magnificent Seven / The Magnificent Dance | The Magnificent Seven |
| 1981 November This Is Radio Clash | 1981 This Is Radio Clash / Radio Clash 1797 | This Is Radio Clash |
| 1982 April Know Your Rights | 1982 Know Your Rights / First Night Back in London A2309 | Know Your Rights |
| --- | 1982 Should I Stay or Should I Go? / Inoculated City (USA [45 rpm] 7" Vinyl Epic 14-03006) | Should I Stay or Should I Go? |
| 1982 Rock the Casbah / Mustapha Dance | 1982 June Rock The Casbah | Rock The Casbah |
| 1982 July Should I Stay Or Should I Go? | --- | --- |
| --- | 1982 Straight to Hell | Straight to Hell |
| 1985 September This Is England | 1985 This Is England | This Is England |
| --- | 1988 I Fought the Law / City of the Dead - 1977 651172-7 | I Fought the Law (1988 re-release) ??? |
| 1990 July Return To Brixton (Remix) | 1990 Return to Brixton / The Guns of Brixton 656072-2 | --- |
| --- | 1991 London Calling / Brand New Cadillac | --- |
| --- | 1991 Should I Stay Or Should I Go/Rush | --- |
| --- | 1999 Complete Control [live] | --- |
EPs
editCapital Radio - Given away to readers who sent off the coupon printed in the NME, plus the red sticker found on the first album, April 1, 1977
- Side one
- "Listen" – 0:27
- "Interview With The Clash On The Circle Line (Part 1)" – 8:50
- Side two
- "Interview With The Clash On The Circle Line (Part 2)" – 3:10
- "Capital Radio One" – 2:09
The Cost of Living (EP) - May 11, 1979
- Side one
- "I Fought the Law" (Sonny Curtis) — (2:40)
- "Groovy Times"[1] — (3:25)
- Side two
- "Gates of the West"[2] — (3:25)
- "Capital Radio" — (4:05)
- "The Cost of Living Advert" (only on original vinyl and Japanese version of the singles box set)
Bankrobber EP - 33⅓ rpm 7" EP. US release, 1980
- "Train in Vain"
- "Bankrobber"
- "Rockers Galore... UK Tour" (Mikey Dread)
Black Market Clash - October 1980
- Side one
- "Capital Radio One" – 2:09
- "The Prisoner" – 3:00
- "Pressure Drop" (Toots Hibbert) – 3:30
- "Cheat" – 2:06
- "The City of the Dead" – 2:26
- "Time Is Tight" (Booker T. Jones) – 4:05
- Side two
- "Bankrobber/Robber Dub" (Strummer, Jones, Mikey Dread) – 6:16
- "Armagideon Time" (Willie Williams, Jackie Mittoo) – 3:50
- "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" (Williams, Mittoo) – 7:00
- Issues
- 1980 Black Market Clash 12" Vinyl Epic PE 38540
- 1980 Black Market Clash 12" Vinyl Epic 12EXP-304
- 1980 Black Market Clash United States 10" Vinyl Epic 4E 36846
Radio Clash (EP) - 25 November 1981
- Side one
- "This Is Radio Clash" – 4:07
- "Radio Clash" – 4:08
- Side two
- "Outside Broadcast" – 7:20
- "Radio Five" – 3:36
- Issues
- 1981 Radio Clash [33 rpm] Netherlands 12" Vinyl CBS CBS A-12.1797
- 1981 Radio Clash [33 rpm] 12" Vinyl CBS 12EXP 02662
- 1981 This is Radio Clash/Radio Clash/Outside Broadcast/Radio Five [33 rpm] United States 12" Vinyl Epic 49-02662
- 1981 Radio Clash 12" Vinyl Columbia
London Calling (EP) - 1988 London Calling United Kingdom 12" Vinyl CBS clash T2
- Side one
- "London Calling" – 3:19
- "Brand New Cadillac" – 2:09
- Side two
- "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:29
- "Street Parade" – 3:28
Should I Stay or Should I Go (EP) - 1988 [45 rpm], [Promo] Australia 12" Vinyl CBS 656977 6
- Side one
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
- "This Is Radio Clash"
- Side two
- "London Calling"
I Fought the Law - Deleted 1988 UK 4-track CD single manufactured in Germany
Twelve Inch Mixes - 1992 Twelve Inch Mixes United Kingdom CD Columbia 450123 2
- "London Calling" – 3:32
- "The Magnificent Dance" – 5:37
- "This Is Radio Clash" – 4:11
- "Rock the Casbah" – 3:44
- "This Is England" – 3:52
Studio Albums (The Clash)
editThe Clash (album) (1977)
edit- "Janie Jones" – 2:08
- "Remote Control" – 3:03
- "I'm So Bored with the USA" – 2:24
- "White Riot" – 1:56
- "Hate and War" – 2:06
- "What's My Name?" (Jones, Levene, Strummer) – 1:41
- "Deny" – 3:06
- "London's Burning" – 2:12
- "Career Opportunities" – 1:54
- "Cheat" – 2:06
- "Protex Blue" – 1:47
- "Police and Thieves" (Junior Murvin, Lee Perry) – 6:03
- "48 Hours" – 1:36
- "Garageland" – 3:12
1979 U.S. version track listing
edit- "Clash City Rockers" – 3:55
- "I'm So Bored with the USA" – 2:24
- "Remote Control" – 3:00
- "Complete Control" – 3:14
- "White Riot" – 1:58
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" – 3:58
- "London's Burning" – 2:10
- "I Fought the Law" (Sonny Curtis) – 2:40
- "Janie Jones" – 2:00
- "Career Opportunities" – 1:58
- "What's My Name?" (Jones, Levene, Strummer) – 1:40
- "Hate and War" – 2:05
- "Police and Thieves" (Junior Murvin, Lee Perry) – 5:58
- "Jail Guitar Doors" – 3:05
- "Garageland" – 3:12
Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978)
edit- "Safe European Home" – 3:50
- "English Civil War" – 2:35
- "Tommy Gun" – 3:17
- "Julie's in the Drug Squad" – 3:03
- "Last Gang in Town" – 5:14
- "Guns on the Roof" (Strummer, Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon) – 3:15
- "Drug-Stabbing Time" – 3:43
- "Stay Free" – 3:40
- "Cheapskates" – 3:25
- "All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)" – 4:55
London Calling (1979)
editReleased: December 1979 (UK); January 1980 (USA)
Epic 36328 (USA)
Chart Peak: #27 (USA)
Weeks Charted: 33 (USA)
Critics' praise
edit- from an old version of the article.
It was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1988, London Calling was chosen by a panel of rock critics and music broadcasters as the number 40 rock album of all time.[5] In 1989, it was ranked #1 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s (although it was released in 1979 in the UK, its U.S. release was in 1980).[6] In his 1995 book, "The Alternative Music Almanac", Alan Cross placed the album in the #10 spot on the list of '10 Classic Alternative Albums'. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted London Calling the 32nd greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 4 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2001, the TV network VH1 placed it at number 25 on its survey of the 100 greatest albums. In 2003, the album was ranked number 8 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[7] Pitchfork Media ranked it number two on their Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly named it the greatest rock album of all time. It is also the only album on Metacritic to get an average of 100 from various reviewing medias. In 2006, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation conducted a poll to determine its viewers' favourite album. "London Calling" was 26th on the list.[8] In 2006, the album was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[9][10][11][12]
Effect on music and musical genres
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Upon its release in 1979 (1980 in the U.S.), London Calling had an immediate effect on popular music and culture. This Britain's premier new wave act was the first album of its kind, as it fused together common and uncommon music genres like ska, reggae, dub and punk music. On London Calling, the Clash wanted to define an entire world just prior to blowing it up.[10][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][4][19][20][13][14]
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| “ | It wasn't about just limiting ourselves to one sound. It was all about, What about that sound over there, and that music over there? What if we mix that with this, and then put it like this? | ” |
| — Paul Simonon , [13] | ||
The Clash used London Calling as a springboard away from punk in all directions; from the rockabilly cover of Vince Taylor’s "Brand New Cadillac" to the reggae/ska of "Wrong 'Em Boyo", from the classical guitar of "Spanish Bombs", to the ballads of "Lost in the Supermarket", from touches of jazzbo cool in "Jimmy Jazz" to hard rock, while folding in elements of blues, basic rock and roll, mainstream rock, roots rock, jazz, folk, rhythm and blues, New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, calypso, even big-production pop. A fresh panoply of styles without sacrificing the urgency that made them punk leaders.[12][19][20][13][14][15][16][17][18]
Joe sat in the front room of the flat at World's End, looking out at Edith Grove and wrote about the state of the world in 'London Calling'. Strummer acts as an observer of the resultant winter-world of the apocalypse.[4]
In "Rudie Can't Fail" a Rude Boy is a teenage thug. The Rudies had been a popular part of ska and reggae culture appearing in the lyrics of many Jamaican songs.[4]
Green, Johnny; Garry Barker (2003) [1997]. A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with The Clash (3rd ed.). London: Orion. pp. 156–158, 161–162, 165, 194, 196, 218–219. ISBN 0752858432. OCLC 52990890.
Gilbert, Pat (2005) [2004]. Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash (4th ed.). London: Aurum Press. pp. 212–213, 228, 232–243, 256, 258–261, 268, 272, 276, 281, 284, 287, 296, 321, 332, 362, 367, 373–388. ISBN 1845131134. OCLC 61177239.
ref: "The gear was set up at one end of the room, as if the band were playing a small show, like at Rehearsals." -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p. 158
ref: "Then we struck lucky. It was called Vanilla, and it came from just another small-ad. It was in Causton Street, down by the river, near Vauxhall Bridge." -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p. 156
ref: Just around the corner was the "egg mayo sandwich" cafe where the members became 'fixtures' within walking distance of the Pollock images at The Tate Gallery, Vauxhall Bridge and the River Thames. -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p. 157
ref: The playground exists where football matches were performed with great enthusiasm, an hour every day of football was played in the fenced-in, asphalt covered tennis court over the road. -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p.161
ref: While Robin was a good player in any position-a ruthless defender or a forward with the finishing power and class of Denis Law. -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p. 162
quote: "All the time the work went on and the music was honed. This routine became daily life for us for nearly three months." -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p. 162
ref: "New York brought its own brand of intensity [3](p. 195).....I looked back on-stage to see Simonon clutch his bass neck and start smashing it on the floor like he was chopping wood." -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p. 195-196
ref: " He put down his doodlings of ideas for the cover of London Calling, always trying to make the connection with Elvis, the Beatles, the flame-carriers of rock'n'roll." -- [3]A Riot of Our Own, p. 194
ref: " And 'Train in Vain' never made it on to the cover. The song was whacked out at the last minute. Mick had arrived with the song on the day that the Baker and I were packing up the equipment...The song was taught, learnt and recorded there and then." - [3]A Riot of Our Own, p.218[4]
ref: RS-lc-1980. Carson Tom, 1980-04-03. The Clash: London Calling. Rolling Stone, Album Reviews
By now, our expectations of the Clash might seem to have become inflated beyond any possibility of fulfillment. It's not simply that they're the greatest rock & roll band in the world–indeed, after years of watching too many superstars compromise, blow chances and sell out, being the greatest is just about synonymous with being the music's last hope. While the group itself resists such labels, they do tell you exactly how high the stakes are, and how urgent the need. The Clash got their start on the crest of what looked like a revolution, only to see the punk movement either smash up on its own violent momentum or be absorbed into the same corporate-rock machinery it had meant to destroy. Now, almost against their will, they're the only ones left.
Give 'Em Enough Rope, the band's last recording, railed against the notion that being rock & roll heroes meant martyrdom. Yet the album also presented itself so flamboyantly as a last stand that it created a near-insoluble problem: after you've already brought the apocalypse crashing down on your head, how can you possibly go on? On the Clash's new LP, London Calling, there's a composition called "Death or Glory" that seems to disavow the struggle completely. Over a harsh and stormy guitar riff, lead singer Joe Strummer offers a grim litany of failure. Then his cohort, Mick Jones, steps forward to drive what appears to be the final nail into the coffin. "Death or glory," he bitterly announces, "become just another story."
But "Death or Glory" – in many ways, the pivotal song on London Calling – reverses itself midway. After Jones' last, anguished cry drops off into silence, the music seems to scatter from the echo of his words. Strummer reenters, quiet and undramatic, talking almost to himself at first and not much caring if anyone else is listening. "We're gonna march a long way," he whispers. "Gonna fight – a long time." The guitars, distant as bugles on some faraway plain, begin to rally. The drums collect into a beat, and Strummer slowly picks up strength and authority as he sings:
We've gotta travel – over mountains We've gotta travel – over seas We're gonna fight – you, brother We're gonna fight – till you lose We're gonna raise – TROUBLE!
The band races back to the firing line, and when the singers go surging into the final chorus of "Death or glory...just another story," you know what they're really saying: like hell it is!
Merry and tough, passionate and large-spirited, London Calling celebrates the romance of rock & roll rebellion in grand, epic terms. It doesn't merely reaffirm the Clash's own commitment to rock-as-revolution. Instead, the record ranges across the whole of rock & roll's past for its sound, and digs deeply into rock legend, history, politics and myth for its images and themes. Everything has been brought together into a single, vast, stirring story – one that, as the Clash tell it, seems not only theirs but ours. For all its first-take scrappiness and guerrilla production, this two-LP set–which, at the group's insistence, sells for not much more than the price of one–is music that means to endure. It's so rich and far-reaching that it leaves you not just exhilarated but exalted and triumphantly alive.
From the start, however, you know how tough a fight it's going to be. "London Calling" opens the album on an ominous note. When Strummer comes in on the downbeat, he sounds weary, used up, desperate: "The Ice Age is coming/The sun is zooming in/Meltdown expected/The wheat is growing thin.'
The rest of the record never turns its back on that vision of dread. Rather, it pulls you through the horror and out the other side. The Clash's brand of heroism may be supremely romantic, even naive, but their utter refusal to sentimentalize their own myth – and their determination to live up to an actual code of honor in the real world, without ever minimizing the odds – makes such romanticism seem not only brave but absolutely necessary. London Calling sounds like a series of insistent messages sent to the scattered armies of the night, proffering warnings and comfort, good cheer and exhortations to keep moving. If we begin amid the desolation of the title track, we end, four sides later, with Mick Jones spitting out heroic defiance in "I'm Not Down" and finding a majestic metaphor at the pit of his depression that lifts him – and us – right off the ground. "Like skyscrapers rising up," Jones screams. "Floor by floor–I'm not giving up." Then Joe Strummer invites the audience, with a wink and a grin, to "smash up your seats and rock to this brand new beat" in the merry-go-round invocation of "Revolution Rock."
Against all the brutality, injustice and large and small betrayals delineated in song after song here – the assembly-line Fascists in "Clampdown," the advertising executives of "Koka Kola," the drug dealer who turns out to be the singer's one friend in the jittery, hypnotic "Hateful" – the Clash can only offer their sense of historic purpose and the faith, innocence, humor and camaraderie embodied in the band itself. This shines through everywhere, balancing out the terrors that the LP faces again and again. It can take forms as simple as letting bassist Paul Simonon sing his own "The Guns of Brixton," or as relatively subtle as the way Strummer modestly moves in to support Jones' fragile lead vocal on the forlorn "Lost in the Supermarket." It can be as intimate and hilarious as the moment when Joe Strummer deflates any hint of portentousness in the sexual-equality polemics of "Lover's Rock" by squawking "I'm so nervous!" to close the tune. In "Four Horsemen," which sounds like the movie soundtrack to a rock & roll version of The Seven Samurai, the Clash's martial pride turns openly exultant. The guitars and drums start at a thundering gallop, and when Strummer sings, "Four horsemen ...," the other members of the group charge into line to shout joyously: "...and it's gonna be us!"
London Calling is spacious and extravagant. It's as packed with characters and incidents as a great novel, and the band's new stylistic expansions – brass, organ, occasional piano, blues grind, pop airiness and the reggae-dub influence that percolates subversively through nearly every number – add density and richness to the sound. The riotous rockabilly-meets-the-Ventures quality of "Brand New Cadillac" ("Jesus Christ!" Strummer yells to his ex-girlfriend, having so much fun he almost forgets to be angry, "Whereja get that Cadillac?") slips without pause into the strung-out shuffle of "Jimmy Jazz," a Nelson Algren-like street scene that limps along as slowly as its hero, just one step ahead of the cops. If "Rudie Can't Fail" (the "She's Leaving Home" of our generation) celebrates an initiation into bohemian lowlife with affection and panache, "The Card Cheat" picks up on what might be the same character twenty years later, shot down in a last grab for "more time away from the darkest door." An awesome orchestral backing track gives this lower-depths anecdote a somber weight far beyond its scope. At the end of "The Card Cheat," the song suddenly explodes into a magnificent panoramic overview – "from the Hundred Year War to the Crimea"–that turns ephemeral pathos into permanent tragedy.
Other tracks tackle history head-on, and claim it as the Clash's own. "Wrong 'Em Boyo" updates the story of Stagger Lee in bumptious reggae terms, forging links between rock & roll legend and the group's own politicized roots-rock rebel. "The Right Profile," which is about Montgomery Clift, accomplishes a different kind of transformation. Over braying and sarcastic horns, Joe Strummer gags, mugs, mocks and snickers his way through a comic-horrible account of the actor's collapse on booze and pills, only to close with a grudging admiration that becomes unexpectedly and astonishingly moving. It's as if the singer is saying, no matter how ugly and pathetic Clift's life was, he was still–in spite of everything–one of us.
"Spanish Bombs" is probably London Calling's best and most ambitious song. A soaring, chiming intro pulls you in, and before you can get your bearings, Strummer's already halfway into his tale. Lost and lonely in his "disco casino," he's unable to tell whether the gunfire he hears is out on the streets or inside his head. Bits of Spanish doggerel, fragments of combat scenes, jangling flamenco guitars and the lilting vocals of a children's tune mesh in a swirling kaleidoscope of courage and disillusionment, old wars and new corruption. The evocation of the Spanish Civil War is sumptuously romantic: "With trenches full of poets, the ragged army, fixin' bayonets to fight the other line." Strummer sings, as Jones throws in some lovely, softly stinging notes behind him. Here as elsewhere, the heroic past isn't simply resurrected for nostalgia's sake. Instead, the Clash state that the lessons of the past must be earned before we can apply them to the present.
London Calling certainly lives up to that challenge. With its grainy cover photo, its immediate, on-the-run sound, and songs that bristle with names and phrases from today's headlines, it's as topical as a broadside. But the album also claims to be no more than the latest battlefield in a war of rock & roll, culture and politics that'll undoubtedly go on forever. "Revolution Rock," the LP's formal coda, celebrates the joys of this struggle as an eternal carnival. A spiraling organ weaves circles around Joe Strummer's voice, while the horn section totters, sways and recovers like a drunken mariachi band. "This must be the way out," Strummer calls over his shoulder, so full of glee at his own good luck that he can hardly believe it." El Clash Combo," he drawls like a proud father, coasting now, sure he's made it home. "Weddings, parties, anything... And bongo jazz a specialty."
But it's Mick Jones who has the last word. "Train in Vain" arrives like an orphan in the wake of "Revolution Rock." It's not even listed on the label, and it sounds faint, almost overheard. Longing, tenderness and regret mingle in Jones' voice as he tries to get across to his girl that losing her meant losing everything, yet he's going to manage somehow. Though his sorrow is complete, his pride is that he can sing about it. A wistful, simple number about love and loss and perseverance, "Tram in Vain" seems like an odd ending to the anthemic tumult of London Calling. But it's absolutely appropriate, because if this record has told us anything, it's that a love affair and a revolution–small battles as well as large ones – are not that different. They're all part of the same long, bloody march.
TOM CARSON (Posted: Apr 3, 1980)[21]
www.theclash.org.uk/London.htm[4]
'Spanish Bombs' was written as a result of travelling home from Wessex Studios late one evening, Strummer and Gaby Salter were talking about ETA, the Basque separatists in Spain, who were engaged in a bombing campaign against various holiday resorts on the Costa Del Sol.[4]
'The Right Profile ' was based on the Method actor Montgomery Clift and a tribute to The Clash's producer, Guy Stevens.[4]
Pennie Smith (NME) took the photograph at the Palladium in New York city. The most enduring Clash image is that of a legs-akimbo Simonon smashing his bass guitar in frustration against the stage, providing Pennie Smith with an irresistible photo-opportunity, immortalised on the front cover picture of the band's album, London Calling, one of the most recognisable and enduring of rock'n'roll icons.[4]
As Paul Simonon advanced towards her with his Fender Precision bass aloft, she managed to squeeze off two shots before diving out of the way.[4]
Ray Lowry designed the cover[4]
The cover of "London Calling" is very similar to Elvis' first album in March 13, 1956 with the green and pink lettering.[4]
Bob Gruen opened the show playing a bugle at Notting Hill's 250-capacity Acklam Hall (the old Socialist Community Centre) on Christmas Day, 1979. Mick, Joe and Paul walked not very far to the gig; it was 50p to get in. The first show was sparsely attended but word of mouth guaranteed that the second Acklam Hall show was packed out and far more boisterous.[4]
The double album, which fused rock, reggae, rockabilly, jazz, dance and ska, was released for the price of a single album.[4]
- Blashill, Pat (2004-10-14). "London Calling 25th Anniversary Edition Review". Rolling Stone (10). San Francisco, CA: Straight Arrow Publishers. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 1787396.
In 1979, London Calling was sold with a sticker declaring that the Clash were "THE ONLY BAND THAT MATTERS," and they acted as if they believed their own hype. Broadcasting from the middle of the wild-eyed mess that was English punk rock, a milieu that often dismissed idealism as a liability, the band was criticized as being too serious, even too nice, while its peers, the Sex Pistols, were uniformly regarded as the real thing. Twenty-five years later, Sony has expanded this reissue of the group's third album with some raw demo recordings and a DVD of documentary films, even as the basic political nightmares the Clash ripped into on the album have expanded exponentially. Then as now, it would seem that idealism was underrated.
London Calling is indeed a serious, ridiculously ambitious punk album that resonates within a largely American history of rebellion -- the lyrics invoke anti-heroes from tough-guy actor Robert Mitchum to gangsta legend Stagga Lee. It was originally underestimated as simply a bridge to reggae, classic rock & roll and pop radio. True, "Lover's Rock" is a jubilant rush of electric guitar and piano that brethlessly evokes the tenderness of reggae without becoming reggae. And the shuddering unforgettable "Train in Vain," which broke the band commercially in the States, is that rarest of hits: The band claps and harmonica sound vaguely prefabricated, but Mick Jones' wounded vocal feels utterly genuine, and the tune stays with you like a black eye.
The "lost" Clash songs unearthed for this release were lost for a reason: "Heart and Mind" is an anthemic throwaway, and "Lonesome Me," had it been released, would have killed cowpunk before it was invented. But London Calling proper sounds crucial right now because of righteous blasts such as the title track, which wails like a hundred car alarms. "The Guns of Brixton" is a dread-sick skank, a reggae song that evinces punk's political violence. The most astonishing number is "Clampdown," which burns through the middle of the album with kneecap-cracking beats and a heroic three-note guitar solo. It may be the most defiant rock song ever committed to plastic. (An early version, "Working and Waiting," is also here.) Feeling resigned to another four years of the Bush administration? Listen to London Calling and flame on, brothers and sisters.
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- Dimery, Robert (1999). Collins Gem Classic Albums. Glasgow: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0004724852. OCLC 43582584.
The Clash staked their claim as rock 'n' roll icons with London Calling, starting with the sleeve -- a pastiche of Elvis's debut album cover. Spiky guitars and a bass fanfare announce "London Calling." Over a nagging rhythm, past heroes are torched; the yowls, feedback and Strummer's hoarse vocal produce a truly apocalyptic vision. London Calling reveals the Clash as musical magpies. Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac" is sleazy rockabilly, while "Wrong 'Em Boyo," featuring a sassy sax, revisits the Stagger Lee myth. "Hateful" features a shuffling Bo Diddley rhythm (he supported them on their first U.S. tour). Paul Simonon's "The Guns Of Brixton" is a confrontational rallying cry, mixing brooding reggae with a classic bass riff. On "Koka Kola" and "Lost In The Supermarket" advertising is rubbished, while "Spanish Bombs" praises the heroism of republicans in the Spanish Civil War. "The Right Profile," a snapshot of the tragic actor Montgomery Clift, features bright horns, choppy guitars and emotional vocals from Strummer; the driving "Clampdown" rails against a conformist lifestyle with true punk vitriol. For sheer ambition, eclecticism and heart, London Calling wiped the floor with the Clash's punk peers. At the end of the '80s, Rolling Stone magazine voted it the album of the decade -- and it had been released there in January, 1980.
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- Erlewine, Michael; Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, William Ruhlmann (1995). All Music Guide to Rock: The best CDs, Albums & Tapes: Rock, Pop, Soul, R & B and Rap. San Francisco, CA: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 087930376X. OCLC 33079040.
What are we gonna do now?" asks Joe Strummer at the start of "Clampdown," one of this album's songs. But by the time you get to that track, it's already clear that the Clash have solved that problem by taking a giant step toward making craftsmanlike rock without sacrificing the urgency that made them punk leaders. From the title track through the reggae, rock, and pop tracks that follow, this is one of the premier albums of its time. – William Ruhlmann.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- Gambaccini, Paul (1987). The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0517565617. OCLC 14359796.
This double album is filled to bursting with expressions of the energies of the Clash at their peak. The title tune was their biggest hit single at home. "Train In Vain (Stand By Me)" was their first US success. Ironically, it wasn't listed on UK labels in the interests of retaining street credibility.
"The Right Profile" touchingly saluted the troubled actor Montgomery Clift. It also included what must be the most difficult printed lyric any aspiring cover artist could have to tackle, Joe Strummer's "Arrrghhhgorra buh bhuh do arrrrggghhhhnnnn!!!!"
In 1987, London Calling was chosen by a panel of rock critics and music broadcasters as the #40 rock album of all time.
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- Graff, Gary; Alan Paul (1996). Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 0787610372. OCLC 35029740.
London Calling is the band's masterpiece, balancing high energy punk efficiency with forays into roots rock, blues and reggae. Less intense than its debut, but also more accessible, this is simply a great collection of songs. – Alan Paul.
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- Guterman, Jimmy (1992). The Best Rock and Roll Records of All Time: A Fan's Guide to the Really Great Stuff. New York, NY: Carol. ISBN 080651325X. OCLC 25369444.
The Clash were already the best rock-and-roll band in the world -- the Rolling Stones had long since peaked -- when they recorded London Calling. Their homonymous debut album (worth owning in both its overlapping U.S. and U.K. configurations) made the Sex Pistols sound gutless in comparison (the Clash's anger had an end beyond its means), and in songs like "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" and Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves," they expanded even the most optimistic notions of what punk could include without selling out. "We're a garage band/We come from Garageland," sneered singer Joe Strummer, but from the start they were much more. Mick Jones was that rare guitarist who didn't turn dull as his technical expertise blossomed (that is, he didn't succumb to Eric Clapton Disease), and the open songs he and Strummer hammered out made the nihilism of their fellow punks sound silly. From the beginning they were pushing limits.
What remains most amazing about London Calling, a sixty-six-minute double-album, is its breadth. I don't mean this only lyrically, though any record that seeks to explain Spanish imperialists in Central America, the death of Montgomery Clift, American everymalls, nineteenth-century poker games, and the mean streets of Brixton screams ambition at every turn. Musically, the Clash use London Calling as a springboard away from punk in all directions -- basic rock and roll, mainstream rock, reggae, New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, calypso, even big-production pop -- although the punk ideal always holds sway. On London Calling, the Clash wanted to define an entire world just prior to blowing it up. Among double-albums, only Exile on Main Street covers more territory.
Yet these nineteen songs cohere magnificently. One of the numbers, "Train in Vain," isn't even listed on the sleeve. In a scenario typical of the Clash's wary/incompentent approach to commercial necessities, the song no one could find turned out to be their first hit single in America. Some of the tracks meander a bit before they fade and some of the lyrics devolve into Dylan-derived dirty doggerel ("I believe in this and it's been tested by research/That he who fucks nuns will later join the church"), but aside from those few flaws to remind you that these guys aren't perfect -- in fact, the group's inevitable self-destruction began almost immediately after the recording of London Calling -- every moment on London Calling is as brazen and ultimately true as any rock and roll ever made.
London Calling earns these accolades not because the band so fervently believes what they are saying (hell, Styx and Kansas believe in the mush they emit), but because their music backs up even their wildest assertions. Whether juggling lyrics in the anthemic "Spanish Bombs," offering themselves as house band anywhere in the hilarious "Revolution Rock" (the same song in which Strummer claims, "I'm so pilled up that I r-r-rattle"), finding a middle ground between satire and declamation in "Lover's Rock," or damning American consumerism in "Lost in the Supermarket" and "Koka Kola," the music, recorded in appropriately dirty-clean fashion by producer Guy Stevens and engineer Bill Price, is terse and direct, as in-your-face as the Clash's previous records, but with more breathing room. The music for the songs that are most explicitly about the band -- "Death or Glory" and "Four Horsemen" -- is muscular and trustworthy enough to justify the bravado of the lyrics.
The Clash didn't stop here. Their next album, Sandinista!, was a sprawling mess, three albums of ooze that were even more wide-ranging, though not quite as consistent. Over repeated listenings, even the songs that were considered filler -- dub versions of songs on the albums, children's-chorus versions of songs from earlier albums -- gain weight. Sandinista! was the only studio triple-album in rock and roll worth the time or monetary investment.
One of my greatest thrills as a rock-and-roll fan was in 1982, at a stadium concert in Philadelphia, when the Clash (opening for the Who, in the first of what will no doubt be several dozen farewell tours) kicked off their avalanche of a set with "London Calling" and Strummer punched the air to the beat. This commercially marginal band had gotten over to the masses without compromise. Ninety thousand hot, thirsty fans joined Strummer in motion. I knew at the time that it was an empty gesture, and probably a manipulative one to boot. It didn't matter.
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "8) London Calling". Rolling Stone The 500 Greatest Album of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1932958614. OCLC 70672814. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
Recorded in 1979 in London, which was then wrenched by surging unemployment and drug addiction, and released in America in January 1980, the dawn of an uncertain decade, London Calling is nineteen songs of apocalypse fueled by an unbending faith in rock & roll to beat back the darkness. Produced with no-surrender energy by legendary Sixties studio madman Guy Stevens, the Clash's third album sounds like a free-form radio broadcast from the end of the world, skidding from bleak punk ("London Calling") to rampaging ska ("Wrong 'Em Boyo") and disco resignation ("Lost in the Supermarket"). The album was made in dire straits, too. The band was heavily in debt; singer-guitarists Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, the Clash's Lennon and McCartney, wrote together in Jones' grandmother's flat, where he was living for lack of dough. But the Clash also cranked up the hope. The album ends with "Train in Vain," a rousing song of fidelity (originally unlisted on the back cover) that became the sound of triumph: the Clash's first Top Thirty single in the U.S.
London Calling was chosen as the 8th greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in Dec. 2003.
Related news articles:
- "The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (Special Collectors Issue). San Francisco, California: Straight Arrow. 2003-12-11. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 1787396.
- "The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Special Collectors Issue. Rolling Stone. 2003-11-18. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- "8) London Calling". Special Collectors Issue. Rolling Stone. 2003-11-18. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- "London Calling". Billboard. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1980. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 1532948.
The third album by the Clash, Britain's premier new wave act, is a double-album set, selling at a lower price. The music the four-man band plays is still angry political rock, but now it is much more carefully wrought and realized, making it more palatable to American radio and mass tastes. The songs are performed at less than breakneck speed, horns are used to fill out the sound and singer Joe Strummer works harder at making the words easier to understand. LP is getting great initial critical response. Best cuts: "Wrong 'Em Boyo," "London Calling," "Lost In The Supermarket," "Koka Kola," "Revolution Rock."
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- "1,000 Top Albums of All Time". Music Guide. New York: Zagat Survey. 2003. ISBN 1570065438. OCLC 53031106.
A revolutionary album that proved to be the voice of a generation, this sonic potpourri of rock, rockabilly, reggae and dub defines an era, yet remains relevant today. The UK godfathers of punk cast their jaundiced eye on politics, pop, consumer culture and, surprisingly, love on this staggering achievement-cum-encyclopedia for questioning authority and laid down the law -- which side are you on? This landmark screamed, making people want to dance, shout and incite riots.
Related news articles: - "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
Track listing (CD)
edit- "London Calling" – 3:19
- "Brand New Cadillac " (Vince Taylor) – 2:09
- "Jimmy Jazz" – 3:51
- "Hateful" – 2:47
- "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:26
- "Spanish Bombs" – 3:18
- "The Right Profile" – 4:00
- "Lost in the Supermarket" – 3:47
- "Clampdown" – 3:50
- "The Guns of Brixton" (Paul Simonon) – 3:07
- "Wrong 'Em Boyo" (Clive Alphonso) – 3:10
- "Death or Glory" – 3:55
- "Koka Kola" – 1:45
- "The Card Cheat" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Topper Headon) – 3:51
- "Lover's Rock" – 4:01
- "Four Horsemen" – 3:00
- "I'm Not Down" – 3:00
- "Revolution Rock" (Jackie Edwards, Danny Ray) – 5:37
- "Train in Vain" – 3:11
Certifications
edit| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| BPI – UK | Gold | 31 December 1979 |
| RIAA – USA | Gold | 4 December 1991 |
| RIAA – USA | Platinum | 14 February 1996 |
Release history
editDec 1979... Jan 1980... 1986... 1988... 1990... 1999... (2001)... In January 2000, London Calling, along with the rest of the Clash's catalog was remastered and re-released.[22]
On 21 September 2004, Epic Records and Legacy Recordings released a Legacy Edition of the album which included not only the original remastered album (first released in 2000) but also The Vanilla Tapes, long rumoured lost, which contained rough rehearsal sessions for the album named after the studio in London where the recordings took place and a DVD containing a documentary and promos about the making of the album.[18][4][22][23]
London Calling was reissued several times, with different covers and formats in different countries (see the table below).[22]
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | December 14, 1979 | CBS | double LP | 460114 1 |
| Netherlands | December 14, 1979 | CBS | double LP | CBS 88478 |
| Australia | 1979 | Epic Records | double LP | 2ELPS 0025 |
| United States | January, 1980 | Epic Records | double LP | E2 36328 |
| Stereo 8 | E2A 36328 | |||
| United Kingdom | 1986 | CBS | CD | 460114 2 |
| Australia | 1986 | Epic Records | CD | 460144 2 |
| Japan | 1988 | Epic Records, Sony | CD | 25-8P-5060 |
| United States | October 25, 1990 | Epic Records | CD | E2A 36328 |
| 1999 | Columbia Records | remastered CD | 495347 2 | |
| 1999 | Columbia Records | remastered CD | 4952222000 | |
| United States | January 25, 2000 | Epic Records | remastered CD | EK 63885 |
| United Kingdom | 2001 | Columbia Records | remastered CD | 505068 2 |
| United Kingdom | September 20, 2004 | Columbia Records | CD | 5179283 |
| Canada, United States | November 17, 2004 | Sony Music Direct | CD | E3K 92923 |
| Japan | November 21, 2004 | Epic Legacy | CD | MHCP 524~5 |
Sandinista! (1980)
edit- "The Magnificent Seven" – 5:28
- "Hitsville UK" – 4:20 [Vocal: Ellen Foley ]
- "Junco Partner" ("writer, at present, unknown" on insert notes) – 4:53
- "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" – 3:05 [Vocal: Topper Headon ]
- "The Leader" – 1:41
- "Something About England" – 3:42
- "Rebel Waltz" – 3:25
- "Look Here" (Mose Allison) – 2:44
- "The Crooked Beat" – 5:29 [Vocal: Paul Simonon ]
- "Somebody Got Murdered" – 3:34
- "One More Time" (The Clash / Mikey Dread) – 3:32
- "One More Dub" (The Clash / Mikey Dread) – 3:34 [ Dub version of "One More Time"]
- "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" – 4:51
- "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" – 4:31
- "Corner Soul" – 2:43
- "Let's Go Crazy" – 4:25
- "If Music Could Talk" (The Clash / Mikey Dread) – 4:36
- "The Sound of Sinners" – 4:00
- "Police on My Back" (Eddy Grant) – 3:15
- "Midnight Log" – 2:11
- "The Equaliser" – 5:47
- "The Call Up" – 5:25
- "Washington Bullets" – 3:51
- "Broadway" – 5:45 [Features an Epilogue of "Guns of Brixton" sung by Maria Gallagher]
- "Lose This Skin" (Tymon Dogg) – 5:07 [Vocal: Tymon Dogg]
- "Charlie Don't Surf (song)" – 4:55
- "Mensforth Hill" – 3:42 ["Something About England" backwards]
- "Junkie Slip" – 2:48
- "Kingston Advice" – 2:36
- "The Street Parade" – 3:26
- "Version City" – 4:23
- "Living in Fame" (The Clash / Mikey Dread) – 4:36 [Dub Version of "If Music Could Talk", vocals by Mikey Dread]
- "Silicone on Sapphire" – 4:32 [Dub version of "Washington Bullets"]
- "Version Pardner" – 5:22 [Dub version of "Junco Partner"]
- "Career Opportunities" – 2:30 [New version sung by Luke and Ben Gallagher]
- "Shepherds Delight" (The Clash / Mikey Dread) – 3:25
Combat Rock (1982)
edit- "Know Your Rights" (Strummer/Jones) – 3:39
- "Car Jamming" – 3:58
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" – 3:06
- "Rock the Casbah" – 3:14
- "Red Angel Dragnet" – 3:48
- "Straight to Hell" – 5:30
- "Overpowered by Funk" – 4:55
- "Atom Tan" – 2:32
- "Sean Flynn" – 4:30
- "Ghetto Defendant" – 4:45
- "Inoculated City" – 2:43 (some copies of the album have an edited version lasting 2:11)
- "Death Is a Star" – 3:08
Cut the Crap (1985)
edit- "Dictator" – 3:00
- "Dirty Punk" – 3:11
- "We Are the Clash" – 3:02
- "Are You Red..Y" – 3:01
- "Cool Under Heat" – 3:21
- "Movers and Shakers" – 3:01
- "This Is England" – 3:49
- "Three Card Trick" – 3:09
- "Play to Win" – 3:06
- "Fingerpoppin'" – 3:25
- "North and South" – 3:32
- "Life is Wild" – 2:39
- "Do It Now" (bonus track on 2000 re-release) – 3:08
Compilations and Live Albums
editBlack Market Clash (1980)
edit- "Capital Radio One" — 2:09
- "The Prisoner" — 3:00
- "Pressure Drop" (Hibbert) — 3:30
- "Cheat" — 2:06
- "The City of the Dead" — 2:26
- "Time Is Tight" (Booker T. Jones) — 4:05
- "Bankrobber/Robber Dub" — 6:16
- "Armagideon Time" — 3:50
- "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" — 7:00 (Dodd/Williams)
- "The Magnificent Seven" (Clash) - 4:27
- "Rock the Casbah" [US Single Version] (Clash) - 3:42
- "This is Radio Clash" (Clash) - 4:10
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (Clash) - 3:06
- "Straight to Hell" (Clash) - 5:30
- "Armagideon Time" (Dodd, Williams) - 3:50
- "Clampdown" - 3:50
- "Train in Vain" - 3:10
- "Guns of Brixton" (Simonon) - 3:12
- "I Fought the Law" (Curtis) - 2:35
- "Somebody Got Murdered" (Clash) - 3:34
- "Lost in the Supermarket" - 3:47
- "Bank Robber" - 4:31
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" - 3:58
- "London's Burning" - 2:09
- "Janie Jones" - 2:04
- "Tommy Gun" - 3:14
- "Complete Control" - 3:12
- "Capital Radio" - 5:18
- "White Riot" - 1:59
- "Career Opportunities" - 1:51
- "Clash City Rockers" - 3:57
- "Safe European Home" - 3:49
- "Stay Free" - 3:37
- "London Calling" - 3:18
- "Spanish Bombs" - 3:18
- "English Civil War" (Jones, Strummer, Traditional) - 2:34
- "Police & Thieves" (Murvin, Perry) - 6:00
Clash on Broadway (1991)
edit- "Janie Jones" (demo version) – 2:11
- "Career Opportunities" (demo version) – 1:58
- "White Riot" [UK Single Version] – 1:59
- "1977" – 1:41
- "I'm So Bored With the U.S.A." – 2:25
- "Hate & War" – 2:06
- "What's My Name" (Jones, Keith Levene, Strummer) – 1:40
- "Deny" – 3:05
- "London's Burning" – 2:10
- "Protex Blue" – 1:46
- "Police & Thieves" (Junior Murvin, Lee "Scratch" Perry) – 6:00
- "48 Hours" – 1:36
- "Cheat" – 2:07
- "Garageland" – 3:14
- "Capital Radio One" – 2:09
- "Complete Control" – 3:14
- "Clash City Rockers" – 3:49
- "City of the Dead" – 2:24
- "Jail Guitar Doors" – 3:05
- "The Prisoner" – 3:00
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" – 4:01
- "Pressure Drop" (Toots Hibbert) – 3:26
- "1-2 Crush on You" – 3:01
- "English Civil War [live]" (Jones, Strummer, Traditional) – 2:41
- "I Fought the Law" {From Rude Boy} [live] (Curtis) – 2:26
- "Safe European Home" – 3:51
- "Tommy Gun" – 3:17
- "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" – 3:04
- "Stay Free" – 3:40
- "One Emotion" – 4:40
- "Groovy Times" – 3:30
- "Gates of the West" – 3:27
- "Armagideon Time" (Dodd, Mittoo, Williams) – 3:50
- "London Calling" – 3:20
- "Brand New Cadillac" (Taylor) – 2:10
- "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:30
- "The Guns of Brixton" (Paul Simonon) – 3:11
- "Spanish Bombs" – 3:20
- "Lost in the Supermarket" – 3:48
- "The Right Profile" – 3:55
- "The Card Cheat" – 3:51
- "Death or Glory" – 3:57
- "Clampdown" – 3:50
- "Train in Vain" – 3:11
- "Bankrobber" – 4:33
- "Police on My Back" (Eddy Grant) – 3:18
- "The Magnificent Seven" – 5:33
- "The Leader" – 1:42
- "The Call Up" – 5:28
- "Somebody Got Murdered" – 3:35
- "Washington Bullets" – 3:52
- "Broadway" – 4:57
- "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" (live) – 3:38
- "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Ed Cobb) – 4:38
- "Stop the World" – 2:33
- "Midnight to Stevens" – 4:39
- "This Is Radio Clash" – 4:11
- "Cool Confusion" – 3:15
- "Red Angel Dragnet" Edited Version – 3:25
- "Ghetto Defendant" (Edited Version) – 4:15
- "Rock the Casbah" [US Single Version] – 3:42
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" [US Single Version] – 3:09
- "Straight to Hell" [Unedited Version] – 6:56
- "Hidden Track" (aka. "The Street Parade") – 3:27
The Singles (1991)
edit- "White Riot" – 1:57
- "Remote Control" – 2:58
- "Complete Control" – 3:11
- "Clash City Rockers" – 3:46
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" – 3:58
- "Tommy Gun" – 3:13
- "English Civil War" – 2:34
- "I Fought the Law" – 2:38
- "London Calling" – 3:17
- "Train in Vain" – 3:06
- "Bankrobber" – 4:32
- "The Call Up" – 5:21
- "Hitsville UK" – 4:19
- "The Magnificent Seven" – 4:26
- "This is Radio Clash" – 4:08
- "Know Your Rights" – 3:35
- "Rock the Casbah" – 3:35
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" – 3:08
Super Black Market Clash (1994)
edit- "1977" – 1:41
- "Listen" – 2:44
- "Jail Guitar Doors" – 3:05
- "The City of the Dead" – 2:24
- "The Prisoner" – 3:01
- "Pressure Drop" (Hibbert) – 3:26
- "1-2 Crush on You" – 3:00
- "Groovy Times" – 3:31
- "Gates of the West" – 3:27
- "Capital Radio Two" – 3:20
- "Time Is Tight" (Booker T. Jones) – 4:06
- "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" (Dodd/Williams) – 8:54
- "Robber Dub" – 4:42
- "The Cool Out" (The Clash) – 3:54
- "Stop the World" (The Clash) – 2:32
- "The Magnificent Dance" (The Clash) – 5:38
- "Radio Clash" (The Clash) – 4:10
- "First Night Back in London" (The Clash) – 3:00
- "Long Time Jerk" (The Clash) – 2:57
- "Cool Confusion" (The Clash) – 3:15
- "Mustapha Dance" (Headon/Simonon/Jones/Strummer) – 4:26
From Here to Eternity: Live (1999)
edit- "Complete Control" (Jones/Strummer) – 3:45
- "London's Burning" (Jones/Strummer) – 2:03
- "What's My Name" (Jones/Levene/Strummer) – 1:43
- "Clash City Rockers" (Jones/Strummer) – 3:30
- "Career Opportunities" (Jones/Strummer) – 2:06
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" (Jones/Strummer) – 4:28
- "Capital Radio" (Jones/Strummer) – 2:58
- "City of the Dead" (Jones/Strummer) – 2:47
- "I Fought the Law" (Curtis) – 2:36
- "London Calling" (Jones/Strummer) – 3:29
- "Armagideon Time" (Dodd/Williams) – 5:05
- "Train in Vain" (Jones/Strummer) – 4:43
- "Guns of Brixton" (Simonon) – 3:36
- "The Magnificent Seven" (The Clash) – 6:09
- "Know Your Rights" (The Clash) – 4:05
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (The Clash) – 3:14
- "Straight to Hell" (The Clash) – 7:24
The Essential Clash (2003)
edit- "White Riot" – 1:59
- "London's Burning" – 2:10
- "Complete Control" – 3:13
- "Clash City Rockers" (original version) – 3:56
- "I'm So Bored with the U.S.A." – 2:25
- "Career Opportunities" – 1:52
- "Hate & War" – 2:05
- "Cheat" – 2:06
- "Police & Thieves" (Murvin-Perry) – 6:00
- "Janie Jones" – 2:05
- "Garageland" – 3:13
- "Capital Radio One" – 2:09
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" – 4:01
- "English Civil War" (traditional, arranged by Jones-Strummer) – 2:36
- "Tommy Gun" – 3:17
- "Safe European Home" – 3:51
- "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" – 3:04
- "Stay Free" – 3:40
- "Groovy Times" – 3:30
- "I Fought the Law" (Curtis) – 2:39
- "London Calling" (Jones-Strummer) – 3:20
- "The Guns of Brixton" (Paul Simonon) – 3:10
- "Clampdown" (Jones-Strummer) – 3:50
- "Rudie Can't Fail" (Jones-Strummer) – 3:29
- "Lost in the Supermarket" (Jones-Strummer) – 3:47
- "Jimmy Jazz" (Jones-Strummer) – 3:55
- "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)" (Jones-Strummer) – 3:11
- "Bankrobber" (Jones-Strummer) – 4:35
- "The Magnificent Seven" – 5:33
- "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" – 3:07
- "Stop the World" – 2:33
- "Somebody Got Murdered" – 3:34
- "The Street Parade" – 3:29
- "Broadway" - 4:56
- "This Is Radio Clash" – 4:11
- "Ghetto Defendant" – 4:44
- "Rock the Casbah" – 3:42
- "Straight to Hell" – 5:30
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" – 3:08
- "This Is England" (Rhodes-Strummer) – 3:50
London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition - The Vanilla Tapes (bonus disc) (2004)
edit- "Hateful" – 3:23
- "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:08
- "Paul's Tune" (Simonon) – 2:32
- "I'm Not Down" – 3:34
- "4 Horsemen" – 2:45
- "Koka Kola, Advertising & Cocaine" – 1:57
- "Death or Glory" – 3:47
- "Lover's Rock" – 3:45
- "Lonesome Me" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 2:09
- "The Police Walked in 4 Jazz" – 2:19
- "Lost in the Supermarket" – 3:52
- "Up-Toon (Inst.)" – 1:57
- "Walking the Slidewalk" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 2:34
- "Where You Gonna Go (Soweto)" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 4:05
- "The Man in Me" (Bob Dylan) – 3:57
- "Remote Control" – 2:39
- "Working and Waiting" – 4:11
- "Heart & Mind" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 4:27
- "Brand New Cadillac" (Taylor) – 2:08
- "London Calling" – 4:26
- "Revolution Rock" (Edwards, Ray) – 3:51
Singles Box (2006)
edit- "White Riot" - 1:59
- "1977" - 1:40
- "Listen" (Edit) - 2:27
- "Interview With The Clash On The Circle Line" (Pt. 1) - 8:51
- "Interview With The Clash On The Circle Line" (Pt. 2) - 3:10
- "Capital Radio" - 2:07
- "Remote Control" - 3:02
- "London's Burning" (Live) - 2:12
- "London's Burning" (Dutch 7") - 2:10
- "Complete Control" - 2:53
- "The City of the Dead" - 2:22
- "Clash City Rockers" - 3:47
- "Jail Guitar Doors" - 3:03
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" - 4:02
- "The Prisoner" - 2:59
- "Tommy Gun" - 3:19
- "1-2 Crush On You" - 2:59
- "English Civil War (Johnny Comes Marching Home)" - 2:38
- "Pressure Drop" - 2:35
- "I Fought the Law" - 2:42
- "Groovy Times" - 3:31
- "Gates of the West" - 3:37
- "Capital Radio Two" - 3:19
- "London Calling" - 3:21
- "Armagideon Time" - 3:51
- "Justice Tonight" (UK 12" Mix) - 4:08
- "Kick It Over" (UK 12" Mix) - 4:47
- "Clampdown" (US Promo 12") - 3:51
- "The Card Cheat" (US Promo 12") - 3:51
- "Lost in the Supermarket" (US Promo 12") - 3:46
- "Bankrobber" - 4:36
- "Rockers Galore...UK Tour" - 4:42
- "Rudie Can't Fail" (Dutch 7") - 3:29
- "Train In Vain" (Spanish 7") - 3:09
- "The Call Up" - 2:54
- "Stop The World" - 2:32
- "Hitsville U.K." - 4:23
- "Radio One" - 6:20
- "Police On My Back" (US 7" Mix) - 3:19
- "Somebody Got Murdered" (Spanish 7") - 3:33
- "The Magnificent Seven" (Edit) - 3:39
- "The Magnificent Dance" (Edit) - 3:37
- "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" - 4:52
- "One More Time" (US Promo 12") - 3:31
- "One More Dub" (US Promo 12") - 3:36
- "The Cool Out" (US 12" Remix) - 3:55
- "The Magnificent Seven" (12" Version) - 4:29
- "The Magnificent Dance" (12" Version) - 5:36
- "This Is Radio Clash" - 4:12
- "Radio Clash" - 4:12
- "Outside Broadcast" (UK 12" Mix) - 7:23
- "Radio 5" (UK 12" Mix) - 3:38
- "Know Your Rights" - 3:51
- "First Night Back In London" - 2:59
- "Rock the Casbah" - 3:43
- "Long Time Jerk" - 5:10
- "Mustapha Dance" (UK 12" Mix) - 4:28
- "Red Angel Dragnet" (Canadian 7") - 3:47
- "Overpowered By Funk" (Argentinean 7" Promo) - 4:53
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" - 3:09
- "Straight to Hell" (Edited Version) - 3:53
- "Inoculated City" (US 7" Mix) - 2:43
- "Cool Confusion" (US 7" Mix) - 3:14
- "This Is England" - 3:37
- "Do It Now" - 3:07
- "Sex Mad Roar" (UK 12" Mix) - 2:59
- "London Calling
- "Rock the Casbah"
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
- "I Fought the Law"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "The Magnificent Seven"
- "Bankrobber"
- "The Call Up"
- "Complete Control"
- "White Riot"
- "Remote Control"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "English Civil War"
- "Hitsville UK"
- "Know Your Rights"
- "This Is England"
- "This Is Radio Clash"
- "Train in Vain"
Soundtracks
editSee also - Category:The Clash songs
The Clash Films
edit- To do...
www.theclash.org.uk/RudeBoy.htm
"Rude Boy, starring Ray Grange & The Clash features live concert performances of The Clash from 1978, including offstage and informal performance footage."
By the start of 1979, the Clash group had been shrunk down to a small group of trusted friends. Closest to the band were roadies Johnny Green and the Baker, who had played sizeable roles in the film Rude Boy.
After an Anti-Nazi League march from Trafalgar Square on 30th April, 1978, the Clash played to 80,000 fans.
The Anti-Nazi League rally at Victoria Park, London was the venue (A Riot of Our Own, pp. 63-68) and the beginning of the filming of Rude Boy.
Rude Boy was made by Buzzy Enterprises Limited: 35, Marshall Street, London.
"Whenever I was in the West End I called at...35, Marshall Street offices and asked to see the rushes." (A Riot of Our Own, p. 153)
Except for the Lyceum gigs, The Clash aren't live on the film at all, stated Johnny Green. Totally artificial. The backing tracks were done at Wessex Studios. (A Riot of Our Own, pp. 153-154)
Air Studios, Oxford Street (off Oxford Circus) was used to dub over the poor sound quality of the live sets. (A Riot of Our Own, p. 153)
The Clash set up as if for a live show in Wessex studios, 106A Highbury New Park, Highbury, and, with the earlier live footage running on large TV screens in front of them, play and sing along in sync while engineer Bill Price & tape operator Jerry Green re-recorded the soundtrack. The crowd noise was then dubbed back on.
Drury Lane Theatre, London was hired to re-create the scenes of Glasgow bouncers beating up Clash fans.
"I earned myself free entry to Dingwalls for life by hiring its entire complement of bouncers for the shots." (A Riot of Our Own, p. 151)
Chris Salewicz "Redemption Song" believes '...the 3rd January concert was filmed for Rude Boy.' (p. 246)
The Clash dressed all in black for the gig and played 'I Fought The Law', which at that stage was being considered as the film's title song.
Sort it out Tour: The Lyceum, Wellington Street, Strand - Thurs 28th, Fri. 29th December 1978 and 3rd January 1979 (p. 246 Redemption Song by Chris Salewicz).
Rude Boy was made an official British entry for the Berlin Film Festival in February 1980 and released in the UK the following month..
Background/Production
edit"Included here should be a history of the film's background and development, such as how many studios, actors, directors and writers were involved with the project at one point or another. Continuing onto the production of the film, facts such as filming dates, budget figures, any noteworthy tidbits (such as delays, reshoots etc.) should be transformed into prose. Comments from the cast and crew are also welcomed."
Cast
editRude Boy had a significant number of unknown actors in its cast. The cast included:
Ray
- Ray Gange as Ray, the Rude Boy.
The group
- Joe Strummer as Joe, the band lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist.
- Mick Jones as Mick, the band lead guitarist and backing vocalist.
- Paul Simonon as Paul, the band bassist.
- Nicky Headon as Nick, the band drummer.
Guest singer
- Jimmy Pursey as Himself, guest singer on "White Riot", Rock Against Racism concert, Victoria Park, London.
The roadies
- Johnny Green as Johnny, the band road manager.
- Barry Baker as Barry, the band drum roadie.
Terry
- Terry McQuade as Terry, the Ray's mate.
Clash girlfriend
- Caroline Coon as Caroline, a band representative and girlfriend.
Ray's girlfriends
- Elizabeth Young as Ray's girlfriend.
- Sarah Hall as Ray's girlfriend.
D.J.
- Berry Myers as Disc Jokey.
Sex shop customers
- Colin Richards as Sex shop customer.
- Lutz Becker as Sex shop customer.
Solicitor's clerk
- Kenny Joseph as Solicitor's clerk.
The suspects
- Lizard Brown as Byron, a suspect.
- Hicky Etienne as Suspect.
- Inch Gordon as Inch, a suspect.
- Lee Parker as Eel, a suspect.
The police
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The Bouncers
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The Fans
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Sound mixers
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Music mixing studios
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Re-recording by
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Film editors
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Dubbing editor
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Assistant director
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Director of photography
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Cameramen
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Cameras
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Production services and equipment
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Additional music
- "Police and Thieves" sung by Junior Marvin (Island Records)
- "Johnny Too Bad" sung by The Slickers (Island Records)
- "Rudi" sung by Bob Marley (Coxsone Records)
Recorded in Dolby stereo.
Processed by Rank Film Laboratories
Made by Buzzy Enterprises Limited, 35 Marshall Stree, London, England.
Copyright C 1980 National Film Trustee Company Limited, London.
Songs performed
edit- "Revolution Rock" (Jackie Edwards, Danny Ray) (instrumental) (title song)
- "Police and Thieves" (Junior Murvin/Lee "Scratch" Perry) performed by The Clash at Barbarellas, Birmingham on May 1, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "Police and Thieves" sung by Junior Marvin (Island Records)
- "Career Opportunities (from The Clash)
- "Garageland" performed by The Clash at Rehearsal Rehearsals; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "Rudi" sung by Bob Marley (Coxsone Records)
- "London's Burning" performed live by The Clash at Open Air Carnival, Victoria Park, London on April 30, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "White Riot" performed live by The Clash at Open Air Carnival, Victoria Park, London on April 30, 1978 and featuring Jimmy Pursey from Sham 69 on vocals; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" performed live by The Clash at the Apollo, Glasgow on July 4, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "I'm So Bored with the USA" performed live by The Clash at the Apollo, Glasgow on July 4, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "Janie Jones" performed live by The Clash at the Apollo, Glasgow on July 4, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "White Riot" performed live by The Clash at the Apollo, Glasgow on July 4, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "The Prisoner" performed live by The Clash at the Civic Music Hall, Aberdeen on July 5, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "Johnny Too Bad" sung by The Slickers (Island Records)
- "Tommy Gun" performed live by The Clash at Cinema, Dunfermline on July 7, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "All the Young Punks" performed at Wessex Studios.
- "Stay Free" performed at Wessex Studios.
- "Complete Control" performed at the Music Machine, Camden, London on July 27, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "Safe European Home" performed at the Music Machine, Camden, London on July 27, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "What's My Name" performed at the Music Machine, Camden, London on July 27, 1978; audio tracks re-recorded at Wessex Studios.
- "No Reason"??? (piano song) performed by Joe Strummer at Rehearsal Studio.
- "Let the Good Times Roll" (???) (piano song) performed by Joe Strummer at Rehearsal Studio.
- "I Fought the Law" (Sonny Curtis) performed live by The Clash at The Lyceum, West End, London on December 28.
- "Rudie Can't Fail (from London Calling)
www.theclash.org.uk/ThisisVideo.htm
Box cover design recycles Caroline Coon's sleeve photo for the 1977 'White Riot' single and was released in March 1991.
Songs:
1 TOMMY GUN
2 LONDON CALLING
3 BANK ROBBER
4 TRAIN IN VAIN
5 THE CALL UP
6 THIS IS RADIO CLASH
7 ROCK THE CASBAH
8 SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO
The Harlesden Roxy, North London is where the Clash mimed their way through 'Tommy Gun' for Don Letts' video, his first with the band on 25th October 1978 (A Riot of Our Own, pp. 114-116)
The video for London Calling was filmed by Don Letts on the Festival (Cadogan) Pier, next to Albert Bridge, on the south side of the river, Battersea Park, London....on a cold and rainy night in December 1979. (A Riot of Our Own, pp.15-17)
"In Don Lett's video for the 'London Calling' single, a master stroke of image-making, shot at the Festival Pier overlooking the Thames at Battersea Park at the beginning of December 1979, this look is assisted by the rain that swept across the night-time riverside set, adding a men-against-the-elements romantic timbre." (Redemption Song by Chris Salewicz: p. 276)
The slow, heavy dub reggae song, "Bank Robber" was put on tape in Pluto Studios, Granby Row, Manchester on 1st February 1980 with reggae toaster Mikey Dread and later shot the video for 'Bank Robber' at Lewisham Odeon, London.
"Me and the Baker, dressed in masks like cartoon robbers, were filmed by Don Letts running out of the bank, down Lewisham High Street and spending our swag at the Odean box office on Clash tickets." (A Riot of Our Own, p. 225)
On the 18th February, 1980, after filming the "Bank Robber" in the afternoon at Lewisham Odeon, Don Letts supervised the filming of the evening show, his chief aim being to capture the band performing, 'Train In Vain ' and 'Clampdown.'
'The Call Up, ' shot in black and white, featured Simonon dressed as a cowboy, Headon as a World War II pilot; Mick Jones' costume includes a Mounties hat and a leopardskin wrap. Filmed at the warehouse of singer Chris Farlowe, an enthusiastic collector of military paraphernalia.
Don Letts mid-tour video shoot for 'Rock the Casbah', June 1982, captures the band performing in front of an oil well in the Texas desert with Bernie Rhodes dressed up as an Arab. Joe's hair is cut in the shape of a red-dyed mohican whilst Mick refuses to be left out in the weirdness stakes. He wears a bandanna over his face until near the end of the clip. It was a look he continued to affect for the subsequent live dates on the 16 Tons Tour of America.
'Rock the Casbah' climbed to number eight in the US charts.
Don Letts filmed the second night performance at Shea stadium in Queens, New York on the 13th October,1982 with the intention of making a live-style video for the UK release of 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go.' Footage was also shot of the Clash riding to the show in an open-topped car, playing at rock stars.
www.theclash.org.uk/Westwaypage.htm
autobiographical video of the history of the Clash. "This video is the first time that all the members of the band have talked about their lives in such detail..."
John Baxter, the man who designed the Westway, dies. (The man who masterminded London's most hated road)
"The civil and structural engineer John Baxter, who has died aged 86, was responsible for one of London's most daring - and most reviled - pieces of transport planning, the Westway. But despite all the controversy it provoked, it remained, in Baxter's distinguished career with the consulting engineers Maunsell, among the most innovative uses of concrete in bridge-building or transportation.
Baxter was the mastermind behind the construction of the stretch of elevated motorway that stamped its massive concrete feet across west London, from Shepherds Bush to Marylebone, in the late 1960s. It was designed to speed traffic along the M40/A40 into the heart of the capital by removing a bottleneck at White City; today, critics complain that it merely moved the traffic jams into the West End.
Whatever its shortcomings for motorists, however, the Westway's impact on the boroughs through which it sliced was grave. Its stark concrete aspect brutalised an urban landscape of predominantly 18th and 19th-century brick housing, and physically severed neighbourhoods. Noise and air pollution became a local scourge.
Many west London residents claimed at the time that they did not know the route's alignment until construction workers moved into their back yards. Reporting on its official opening, the Guardian suggested that Michael Heseltine, then junior transport minister, had rescripted his speech at the last minute, excising praise for the engineers and planners in favour of a pledge to help those living in the structure's shadow.
Baxter himself acknowledged that the project was conceived and built in an era when engineering was carried out on a "decide, announce, defend" basis, with little or no local consultation. In 1976, six years after the Westway was opened, he confessed that it had marked the beginning of the anti-roads campaign.
Despite the criticism, Baxter, an indomitable optimist, stood up for the Westway, maintaining that, in the mid-1960s, it was virtually impossible to imagine the traffic volumes that would clog the capital's roads a decade later, let alone 30 or more years in the future. He also held that technically the project would have been difficult to better. Because it is massively built of concrete, it is quiet in comparison to a steel bridge; concrete dampens noise, while steel tends to resonate and amplify it. The bridge also included electronic heating to prevent ice forming in frigid winters.
Baxter and his colleagues at Maunsell had set out to build the bridge using a pioneering technique - post-tensioned, precast segmental concrete construction - that is still at the cutting edge today. This method involves precasting a series of short concrete deck elements, transporting them to site on lorries and lifting them into position. By stringing cables through the segments along the length of the deck and jacking them tight, the elements are clamped together to form rigid spans capable of carrying traffic.
Its advantages over conventional cast-in-situ concrete are relative speed and simplicity of construction, and its virtues are dramatically shown on the record-breaking, concrete-arched Gladesville bridge, near Sydney, Australia, whose 328m clear span is thought to be unrivalled 39 years after it was completed. Gladesville's dramatic arch is actually composed of four arches side by side. Each is made up of more than 150, 2.5m thick elements sandwiched together and held in compression by tightly stressed steel cables.
Born in London, Baxter left Westminster City school at the age of 16 because he "wanted to get on and do practical things". He put himself through a degree course in his spare time, obtaining a BSc in engineering from the City and Guilds Engineering College, London, at 19.
Professionally, he cut his teeth on concrete structures working for the Trussed Concrete Steel Company (1936-41) and on chemical factories for Shell (1941-52). There he met the engineering star of the day, Guy Maunsell, and joined the firm of Maunsell, Posford and Pavry in 1952, becoming one of four founding partners of the new firm of G Maunsell and Partners in 1955.
Maunsell, then in his 60s, had spent much of his life as a contractor, and instilled in Baxter the ethos that buildability is central to good design. In return, Maunsell was impressed by the much younger Baxter's talent and spirit of get-up-and-go.
As senior partner (1959-80), Baxter expanded the firm of Maunsell from a 45-strong UK practice to an international force of more than 2,000. It continues to excel in the fields of bridge design and transportation. This growth was achieved through Baxter's low-key approach to management, trusting his staff and giving them freedom. In 1976-77, he was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
His wife Jessie, whom he married in 1941, and a daughter survive him.
John Walter Baxter, civil and structural engineer, born June 4 1917; died October 21 2003. "
Andrew Mylius
Monday November 10, 2003
The Guardian
Credits
editSony Music Entertainment/Dorismo Ltd
in association with Uptown Films
Presents
A Don Letts film
Joe Strummer
Mick Jones
Paul Simonon
Topper Headon
The Clash
Westway To The World
Intro
The Art School Years - How to win friends and influence people - (start at 7:00)
Joe's in the 101'ers menawhile Mick meets Paul (1974) (start at 8:33)
A man called Bernard the Manager (May 1976) (start at 10:20)
Joe's first Rehearsal at Davis Road Squats (start at 13:30)
Rehearsal Rehearsal Camden Town London (June 1976) (start at 15:50)
What's my name? The Clash says Paul (start 18:15)
The Black Swan Sheffield First gig (4th July 1976) (start at 19:25)
DIY Fashion - Like trusers like brain (start at 20:20)
First UK TV appearance (start at 23:40)
Screen on the Green supporting the Sex Pistols (29th Aug 1976) (start at 24:02)
Wanna a riot of my own - Nottinghill Carnival (Aug 1976) (start at 25:05)
100 Punk Fest (31st Aug 1976) (start at 29:25)
Supporting Shakin' Stevens (16th Oct 1976) (start at 29:30)
Th ICA - A night of pure energy (23rd Oct 1976) (start at 29:45)
Night of Treson at the RCA (5th Nov 1976) (start at 29:55)
First demo - Polydor Studios (Nov 1976) (start at 30:06)
The Anarchy Tour (Dec 1976) with the Sex Pistols / The Heartbreakers / and The Damned (start at 30:43)
The Dread meets the Punk rockers uptown Clash open the Roxy (Jan 1977) (start at 31:45)
Punk died the day the Clash signed for CBS - Mark D Sniffin Glue (25th Jan 1977) (start at 32:43)
The Clash - debut album (8th April 1977) (start at 34:13)
Topper joins the Clash - Enter the dragon (April 1977) (start at 36:56)
Live at the Rainbow - Mashing up the place (9th May 1977) (start at 38:45)
Give 'Em Enough Rope (10th Nov 1978) (start at 39:45)
Guns on the Roof - Paul and Topper get busted (Jan 1977???) (start at 43:45)
Rock against racism Victoria Park (9th May 1977) (start at 47:42)
London Calling - double album (14th Dec 1979) (start at 49:35)
Sandinista! - A triple album (12th Dec 1980) (start at 54:35)
Bonds N.Y.C - 16 shows back to back (May 1981) (start at 62:58)
The Far East takes its tool (Jan 1982) (start at 67:00)
Joe disappear Topper out (Apr-May 1982) (start at 68:13)
Saturday Night Live - Last TV appearance (9th October 1982) (start at 70:13)
Combat Rock (14th May 1982) (start at 70:38)
Clash play Shea (22 Sep 1984) (start at 72:20)
The U.S. Festival - The last show (28th April 1983) (start at 74:05)
Directed by Don Letts
Produced by Rick Elgood
Executive Producer Tricia Ronane
Editor Denes Ujivali
Lighting Cameraman Louis Mulvey
Interviews by Mal Peachet
Titles and Graphics Oden Co UK
Sound recordist Robin Day
Hair / Make up Dawn Miller
Production Assistant David Courtney
Off Line Relusion Video
Online Editor Clide Kallett
Colourist Lorna Smith
Dubbing Mixer Nigel Edwards
Additional archives Don Letts, Julien Temple, Cultural Fantasists, BBC Archives, LWT, NBC, British Pathe, John Tiberi, James Kacnbach, Rude Boy excerpts courtesy of Jack Hazan
Photographs by Pennie Smith, Kate Simon, Caroline Coon, Shiela Rock, Julian Jewdall, Paul Slattery, Bob Gruen, Adrian Boot
Special thanks Tony Parsons, Bill Price, Terry Chimes, Johhny Green, Pennie Smith, Dirdre Moran, Frank Malone, Rob Stringer
All tracks written by The Clash except:
"(Hide Away) Letsagetabitarockin'" by The 101'ers
"I Fought the Law" by Sonny Curtis pub. Acuff-Rose-Opayland??? Music
"Police and Thieves" by Lee Perry / Jnr. Murvin pub. Blue Mountain Music Ltd.
"Pressure Drop" by F. Hibbert pub Blue Mountain Music Ltd.
"Justice Tonoght / Kick It Over" by W. Williams copyright Control
"Brand New Cadillac" by Vince Taylor pub. Carlin Music Corp.
All Clash song published by Nineden Ltd.
Distributed by 3DD Entertainment
...
Songs performed
edit- "London Calling" (live)
- "Janie Jones" (live)
- "What's My Name" (live)
- "Capital Radio" (live)
- "(Hide Away) Letsagetabitarockin'" The 101'ers
- "Complete Control" (live)
- "I'm So Bored with the USA"
- "Garageland"
- "White Riot"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "Remote Control"
- "London's Burning"
- "1977"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "1977/I'M So Bored with the USA" (live at Rainbow)
- "Drug Stabbing Time"
- "Safe European Home"
- "Guns on the Roof"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "Revolution Rock"
- "Pressure Drop"
- "I Fought the Law"
- "London's Burning" (live at RAR)
- "Clampdown" (live)
- "The Guns of Brixton"
- "Train in Vain" (live)
- "London Calling" (video)
- "Bankrobber" (video)
- "Charlie Don't Surf"
- "The Magnificent Seven"
- "Lighting Strikes"
- "???"
- "Junco Partner"
- "The Call Up" (video)
- "London Calling" (live)
- "The Guns of Brixton" (live)
- "Know Your Rigths"
- "Safe European Home"
- "Radio Clash"
- "Jimmy Jazz"
- "Straight to Hell"
- "Rockh the Casbah"
- "Careere Opportunities" (live)
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (video)
- "Know Your Rights"
- "Straight to Hell"
The Clash RIAA
editRIAA SEARCH RESULTS FOR THE CLASH
First Artist CLASH, THE Title COMBAT ROCK Certification Date 11/08/1982 Label EPIC Award Description GOLD Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title COMBAT ROCK Certification Date 01/10/1983 Label EPIC Award Description PLATINUM Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title THE CLASH Certification Date 11/12/1991 Label EPIC Award Description GOLD Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title LONDON CALLING Certification Date 12/04/1991 Label EPIC Award Description GOLD Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title COMBAT ROCK Certification Date 06/06/1995 Label EPIC Award Description 2.00x MULTI PLATINUM Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title LONDON CALLING Certification Date 02/14/1996 Label EPIC Award Description PLATINUM Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title STORY OF THE CLASH Certification Date 04/20/1999 Label EPIC Award Description GOLD Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title SANDINISTA! Certification Date 04/20/1999 Label EPIC Award Description GOLD Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST --- Artist CLASH, THE Title STORY OF THE CLASH Certification Date 04/20/1999 Label EPIC Award Description PLATINUM Format ALBUM Category GROUP Type ST
The Clash's known live concert appearances. Example: List of Beatles concerts.
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1976%20DATES.html
Lineup: Strummer, Jones, Simonon, Chimes, Levene
Jul 4 Black Swan, Sheffield ref. Last gang in Town p. 170
The first gig: 4 July 1976, the Black Swan, Sheffield (with the Sex Pistols)
Joe: The line-up for the first gig was Terry Chimes on drums, Paul Simonon, Mick Jones, myself and Keith Levene, so we had a three-guitar set-up at that time.
Mick: I don't think we had been rehearsing that long before the first gig.
Joe: The first gig we ever played was at what we used to call the Mucky Duck (actually called the Black Swan) in Sheffield. We had a song we did called "Listen", which had a bassline that went up in a scale and then down a note to start, and Paul was so nervous that he just kept going up the scale, and we all fell over laughing 'cos we didn't know when to come in.
Paul: The day The Clash started really was when we played the Mucky Duck with the Pistols, which was great. It was the first time that I had ever played on stage. The night before it felt frightening but once we were on the way there then I began larking about. I tied one of Keith's shoes to a piece of string and hung it out of the back of the van – the door had to be open anyway so we could breathe. So there we were sitting with all the amps and luggage with a plimsoll bouncing around behind us and all the cars behind us slowing down to avoid it. But the moment that we walked out on stage it was like I was in my own living room. I felt really comfortable. Things went wrong during the evening, and Mick had to come over and tune my guitar, but it didn't bother me. I just wanted to jump around, but Mick wanted it to be in tune. ref. The Independent - Fri 10 Oct 2008
Aug 13 Rehearsal Rehearsals, Camden Town, London; private invite gig
August 29 The Midnight Special, Screen on the Green, Islington, London w/Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks. ref. Last gang in Town p. 180. ref. Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming
This is the third ever Clash gig and the first known recorded.
- "Deny"
- "I Know what to think of you"
- "I Never Did It"
- "How Can I Understand the Flies"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Protex Blue"
- "Mark Me Absent"
- "Deadly Serious"
- "What's My Name"
- "Sitting At My Party"
- "48 Hours"
- "I'm So Bored With You"
- "London's Buring"
- "1977"
Featuring The Sex Pistols, supported by the Clash and the Buzzcocks.
Midnight Special 2CD boot featuring the full gigs of all 3 bands. Good quality.
Old tapes are of much inferior quality and to be avoided.
the first known recorded gig
This is a historic for it is the third ever Clash gig and the first known recorded. It is also the earliest known recorded performance and a rare recording of the Sex Pistols with Glen Matlock.
This was Malcolm Maclaren’s event to showcase his band, with other bands from the new punk movement. Named the The Midnight Special because the bands had to play after the evening’s films had been shown in this famous London arthouse cinema. See Marcus Gray’s Last Gang in Town & Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming as well.
Maclaren’s deal was The Clash had to build the stage themselves. Joe is quoted in England’s Dreaming, “we weren’t very good that night because we’d been up early unloading the scaffolding and building the stage”. The band were also nervous and there is no stage talk from Joe (he went to the opposite extreme at the Roundhouse 2 gigs later). It is suggested that the Buzzcocks and The Clash were beset by appalling sound problems that miraculously improved when the Pistols hit the stage. Though this is not entirely born out in this recording Glen Matlock and others have since confirmed that tampering may have taken place.
Press reviews at the time were not kind to put it mildly. Giovanni Dadomo did blame the equipment for doing the band “a grave disservice tonight, losing Joe Strummer’s hard-to-mix vocals until they became an unintelligible mumble, and generally poleaxing the band’s nuclear potential”.
Charles Shaar Murray of the NME made his famous quote “they are the kind of garage band who should be speedily returned to the garage, preferably with the motor running, which would undoubtedly be more of a loss to their friends and families than to either rock or roll”.
In subsequent interviews Joe appeared to take Murray’s comments personally and was incensed, a spat that became legendary and inspired the Clash track Garageland. Perversely only two years later CSM was describing the Clash as the greatest rock band in the world in the same paper.
Midnight Special - Screen on the Green 2CD
This is a recent bootleg 2CD released in early 2001 on the Punk Vault label. It features all three bands in full from the famous Screen on the Green gig in 1976. First up are the Buzzcocks and this has an average sound. The Clash’s set is a bit better recording, quite enjoyable with a lot of clarity and width with just some slight over modulation and age, dampening a good sound. The Pistols is slightly better again.
The boot CD is a big improvement in sound over the previously circulating tape/cdr which was very poor. Grossly distorted, at best 2/5.
All of The Clash’s set is here although the packaging gets the names wrong and two of the newer songs get buried in with another two of the newer songs showing a total of only 12. There are no edits and it’s a very good audience recording that probably sounds like the master.
Of course we do not know whether the sound’s limitations are a result of the recording, or the poor sound provided by the PA that night. Drums are clear, bass is present but not focussed, guitars are good but somewhat distant. The main short coming are the vocals which are distant (particularly Joe’s) making as Dadomo said, his vocals largely unintelligible. This a shame because this bootleg together with the 5 Go Mad In The Roundhouse (sound is better but has edits/dropouts) are the only circulating recordings of the 6 early unrecorded songs (the 100 Club 21/9/76 recording is of a poorer quality – though slight upgrades have appeared B-) . They are also the only recordings of the 5 piece Clash with Keith Levene on lead guitar, Mick on rhythm, Terry Chimes on drums and Joe solely vocals.
This recording reveals the The Clash of 1976 were a very exciting band. The punk snarl has not quite been added yet and the songs destined to be recorded lack their later subtleties but they are already playing tight and fast. The Ramones album is an obvious influence with the 1,2,3,4’s and drum and bass patterns owing a lot to the brudders. The set ends with warm applause and calls for more.
1. Deny Same lyrics as recorded but going not to the 100 Club yet but the 69 club.
2. I Know What to Think About You Good song with the slow Who, Can’t Explain riff, lyrics “standing in the hospital room dead or alive”, r’n’b type number with Gloria type middle section building back up to the chorus.
3. I Never Did It? “I could have been as rich as you “ fast and furious a Terry Chimes drum solo segues into
4. How Can I Understand the Flies? “How can I go to sleep for the flies” Ramones like simply structured song.
5. Janie Jones Some lyric changes but already sounds great. Mick sings the chorus (Joe later at the Roundhouse and there after). Mick sings I’m in love with Janie Jones etc. not the later He. The tempo is so much slower at this point.
6. Protex Blue Spirited Mick vocal .Same lyrics as later. A nice punchy mature version
7. Mark Me Absent Song about schooldays written by Mick. R&B feel not to far akin to what Joe was doing with the 101ers prior to the Clash.
8. Deadly Serious Short fast song with a fast Can’t Explain riff. Used later as basis for Clash City Rockers though the resemblance is not noticeable.
9. What’s My Name A real highlight, lyric changes. Again like Janie Jones a much slower version than it would become in 1977.
10. Sitting at my Party Fast, furious but slight song. One of Micks old songs from the London SS days with Paul.
11. 48 Hours Same lyrics and structure as later recorded version.
12. I’m So Bored With You No punk snarl yet but sounds mature. A song about a girlfriend still and not the USA. Mainly different lyrics but indecipherable.
13. London’s Burning Another highlight, verses order changed and many lyric changes but nearly the fully formed classic.
14. 1977 Sounds great, another highlight, mainly same lyrics, structure but no 1977 – 1984 coda yet, instead Joe repeats the year 1977 (being in 1976 then) an Mick shouts out in between.
Aug 31 100 Club, London; (w/Sex Pistols, Subway Sect, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Stinky Toys). ref. Last gang in Town p. 190
- "Deny"
- "1-2 Crush on You"
- "I Know What to Think of You"
- "I Never Did It"
- "How Can I Understand the Flies"
- "Protex Blue"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Mark Me Absent"
- "Deadly Serious"
- "48 Hours"
- "I'm So Bored with You"
- "What's My Name"
- "1977"
Sep 5 'The Roundhouse, Camden Town, London; Keith Levane's last gig with The Clash. journalists invited; 3 show up. ref. Last gang in Town p. 190
- "Deny"
- "1-2 Crush on You"
- "I Know What to Think About You"
- "I Never Did It"
- "How Can I Understand the Flies"
- "Protex Blue"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Mark Me Absent"
- "Deadly Serious"
- "48 Hours"
- "I'm So Bored with You"
- "Sitting at My Party"
- "London's Burning"
- "What's My Name"
- "1977"
THE ESSENTIAL CLASH BOOTLEG BIBLE copyright Chris Knowles
You can go on the web and find any number of complete Clash bootleg discographies. That is not my intention here. What I set out to do here was to provide the curious with what I think is a meaningful representation of the evolution of the live Clash, i.e., the real Clash. The emphasis here is on recording quality or historically significance. There are any number of excellent shows available in the tape traders’ network, and if you get bitten by the boot-boy bug, you can waste a great deal of time hunting them down. My emphasis, as always, in on the 80’s shows. Part of what fueled my bootleg obsession back in my youth was my need to hear material from Sandinista and Combat Rock played by the Clash, not by Mick, Topper and a bunch of studio hacks. I’ve also listed a number of Clash II shows, since the actual band’s entire recorded output consists of two hastily recorded B-sides.
However, as long as you can stomach the recording quality, I also recommend any show the Clash did. Particularly recommended are any 1977 gigs, when the Clash’s firepower was in its first full bloom. The intensity of those shows is unparalleled. But the shows I’ve listed are the ones that either are the most widely circulated or those I feel are most musically powerful or historically important.
Sunday band-fest supporting the
Kursaal Flyers & Crazy Caven & The Rhythm Rockers
Source: boot CD, 5 Go Mad at the Roundhouse* Sound 4 – 35min – source cd/m – tracks 15
- 5 Go Mad at the Round house also includes
13 tracks from 26 Oct 76 Birmingham Barbarellas
the best quality recording circulating from 1976
This is an historic and essential Clash bootleg. It’s the best quality recording circulating from 1976 and therefore the best source for checking out the early line up with Keith Levene, hearing the early unreleased songs and noting the development of the later recorded songs.
Despite being only their 5th gig it stands as an exciting performance in its own right and confirms that The Clash were a great band right from the start. More significantly however, it records Joe Strummer’s efforts at engaging the audience, and therefore is an early example of why The Clash now command their own place in rock’n’roll history. This was no ordinary good time rock band content to entertain its audience, its aim was nothing less than to change people’s lives, “we don’t want to just sell records”.
a very enjoyable listen
Although an audience recording suffering from the usual problems of distance and bass capture, it’s a very enjoyable listen with a wideish dynamic range and fair degree of clarity. Recorded using decent equipment probably by the same person who taped the Midnight Special and Barbarellas’ gig (also on 5 Go Mad At The Roundhouse).
The CD came out long after the tape, which had been circulating since the late 70’s and is a big improvement in sound. The old circulating tapes are of very poor quality and should be avoided.
The boot MS is either from the master or very low generation and has some spots of wear. Guitars and drums are very clear allowing Keith Levene’s lead work to be heard and evaluated. Vocals are good but somewhat distant. Many of the lyrics on the unrecorded songs can now be heard (or at least guessed at). The recording also captures very clearly the audience shouts and responses to Joe’s attempts at audience participation.
Last Gang In Town
Marcus Gray’s Last Gang In Town describes the gig in some detail but is critical at Strummer’s attempts at audience participation. This is partly unfair, Joe is obviously nervous (admits to being) and unsure how to deal with hecklers but his sincere desire to communicate and get through to the audience is clear. The response of the audience at the end is not as cold as Gray suggests and it’s clear some of the audience at least is impressed.
Here was an almost unknown band, coming on first at 6 o’clock before the bar had opened, to a typical Roundhouse audience of bedenimed latter-day hippies, waiting for the main acts and not expecting something so radically different in both sound and dress. Not surprisingly therefore they were nervous and the easy option would have been to bash out the songs as previous gigs, abuse the audience and make an early exit. Significantly Strummer rejected that and sought to communicate his frustrations with the rock scene to an audience from his own area. Some of the put-downs of hecklers are nervous and embarrassing but he gets the punk DIY ethic: if you’re bored do something about it, across at least sincerely if not totally successfully.
Gray acknowledges that it was a varied and proficient 14 song set, but with pacing ruined by these lengthy interruptions which failed to generate any compensatory dramatic tension. Chas De Whalley in a Sounds review dismissed the bulk of the songs and compared them unfavourably with 101’ers and Bernie was supposed to have been incensed, shouting “it was fucking shit!”
1. Deny The song fades in losing its beginning. Lyrics and song structure are very similar to the recorded version. A very good version with the twin guitar interplay coming across well at the ending coda.
2. 1-2 Crush On You This is terrific, fast and furious. Joe on lead vocals.
3. I Know What to Think About You An unrecorded song based on a slow Can’t Explain riff. Many of the lyrics can now be heard. A good song and one of the longest in the set.
4. I Never Did It? “I could have been as rich as you”,” I never did it”, repeated at end. Mick’s Beatles like harmonies can be heard already which would later help make “The Clash” such a unique and great record. Another fast and enjoyable unrecorded song.
5. How Can I Understand the Flies? Introduced as “a summer song”, its about the Davis Road squat reported to have been filthy! “How can I go to sleep for the flies buzzing around my head!” First Ramones LP is an obvious influence. Slight song but enjoyable.
6. Protex Blue Very good performance, guitars clear, same lyrics as recorded, good vocal from Mick.
7. Janie Jones Before the song Joe starts his attempts to get more reaction from the audience, “I suppose you think you can pay your £1.50 and just come in and sit down as if it’s a fuckin’ TV set, get off your denims, you might wear them out!”
On Midnight Special Mick sang the chorus but from now on Joe now sings the whole song. Its still sung in the first person “I’m in love etc”. Same lyrics as recorded version but not the finished classic yet; it sounds too basic without the punk snarl yet.
8. Mark Me Absent Before this song starts Joe says “now its time for audience participation, tell me what are you doing here? two for rock’n’roll”. Someone shouts “waiting for the next band” to which Joe’s response was “ I don’t know what you are about the waist, but I guess its in advance of 36”, so if you want to carry your corpulent body up to the bar and stuff it with a few more barrels, go ahead “ Joe is clearly nervous and not good yet at dealing with hecklers, there are cries of get off the stage. Joe “ alright then 20 various suggestions, what sort of fun you going to get of the rock’n’rollers, the Kursaal Flying Machine?! Did you watch the documentary on TV last year on them, nothing else on, agreed.” Someone shouts “were you in the 101’ers?” “Never heard of them”, his response. “How many of you are in your normal consciousness?” someone shouts “shut up smart arse, get on with it”, Joe exasperated says “you big twit, so what if you’ve got 5 A-levels, what do I care, that’s just a dirty trick” Someone correctly shouts “your drummers got them!” referring to Terry Chimes, Joe’s response is a serious “don’t worry I’m working on him”.
Joe then introduces Mark Me Absent with its “back to your schooldays”. A fast, furious but catchy song “I got away” being the message about school.
9. Deadly Serious Before this other unrecorded song Joe is more successful in getting across to the audience. “ Have you been having a good time down the pubs, I’ve been trying to see some groups but I have to stay in, only thing I’ve got is a TV with no sound, I wanna go out really and see some groups, but there’s nothing worth seeing out there, I’ve seen it all before, so I just watch something like Taras Bulba and lip read through out! I just want to protest about this state of affairs, so if any of you people in the audience who aren’t past it yet, why don’t you get up and do something around the town instead of lying around” He got his point across, and now its on with the rest of the set and the heckling stops.
A fast furious Deadly Serious, based on a fast version of the Can’t Explain riff, but it’s a slight song, one of the weakest.
10. 48 Hours This was written to bolster the live set and not to fill out the first LP as some journalists have suggested. It’s not a great version yet, lacking the punk snarl and venom but is short, fast and enjoyable.
11. I’m So Bored With You Still sung about a girl with totally different lyrics to its later recorded form, “what can I do, you don’t look like her” “public school” also features so presumably its a put down of a rich girl. Guitar work is not very exciting from Levene, a work in progress.
12. Sitting at my Party Taper changes tape and there’s an edit before this last unrecorded song, probably the weakest. Short fast, and with unintelligible lyrics.
13. London’s Burning The last 3 songs are excellent and ample warning of the greatness to come. Lyrically and musically it’s already very similar to the recorded version but London’s not burning with boredom yet, subway verse is repeated twice and its “drowning in a sea of television”. The ending is weak and not developed yet.
14. What’s My Name Great performance, already sounding a classic. “What the hell is wrong with you, you look so fucking cool (words used in later live performances including Rude Boy). Other different lyrics including he’s at the house late at night (but not with the celluloid strip/camera) but with a much more menacing carving knife, taking a life. Why was this lyric changed, its much more disturbing evocation of the extreme possible effects of alienation and identity, the song's subjects?
15. 1977 “Dedicated to the future”, sounds great, nearly the finished classic.
There are cheers at end and applause. This exciting performance clearly didn’t go down badly with all.
Sounds Review
The Kursaal Flyers Crazy Caven Clash
Roundhouse
Joe Strummer's Clash--the best new band of the year? Well, some would claim as much. At least you can garuntee that any band formed by the 101ers guitarist will bristle with fire and energy. Unfortunately at the Roundhouse the Clash had little more on offer.
The Ramones out of an East End squat? Indeed, many of the leather-clad Strummer's new songs were little more than rewrites of this years punk classics. But 'I've got a Crush on you', 'Janie Jones', and the apocalyptic 'London's Burning' proved there was still power in Strummer's right arm.
Unfortunately however, the warmth and love of the old pub rocking 101ers has been traded for a new aggression and belligerence. At 6 o'clock on a Sunday evening, long before the bar opened, the Roundhouse audience wasn't in the most receptive of moods. The more they sat down, the more Strummer screamed at them to stand up. It was a brave, if bitter attempt to instill some kind of occasion into the weekly Roundhouse rock and roll binge, but it was not appreciated.
There was no disaffection when the Crazy Caven and the Rhythm Rockers hit the stage. The Welsh band's normal entourage of drapejacketed, creep-soled teds were conspicuous by their absence by Crazy Caven's characteristic brand of authentic rockabilly brought out dancers all the same. From 'Teddy Boy Rock and Roll' and 'Little Sadie', to a selection of Little Richard and Chuck Berry classics you can rely on Crazy Caven every time. Only the hair oil is changed.
The Kursaal Flyers, on the other hand, come straight from the studio where they've been recording fo CBS under the watchful eye of Wembler Mike Batt. The new album, tentatively titled 'The Golden Mile', is scheduled for October release but already the Kursaal Flyers are promoting it.
Chas De Whalley, Sounds.
I think I can help clear up the minor omissions at the end of the review (last paragraph on RH side) on this page.
The producer was 'Wombler' Mike Batt. Batt wrote and performed Wombles songs in a Womble outfit ! http://www.toonhound.com/wombles.htm
However Batt was also a renowned producer and knew how to arrange a 'big sound' with an orchestra.
As did George Martin and most of the studio producers of the 60's. This is what the Kursaal Flyers were after at that time for the Golden Mile LP
I was at the Roundhouse gig for an interview for a roadie job with the Kursaals.
I always will remember the Clash for the rants at the audience. It was normal to sit down during performances in those days - so it was amazing to hear Joe Strummer shout at us about 'wearing out yer denims'
So I was delighted to see that you have a recording of this gig and that my memory hadn't let me down.
I got the job with the Kursaals and toured with them until they broke up at the end of 1977.
We kept in touch with the Clash (in particular - Mick Jones) during their meteoric rise to fame and met them 'back at the hotel' whenever our tour dates coincided.
Coincidentally I was at the Roundhouse for the opening 2 events of the BBC Electric Proms.
The first film was about Pete Doherty which included the studio sessions for his new single - Janie Jones.
Funny to think I saw that song performed at the same venue exactly 30 years ago !
(The other event yesterday was Paul Weller live - amazing. He did loads of Jam songs including Going Underground, Town Called Malice and In the City !!)
Jon Norledge - Camden Town
Lineup: Strummer, Jones, Simonon, Chimes
Sep 20 Club, London; 100 Club Punk Festival with the Pistols, the Damned, the Buzzcocks, Subway Sect et al. ref. Last gang in Town p. 195
The 100 Club Festival - London
Supporting Sex Pistols with Subway Sect & Souisie & The Banshees & Stinky Toys
- White Riot
- Londons Burning
- I'm so Bored with the USA
- How can I understand the Flies
- Protex Blue
- Deadly Serious
- Deny
- 48 Hours
- What's My Name
- Janie Jones
- 1977
The Festival on the 20th & 21st in the tiny 100 Club in Oxford Street was a promotional showcase designed by Maclaren to impress record companies and the media that Punk was big enough to have a festival. He must have been delighted as 500 inquisitive newcomers turned up to mingle with the regular punk faces. Punk was breaking out of the small clubs and the media frenzy following, would give it significant impetus.
England's Dreaming & Return of the Last Gang in Town both give the background in some detail. Savage said the group lacked confidence. Hardly surprisingly as it was their debut as a four piece. Keith Levene had left only two weeks earlier but Terry Chimes is quoted as saying this caused no problems: the band were now more focussed and determined.
Mick's lead style was now developing using further drop out to add more drama to songs. A further benefit was that Paul was now free to move into the front line spotlight, hurling his bass around and completing visually, the classic line up.
A short 11-song set was played lasting only 25 minutes. Why is not known, but Chimes says it was to cut out dead wood, with a number of Mick's songs now dropped; Mark Me Absent, You Know What I Think About You, Sitting at my Party, I Never Did It & 1-2 Crush On You.
It was on the second night that Sid threw the glass, and it was this isolated violent incident alone that was to preoccupy the 'normal-a-phrenic' national tabloid headlines. The music press though also went into overdrive, with extensive band coverage, heaping praise praising on The Clash et al.
England's Dreaming wrongly attributes this gig to the occasion when with a broken string Strummer switched on a transistor and with the help of Dave Goodman echoed the Northern Ireland news report via the PA. This did take place at the 100 Club but earlier on August 31st.
The previously circulating recording of this gig had awful sound, so beware, but a new source is now in circulation, which is a big improvement.
Several older tapes of all had a poor sound of varying degrees. A new copy coming from a 1st gen source has just come into widespread circulation is a significant upgrade and is a 3. Avoid the others.
Whilst still distorted and flat, instrumentation and vocals are much clearer from this much lower generation source. It is listenable but nowhere near as enjoyable as Midnight Special and 5 Go Mad bootlegs.
This was the live debut of White Riot, which has different lyrics to the recorded version, but most of which are indecipherable. The recording loses the opening bars to the song but is otherwise complete with no other edits. Guitar sound is thin, drums distant but bass is not too bad with vocals and backing vocals coming through best.
It's a very good performance with some significant differences from their last gig at the Roundhouse. The songs are stripped down to their basics, and played faster, i.e. are now more punk.
London's Burning has now the finished ending and not the abrupt end as at the Roundhouse.
Janie Jones is now "he's in love etc" not "I'm in love etc" and Mick sings the chorus, Joe the verses.
I'm So Bored is the same lyrics of a put down of a girl with references to "you don't look like her" and "public school" but now Joe shouts USA after the verses at the end of the song. A song and band in transition.
Oct 9 Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre, Leyton Buzzard supporting the Rockets... just a note on your gig list i saw them at tiddingfoot leisure centre and keith levene was still a member they were supported by a r n b band called the rockets. The promoter a guy called chris France had also promoted gigs by the jam,the dammed and eddie and the hot rods all in leighton buzzard he also managed john otway and wild willy barrett at this time.the clash were superb sounding a lot like the mc5 at this gig. i'd actually gone along to see the rockets who i'd seen locally several times in the previous couple of years and followed around a bit,but the clash blew them off stage and they split soon after.cheers glyn
Oct? Guildford??
Oct 15 Acklam Hall, Ladbroke Grove, London supporting Spartacus and Sukuya. ref. Last gang in Town p210 (from Time Out mag).
Oct 16 University of London, London supporting Shakin Stevens. ref. Last gang in Town p. 211
Oct 23 Institute of Contemporary Arts, London ref. Last gang in Town p. 215
The Clash + Subway Sect + Snatch Sounds
Oct 27 Barbarellas, Birmingham ref. Last gang in Town p. 217
Supporting the Suburban Studs
- White Riot
- London’s Burning
- I’m So Bored with the USA
- How Can I Understand the Flies
- Protex Blue
- Deadly Serious
- Deny
- Career Opportunities
- 48 Hours
- What’s My Name
- Janie Jones
- 1977
- 1-2 Crush On You
This is the second gig on the 5 Go Mad At The Roundhouse CD, and although the sound is not as good as the Roundhouse gig, it is still a rare decent early live recording from the new line up. This Clash performance here is some six gigs on since Keith Levene left after the Roundhouse gig, and where Mick took over lead guitar and Joe rhythm.
The Clash had agreed to come up to Birmingham to support bandwagon no hopers The Suburban Studs. John Ingham in a review in Sounds thought their 45-minute set to be their best yet noting "that every song is pared to the minimum required to get it across with maximum energy and zero flab". The 30 people in attendance did not go amiss as Joe remarked upon the next visit to Barbarellas on the White Riot Tour, dedicating at gig to the few soles who where here on this night.
Although no doubt an exaggeration this would have been a small audience which the recording confirms, yet the band is met with warm applause at the end and returns for an encore. Again there were sound problems with a PA malfunction resulting in the vocals being routed through the club system, with the band's own amps required to project the sound of the guitars.
The unfortunate Mr Gray (off Last Gang infamy) writes that ironically, this made for one of the clearest vocal mixes they had ever experienced. Unfortunately the vocals on this recording are not that clear and somewhat distant and thin.
The guitars come across brightly though. It's a good stereo miked audience recording (presumably by the same taper as the Roundhouse) and very close to the master. Drums and cymbals are very clear with bass there but somewhat buried. Both guitars are clear but the sound is thin and harsh making this a less enjoyable listen than the Roundhouse. It has a sound quality between a 3 and a 4.
The Clash have developed significantly since The Roundhouse, the songs are faster, shorter and now definitely punk as Ingham pointed out. Out of the set goes Mick's 'I Know What To Think About You', 'I Never Did It', 'Mark Me Absent' and 'Sitting At My Party'. 'How Can I Understand the Flies' and 'Deadly Serious' survive but are further stripped down. In comes White Riot and Career Opportunities with 1-2 Crush On You reduced to the encore and subjected to a piss take by Joe of the teen angst lyrics.
The recording captures the band midpoint between the early fast, r'n'b Clash, largely singing Mick's songs about teenage love and school, and the Clash that was to come. A new set of songs with a new direction. Lyrics by Joe inspired by Bernie's situationist politics, and a general instruction to write about as Bernie put it "what you know and affects you".
1. White Riot The gig begins with Joe saying, "Hello got anymore light, can't see my hero!" and Mick shouting "1.2.3.4" before launching into White Riot. This is the first decent recording of it but it's not that fast and raw yet with a poor solo from Mick. A good song but not yet a classic. There are some different lyrics, sadly indecipherable although Joe does namecheck Birmingham. Warm but polite applause and someone shouts, "where's the pistols" (who had played Barbarella's recently).
2. London's Burning This song is nearly the finished article with the drum crash ending now added. It's sung as Birmingham's Burning and it's with boredom now.
3. I'm So Bored with the USA "A tune called I'm So Bored With the USA", and as if to reinforce the point that this song has undergone a highly significant change and is not now about boredom with a girl Joe shouts America after the first chords. The rest of the words though still sound the same as the Roundhouse version, so a song literally in a state of transition! As well as the lyric changes the song is now faster, rawer, and punk. Joe is obviously surprised at the enthusiastic reaction to at least some of the crowd and asks at the start of the song to some of the audience "you don't really live in Birmingham?, straight up!"
4. How Can I Understand the Flies Stripped down and further Ramones inspired.
5. Protex Blue "Talking about a durex!". Sounds brilliant, the finished article.
6. Deadly Serious "its so deadly serious, rock'n'roll". Still a slight song soon to be dropped, but with a better ending, punk treatment and great guitar lick mid-song.
7. Deny Now rawer and faster, with Joe now shouting a rap over the ending coda.
8. Career Opportunities First recording of this future classic in circulation. Not brilliant yet, a song in transition and with many different lyrics to the later recorded version.
9. 48 Hours Joe's intro; "now its my turn to give you a guitar solo in the key of E major!" A good version nearing its final form.
10. What's My Name Joe "In case you're wondering whether, you don't quite know what to do with yourself, maybe join the Police cadets, go on the railways, maybe you wanna work in a bank, or wanna be a popstar, well this is a song entitled What's My Nameeeee!" A great performance, highlight of the set and these early gigs. Mick sings a middle section.
11. Janie Jones "Now we come to our big rock'n'roll hit of the year!". It's now a punk classic, played faster and tougher than at the Roundhouse.
12. 1977 "Gonna do 1977 then fuck off!" Fast and frantic, sounds great.
13. 1-2 Crush On You After shouts of more the band return for a one-song encore. Not as good as the excellent Roundhouse version.
Oct 28 I.C.A., London with Subway Sect
Supported by Subway Sect
Melody Maker gig review Caroline Coon 76-10-28%20ICA.html
Oct 29 Town Hall, Fulham, London ref. Last gang in Town p. 217. Supporting Roogalator
Supporting Roogalator. Also on the bill The Vibrators.
- White Riot
- I'm So Bored With The USA
- Career Opportunities
- How Can I Understand The Flies
- London's Burning
- Protex Blue
- Deny
- Mark Me Absent
- What's My Name
- 48 Hours
- Janie Jones
- 1977
- 1-2 Crush On You
- I Know What To Think Of You
- White Riot
Nov 3 Harlesden Coliseum
Nov 5 Royal College of Art, London A Night Of Treason ref. Last gang in Town p. 218; supported by the Rockets
Supported by The Jam, Subway Sect
- White Riot
- I’m So Bored With The USA
- Career Opportunities
- How Can I Understand The Flies? 5. London’s Burning
- ‘Hey You...’ (Strummer rant at audience members)
- Protex Blue
- Deny
- Mark Me Absent **
- What’s My Name?
- 48 Hours
- Janie Jones
- 1977
- White Riot
The Royal College of Art is best known as a centre of British art [Hockney, Kitaj, Conran] but on November 5, 1976 it hosted A Night Of Treason, starring The Clash.
Punk was going overground and the place was full of punks, the interested and students. The stage door policy was loose and backstage was as crowded as out front. The dressing rooms and corridors were seething with talent. Siouxsie Sioux was gathering her tribe to follow up the Punk Festival appearance. Billy Idol and Tony James were about to leave Chelsea (one time on stage) and start a band called Generation X. Adrian Thrills was starting a fanzine. Mark P was working on the next issue of Sniffin’ Glue.
If Punk was an attitude then Subway Sect was as Punk as it got. They didn’t look or sound like anything else on a stage [before or since]. Their complete lack of showmanship and off-centre music really made you feel you were seeing something new. Then The Jam came on, all two-tone shoes and Shepherds Bush riffs. Somehow the sharp suits and Rickenbackers were at odds with the homemade fashions and Fenders of the Pistols and the Clash and backstage they sat apart from the other bands.
The Clash were incendiary. The sound was big and loud and they climbed all over their brace of songs like kids on a building site, crashing guitars and a rabble-rousing Joe. Then a student threw a beer glass. [Depressingly, it was always students who threw glasses and bottles.] Joe threw his arms above his head and shouted ‘Under heavy manners!’ He sought out the perpetrator, who got on stage. Joe questioned him and the guy looked sheepish. Then Sid Vicious got on stage, muttering into the mic and looking well-named. A few minutes later and they got back to the wonderful racket.
People used to say their life changed the first time they saw The Clash. This was the night when that scenario began.
Nov 11 Lacy Lady, Ilford ref. Last gang in Town p. 222.
Nov Polydor Demos
Polydor Demos CD Polydor demos / Guy Stevens / Mid Nov 1976 +Capital Radio 7" [free with NME coupon] 9 April 1977
- Career Opportunities
- White Riot
- Janie Jones
- Londons Burning
- 1977
- Listen (original interview release)
- 1-2 Got a Crush on You
ref:Polydor.jpg
This Cd was released by Sonic Books in a dual language format (Italian and English) It also contains a booklet which just repeats much of what is already written about the Clash. The CD contains just 7 tracks.
Also released previously on vinyl as A Fashion Mall Production (amongst others) and 2 of the tracks hon the official Clash on Broadway Box Set as well as White Riot being remixed for the debut LP.
The Clash prior to the Anarchy Tour [which would be about mid Nov 77], with Terry Chimes on drums, entered Polydor Studios to record 5 songs with Guy Stevens producing.
To which is added here the b-side of the freebie single Capital Radio given away by the NME in April 77, a track titled Listen.
This is the original version which is mixed with the Tony Parsons Tube interview. Also added is the later B-side to Tommy Gun, 1-2 Got a Crush on You.
The sound quality for the Polydor session is studio standard though these songs come across a little flat.
Nov 18 Nags Head, High Wycombe ref. Last gang in Town p. 224.
Nov 6 Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry 3 photos given as this date, though it is likely to be the 29th Nov
Nov 29 'Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry ref. Last gang in Town p. 189
ref:Coventry-Telegraph-28-Nov-2.jpg
Anarchy Tour
edit(December, England; supporting the Sex Pistols) Terry Chimes quits prior, Rob Harper rejoins the band for the Tour... Some Clash photos circulate from this Tour but the venue is unknown, possibly the Winter Gardens at Cleethorpes? Strummer, Jones, Simonen, Harper
Dec 1 Dundee Caird Hall cancelled/moved This gig never actually took place at Dundee's Caird Hall, although local record shop, Groucho's, still sells replica posters of the gig. The actual gig was played at the Dundee College of Technology Student's Union, known to one and all of a certain age, as the Bowling Alley. I was too young to get into these premises at the time, although a couple of years later spoke to different punters who described the same incident. One, Gary, winessed Johnny Rotten spending most of their set as far back from the audience as he could get before the speaker stack collapsed on someone. The other person was the girl the speakers fell on - she got a broken arm.
Dec 3 Norwich Poly - cancelled
Dec 4 Derby Kings Hall - cancelled
Dec 5 Newcastle City Hall - cancelled
Dec 6 Polytechnic, Leeds a Pistols recording exists from this gig but the taper only recorded the Pistols and the support slot, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers.
Dec 7 Bournemouth Village Bowl - cancelled
Dec 9 Electric Circus, Manchester
Dec 10 Charlton Theatre Preston - cancelled
Dec 10 Lancaster Uni re-arranged - also cancelled
Dec 11 Liverpool Stadium - cancelled
Dec 13 Bristol Colston Hall - cancelled
Dec 14 Cardiff Top Rank - cancelled/switched
Dec 14 Cinema, Caerphilly, Wales Welsh TV fimed outside and inside this venue. Recent unseen Pistols archive footage was screened on Welsh TV in 2002
Dec 15 Glasgow Apollo - cancelled
Dec 16 Dundee Caird Hall - cancelled
Dec 17 Sheffield City Hall - cancelled
Dec 18 Southend Kuursal - cancelled
Dec 19 Guildford Civic Hall - cancelled/switched
Dec 19 Electric Circus, Manchester
Dec 20 Birmingham Town Hall - cancelled
Dec 20 Winter Gardens, Cleethorpes
Dec 21 Woods Centre, Plymouth
Dec 22 Torquay 400 Ballroom - cancelled/switched
Dec 22 Woods Centre, Plymouth
Dec 26 London Roxy Theatre Harlesdon - cancelled
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1977%20DATES.html
White Riot Tour
edit(May, England, Ireland, Sweden, Germany; supported by Buzzcocks, The Jam and The Slits)
Guildford, Civic Hall
editSunday 1 May 1977 White Riot Tour with the Jam, Buzzcocks, Slits and Subway Sect.
- Londons Burning
- 1977
- I'm so Bored with the USA
- Pressure Drop
- Hate and War
- Cheat
- Police and Thieves
- 48 Hours
- Capital Radio
- Deny
- Remote Control
- Career Opportunities
- White Riot
- Janie Jones
- Garageland
- 1977
Mon. 2nd Chester, Rascals
Tues. 3rd Birmingham, Barbarellas
Wed. 4th Swidon, The Affair Ballroom
Thurs. 5th Liverpool, Erics
Fri. 6th Aberdeen, University
Sat. 7th Edinburgh, Playhouse Theatre
Sun. 8th Manchester, lectric Circus
Mon 9th London, Rainbow
Tues. 10th Kidderminster, Town Hall
Thurs. 12th Notthingham, Palais
Sun. 15th Plymouth, Fiesta
Mon. 16th Swansea, University
Tues. 17th Leeds, Politechnic
Thurs. 19th Middlesbrough, Rock Gardens
Fri. 20th Newcastle, University
Sat. 21st St. Albans, City Hall
Mon. 23rd Stafford, Top of the World
Tue. 24th Cardiff, Top Rank
Wed. 25th Brighton, Politechnic
Thurs. 26th Bristol, Colston Hall
Fri. 27th West Runton, Pavillion
Sat. 28th Canterbury, Odeon
Sun. 29th Chelmsford, Chancellor Hall
Mon. 30th Dunstable, California Ballroom
- Get Out of Control Tour (October-December, UK)
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1978%20DATES.html
- Rock Against Racism, 30 April, Victoria Park, London, England
- On Parole Tour (June-July, UK)
- Sort It Out Tour (October-December, UK and Europe)
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1979%20DATES.html
Pearl Harbour Tour
edit(January-February, USA and Canada) “We were going to drive to Toronto from New York, but we were snowed in and except for the back-line vehicle, the rest of us flew direct to Cananda.” Scratchy
In early 1979, the Clash set out their first tour in America. The so-called Pearl Harbour was a short nine date tour, they were supported by Bo Diddley for all of their gigs in America. Started on 31 January and ended on 20 February. They were suddenly welcomed by the American bad press, that labeled them “evil punk rockers” looking to “spread communism to American youth”, and this fact further politicized Strummer.<ref name="DAmbrosio-Let_Fury">{{cite book |last=D'Ambrosio |first=Antonino |title=Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer |date=2004-10-13 |publisher=Nation Books |location=New York |isbn=1560256257 |oclc=56988650 |quote=Edited with an Introduction by Antonino D'Ambrosio. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.monthlyreview.org/0603ambrosio.htm |title=Monthly Review June 2003 Antonino D’Ambrosio |access-date=2007-11-23 |last=Antonino D’Ambrosio |first=Antonino |author-link=Antonino D'Ambrosio | date=June 2003 |work=‘Let Fury Have the Hour’: The Passionate Politics of Joe Strummer |publisher=Monthly Review |quote=Strummer recalled his disappointment with the bad press that greeted the Clash in the United States labeling them “evil punk rockers” looking to “spread communism to American youth.” The short eight-date-tour further politicized Strummer. He felt it opened his eyes to the “commodification of music” and “exposed the terrible resistance and hatred of anything that attempts to grow outside the dominant economic and social structure.” On the other hand, there were a few shows like the legendary performance at New York’s Palladium that taught Strummer an important lesson. “We must use negative situations” Strummer said, “to refocus and redirect anger and frustration and fashion music that is powerful to all who listen, always upsetting the status quo.” }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://homepage.mac.com/blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1979%20DATES.html |title=1979 |access-date=2007-11-27 |publisher=blackmarketclash.com }}</ref>
- Jan 31 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, Canada - Supported by Bo Diddley and the Dishrags, a local all-girl punk band. "A Riot of Our Own pg127"
- Feb 7 Berkely Community Centre California - Supported by Bo Diddley "A Riot of Our Own pg132 & 136+"
- Feb 8 Geary Temple (Fillmore), San Francisco CA - Geary Temple known as The Fillmore. Supported by Bo Diddley, Zeros & Negative Trend. "A Riot of Our Own pg137"
- Debut US Tour
- Fresh from recording at Wessex Studios the Rude Boy overdubs and the Cost of Living EP The Clash tour the States for the first time in the now historic Pearl Harbour tour. A band with a mission to “resuscitate a barely breathing US rock scene”, their target the “music to drive by” of Foreigner, Boston etc, etc.
- known set list
- "I'm So Bored with the USA"
- "Drug Stabbing Time"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "Hate and War"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "Complete Control"
- "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad"
- "Stay Free"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "English Civil War"
- "Capital Radio"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Garageland"
- "What's My Name"
- "Londons Burning"
- "White Riot"
- Feb 9 Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA - Supported by Bo Diddley and The Dils "A Riot of Our Own pg138" LA Weekly review Don Snowden LA Times review Robert Hilburn
- known set list
- "I'm so Bored with the USA"
- "Drug Stabbing Time"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "Hate and War"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "(White Man) In Hammmersmith Palais"
- "Safe European Home"
- "Stay Free"
- "English Civil War"
- "Guns on the Roof"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "Complete Control"
- "Capital Radio"
- "London's Burning"
- "White Riot"
- Feb 13 Agora, Cleveland OH - Larry McIntyre Fund Benefit - Supported by Bo Diddley and Alex Bevan "A Riot of Our Own pg143"
- known set list
- "I'm so bored with the USA"
- "Drug Stabbing Time"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "City of the Dead"
- "Hate and War"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmit Palais"
- "Safe European Home"
- "Stay Free"
- "English Civil War"
- "Guns on the Roof"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "Capital Radio"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Garageland"
- "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad"
- "Londons Burning"
- "White Riot"
- "Complete Control"
- "What's My Name"
- Feb 15 Ontario Theatre, Washington DC - Supported by Bo Diddley and The D-Ceats
- known set list
- "Guns on the Roof"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "Drug Stabbing Time"
- "Hate and War"
- "City of the Dead"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "Safe European Home"
- "English Civil War"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "Stay Free"
- Feb 16 Harvard Square Theater, Cambridge MA - Supported by The Rentals and Bo Diddley
- known set list
- "I'm So Bored with the USA"
- "Guns On the Roof"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Drug Stabbing Time"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "City Of the Dead"
- "Hate and War"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "English Civil War"
- "Safe European Home"
- "Stay Free"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "Capital Radio"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Garageland"
- "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad"
- "Complete Control"
- "London's Burning"
- "White Riot"
- Feb 17 Palladium, New York NY - Supported by Bo Diddley and The Cramps "A Riot of Our Own pg146"
- known set list
- "I'm So Bored with the USA"
- "Guns on the Roof"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "City of the Dead"
- "Hate and War"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "Safe European Home"
- "English Civil War"
- "Stay Free"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "Capital Radio"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Garageland"
- "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad"
- "Complete Control"
- "London's Burning"
- "White Riot"
- "What's My Name"
- "Career Opportunities"
- Feb 20 The Rex Danforth Theatre, Toronto, Canada - Supported by Bo Diddley
- known set list
- "I’m so bored with the USA"
- "Guns on the Roof"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Drug Stabbing Time"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "City of the Dead"
- "Career Opportunities"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "English Civil War"
- "Stay Free"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "Capital Radio"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Garageland"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad"
- "Complete Control"
- "Londons Burning"
- "White Riot"
The Clash Take the Fifth Tour
edit(September-October, USA y Canada)
12 September 1979 St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
27 December, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1980%20DATES.html
16 Tons European Tour
edit16 Tons Tour (January-June, UK, USA and Europe)
- 24 May 1980 – Gothenburg, Sweden
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1981%20DATES.html
Impossible Mission Tour
editImpossible Mission Tour (April-May, Europe)
- 27 April 1981 – Jeuvetewal Pavillion, Barcelona, Spain
- 30 April 1981 – Pavilhão Dramático, Cascais, Portugal
- 2 May 1981 – Velodromo de Anoeta, San Sebastian, Spain
- 5 May 1981 – Palais des Sports, Lyon, France
- 6 May 1981 – Palais de Beaulieu, Lausanne, Switzerland
- 8 May 1981 – Hippodrome de Pantin, Paris, France
- 9 May 1981 – Palais St. Saveur, Lille, France
- 10 May 1981 – Jaap Ede Hal, Amsterdam, Holland
- 14 May 1981 – Idrottshuset, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 15 May 1981 – The Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden
- 16 May 1981 – Isstadion, Stockholm, Sweden
- 18 May 1981 – Eissporthalle, Berlin, Germany
- 21 May 1981 – Vellodromo Vigorelli, Milan, Italy
- 23 May 1981 – Stadio Communale, Florence, Italy
Bonds International Casino
editParis Residency
editRadio Clash UK Tour
editRadio Clash (October, UK and Europe)
- 6 October 1981 – Apollo Theatre, Manchester, England
- 7 October 1981 – Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland
- 11 October 1981 – Lyceum, Sheffield
- 12 October 1981 – Royal Court, Liverpool, England
- 15 October 1981 – Colisseum, Saint Austell, Cornwall
- 18 – 26 October – The Lyceum Ballroom, London, England (7 concerts)
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1982%20DATES.html
Far East Tour 82
editFar East Tour (January-February, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and China)
- 24 January 1982 – Shibuya Kohkaido, Tokyo, Japan
- 25 January 1982 – Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan
- 30 January 1982 – Kosein-Kaiken Hall, Tokyo, Japan
- 1 February 1982 – Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo, Japan*
- 2 February 1982 – Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan
- 23 February 1982 – Festival Hall, Melbourne, New Zealand
- 25 February 1982 – Academic Community Hall, Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
(Terry Chimes replaced Topper Headon)
Casbah Club UK Tour
editCasbah Club Tour' (May-August, USA, Canada and UK)
Combat Rock USA Tour
editCombat Rock Tour (August-October, USA)
- 11 August 1982 – Civic Center, St Paul, Minnesota, USA
- 13 August 1982 – Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- 13 August 1982 – Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- 2 September 1982 – Pier 84, New York, NY, USA
- 17 October 1982 – Memorial Gym, Kent State University, Ohio, USA
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1982%20DATES.html
USA Festival
edit- 22 May 1983 – Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- 26 May 1983 – Tucson Activities Centre, University of Arizona, Tucson City, Arizona, USA
blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1984%20DATES.html
Out of Control Tour
editblackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/Clash%20gigography/1985%20DATES1.html
Busking Tour
editBusking Tour (May, UK)
The Clash Bootlegs and Unreleased Material
edit- The Clash - Che Guevara CD (Great Dane GDR CD 9228 released 1992 – Live: Tokyo 1982 and Lochem May 20th 1982
- "London Calling"
- "Safe European Home"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "Brand New Cadillac"
- "Charlie Don't Surf"
- "Clampdown"
- "This Is Radio Clash"
- "Armagideon Time"
- "Jimmy Jazz"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "Fujiyama Mama (Pearl Harbour)"
- "Police on My Back"
- "White Riot"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "Know Your Rights"
- "The Magnificent Seven"
- "Ghetto Defendant"
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
- Live at Bond's Casino (2000)
- "London Calling"
- "Safe European Home"
- "The Leader"
- "Train in Vain"
- "This Is Radio Clash"
- "Guns of Brixton"
- "The Call Up"
- "Bankrobber"
- "Charlie Don't Surf (song)"
- "Magnificent Seven"
- "Somebody Got Murdered"
- "Police & Thieves"
- "Clampdown"
- "One More Time"
- "Brand New Cadillac"
- "The Street Parade"
- "Janie Jones"
- "Washington Bullets"
The Clash tribute bands
edit- The Armagideons
- The Black Market (???)
- Brixton
- Charlie Don't Surf (Bristol, UK)
- Charlie Don't Surf (Brussels, Belgium)
- Clampdown (UK)
- The Clash All Star Reggae Band (Bobby Bobson, Ryan Kelly, Andy Porter, Alex Fine, Curt S) (02.02.08, Sidebar, Baltimore, MD. Alpha Betts)
- The Clash City Rockers (North East U.K.)
- The Clashed (U.K.)
- Website URL: www.theclashed.co.uk
- Combat Rock (1997 - present) (Glasgow, U.K.)
- Website URL: www.combatrocks.co.uk
- The Counterfeit Clash (Glasgow, U.K.)
- Website URL: www.counterfeitclash.co.uk
- MySpace URL: The Counterfeit Clash - UK - Punk / Rock / Reggae
- Dead City Riots (Glasgow, U.K.)
- The Gang (Ancona, Italy)
- Garage Joe
- Garageland (New Zealand)
- Garagelanders (U.S.)
- Guns on the Roof (U.K.)
- Website URL: www.gunsontheroof.com
- The Lash (???)
- The Lashes (L.A, U.S.A.)
- Last Gang in Town (2006 - present) (Austin, Texas, U.S.A.)
- MySpace URL www.myspace.com/lastgangintown
- Last Gang in Town (U.K.)
- Website Url: www.lgit.co.uk
- Linea (Italy)
- London Calling Website URL: www.london-calling.info
- On Parole (???)
- Radio Clash (Glos, UK)
- Website URL: www.radio-clash.com
- Radio Clash (Imperia, Italy)
- MySpace URL: www.myspace.com/radioclashextend
- Rebel Truce (Leeds, U.K.)
- Website URL: www.rebeltruce.com
- Rude Boys, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan)
- The Trash (U.K.)
- Vanilla Tapes (???)
- The Wall of Clash (Sweden)
- We Are the Clash (Brazil or Argentina ???)
- The Century Fighters (Netherland)
- Website URL: [1]
- Westway to the Clash
The Clash tribute albums
edit- Various - The Clash Tribute 'The Never Ending Story' (Part 1)
- Label: Released Emotions Records
- Catalog#: REM 014
- Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
- Country: UK
- Released: 1991
- Genre: Rock
- Style: Alternative Rock
- Notes: Made in England (LC 7327)
- Marketed in West Germany by Artlos.
- All published by Nineden Music except B3 by Released Emotions Music and B6 by Tap Roots Music (Jackie Mittoo Music).
- Track listing
Side one
- Intro
- "Capital Radio" (Strummer/Jones) - The Indestructible Beat
- "Complete Control" (Strummer/Jones) - Bleach
- "Charlie Don't Surf" (The Clash) - Kage Engineering
- "London's Burning" (Strummer/Jones) - Pop Am Good
- "Washington Bullets (New World Order Mix)" (The Clash) - Attila the Stockbroker
- "Terry Edwards Version City" (The Clash) -
Side two
- Intro
- "Bankrobber" (Strummer/Jones) - Anhrefn & One Style MDV
- "Hateful" (Strummer/Jones) - Levellers 5
- "English Civil War (Johnny Comes Marching Home)" (Traditional) - The Price
- "Spanish Bombs" (The Clash) - Walls Have Ears
- "London Calling" (Strummer/Jones) - Mass
- "Armagideon Time" (Mittoo/Williams) The Moonflowers
- "London's Burning (Reprise)" (Strummer/Jones) - Serious Drinking
- "Hateful" - No Doubt
- "This Is Radio Clash" - The Urge
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" - Ice Cube/Mack 10
- "Cheat" - Rancid
- "Train in Vain" - Third Eye Blind
- "Clampdown" - Indigo Girls
- "Rudie Can't Fail" - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" - 311
- "Lost in the Supermarket" - The Afghan Whigs
- "White Riot" - Cracker
- "London's Burning" - Silverchair
- "Straight to Hell" - Moby/Heather Nova
- "Death or Glory" - Dave Smalley
- "Clampdown" - Hot Water Music
- "Hate and War" - Murphy's Law
- "Hateful" - Kid Dynamite
- "City Rockers" - Saves the Day
- "Guns of Brixton" - Dropkick Murphy's
- "Brand New Cadillac" - Incognegro
- "Rock the Casbah" - Demonspeed
- "Lost in the Supermarket" - Lady Luck
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" - Error Type 11
- "Lose This Skin" - Stubborn Allstars
- "London Calling" - One King Down
- "Train in Vain" - Ill Repute
- "Garageland" - The Sick
- "White Riot" - Fang
- "Career Opportunities" Stigmata
- "Straight to Hell" - Skinnerbox
- "Tommy Gun" - The Mob
- This Is Rockabilly Clash (Various artists, Raucous Records 2002)
- "Guns of Brixton" – The Honeydippers
- "Career Opportunities" – The Farrell Bros.
- "Capitol Radio" – The Hyperjax
- "Jail Guitar Doors" – The Caravans
- "Train in Vain" – The Sabrejets
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" – Long Tall Texans
- "I'm So Bored with the USA" – XX Cortez
- "Jimmy Jazz" – Frantic Flintstones
- "What's My Name?" – Charles Napiers
- "Bank robber" – The Pistoleers
- "Brand New Cadillac" – The Accelerators
- "Janie Jones" – The Farrell Bros.
- "Know Your Rights" – The Caravans (featuring Perry The Horse - vocals)
- "Guns Of Brixton" – Rancho Deluxe
- Charlie Does Surf (A Tribute To The Clash) (Various artists, Rickshaw Records 2004)
- "Charlie Don't Surf" – Pollo Del Mar
- "What's My Name?" – Estrume'n'tal
- "Rudie Can't Fail" – The Cocktail Preachers
- "Atom Tan" – The Silver Hawks
- "Garageland" – The Glasgow Tiki Shakers
- "Safe European Home" – The Bombers & The Vivisectors
- "White Riot" – Kelp
- "Janie Jones" – Crime Factor Zero
- "Straight to Hell" – CHUM
- "London's Burning" – The Fabulous Planktones
- "Spanish Bombs" – RNA
- "Train in Vain" – Susan & The Surftones
- "Stay Free" – The Thurston Lava Tube
- "Death or Glory" – The Nematoads
- "Clampdown" – Urban Surf Kings
- "Complete Control" – The Lava Rats
- "The Guns of Brixton" – The Anacondas
- "London Calling" – The Pyronauts
- The Sandinista! Project (A Tribute To The Clash) (Various artists, 00:02:59 Records; recorded in 2004; released in 2007)[24][25][26]
Track Listing
Disc one
- "The Magnificent Seven" – Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
- "Hitsville UK" – Katrina Leskanich
- "Junco Partner" – Jon Langford and Sally Timms with Ship & Pilot
- "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" – Jason Ringenberg and Kristi Rose
- "The Leader" – Amy Rigby
- "Something About England" – The Coal Porters
- "Rebel Waltz" – Ruby on the Vine
- "Look Here" – Jim Duffy
- "The Crooked Beat" – Wreckless Eric
- "Somebody Got Murdered" – Matthew Ryan
- "One More Time/One More Dub" – Haale
- "One More Time (One More Time)" – Ted Harris
- "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" – London Calling of Chicago
- "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" – The Smithereens
- "Corner Soul" – Ethan Lipton
- "Let's Go Crazy" – Storybox
- "If Music Could Talk" – Steve Wynn
- "The Sound of Sinners" – Bill Lloyd
Disc two
- "Police on My Back" – Willie Nile
- "Midnight Log" – Soul Food with Mick Gallagher
- "The Equaliser" – Sunset Heroes
- "The Call Up" – The Lothars
- "Washington Bullets" – Phil Rockrohr and the Lifters
- "Broadway" – Stew
- "Lose This Skin" – Jim Allen
- "Charlie Don't Surf" – The Crunchies
- "Mensforth Hill" – Bee Maidens
- "Junkie Slip" – Mark Cutler
- "Kingston Advice" – Camper Van Beethoven
- "The Street Parade" – Dollar Store
- "Version City" – Tim Krekel
- "Living in Fame" – Lou Carlozo
- "Silicone on Sapphire" – The Blizzard of 78 featuring Mikey Dread
- "Version Pardner" – Sally Timms and Jon Langford with Ship & Pilot
- "Career Opportunities" – Sex Clark Five
- "Shepherds Delight" – The Hyphens
The Clash Bibliography and References
editItems are in alphabetical order by author's last names, and using the {{cite book}}, {{cite journal}}, {{cite video}}, {{cite episode}}, and {{cite web}} templates.
- Bacon, Mark L (1995). Anger and Angst: Portraits of Artists as Angry Young Men. Wilmington: University of North Carolina. OCLC 34108703.
This thesis explores John Osborne's 1956 play, Look back in anger, and the Clash's 1976 album, The Clash.
- Description & Notes: v, 76 leaves; 28 cm.
- Clash, The; Steve Gorenberg, Jeff Perrin, David Whitehill (1999-05-01). Best of the Clash. Hal Leonard guitar recorded versions. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. ISBN 0793569966. OCLC 42574172.
Music transcriptions by Steve Gorenberg, Jeff Perrin, and Dave Whitehill; authentic transcriptions with notes and tablature.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Description & Notes: Paperback 31 cm., 93 pages, illustrated.
- Clash, The; Nick Crispin (2005) [2004]. The Clash: The Complete Chord Songbook (3rd ed.). London: Music Sales. ISBN 0711932093. OCLC 57485240.
- Description & Notes: Words and guitar chord symbols for 129 songs. "Specially arranged from the actual recordings in the original keys"--P. [4] of cover. Words and music by members of the group. 328 pages; 25 cm.
- Clash, The (2008-10-01). The Clash: Strummer, Jones, Simonon, Headon. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1843547884. OCLC 236120343.
- Description & Notes: The surviving members of The Clash have worked together with the full cooperation of Joe Strummer's estate to create this unique collection.
This title presents Strummer, Jones, Simonon & Headon, in their own words for the first time. It is the music book of 2008.From "White Riot" to "Rock The Casbah", The Clash were a band like no other. Part of the original wave of British punk bands to emerge in the 1970s, their skilled musicianship, intelligent songwriting, boundless energy, definitive style and passionate idealism caught the spirit of the times and made them a worldwide phenomenon. "Rolling Stone" magazine declared "London Calling" one of the greatest albums of all time, and their music has only become more resonant over the past thirty years. Their story is steeped in mythology. Many people have their own opinions about what made them tick - but now readers can hear the full story from the band themselves. This is the long-awaited, first official book by Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. Lavishly produced, "The Clash by The Clash" brings together for the first time remarkable, previously unseen personal and professional photos of the band at home, on stage, in the studio and on the road. The result is more than a book - it is an event. Hardcover: 384 pages; ISBN-13: 978-1843547884; Product Dimensions: 29 x 25.4 x 3.3 cm.
- Clash, The; Johnny Green, Catherine Coon, Don Letts (2007). The Clash: Up Close and Personal (DVD Video). United States: Storm Bird. ISBN 1905431929. OCLC 123570261.
People close to punk rock legends the Clash talk frankly and honestly about their times with the band. Among the contributors are filmmaker Don Letts, publicist Catherine Coon, and road manager Johnny Green.
- Description & Notes: DVD and book set. 1 videodisc (ca. 57 min.): sd., col.; 4 3/4 in. + 1 book (96 p.). Abstract: People close to The Clash talking about their time spent with the band.
- Clash, The; Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Don Letts (2008-04-15). The Clash: Live - Revolution Rock (Documentary). New York, NY: Legacy Recordings. OCLC 227211002.
- Description & Notes: Genre/Form: Punk rock music., Rock music, Rock videos., Rock concert films., Television programs; Material Type: Videorecording; Document Type: Visual Material; Notes: Features: bonus interviews on NBC's "Live at five" and "The tomorrow show With Tom Snyder" from 1981. Target Audience: Not rated. Description: 1 videodisc (81 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. Details: DVD. Contents: Complete control (from "The essential Clash") -- I fought the law (London Lyceum, Jan. 1979) -- Police & thieves (Friars Club, Aylesbury, Jan. 1980) -- What's my name ; Capitol Radio One (Elizabethan Suite, Manchester, Nov. 1977) -- White riot (Beaconsfield Studios, Bucks, Apr. 1977) -- I'm so bored with the U.S.A. (Manchester Apollo, Nov. 1978) -- London's burning (Victory Park, London, Apr. 1978) -- 1977 (Beaconsfield Studios, Bucks, Apr. 1977) -- (White man) In Hammersmith Palais (Glasgow Apollo, July 1978) -- Tommy gun (1978) -- Safe European home (The Music Machine, London, July 1978) -- London calling (Bonds International Casino, New York, June 1981) -- Clampdown (Lewisham Odeon, Feb. 1980) -- The guns of Brixton ("Fridays," Los Angeles, Apr. 1980) -- Train in vain (Lewisham Odeon, Feb. 1980) -- This is Radio Clash ; The magnificent seven ("The tomorrow show," New York City, June 1981) -- Brand new Cadillac (Sun Plaza, Tokyo, Feb. 1982) -- Should I stay or should I go (Shea Stadium, New York City, Oct. 1982) -- Know your rights (US Festival, May 1983) -- Career opportunities (Shea Stadium, New York City, Oct. 1982). Other Titles: Revolution rock, Fridays (Television program : 1980-1982)., Live at five (WNBC (Television station : New York, N.Y.)). Responsibility: directed and produced by Don Letts.
- Clash, The (2004). London Calling (Compact Disc, DVD Video). New York: Epic. OCLC 56620494.
- Description & Notes: 25 Anniversary Legacy edition. Notes: Compact discs accompanied by bonus DVD. Song lyrics inserted in container. Description: 2 sound discs: digital; 4 3/4 in. + 1 videodisc (DVD, ca. 50 min.: sd., col.; 4 3/4 in.) + booklet ([36] p.: ill.; 12 cm.) + 1 lyrics sheet (2 p., folded). Contents: CD, disc 1, original LP: London Calling -- Track listing. CD, disc 2, The Vanilla Tapes (previously unheard rehearsal sessions including five new songs) track listing. DVD: Last testament: The making of London Calling (30 min.) -- Extras: Promos of London Calling, Train in Vain, Clampdown -- Home video footage of The Clash recording London Calling at Wessex Studios.
- Counterfeit Clash, The (2004). "The Counterfeit Clash". S.l. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
- Description & Notes: Type: Internet Resource OCLC: 57367626 Material Type: Document, Internet resource Document Type: Internet Resource, Computer File Notes: Title appears on item as: Welcome to the home page of The Counterfeit Clash. Description based on contents viewed Jan. 05, 2005; title from title screen.
- DeCurtis, Anthony (2003). "1952-2002 Joe Strummer - A tribute to the late Clash singer and songwriter, plus his final remarks on the rise and fall of the legendary punk band". Rolling Stone. 914 (27). San Francisco, CA: Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 96002520.
- Du Noyer, Paul (1997-09-18). The Clash. Modern Icons. London: Virgin. ISBN 1852277157. OCLC 58830766.
Introduction by Paul Du Noyer.
- Description & Notes: Hardcover 96 pages. 1st USA edition (1998-01-15) New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312179391; OCLC 38546629. 19cm., 93 pages, illustrated.
- Espar, David; Elizabeth Deane, Hugh Thomson, Liev Schreiber, Don Letts, WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.) (1995). Rock & roll. Vol. 5 (VHS Tape). South Burlington, VT: WGBH Educational Foundation. OCLC 144599714.
- Description & Notes: Patti Smith; Bob Marley; Michael Jackson; Madonna; Prince; Afrika Bambaataa; Bruce Springsteen. Notes: Closed captioned for the hearing impaired. Description: 1 videocassette (120 min.): sd., col and b&w; 1/2 in. Contents: Punk -- The perfect beat. Music: Blitzkrieg bop -- Horses -- Psychokiller -- Heart of glass -- No fun -- London Calling -- Concrete jungle -- Message -- Planet rock -- Billie Jean -- Walk this way -- No sleep till Brooklyn -- Fight the power.
- Espar, David; Elizabeth Deane, Hugh Thomson, Liev Schreiber, Don Letts, WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.) (1999). City Rockers a Tribute to The Clash (Compact Disc). Philadelphia, Pa: CHORD. OCLC 61256304.
- Description & Notes: Description: 1 disc (54 min., 57 sec.): digital; 4 3/4 in. Contents: Death or glory Dave Smalley Clampdown Hot Water Music Hate and war Murphy's Law Hateful Kid Dynamite City rockers Saves the Day Guns of Brixton Dropkick Murphy's Brand new Cadillac Incognegro Rock the Casbah Demonspeed Lost in the supermarket Lady Luck Should I stay or should I go Error Type 11 Lose this skin Stubborn Allstars London calling One King Down Train in vain Ill Repute Garageland The Sick White riot Fang Career opportunities Stigmata Straight to hell Skinnerbox Tommy gun The Mob.
- Fletcher, Tony (2005). The Clash: Complete Guide to their Music (2nd ed.). London; New York: Omnibus. ISBN 184449506X. OCLC 57064135.
- Description & Notes: Biography 18cm., 126 pages, illustrated.
- Gilbert, Pat (2005) [2004]. Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash (4th ed.). London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1845131134. OCLC 61177239.
- Description & Notes: Gilbert, Pat (2004). Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash, London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-84513-017-0. Gilbert, Pat (2004). Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash, Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 030681434X. OCLC 60245537. Clash Biography ix, 404 p.: ill., 1 map; 23 cm.
- Gray, Marcus (2005) [1995]. The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town (5th rev. ed.). London: Helter Skelter. ISBN 1905139101. OCLC 60668626.
- Description & Notes: Gray, Marcus (1995). Last Gang In Town: The Story and Myth of The Clash, London: Fourth Estate Limited. ISBN 1-85702-146-0. American edition, New York: H. Holt, 1996. ISBN: 0-80504-640-2. Paperback, New York: H. Holt, Sep 1997. ISBN 0-80504-641-0. Gray, Marcus (2001). Return of The Last Gang In Town, Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 1-900924-16-1. Gray, Marcus (2001). Return of The Last Gang In Town, Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 1-900924-16-1. (2002). Milwaukee, Wis: Hal Leonard. ISBN 063404673X. OCLC 50028582. (2004-11-01). Return of The Last Gang In Town (2nd Edition), Helter Skelter Publishing, ISBN 1-900924-16-1??? Biography. 5 editions revised and updated. Includes index. Contents: One more time -- Rock dreams -- Riot acts -- Star trips -- After lives.
- Green, Johnny; Garry Barker (2003) [1997]. A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with The Clash (3rd ed.). London: Orion. ISBN 0752858432. OCLC 52990890.
- Description & Notes: Green, Johnny; Garry Barker, Ray Lowry (Ill.) (1997). A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with The Clash, London: Indigo. (Paperback - Feb 12, 1999). ISBN 0-575-40080-3. 272 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 20 cm
- Griffiths, Rachael; Jayne Anderson, Helen Murrell, Graham McTavish, Don Letts (2005). Punk Icons. The Clash (Documentary, Biographical film, DVD). New York, NY, United States: Music Reviews Ltd. OCLC 67525206.
- Description & Notes: Type: DVD video widescreen format documentary biographical film, DVD-Video discs. Notes: "Punk icons". Special feature included. "Editorial control: This film is totally unauthorised and has not been approved by the Clash, nor has it been authorised or approved by past or present management of the band". 1 videodisc (67 min.): sd., col.; 4 3/4 in. "The ultimate critical review of the music of The Clash on stage, on record and on film. Don Letts heads a team of leading critics, reviewers and Clash insiders...in this review".
- Gruen, Bob; Chris Salewicz (2004) [2001]. The Clash (3rd ed.). London: Omnibus. ISBN 1903399343. OCLC 69241279.
- Description & Notes: Gruen, Bob; Chris Salewicz (2001). The Clash, London: Vision On. ISBN 1903399335. OCLC 49905589.
- Hazan, Jack; David Mingay, Ray Gange, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Nicky Headon, Buzzy Enterprises, Epic Music Video (2006). Rude Boy (Documentary). New York, NY, United States: Epic Music Video. ISBN 0738900826. OCLC 70850190.
Parental advisory, explicit content, strong language.
- Description & Notes: Digitally restored and remastered sound. "Parental advisory, explicit content, strong language"--Container. Special features: Interviews with Ray Gange, Clash road manager Johnny Green, and filmmakers Jack Hazan and David Mingay; 2 bonus live tracks (that never made the final cut); 4 deleted scenes; 1980 theatrical trailer; "Just play the Clash" songs menu; Clash photo gallery; 2 rare 1978 BBC performances. Description: 1 videodisc (127 min.): sd., col.; 4 3/4 in. Summary/Abstract "Set in the U.K. of 1978 and filmed as a fictional documentary, Rude Boy follows Ray as he quits his job in a London sex shop to become a roadie for the most exciting live band in the country, The Clash. Part character study, part "rockumentary", Rude Boy portrays the disillusionment of youth at a time of economic decline in late '70s Britain"--Container. Publisher: Australia: Umbrella Entertainment, ©2004. Edition: Widescreen collector's ed OCLC: 156697971
- Johnstone, Nick (2006-05-31). The Clash "Talking". London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 1846094003. OCLC 64555766.
- Description & Notes: Paperback 127 p. : ill., ports. (some col.) ; 24 cm..
- Julia, Ignacio (2000). The Clash: Rock de combate (in Spanish). Valencia: La Máscara. ISBN 8479743492. OCLC 46474307.
- Description & Notes: Biography 136 pages.
- Kaye, Lenny; Lester Bangs, Kosmo Vinyl (2000) [1991]. Clash on Broadway (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Sony Music. OCLC 54426634.
- Description & Notes: 1st Edition: Kaye, Lenny; Lester Bangs, Kosmo Vinyl (1991). Clash on Broadway, New York, NY: Sony Music. OCLC 32356254
Notes: Issued with CD's of the same title. Description: 70 p. : ill., ports.; 12.5 x 14 cm. Contents: Americlash / Lenny Kaye -- Excerpts from Psychotic reactions and carburetor dung / Lester Bangs -- Inside stories (1976-1982) / Kosmo Vinyl -- Discography.
- Knowles, Chris (December 2003). Clash City Showdown. PageFree Publishing. ISBN 1589611381.
- Description & Notes: A collection featuring the best of the acclaimed clash City Showdown website and new material focusing on the true legacy of the legendary Punk Rock Band. Featuring biographical and historical information, reviews and in-depth analysis lavishly illustrated with cartoons and rare photographs. 268pp..
- Letts, Don; David Nobakht (2008) [22 January 2007]. Culture Clash: Dread Meets Punk Rockers (3rd ed.). London: SAF. ISBN 978-0946719990. OCLC 181422771.
- Description & Notes: Originally published: 22 Jan2, 2007. Includes index.
- Letts Don; Rick Elgood, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Terry Chimes, The Clash (2007). The Clash: Westway to the World (Documentary). New York, NY: Sony Music Entertainment, Dorismo Ltd., Uptown Films. ISBN 0738900826. OCLC 49798077.
- Description & Notes: Special features: "Clash on Broadway" footage from the band's personal collection filmed in 1982 when The Clash went to New York; exclusive unseen interview footage; photo gallery ; discography. 1 videodisc (107 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. A documentary about The Clash, composed entirely of interviews and footage.
- Letts, Don; Rick Elgood, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Terry Chimes, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones (2006). Punk Icons the Ultimate Collection (Documentary). New York, NY: Music Reviews. OCLC 135434654.
- Description & Notes: Genre/Form: Documentary videos., Biographical videos., Biographical films., Biographical (Nonfiction)., Documentary. Description: 3 videodiscs : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. Contents: Disc 1: The Sex Pistols -- Disc 2. The Ramones -- Disc 3: The Clash. Summary/Abstract Features Sex Pistols, Ramones, and Clash. Includes reviews with each band, rare footage, interviews, live music, and more!
- Lowry, Ray (2007). The Clash. Warwick: Angry Penguin. ISBN 978-1906283360. OCLC 165412921.
- Description & Notes: Biography.
- Luna, Sagrario (1988). The Clash (in Spanish). Madrid: Caťedra. ISBN 843760785X. OCLC 26844313.
- Description & Notes: 2nd Edition Paperback - Oct 31, 1996.
- Miles, Barry (1981). The Clash. London; New York: Omnibus Press. OCLC 7676911.
- Description & Notes: .
- Needs, Kris (2005-01-25). Joe Strummer and the Legend of the Clash. London: Plexus. ISBN 085965348X. OCLC 53155325.
- Description & Notes: Joe Strummer Biography. Paperback 24cm., 351 pages, illustrated.
- Peisch, Jeffrey; Ted Haimes, Barry Alexander Brown, Andrew Solt, Gary Busey, Andrew Solt Productions, QDE, Telepictures Productions, Time Life Video & Television, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Home Video (2004). The History of Rock 'n' Roll. Disc 5 (Documentary). Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video. ISBN 0790794586. OCLC 55804118.
- Description & Notes: Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Sting. Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1"--Container. Originally produced for television in 1995. Description: 1 videodisc (119 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. Contents: Punk / written, produced and directed by Ted Haimes (63 min.) -- Up from the underground / written and produced by Barry Alexander Brown; directed by Andrew Solt (56 min.).
- Provocateur, Agent (1997) [1996]. The Clash Retrospective (2nd ed.). London: Retro Publishing. ISBN 0952840618. OCLC 60184326.
- Description & Notes: 124 pages: 250 b&w and colour photographs.
- Public Broadcasting Service; Clash, The (1995-09-27). Rock & roll. (Part 9) (Documentary). United States: Public Broadcasting Service. OCLC 78306004.
- Description & Notes: Notes: Documentary. Broadcast on PBS. Copyright notice on videocassette: c1995 by WGBH Educational Foundation and BB Bristol. Show no. 109.
- Quantick, David (August 2000). The Clash. Kill Your Idols. London: Unanimous. ISBN 1903318033. OCLC 59417418.
- Description & Notes: American Edition: Quantick, David; John Aizlewood (2000-08). The Clash: Kill Your Idols (Kill Your Idols Series), New York, NY: Thunder's Mouth. ISBN 1560252693, OCLC 45132537
Paperback. Biography. 136 pages, [8] p. of plates : ill., ports. ; 19 cm.
- Smith, Pennie (1980). The Clash: Before and After. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316801690. OCLC 8034340.
photographs by Pennie Smith; with passing comments by Joe Strummer...[et al.].
- Description & Notes:
- Tobler, John; Barry Miles (1983). The Clash. London; New York, NY: Omnibus. ISBN 0711902887. OCLC 21335564.
- Description & Notes: Tobler, John; Barry Miles (1983). The Clash: A Visual Documentary (2nd edition), London; New York: Omnibus. OCLC: 60001392
- Topping, Keith (2004) [2003]. The Complete Clash (2nd ed.). Richmond: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 1903111706. OCLC 63129186.
- Description & Notes: Topping, Keith (2003). The Complete Clash, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-70-6 Biography 2 Editions Notes: Originally published: 2003. Description: 224 p., [8] p. of plates : col. ill. ; 24 cm..
- Ulin, David L. (2007). The Clash's London Calling. 33 1/3 series. London: Continuum. ISBN 978-0826416780. OCLC 72150022.
- Description & Notes: 24 cm., 127 pages, illustrated, ports. (some col.).
- Wells, James; John Tobler, Barry Miles (1992) [1983]. The Clash: The New Visual Documentary. London; New York, NY: Omnibus. ISBN 071193004X. OCLC 29703916.
- Description & Notes: Rev. ed. of: The Clash / by John Tobler & Barry Miles. 1983. 112 pages: ill., ports. ; 27 cm.
- Yewdall, Julian Leonard; Nick Jones (1992). Joe Strummer with the 101'ers and the Clash, 1974-1976. London: Image Direct. ISBN 0951921606. OCLC 28502630.
Photographs by Julian Leonard Yewdall; introductory text by Nick Jones.
- Description & Notes: Biography, 19 cm., 106 pages, illustrated.
- Zaccagnini, Paolo (1982). Clash (in Italian). Roma: Lato side. OCLC 13398671.
- Description & Notes: Biography, Thesis/dissertation. 142 pages: ill., ports. ; 21 cm.
- Zaccuri, Mauro; Paolo Vites (2003). The Clash. Legends: Punk (in Italian). Rome, Italy: Editori Riuniti. p. 17. ISBN 8835953987.
Articles
editParade Of The Punks
edit- Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976
THE 600-STRONG line, which last Monday straggled across two blocks outside London's 100 Club in Oxford Street, waiting for the Punk Rock Festival to start, was indisputable evidence that a new decade in rock is about to begin.
Two 18-year-olds from Salisbury were at the head of the queue. "I've been WAITING for something to identify with," says Gareth, hopping up and down "There's been nothing for years. I just want to be involved."
Michelle and Bruno are both 16. Their hair is short and neat. Their shirts and ties, leopardskin jackets, stiletto heels, pointed toes and dramatic make-up is variously-repeated down the line.
"These are the best bands around," says Michelle, already a seasoned fan. "They're playing the music of the people."
Isn't it all rather aggressive? "That's a load of rubbish. The violence is part of the music. It's not going to have any psychological side-effects."
Over the last eight months a generation of rock fans have quietly developed an extraordinary sense of belonging together. Excited by the new (to them anyway) blast of energy in the music played by bands like the Sex Pistols, Eddie and the Hotrods (although these particular bands have little time for each other, many of their fans love them both) and most of the others on the Punk Rock Festival bill, they are creating a new cultural identity for themselves.
They have their own clothes, language, "in" jokes and fanzines. There is both healthy cameraderie and competitiveness.
The established bands share their equipment and rehearsal space, and most of the established musicians are encouraging friends to form bands of their own. Even apart from the 30 musicians actually playing in the festival, the audience is seething with new talent.
Tim, Pete, George and Bill, all 17, are from North London and Southend. "We listen to everything from Weather Report to MC5," says schoolboy Tim. "But we come here to pick up tips. Our band's called 1919 Alteria Motive Five, 'cause there's four of us, see."
Johnny Moped is there, looking to find musicians for his band the Morons. Chaotic Bass is on the loose. Fat Steve of the Babes says he's rehearsing. Fourteen-year-old Rodger Bullen, a Rat Scabies protege, has just joined Eater.
The creative buzz, the feel that something is "happening," is infectious. There is a continual stream of criticism and rude abuse poured over each other's favourite enterprises, but having and giving back that kind of attention is part of the fun. "Do It Yourself" could be the motto down at the 100 Club. Everyone wants to get in on the act. Everyone can.
For the Subway Sect, it's their first-ever gig. There's Vic Goddard (19) and Paul Myers (bass). Paul Smith (18) has played for five weeks, and Robert Miller (lead guitar) for three months. They are familiar faces, having been in the audience at many Pistols gigs.
It's been tough for them to find rehearsal rooms, but after a weekend at the Clash's spacious studio their set is debut-ready.
They stalk purposefully on stage and, without looking at the audience, start a lengthy, foot-finding warm up. Already they look like they belong together.
"We're the, er, Subway (pause) Sect," announces Vic, turning at last to face the sea of people before him. And, with an abrasive kick, their first number, ‘No Love’, voices the expectancy within the club.
"Love is not what we need. We're part of the U.K.," sings Vic, his voice medium-pitched and clear. They are unashamedly inspired, by the Pistols. Vic stands before the mike, both arms stretched behind his head, just like Rotten used to.
Halfway through the set he thrusts his left hand deep into his trouser pockets and stuffs his mouth with little pieces of something – like pills or nuts. That's original.
Their sound is a grind of frantic, jagged discords which, whether by chance or design, mostly resolve into acceptable patterns of unadorned simplicity. Paul and Robert, standing each side of Vic, their faces screwed up with intensity, flash- their fingers across their guitars as fast as white lightning.
Drummer Paul, though, seems to float his drum-sticks through the air. He chews gum and pounds away with the studied suavity of a young rating on his first day of home leave.
They're all dressed in underground grey jerseys and casual grey trousers. The effect is utilitarian and bland. It suits their nail-sinking rhythms and doomy lyrics.
"Everyone's a prostitute and everyone's in prison," are words caught from one number. "Nobody's scared," "seen it all before," "beautiful plastic" are some more. And then, in one of the last numbers, "we're splitting. The end. Take hold of your life. There's something you've got to prove."
At the bar, where all through the festival record company P.R.'s, executives, T.V. and radio personalities, musicians, the press and punk scene regulars swap opinions on "form" like Jockey Club stewards, feelings are mixed. Great! Terrible!
But Debbie (15) from Bromley gets it right. In the last two months her hair has been mauve, yellow and raspberry pink. "They're good! There, I said it," she confesses. "They're good!"
Suzi And The Banshees: It's never the same at a Pistols gig nowadays (in London, anyway) if what is known as the "Bromley Contingent" isn't there. This inseparable unit is Steve (21). Bill (22) and Simon (19) – he sells hot dogs off a mobile stand during the day – raspberry-haired Debbie and Suzi herself.
They first heard the Pistols at their local tech. in January and they've been faithful followers ever since. They made the trip to Paris, in a ropey old car, to see their heroes' first overseas performance, and Suzi, shocking in her semi-nudity, got punched on the nose.
She is nothing if not magnificent. Her short hair, which she sweeps in great waves over her head, is streaked with red, like flames. She'll wear black plastic non-existent bras, one mesh and one rubber stocking, and suspender belts (various), all covered by a polka-dotted, transparent plastic mac.
Over the weeks the Bromley Contingent's parade of inventive dress (it's rarely the same two weeks running) has set the fashion pace of the scene. It was only a matter of time before they took their street theatre to the stage.
Apart from Suzi, it wasn't decided who would actually end up doing the festival until the day. Everyone thought though that they'd carry out their much advertised plan to sing ‘Goldfinger’.
It was not to be. At the last moment, in an orgy of rock iconoclasm, they decided on ‘The Lord's Prayer’ spiced with "the most ridiculous rock songs ever written."
Two-tone Steve (his hair is black on top, white at the sides) was on the bass he picked up for the first time the night before. Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten's friend and inventor of the Pogo dance, was on drums. He had one rehearsal. And a mature gent called Marco was the lead guitarist.
The prayer begins. It's a wild improvisation, a public jam, a bizarre stage fantasy acted out for real. The sound is what you'd expect from, er, novices.
But Sid, with miraculous command, starts his minimal thud and the beat doesn't fluctuate from the start to the finish of the, er, set. Against this knobby sound, Suzi, with the grace of a redeemed ghoul, rifles the senses with an unnerving, screeching recital of ‘Twist And Shout’ and ‘Knocking On Heaven's Door’. Sid's smile flickers. Marco, his guitar feeding back, rolls up his sleeves, and Two-tone Steve two-tones.
The audience, enjoying the band's nerve and audacity, eggs them on, gets bored, has a laugh, and then wonders how much more it can take. Twenty minutes later, on a nod from Marco, Sid just stops.
The enthusiastic cheering is just recognition of their success. If the punk rock scene has anything to offer then it's the opportunity for anyone who wants to get up and experience the reality of their wildest, stage-struck dreams. The bar-flys are horrified.
"God, it was awful," says Howard Thompson, an A&R man from Island. But Suzi is not interested in contracts.
The ending was a mistake," she says. "I thought we'd go on until they pulled us off."
The Clash: "They're great!" shouted a bespectacled youth halfway through this band's set. "I used to listen to Yes and Genesis." At last, after three months' intensive, rehearsal and three gigs, the Clash hit close to lop form. We see just a glimpse of their very considerable potential.
They have reduced their line-up. Rhythm guitarist Keith Levine is off forming a new band. This has left Joe Strummer (lead vocals and guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar) and Paul Simenon (bass) more room to move.
They pitched like rockets, powering through their first number, ‘White Riot’. The audience is instantly approving. The band is fast, tough and lyrical, and they've mastered the way of dove-tailing Joe's mellow approach with Mick's spiky aggression.
They blaze through ‘London's Burning’. Terry Chimes (drums) breaks up his solid bass drum surge with hi-hat splashes. The sound, though disciplined, is bursting forth.
They play 11 of the 18 songs in their repertoire, including ‘I'm So Bored With You’, ‘Protex Blues’ (with Mick on lead vocals), ‘Deadly Serious’, ‘Denigh’ and ‘Janie Jones’ – about a man thinking of her – and they end the set with ‘1977’.
Later, I asked Paul Simenon, who has only played bass for six months, how he felt about the set. "I've got to get better. I'm never content. I know I can do a lot with the bass. Most of them stand still like John Entwhistle. I want to move around and give the audience a good time. And give myself a good time, too."
Joe Strummer, whose last band was the now fabled 101'ers, has played with very experienced musicians. What was it like with someone like Paul? "It's really great," he said. "When a musician knows all his oats it gets boring. It's not exciting for them, and they start playing for playing's sake, and the emotion disappears.
The Clash are a fine, visionary rock band with a wild style. I've seen them four times now, they've never played the same set. Their humour and spontaneity is uncontrived and, now that they've settled into their new line-up, they'll be a cornerstone for the developing punk rock scene.
The Sex Pistols: The atmosphere in the club is feverish and high-pitched. This band is what everyone's been waiting for. Not everyone, however, is happy about the Pistols' growing success and notoriety. The private party is over; the band are public property. It had to happen.
But with mixed feelings the band's nucleus of fans are holding their breath as their champions start their steady climb. Will the businessmen spoil them – that's the anxious question?
Already the band has changed – especially Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones. Once Rotten would poke his pretty mug into any camera lens. Now he's likely to sweep his arms across his face with an Ava Gardner gesture of exclusivity.
Jones, once the brooding loner unsure of his sex appeal, is now exuding a confidence which guarantees exotic women. Glen Matlock and Paul Cook, perhaps because they've been less "visible," have yet to zip into their rock-star mantles.
But, if the band are more detached from their audience than they used to be, it's for self-protection. Their fanatical following is growing fast. Fans follow them all over the country. They are the unquestioned stars of the Punk Rock Festival and, as they step onstage, they are greeted with lung-bursting cheers.
"We've got another underground at last," shouts an ecstatic youth, almost in tears. "I've waited seven years for this."
Over the nine months the Pistols have played together, Rotten has developed his stage presence beyond the realms even his most ardent fans imagined.
He is still presenting audiences with dark fragments of his psyche. He once moved over the stage, squirming and jiggering, rarely motionless. Lately, he doesn't move. He can be quite sickeningly still. He sets my skin crawling.
He wore a bondage suit for the festival. It's a black affair, dangling with zips, chains, safety pins and crucifixes. He is bound around the chest and knees, apparently a confinement symbolising the urban reality which he sees around him.
The set begins. The band hit their instruments in unison. It's the fanfare intro to ‘Anarchy In The U.K.’. SMASH – and their instantly identifiable, evisceral splurge sends the fans wild. Johnny strains at his jumpsuit. He breaks and burns into ‘I Wanna Be Me’. The crowd sprawls at his feet.
All right," says Johnny, calmly disengaging his feet from the melee, "all off the stage, chuckies..."
The photographers fight for better shots, the pogo dancers leap above the crowd, sweat pours, and the crush rolls forward and back from the stage.
The band, lifted by the positive vibes, deliver perfect versions of ‘Seventeen’, ‘I'm A Lazy Sod’, ‘New York’, ‘Pushing And A Shovin'’. The fans call out for ‘Sub-Mission’. "Next number," drawls Johnny. It's the Monkees' ‘Stepping Stone’. Then ‘I Love You’, their cynical anthem to suburbia.
Steve breaks open, flinging his guitar diagonally across his chest and, slicing up his frets, leading the band through a breathless one hour and 15 minutes of thunderous rock 'n' roll. They play ‘Sub-Mission’, ‘Liar’ – a favourite with the audience – ‘No Feelings’, ‘Substitute’, and ‘Pretty Vacant’, and they finish the set with ‘Problems’ and ‘No Fun’. They are called back for an encore.
The Sex Pistols were terrific. Compulsively physical, frightening in their teenage vision of world disintegration, refreshing in their musical directness. And, behind the brave, aggressive front, they are utterly winning, with their shy, good-humoured charm. Whether their music will make the Top 20 or not is irrelevant. They're doing it for a new generation of rock fans who think they're fantastic.
Even though there was a couple of punk-type argie bargies (deftly settled by Ron the promoter), and even though Stinky Toys didn't get the chance to play (they ran out of time), the first evening of the festival was a huge success.
THE AUDIENCE on the second night of the festival was conspicuously longer-haired and more denim-clad. The atmosphere is competitive still, but without the reigning kings there's not the same buzz.
Ellie (20), the Stinky Toys' singer, has calmed down. The night before, when she realised the band wouldn't play, she'd made the not too successful exit of a prima donna – kick, push, tut-tut at tables as she ran out onto Oxford Street where, it is said, she was saved from wounding herself under a bus.
Her band is very French, i.e. very, very serious. They've frowned for two days and they frown even more when, after three very short numbers, including ‘Under My Thumb’, they get nil reaction from the crowd.
There's Bruno Carone (lead guitar), Jacno (rhythm), Oswald (bass) and Herve on drums. They play completely out of tune, even though they spend minutes between numbers tuning-up.
Ellie's Voice, one of those "typical shrews" with a high-pitched whine, has 90 per cent of the older male population diving hack to the bar. And yet? Well, even though she sings in English and not one of the words from songs like ‘Pe Pe Gestapo’ or ‘Kill The Pain’ or ‘Driver Blues’ is intelligible, she has presence. You have to watch her.
Which singers, I asked Ellie before she dashed off to catch the last train to Paris, have most influenced her? "Brenda Lee," she said, "and Glenda Jackson." Umm.
The Dammed: There's already something very special about this band. They've come a long way from the night three months ago when they played their first gig at the Nashville. Not that they actually played together that night. Rather, each one of them did his own number in a private daze.
Out of time, out of key, the cacophony was terrible enough to be great. The band took to the stage like famished maggots to an overripe cheese. They are all born performers, without a shred of inhibition.
Rat Scabies drums as solidly as an express train. Ray Burns (bass), whose lips always glisten with Woolworth's best pearly pink Tu lipstick, chooses to fool everyone with a front as mad as a village idiot's.
Bryan James (lead guitar), the band's "elder," is likely to look up from his guitar and catch Rat and Ray acting out their honed star trips and crack up with spontaneous laughter.
Their lead singer is Dave Vanium. He was a grave-digger until last week, and he looks as if he's risen from Dracula's crypt. Onstage he hisses. And, for one so new to the game, he can keep a show going through appalling obstacles.
As they steam blissfully through ‘One Of The Two’ and their soon-to-be released single, ‘New Rose’ (Stiff), the sound is atrocious. Vanium's mike keeps crackling and cutting out, but the show goes on with the minimum of fuss.
Halfway through ‘Alone’ they take off, pile-driving and crazy-fierce, but after their non-revivalist version of the Beatles' ‘Help’, the music staggers to a halt. The new roadie has to fix the equipment.
"We're sorry to sound just like the last band," leers Dave, "but we can't help it," and he rips into the Stooges' ‘Feel Alright’.
Suddenly he leaps into the audience. O.K., that's par for the course. But when he gets back up again he screams with a conviction which transcends a stage act: "someone has just hit one very near and dear to me" The show goes on, but Dave is on the verge of freaking.
Three minutes later three people appear at the back of the club. There is no commotion but they are bleeding. The atmosphere chills. On to the stage jumps the club's manager. "If there're any more glasses thrown," he yells, "you'll all have to go home,"
The show starts again for ‘So Messed Up’. The last number. The band scream through it, black and moody, slamming out the last riffs before they make a dash to the dressing-room.
Dave, whose girlfriend was one of the injured people, heads straight for the street in time to sit in the ambulance as it heads for hospital.
A glass lobbed at the stage hits a pillar, and shatters and sprays the audience instead.
Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols' manager, tries to buy a drink and is refused because the barman doesn't want any more missiles flying through the air.
"Why don't you serve in plastic cups?" asked Malcolm.
Who do you think we are?" is the reply. "We're civilised down here."
The Vibrators – and Chris Spedding: The show goes on. The first time the Vibrators – John Ellis (lead guitar), Knox (lead vocals) and Jon Edwards (drums) – played at the 100 Club, their manager-cum-bassist Pat Collins told me: " We don't really go along with the punk rock thing, but it's the fashion, isn't it?
Since then they've gone deeper into the "punk rock" thing.
And, since Chris Spedding hasn't managed to form a band, they are the ideal bunch for him to jam with.
Their first number (Spedding joins them later) is a bluesy carnage of ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. Then they spew into ‘Jumping Jack Flash’.
By this time policemen, plain clothed and in uniform, are mingling with the audience.
The Vibrators play on, Spedding joins them. He's dressed in black from head to foot, and his eyes are like coal-holes in his white face.
He grinds into ‘Hungry Man’. It's simple and bold, "I'm in a bad condition," sings Sped, "the doctor says I got malnutrition." He's just audible; holding back, not really fronting the band.
He humps into ‘Motorbiking’. Ray Burns, who's standing at the side of the stage, can resist no longer. Up to the mikes he leaps. They are turned off until he reaches the other side of the stage.
Spedding's cool, Ray sings the choruses, and the audience, seeing that Spedding is trying to slip away, cheer him back again.
They all mash into ‘Great Balls Of Fire’, and for good measure, with half the audience groaning "boring," and the other leaping about – they wring life into ‘Let's Twist Again’.
The Buzzcocks: This Manchester band was formed less than two months ago. The front line – Howard Devoto (vocals), Peter Shelly (who plays a chopped-in-half, second-hand "Starway") and Steve Diggle (bass) – are pint-sized. Howard, who doesn't speak to the audience much, has just dyed his mousy hair orange. All the band's energy implodes around John Maher's drum kit.
Through numbers like ‘Breakdown’, ‘Organ Addict’, ‘Boredom’ and ‘Oh Shit’ their sound is quaintly compact. But their approach, though very energetic, is unnecessarily defensive. Devoto insists that he is only in a rock band "temporarily," and his self-consciousness impedes them coming across. He hates being on stage.
The festival ends with the Buzzcocks fluttering into the audience and Peter Shelley's guitar, still on stage, feeding-back. It pounds out a gut-renching lub-dub, lub-dub, like the no-feeling sound of a robot's heartbeat.
It was a bitter-sweet two days. There was a fine display of inventive music, plenty of hope, a lot of fun, and revived spirits. The star bands gave their best, and the newcomers were very entertaining. But, echoing the black spots in almost all festivals this summer, someone was badly hurt by an alcohol container.
Thus the optimism of this otherwise milestone event was undercut with sadness. Nobody wants to see the fiery, aggressive energy in the music diminished. But, promoters, increasingly eager to book punk-rock bands, must take a few elementary precautions (like plastic mugs) to protect their very young audience. It's the only sensible way to present their scene.
© Caroline Coon, 1976The 100 Club Punk Rock Festival
edit- The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', 1977
Caroline Coon, '1988:
Monday, September 20th: The Sex Pistols, the Clash, Subway Sect, Siouxsie and the Banshees. Tuesday, September 21st: The Damned, Chris Spedding and the Vibrators, the Buzzcocks, and Stinky Toys (from France).
THE FIRST MASS exposure of Punk Rock to the music press and record industry. On the second day, after an accident in which Dave Vanium's friend lost her eye, Sid Vicious was arrested. When I tried to find out why, I too was arrested. During most of Chris Spedding's set I was in the police station with Sid but I was released (and later given an absolute discharge) in time to see the festival end.
24th September 1976
Nothing quite so collectively out of context as last Monday's queue outside the 100 Club has gathered on Oxford Street for nearly a decade. When the Hari Krishna chanters stopped rush-hour traffic in their saffron robes and bald heads and started pinging finger cymbals, there was no denying that the hippie era had arrived.
The six-hundred strong line which straggled across two blocks waiting for the Punk Rock Festival to start was again indisputable evidence that a new decade in rock is about to begin.
Two eighteen-year-olds from Salisbury were at the head of the queue. 'I've been waiting for something to identify with,' says Gareth enthusiastically. 'There's been nothing for years. I just want to be involved, really.'
Michelle and Bruno are both sixteen. Their hair is short and neat. Their attire, shirts and ties, leopard skin jackets, stilleto heels, pointed toes and dramatic make-up, is echoed down the line – in various home-made and inventive variations.
'They're the best bands around,' says Michelle, who's a seasoned fan already. 'They're playing the music of the people.'
Over the last eight months, a generation of rock fans has been developing an extraordinary sense of belonging together. Excited by the blast of direct energy in the music of the bands playing on the Punk Rock Festival bill, they are creating a new cultural identity for themselves. They have their own clothes, language, 'in' jokes and fanzines. There is a healthy comradeship and competitiveness in equal doses. The established bands share their equipment and rehearsal space, and most of the established musicians are encouraging friends to form bands of their own. Apart from the thirty musicians actually playing in the Festival, the audience itself is seething with new talent.
Tim, Pete, George and Bill – all seventeen – are from North London and Southend. 'We listen to everything from Weather Report to MC5,' says school boy Tim. 'But we come here to pick up tips. Our band's called "1919 Ulterior Motive Five" 'cause there's four of us, see.'
Johnny Moped is there looking to find musicians for his band The Morons. Chaotic Bass is on the loose. Fat Steve of the Babes says he's rehearsing. Fourteen year old Rodger Bullen, Rat Scabies' protégé, has just joined Eater.
The creative buzz and exciting feel that something is 'happening' is infectious. There is a continual stream of criticism and rude abuse poured over each other's favourite enterprise, but having and giving back that kind of attention is part of the fun. 'Do It Yourself' could be the motto down at the 100 Club. Everyone wants to get in on the act. Everyone can.
The Subway Sect. It's their first-ever gig. There's Vic Godard (19) and Paul Myers (bass). Paul Smith (18) has played for five weeks and Robert Miller (lead guitar) for three months. They are familiar faces, having been in the audience at many Pistols gigs. It's been tough for them to find rehearsal rooms, but after a weekend at the Clash's spacious studio, their set is debut ready.
They stalk purposefully on stage and without looking at the audience start a lengthy, foot-finding, tuning-type warm-up. Already they look like they belong together.
'We're the, er, Subway,' pause 'Sect' pronounces Vic, turning at last to the audience.
The Clash planned to let Siouxsie and the Banshees use their equipment at the 100 Club festival, but when their manager, Bernard Rhodes, saw Siouxsie wearing a swastika arm band (which she refused to remove), they withdrew their consent. Why?
'I felt she wasn't aware of what she was letting herself in for' said Bernard. 'Our equipment is very distinctive we've painted it luminous pink. If she used it, we too would be associated with the swastika. I felt she was mucking about with a loaded gun and we didn't want to have anything to do with it.
'The whole swastika thing is quite funny really. When I was working with Malcolm he went up North and came back with a whole load of bits and pieces with swastikas on them which someone had given him. Eventually Siouxsie wore one of the shirts, more because it was there than anything else. She said that as a symbol of shock, the swastika was the only thing around. I don't think she thought very much about it. As a symbol, or an emblem it was a random choice. A bad accident. A bit of a red herring. But the Clash are into specifics, not red herrings. If we're going to use emblems, then they should be nearer the mark. People can do what they want. But we don't think the swastika means anything relevant to us."
Siouxsie and the Banshees. It's never the same at a Pistols' gig nowadays if what is known as the 'Bromley Contingent' isn't there. This inseparable unit are Steve (21), Bill (22), Simon (19) – he sells hot-dogs off a mobile stand during the day raspberry-haired Debbie and Siouxsie herself.
They first heard the Pistols at their local Tech in January, and they've been faithful followers ever since. They made the trip to Paris in a ropey old car to see their heroes' first overseas performance, and Siouxsie, shocking in her semi-nudity, got punched on the nose.
She is nothing if not magnificent. Her short hair, which she sweeps in great waves over her head, is streaked with red, like flames. She'll wear black plastic non-existent bras, one mesh and one rubber stocking, suspender belts (various), all covered by a polka-dotted, transparent plastic mac. Over the weeks the Bromley Contingent's continuous parade of inventive dress (it's rarely the same two weeks running) has set the fashion. It was only a matter of time before they took their street theatre to the stage.
Apart from Siouxsie, membership of the band was not settled until the day before the festival. Everyone thought, though, that they'd carry out their much advertised plan to sing ‘Goldfinger’. It was not to be. At the last moment, in an orgy of rock iconoclasm they decided on The Lords Prayer spiced up with 'the most ridiculous rock songs ever written'.
Two-tone Steve (his hair is black on top, white at the sides) was on a bass he picked up for the first time the night before. Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten's friend, and inventor of the pogo dance, was on drums. He had one rehearsal. A mature gent called Marco was lead guitarist.
The prayer begins. It's a wild improvisation, a public jam, a bizarre stage fantasy acted out for real. The sound is what you'd expect from, er, novices. But Sid, with miraculous command, starts his minimal thud and doesn't fluctuate the beat from start to finish of the, er, set. Against this rough corrugation of sound, Siouxsie, with the grace of a redeemed ghoul, rifles the senses with an unnerving, screaching recitative. ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘Knockin’ On Heaven's Door’ creep into the act. Sid flickers a smile, Marco, his guitar feeding back, rolls up his sleeves, and Two-tone Steve two-tones.
The audience, enjoying the band's nerve and audacity, eggs them on, gets bored, has a laugh then wonders how much more it can take. Twenty minutes later, on a nod from Marco, Sid just stops. The enthusiastic cheering is a just recognition of their success. If the punk rock scene has anything to offer, it's the opportunity for anyone to get up and experience the reality of their wildest stage-struck dreams. The bar-flies are horrified.
'God, it was awful' says Howard Thompson, an A&R man from Island. But Siouxsie is not interested in contracts.
'The ending was a mistake,' she says. 'I thought we'd go on until they pulled us off.'
The Clash. 'They're Great!' shouts a bespectacled youth half way through this band's set. 'I used to listen to Yes and Genesis.' At last, after three months intensive rehearsals and three gigs, the Clash hit close to top form. We see a glimpse of their very considerable potential.
They have reduced their line-up. Rhythm guitarist Keith Levene is off forming a new band. This has left Joe Strummer (lead vocals and guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar), and Paul Simonon (bass), more room to move. And this they do, powering through their first number, ‘White Riot’. The audience is instantly approving. The band is fast, tough and lyrical, and they've mastered the way of dovetailing Joe's mellow approach with Mick's spikey aggression. They blaze through ‘London's Burning’ with raging intensity. Terry Chimes (drums) uses the opportunity to undercut his solid bass drum surge with candescent splashes over the high hat. They play eleven of their eighteen songs including ‘I'm So Bored with the USA’, ‘Protex Blue’ (with Mick on lead vocals), ‘Deny’, and ‘Janie Jones’. They end the set with ‘1977’.
Later, I ask Paul Simonon, who has played bass for only six months, how he feels about the set. 'I've got to get better. I'm never content. I know I can do a lot with the bass. Most of them stand still like John Entwistle. I want to move around and give the audience a good time. And give myself a good time too.'
Joe Strummer, who's last band was the now-fabled 101'ers, has played with very experienced musicians. What was it like playing with someone like Paul who's learning as he goes? 'It's really great,' he says. 'When a musician knows all his oats it gets boring. It's not exciting for them and they start playing for playing's sake and the emotion disappears. It's really exciting playing with Paul because there are no rules. My guitar style is really rudimentary and Mick's is great, so the combination is really interesting.'
The Sex Pistols. The atmosphere in the club is feverishly high pitched. This is the band everyone's been waiting for. Not everyone, however, is happy about the Pistols' growing success and notoriety. The private party is over. The band is public property. It had to happen. But with mixed feelings the band's throbbing nucleus of fans are holding their breath as their champions start a steady climb to the ethereal reaches of stardom and rock immortality. Will the businessmen spoil them?, is the anxious question.
Already the band has changed – especially Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones. Once Rotten would poke his pretty mug into any camera lens and leer. Now he's likely to sweep his arms across his face with an Ava Gardner gesture of exclusivity.
Jones, once the brooding loner unsure of his sex appeal, is now exuding a magnetic confidence which guarantees a screen of exotic women around him. Glen Matlock and Paul Cook, perhaps because they've been less 'visible', have yet to zip into their rock star mantles. They will, once their partnership – Glen's driving fluid bass lines and Paul's billowing drum storm – is recognised as the superb bed-rock of taut rhythmic structures it is.
The band's fanatical following is growing fast. Fans follow them all over the country from gig to gig. They are the unquestioned stars of the Punk Rock Festival and as they step on stage they are greeted with lung bursting cheers.
'We've got another Underground at last,' shouts an ecstatic youth, 'I've waited seven years for this.'
Over the nine months that the Pistols have played together, Rotten has developed his stage presence beyond the realms even his most ardent fans imagined possible. He is still prying open the nether reaches of his personality and presenting audiences with yet another dark fragment from his psyche. Once he moved over the stage squirming and jiggering around like a spinderly, geigercounter needle measuring radio activity. Rarely was he motionless. Lately, he rarely moves. He can be quite sickeningly still. This deathly, morgue-like stance sets skin crawling, and his lyrics are as suffocating as the world they describe.
He wears a bondage suit for the festival. It's a black affair, dangling with zips, chains, safety pins and crucifixes. He is bound around the chest and knees, a confinement symbolising the urban reality he sees around him.
The set begins. The band hit their instruments in unison. It's the fanfare intro to ‘Anarchy in the U.K’. SMASH – and their instantly identifiable, careering, evisceral splurge sears the air. The fans go wild. Johnny strains at his jump-suit prison. He breaks loose and burns into ‘I Wanna Be Me’. The crowd sprawls at his feet, a struggling heap of excited bodies.
'Alright,' says Johnny calmly disengaging his feet from the melee, 'all off the stage, chuckies...'
The photographers fight for better shots, the pogo dancers leap above the crowd, sweat pours and the crush rolls forward and back from the stage like a tidal wave.
The band, lifted by the positive vibes, delivers pin-perfect versions of ‘Seventeen’, ‘I'm a Lazy Sod’, ‘New York’, ‘Pushin’ and A Shovin'’ – the fans call out for ‘Sub-Mission’ – 'next number' drawls Johnny. It's the Monkees' ‘Stepping Stone’. Then ‘I Love You’, their cynical anthem to suburbia.
Steve breaks open, flinging his guitar diagonally across his chest and slicing up his fret, he leads the band with power and imagination through a breathless one hour and fifteen minutes of thunderous rock 'n' roll. They play ‘Sub-Mission’, ‘Liar’ – a favourite with the audience – ‘No Feelings’, ‘Substitute’, ‘Pretty Vacant’ and they finish the set with ‘Problems’ and ‘No Fun’. They are called back for a triumphant encore.
The Sex Pistols were terrific. Compulsively physical. Frightening in their teenage vision of world disintegration. And refreshing in their musical directness and technical virtuosity. Whether their music will make the Top 20 or not is irrelevant. They're doing it for a new generation of rock fans who think they're fantastic.
Tuesday, September 21st
The audience on the second night of the festival is conspicuously longer haired and more denim clad. The atmosphere is competitive still but without the reigning kings there's not the same buzz.
Stinky Toys. Ellie (20), the Stinky Toys' singer, has calmed down. The night before, when she realised there was no time for the band to play, she'd made a not-too-successful prima-donna exit – kick, push, tut-tut at tables as she ran out into Oxford Street where, it is said, she was saved from wounding herself under a bus.
Her band is very French, i.e. very, very serious. They've frowned for two days and they frown even more when, after three very short numbers, including ‘Under My Thumb’ they get nil reaction from the crowd. There's Bruno Carone (lead guitar), Jacno (rhythm), Oswald (bass), and Harve on drums. They play completely out of tune even though they spend minutes between numbers 'tuning-up'.
Ellie's voice, a high pitched whine, has 90% of the older male population diving back to the bar. And yet? Well, even though she sings in English and not one of the words from songs like ‘Pe Pe Gestapo’ or ‘Kill The Pain’ are intelligible, she has presence. You have to watch her. As the band liven-up with petulant anger at the impassive crowd, Ellie, frisking her blond hair out of beautiful blue eyes, does a frenzied dance before the mike. If only the rest of the band didn't give the impression they want to get off the stage as fast as they can.
Which singers, I ask Ellie, before she dashes off after the set to catch the last train to Paris, have influenced her most? 'Brenda Lee,' she says 'and Glenda Jackson...' Umm.
The Damned. There's something very special about this band. They've come a long way fast from the night, three months ago, when they played their first gig at the Nashville. Not that they actually played together that night. Each one of them did his own number in a private daze. Out of time, out of key, the cacophony was terrible enough to be great. The band took to the stage like famished maggots to an over-ripe cheese. They are all born performers, without a shred of inhibition. They are more voluptuous, both musically and physically, than the Pistols, and less classically musical than the Clash. But, with these two bands they are the third key-stone to emerge and they are holding up a corner of the canopy loosely covering the punk rock scene.
Rat Scabies is already being tagged a nubile John Bonham. He drums as solid as an express train. Ray Burns, whose lips always glisten with Woolworth's best pearly pink Tu lipstick, plays bass as if he were Marc Bolan on lead guitar. He's articulate and sensitive but he chooses to fool everyone with a front as benevolently mad as a village idiot's. Bryan James (lead guitar), the band's 'elder', is likely to look up from his guitar, catch Rat and Ray acting out their star trips, and crack up with spontaneous laughter.
Their lead singer, Dave Vanium (he gave up his daytime job as a grave-digger last week), looks as if he's immaculately risen from Dracula's crypt. On stage he hisses like an angry bat. And, for one so new to the game, he can keep a show going through appalling obstacles.
As they steam blissfully through ‘Neat, Neat, Neat’ and their soon-to-be-released single ‘New Rose’, the sound is atrocious. Vanium's mike keeps crackling and cutting out, but the show goes on with the minimum of fuss.
Half way through ‘Fan Club’ they take off, pile-driving and crazy fierce, with Bryan pounding the coagulation with a fine treble texture. They are having fun but after their non-revivalist version of the Beatles' ‘Help!’ the music staggers to a halt.
'Who's come here tonight to listen to music?' challenges Rat as he spars with his drum-sticks on Ray's bass. It is always difficult for Rat to keep sitting at his drum kit for more than a few numbers at a time. Bryan, meanwhile, has broken a string. After ten minutes the roadie still hasn't fixed it. Chaos on stage. The show starts again.
'We're sorry to sound just like the last band,' leers Dave, 'but we can't help it,' and he rips into the Stooges' ‘1970’. He leaps and scrabbles at the torrid air and flinging back his glossy black head he spits out lyrics in a style which is developing into a show-stopper.
Suddenly he jumps into the audience. O.K. that's par for the course. But when he gets back up on stage again he screams with a conviction which transcends a stage act, 'Someone has just hit one very near and dear to me'. The show goes on, but Dave is on the verge of freaking.
Minutes later three people appear at the back of the club. There is no commotion but they are bleeding. The atmosphere chills perceptibly. Onto the stage leaps Mr. Hunter, the club's manager. 'If there's any more glasses thrown,' he yells, 'you'll all have to go home.' The show starts again for ‘So Messed Up’, the last number. The band screams through it, black and moody, slamming out the last riffs before they make a dash to the dressing-room. Dave, whose girl-friend was one of the injured people, heads straight for the street in time to sit in the ambulance as it heads for hospital.
A glass lobbed at the stage, hit a pillar, shattered and sprayed the audience instead.
Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols' manager, tries to buy a drink and is refused because the barman doesn't want any more missiles flying through the air.
'Why don't you serve drinks in plastic cups,' asked Malcolm.
'Who do you think we are!' is the reply. 'We're civilized down here.'
The Vibrators – and Chris Spedding. The show goes on. The first time the Vibrators, John Ellis (lead guitar), Knox (lead vocals) and Jon Edwards (drums) played at the 100 Club, their manager-cum-bassist, Pat Collins, told me, 'We don't really go along with the Punk Rock thing, but it's the fashion isn't it?' Since then they've cut off their long hair. However, they still play very few original numbers. They're a punchy little R&B outfit. And since Chris Spedding hasn't managed to form a band they are the ideal bunch for him. He wants to play it safe. They know all the old classics.
Their first number (Spedding joins them later) is a bluesy carnage of ‘I Saw You Standing There’. Then they spew into ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’.
By this time, policemen, plain clothes and in uniform, are mingling with the audience. Everyone feels uncomfortable. People have been hurt quietly. There wasn't a fight, and nobody knows exactly what happened.
Suddenly, with no more impact than a moving dark blue flash, five uniformed police surround a figure by the bar. He looks surprised. Blank. He's guided to the exit and arrested. It's Sid Vicious, Siouxsie and the Banshees' drummer.
The Vibrators play on. Spedding joins them. He's dressed in black from head to foot and his eyes are like coalholes in his white face. He humps into ‘Motorbikin’’. Ray Burns, who's standing at the side of the stage, can resist no longer. Up to the mikes he leaps. They are turned off until he reaches the other side of the stage. Spedding's cool. Ray sings the choruses and the audience seeing that Spedding is trying to slip away cheer him back again. They all mash into ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ and for good measure – with half the audience groaning 'boring', 'old', and the others leaping about – they wring life into ‘Let's Twist Again’. Well, they did it! In the dressing room, dripping with sweat, Spedding is actually grinning. He enjoyed himself.
The Buzzcocks. This Manchester band was formed less than two months ago. The front line – Howard Devoto (vocals). Peter Shelley, who plays a chopped-in-half, second-hand 'Starway' and Steve Diggle (bass) are pint-sized. Howard, who doesn't speak to the audience much – has just dyed his mousey hair orange. All the band's energy implodes around John Maher's drum kit. But like sparrows in a sand bath, they throw up a gritty cloud of sound. Through numbers like ‘Breakdown’, ‘Orgasm Addict’, ‘Boredom’ and ‘Oh Shit’, their sound is quaintly compact. But their approach, though very energetic is unnecessarily defensive and calculating. Devoto insists that he is only in a rock band 'temporarily' and his self-conscious lack of commitmentcomes across. He doesn't laugh much and he hates being on stage.
The festival ends with the Buzzcocks fluttering into the audience and Peter Shelley's guitar still on stage feeding back. It pounds out a gut-wrenching lub dub, lub dud like the no-feeling sound of a robot's heartbeat.
© Caroline Coon, 1977The Clash: Down And Out And Proud
edit- Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
THREE WEEKS AGO at London's ICA, Jane and Shane, regulars on the new-wave punk rock scene, were sprawled at the edge of the stage. Blood covered Shane's face. Jane, very drunk, had kissed, bitten and, with broken glass, cut him in a calm, but no less macabre, love rite.
The Clash were not pleased. "All of you who think violence is tough – why don't you go home and collect stamps? That's much tougher," roared Joe Strummer. Then he slammed into the band's anthem 'White Riot'.
All the power is the hands
Of people rich enough to buy it,
While we walk the streets
Too chicken to even try it
And everybody does what they're told to,
And everybody eats supermarket soul-food.
White Riot, I wanna riot
White riot – a riot of my own!"
The song, played with the force of an acetylene torch, is no less politically uncompromising than the other numbers in the band's repertoire – numbers like 'Denigh', 'Protex Blues', 'Career Opportunities' and '1977'. To hammer home their impact, the Clash play with enough committed force to bring down the walls of Babylon, Jericho, Heaven and Hell if necessary. And their audiences go wild.
But, far from wanting people to hurt each other, Joe Strummer (vocals, guitar), Mick Jones (guitar), Paul Simenon (bass) and Terry Chimes (drums) insist that their aim is to shake audiences into channelling their frustrations into creative outlets. It's difficult, however, trying to maintain a balance between positive reaction and violence.
How easy it is though, when you examine the Clash's background (one only too similar to that experienced by the thousands of young people who identify with the new-wave rock bands), to explain their emotional intensity.
Aware that, like the rest of the band, he'd rather not talk about his childhood, I asked Joe (22) where he came from. "That's the trouble, see." He speaks fast, using words economically.
"The only place I considered home was the boarding school, in Yorkshire, my parents sent me to. It's easier, isn't it? I mean it gets kids out the way, doesn't it?" Then he adds defiantly: "It was great! You have to stand up for yourself. You get beaten up the first day you get there."
"And I'm really glad that I went because I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn't gone to boarding school. I only saw my father twice a year. If I'd seen him all the time I'd probably have murdered him by now. He was very strict."
While Joe is talking, Paul (20) is sitting next to him pointing and shooting a realistic, replica pistol – bang – at the posters on the walls – bang – at Mick across the room – bang – at Gertie the roadie's dog – bang, bang – anywhere at all.
"I get on all right with my parents," he says. "But I don't see them very much. They split up when I was eight. I stayed with my mum but I felt it was a bit soft with her. I could do whatever I liked and I wasn't getting nowhere so I went to stay with my Dad.
"It was good training because I had to do all the launderette and that. In a way I worked for him – getting money together and that – down Portabello market and doing the paper rounds after school. It got me sort of prepared for when things get harder."
Paul liked school. "I never learned anything. All you done is play about...there were forty-five in our class and we had a Pakistani teacher who didn't even speak English."
Mick, (21) like Paul, comes from Brixton. His father is a taxi driver and his mother is in America. "They kind of left home one at a time," he says. "I was much more interested in them than they were in me. They decided I weren't happening, I suppose. I stayed with my gran for a long time. And I read a lot.
"Psychologically it really did me in. I wish I knew then what I know now. Now I know it isn't that big a deal. But then, at school, I'd sit there with this word 'divorce, divorce' in my head all the time. But there was no social stigma attached to it because all the other kids seemed to be going through the same thing. Very few of the kids I knew were living a sheltered family life."
When he was sixteen, Mick believes he bad two choices – football or Rock 'n' Roll. He chose Rock. Why? "Because he couldn't afford toilet rolls," quips Joe. Much laughter. Mick explains: "I thought it was much less limiting. And it was more exciting and, I got into music at a very early age.
"I went to my first rock concert when I was twelve. It was free, in Hyde Park and Nice, Traffic, Junior's Eyes and the Pretty Things were playing.
"The first guitar I had was a second-hand Hofner. I paid sixteen quid for it and I think I was ripped off. But, I tell you something – I sold it for thirty to a Sex Pistol." Everyone laughs again, gleefully.
Laughter is a cheap luxury when, like Clash, you never have the money for a square meal and when, like Joe, you live in a squat – or like Paul, you 'crash' in your manager's vast unheated, rehearsal room (where this interview took place) with no hot water or cooking facilities.
After Paul and Mick left school, they both eventually ended up as casual art students. Mick was already in a group when a friend of his dragged Paul down to a rehearsal. "The first live rock 'n' roll I can remember seeing was the Sex Pistols, less than a year ago. All I listened to before then was ska and bluebeat down at the Streatham Locarno.
"But when I went to this rehearsal, as soon as I got there Mick said 'you can sing, can't you?'. And they got me singing. But I couldn't get into it. They were into the New York Dolls and they all had very long hair so it only lasted a couple of days."
Ten days later however, Paul had "acquired' a bass guitar, Mick had cut his hair, they had formed a group called the Heartdrops (although the Phones, the Mirrors, the Outsiders and the Psychotic Negatives were also names for a day). Then walking down Golbourn Road with Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, they bumped into Joe.
The meeting was auspicious. "I don't like your group (the 101ers)" said Mick. "But we think you're great."
"As soon as I saw these guys" says Joe "I knew that that was what a group, in my eyes, was supposed to look like. So I didn't really hesitate when they asked me to join."
How did Joe first get into a rock 'n' roll band? "Because I owned a drum kit. Someone gave me a camera and then I met this guy who had a drum kit in his garage and I had a go on it one day. And I thought 'this guy's going to swap me this little camera for all that kit.' And I said 'here you are.'
"Then I went down to Wales and I ran into a band who had a drummer but no drum kit. But I didn't want to play drums because I wanted to be the star of the show, right? So I said 'if you use my drum kit you're going to have me as your singer.' And they had no option but to accept."
Before Joe joined the band they were called Flaming Youth. He changed their name to the Vultures. They did six gigs before Joe decided to come back to London to form the 101ers.
Joe broke up the 101ers directly as a result of seeing the Sex Pistols. A few months ago he told me: "Yesterday I thought I was a crud. Then I saw the Sex Pistols and I became a King and decided to move into the future."
Today he says: "As soon as I saw them I knew that rhythm and blues was dead, that the future was here somehow. Every other group was riffing their way through the Black Sabbath catalogue. But hearing the Pistols I knew. I just knew. It was something you just knew without bothering to think about."
What is it about punk-rock which is so important to Joe? "It's the music of now. And it's in English. We sing in English, not mimicking some American rock singer's accent That's just pretending to be something you ain't."
Continues Mick: "It's the only music which is about young white kids. Black kids have got it all sewn up. They have their own cultural music. Basically young white kids are relying on a different time to provide for their kids."
But what's so different about youth today then? Silence. Joe stands up and, relishing the drama, he turns to reveal the stark, hand-painted graffiti on the back of his boiler suit. HATE AND WAR glare letters in red and white across his shoulders. It's the hippy motto reversed.
"The hippy Movement was a failure" is Joe's explanation. "All hippies around now just represent complete apathy. There's a million good reasons why the thing failed, O.K. But the only thing we've got to live with is that it failed.
"At least you tried. But I'm not interested in why it failed. I'll jeer at hippies because that's helpful. They'll realise they're stuck in a rut and maybe they'll get out of it."
The pervading, resentful feeling on the New Youth Front is that the older generation, squandering the opportunities of the rich Sixties, has left them with the shell of a distantegrating society. One of the reasons drummer Terry Chimes is notable for his absence is that he is having a serious argument with Joe. Terry wants to 'get out' of the country while there's still time. Jo thinks he should stick around to see IT – the political chaos they see as inevitable – through.
What do they feel about society today? "It's alienating the individual," says Mick. "No one gives a s – about you."
Says Joe: "There's nowhere to go. Nothing to do. The radio's for housewives. Nothing caters for us.
"All the laws are against you. Whoever's got the money's got the power. The Rent Act's a complete mockery. It's a big joke. I just have to f – off into the night for somewhere to sleep."
Adds Paul, with feeling: "At the moment what the Government should do is put licences on clubs so that kids can have somewhere to go. But they're clamping down on all that. But it's great because there's going to be kids on the streets. And they're going to want something to do. And when there ain't nothing to do you wreck up cars and that.
"The situation that is beginning to happen now is their fault. If we end up wrecking the place it's the Government's fault. They'll bring back National Service and we'll all be sent down to South Africa or Rhodesia to protect white capital interest. And then we'll all be slaughtered..."
They may knock society, but they're all on the dole aren't they? "Yeah. We get a little freedom from social security. Otherwise I'd have to spend 40 hours a week lifting cardboard boxes or washing dishes, or what ever I done in the past. But because we're on the dole – which is £9.70 a week – I can get a Rock 'n' Roll band together.
"If I got up at 4.00 a.m. and went to Soho and joined a queue I could get a job as a casual washer-upper. That's the other opportunity I've got. Or the opportunity to work in a factory!"
But someone's got to work in a factory? "Why have they?" demands Mick. "Don't you think technology is advanced enough to give all those jobs over to a few people and machines.
"There's a social stigma attached to being unemployed. Like 'Social Security Scroungers' every day in the Sun. I don't want to hear that. I cheer them. You go up North and the kids are ASHAMED that they can't get a job"
Aren't they being rather pious when all they are doing is playing in a Rock 'n' Roll band? "No," says Paul. "It's the most immediate way we can handle it. We can inspire people. There's no one else to inspire you. Rock 'n' Roll is a really good medium. It has impact, and, if we do our job properly then we're making people aware of a situation they'd otherwise tend to ignore. We can have a vast effect!"
Oh yes, I jibe, rock stars have usually started out saying they're going to change everything. Joe reacts first. "But you learn by mistakes. The Rolling Stones made mistakes. But I want to do something useful. I'm not going to spend all my money on drugs.
"I'm going to start a radio station with my money. I want to be active. I don't want to end up in a villa on the South of France watching colour TV."
Do they want money then? "Yes," says Paul. "Money's good because you can do things with it. Bands like the Stones and Led Zeppelin took everything without putting anything back. But we can put money back into the situation we were in before and get something going for the kids our own age."
Not that there are any profits at all at the moment – which completely belies the resentment in some quarters that these new-wave bands are 'having it easy, and don't deserve all the exposure they're getting.' Apart from playing such – as Mick Jones himself so aptly puts it – "wonderfully vital" music, which deserves all the encouragement it can get, these bands are struggling harder than ever to stay on the road.
"We make a loss at every gig," says Joe. "It's the promoters who we want to attack. I bet you can only name one or two who really care about music and I'm amazed that there isn't one that really cares about what's happening at the moment. We're really having to get down on our knees and grovel for venues."
No doubt life will be easier when the Clash sign the contract dangling under their manager's nose. They are more politically motivated than the Damned, perhaps more musically accessible than the Pistols. Their lovingly painted clothes (the same on and off stage, of course), which are acrylic spattered with the ferocity of a Jackson Pollock action painting, have started one of the most creative fashion crazes of the year.
And, their acute awareness, and ability to articulate the essence of the era which inspires their music will ensure that their contribution to the history of rock is of lasting significance.
© Caroline Coon, 1976The Clash: Eighteen Flight Rock...
edit- ...AND THE SOUND OF THE WESTWAY
Miles, NME, 11 December 1976
WHAT DO you think people ought to know about you?
Joe Strummer: "I think people ought to know that we're antifascist, we're anti-violence, we're anti-Racist and we're pro-creative. We're against ignorance."
Mick Jones: "We urge people to learn fast. "
We are in the Clash's huge, bare rehearsal studio in the railway yard near London's Roundhouse. Singer and guitarist Joe Strummer does most of the talking but Mick Jones, also on guitar, throws in some well thought out opinions. Paul Simenon, the bass player, says less. Drummer Terry Chimes isn't there.
Strummer paces the room nervously. He wears boots and a boilersuit painted with abstract expressionist slashes of colour. The group make their own clothes since they are too poor to buy any, transforming jumble sale shirts by painting on words and colours. Anyone can do it.
Joe directs his total attention to each question and I can see the boredom return to his face if I wait too long before asking another, like the shadows of clouds passing over a mountain, always changing. It introduces an un-nerving need for haste in speech and thought.
Mick and Paul seem more relaxed but are equally uncompromising in their answers, caring little for social niceties.
They talk of the boredom of living in the council high-rise blocks, of living at home with parents, of the dole queues and the mind-destroying jobs offered to unemployed school leavers. They talk about there being no clubs that stay open late, of how Britain has no Rock 'n' Roll radio stations, of how there is nothing to do. They speak of how kids who like Clash will get beaten up because of how they look. Joe has even been thrown out of a pub full of hippies because he has short hair.
I asked how their music was a solution to all this.
Joe leapt at the question: "Our music is a solution to this, because it's a solution for us, number one. Because I don't have to get drunk every night and go around kicking people and smashing up phone boxes which is what Paul used to do. I get my frustrations out on stage and in creating something like clothes or songs.
"Number two is for our audiences, because we're dealing with subjects we really believe matter. We're hoping to educate any kid who comes to listen to us, right, just to keep 'em from joining the National Front when things get really tough in a couple of years. I mean, we just really don't want the National Front stepping in and saying, Things are bad – it's the Blacks... We want to prevent that somehow, you know?"
It was their lyrics which first attracted me to the group – they seemed to be the only people coming right out and singing about how things really are in Britain today for young people. One song in particular summed it up: it's called ‘Career Opportunities’.
"Career Opertunities / the ones that never knock / Every job they offer you / is to keep you out the dock / career opertunities.
"They offered me the office / They offered me the shop / They said I'd better take anything they'd got . / "Do you wanna make tea / at the BBC?" / "Do you wan-na be, do you wan-na be – a cop?"
"I hate the Army / an' I hate the RAF / You won't find me fighting in the tropical heat / I hate the Civil Service rules and I won't open letter bombs for y-o-u!"
Like Mick says, "These songs couldn't be written in any other year."
Joe: "We want to sing about what we think is relevant and important.
Mick: "We want to bring things to the attention of other people to help them learn faster. That's the important thing... to try and understand what's going down."
Paul, "This group is the pulse of the movement."
Mick is from Brixton. "I ain't never lived under five floors. I ain't never lived on the ground. Now I'm in Paddington. I'm on the 18th now." He still lives at home.
Joe "We got a song called ‘London's Burning With Boredom’ and we wrote it on the 18th floor, didn't we?"
Mick: "You can see the Westway. It's a celebration of the Westway..." (an enormous inner London flyover – the Notting Hill riots took place beneath it).
"Up and down the Westway / In and out the lights / What a great traffic system / it’s so bright / I can’t think of a better way / to spend the night / than speeding around / underneath the yellow lights / London's burning with boredom, baby / London's burning down, 999 999.
"Now I'm in the subway / looking for the flat. / This one leads to this block / and this one leads to that. / The wind howls through the empty blocks / looking for a home / But run through the empty stone / because I'm all alone."
MICK EXPLAINED how he sees the difference between Punk rock and Reggae. The music of The Clash has the emphasis on rhythm, just like Reggae but: "they all come from a sunny Caribbean island, right? They're all laid back. But our speed is the Westway speed."
"The speed of a car going down the Westway..."adds Joe.
Mick "... ours is like, the only thing that's speaking for young white kids.
Joe: "We listen to Reggae, we get a lot off Blacks, right."
Mick: "We know they've got their thing sewn up. They're it. They got their own culture but the young white kids don't have nothing. That's why so many of them are living in ignorance and they've just gotta wise up."
I told Joe some people had thought that the lyrics to their song "White Riot" were racialist. Joe lunged at the remark like Doberman Pincher: "They're not racist! They’re not racist at all! I'll tell you the verses, right? It goes:
"Black people got a lot of problems / but they don't mind throwing a brick. / But white men go to school / where they teach you how to be thick / So everybody does what they're told to / and everybody eats supermarket soul food."
"The only thing we're saying about the Blacks is that they've got their problems and they're prepared to deal with them. But white men, they just ain't prepared to deal with them – everything's too cozy. They've got stereos, drugs, hi-fis, cars..."
Mick: "We're completely antiracist, We want to bridge the gap. They used to blame everything on the Jews, now they're saying it about the Blacks and the Asians... every body's a scapegoat, right?"
Joe: "The poor blacks and the poor whites are in the same boat... They don't want us in their culture, but we just happen to dig Tapper Zukie and Big Youth, Dillinger and Aswad and Delroy Washington. We dig them and we ain't scared of going into heavy black record shops and getting their gear. We even go to heavy black gigs where we're the only white people there.
"We'd just like to bridge the gap between the two things I'd like to have black people coming to hear us, right, but primarily we gotta be concerned with young white kids because that's what we are. But we ain't nothing like racist, NO WAY."
On stage Clash are dynamite, a continuous buzz of pure energy. They play for 45 minutes but it seems like 30.
Joe: "We don't want to be indulgent. We take a certain song and we do the subject for what it's worth and then we get on with the next one. We don't hang about."
Some people have made the connection between the high energy output of the punk rock groups and violence. The Clash rise up united. The kids, they say, just feel really bored and frustrated, get really drunk and then become violent.
Mick: "But we ain't advocating it. We're trying to understand it... It ain't hip. We definitely think it ain't hip. We think it's disgusting to be violent". He recalled their recent gig at the ICA where Jane cut up Shane's earlobe: "On that gig, it put me an’ you off, didn't it? I mean, when I came off stage I didn't feel particularly good".
Joe: "but it's energy, right? And we wanna channel it in the right directions."
Paul Simenon had the words "Creative Violence" stencilled on his painted boilersuit. Since I wanted to know about violence Joe explained further: "Suppose I smash your face in and slit your nostrils with this, right?"
Joe has been opening and closing his flick-knife throughout the interview. He holds it close for me to see.
"...Well, if you don't learn anything from it, then it's not worth it, right? But suppose some guy comes up to me and tries to put one over on me, right? And I smash his face up and he learns something from it. Well, that's in a sense creative violence.
"And this sort of paintwork is creative violence too, right?" He points to Paul's white stencils and clashing colours.
Coming from the concrete jungle, they see society disintegrating, but instead of sitting back like Bowie and waiting for fascism to arrive and "save" them, they are fighting back. When Paul Simenon named the band The Clash, he meant it:
"In 1977 / There's knives in W11. Ain't so lucky to be rich. / Sten guns in Knightsbridge / Danger, stranger, you'd better paint your face / No Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones in 1977".
All lyrics © 1976 The Clash.
© Miles, 1976The Clash
edit- The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', 1977
Caroline Coon, '1988:
WHEN I FIRST interviewed the Clash in their barrack like studio in Chalk Farm, they had yet to sign a record contract, although they were already one of the punk scene's favourite bands.
5th November 1976
Three weeks ago at the I.C.A., Jane and Shane were sprawled at the edge of the stage. Blood covered Shane's face. Jane, very drunk, has kissed, bitten and, with broken glass, cut him in a calm but no less macabre love rite.
The Clash were not pleased. 'All of you who think violence is tough – why don't you go home and collect stamps. That's much tougher,' roared Joe Strummer. Then he slammed into the band's anthem ‘White Riot’.
All the power is in the hands Of people rich enough to buy it, While we walk the streets Too chicken to even try it, And everybody does what they’re told to, And everybody eats supermarket soul-food. White riot, I wanna riot. White riot – a riot of my own!
The song, played with the force of an acetylene torch, is as uncompromising as the other numbers in the bands repertoire – numbers like ‘Deny’, ‘Protex Blues’, ‘Career Opportunities’ and ‘1977’. To hammer home their impact, the Clash play with enough committed force to bring down the walls of Babylon, Jerico – Heaven and Hell if necessary. And their audiences go wild.
But far from wanting people to hurt each other, Joe Strummer (vocals, guitar), Mick Jones (guitar), Paul Simonon (bass) and Terry Chimes (drums) insist that their aim is to shake audiences into channeling their frustrations into creative outlets. It's difficult, however, trying to maintain a balance between positive reaction and violence.
How easy it is, though when you examine the Clash's background to explain their emotional intensity.
Aware that, like the rest of the band, he'd rather not talk about his childhood, I asked Joe where he came from.
'The only place I considered home was the boarding school in Yorkshire my parents sent me to. It's easier, isn't it? I mean it gets kids out of the way.' Then he adds defiantly. 'It was great! You have to stand up for yourself. You get beaten up the first day you get there.
'And I'm really glad I went because my Dad's a bastard. I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn’t gone to boarding school. I only saw him once a year. If I'd seen him all the time I'd probably have murdered him by now. He was very strict.'
While Joe is talking, Paul is sitting next to him pointing and shooting a realistic, replica pistol – bang – at the posters on the walls – bang – at Mick across the room – bang – at Gertie the roadie's dog – bang, bang – anywhere at all.
'I get on alright with my parents,' Paul says. 'But I don't see them very much. They split up when I was eight. I stayed with my mum but I felt it was a bit soft with her. I could do whatever I liked and I wasn't getting nowhere, so I went to stay wit my Dad. It was good training because I had to do all the launderette and that. In a way I worked for him – getting money together and that – working down Portobello market and doing the paper rounds after school. It got me sort of prepared for when things get harder.'
Paul liked school. 'I never learned anything. All you done is played about and pissed on the teachers and that. There were forty-five in our class and we had a Pakistani teacher who didn’t even speak English.'
Mick, like Paul, comes from Brixton. His father is a taxi driver and his mother is in America. 'They kind of left home, one at a time. I was much more interested in them than they were in me. They decided I weren't happening, I suppose. I stayed with my gran for a long time. And I read a lot.
'Psychologically it really did me in. I wish I knew then what I know now. Now I know it isn't that big a deal. But then at school I'd sit there with this word "divorce, divorce" in my head all the time. But there was no social stigma attached to it because all the other kids seemed to be going through the same thing. Very few of the kids I knew were living a sheltered family life.'
When he was sixteen, Mick believes, he had two choices – football or rock'n'roll. He choose rock. Why? 'Because he couldn't afford toilet rolls,' quips Joe. Mick explains: 'I thought it was much less limiting. And it was more exciting. I got into music at a very early age. I went to my first rock concert when I was twelve. It was free, in Hyde Park, and Nice, Traffic, Junior's Eyes and the Pretty Things were playing.
'The first guitar I had was a secondhand Hofner. I paid sixteen quid for it and I think I was ripped off. But I tell you something – I sold it for thirty to a Sex Pistol.' Everyone laughs gleefully.
Laughter is a cheap luxury when, like Clash, you never have the money for a square meal and when, like Joe, you live in a squat – or like Paul, you crash in your manager's vast unheated, rehearsal room with no hot water or cooking facilities.
After Paul and Mick left school, they both ended up as casual art students. Mick was already in a group (the London S.S.) when a friend of his dragged Paul down to a rehearsal. 'The first live rock'n'roll I can remember seeing was the Sex Pistols, less than a year ago. All I listened to before then was ska and blue-beat down at the Streatham Locarno.
'But when I went to this rehearsal, as soon as I got there, Mick said; "you can sing, can't you?". And they got me singing. But I couldn’t get into it. They were into the New York Dolls and they all had very long hair, so it only lasted a couple of days.'
Ten days later however, Paul had 'acquired' a bass guitar, Mick had cut his hair, and they had formed a group called the Heartdrops (although the Phones, the Mirrors, the Outsiders and the Psychotic Negatives were also names for a day). Then, walking down Golborne Road with Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, they bumped into Joe, who was lead singer of the 101'ers.
The meeting was auspicious. 'I don't like your group,' says Mick. 'But we think you're great.'
'As soon as I saw these guys,' says Joe, 'I knew that was what a group, in my eyes, was supposed to look like. So I didn't really hesitate when they asked me to join.'
Joe broke up the 101'ers directly as a result of seeing the Sex Pistols. A few months ago he told me, 'Yesterday I thought I was a crud. Then I saw the Sex Pistols and I became a king and decided to move into the future.'
Today he says: 'As soon as I saw them I knew that rhythm and blues was dead, that the future was here somehow. Every other group was riffing their way through the Black Sabbath Catalogue. But hearing the Pistols I knew. I just knew. It was something you just knew without bothering to think about.'
What is it about punk-rock which is so important to Joe? 'It's the music of now. And it’s in English. We sing in English, not mimicking some American rock singer's accent. That's just pretending to be something you ain't.'
Continues Mick: 'It's the only music which is about young white kids. Black kids have got it all sewn up. They have their own cultural music, reggae. Basically young white kids are relying on a different time to provide for their kicks.'
But what's so different about youth today, then, I probe. And there's silence. Joe stands up and, relishing the drama he turns to reveal the stark, hand-painted graffiti on the back of his boiler suit: HATE AND WAR glare in red and white across his shoulders. It's the Hippy motto reversed.
'The Hippie Movement was a failure,' is Joe's explanation. 'All the hippies around now just represent complete apathy. There's a million good reasons why the thing failed, O.K. But the only thing we've got to live with is that it failed. At least you tried. But I'm not interested in why it failed. I'll jeer at hippies because that's helpful. They'll realise they're stuck in a rut and maybe they'll get out of it.'
What do they feel about society today? 'It's alienating the individual,' says Mick. 'No one gives a shit about you.'
Says Joe: 'There's nowhere to go. Nothing to do. The radio's for housewives. Nothing caters for us. All the laws are against you. Whoever's got the money's got the power. The Rent Acts are a complete mockery. It's a big joke. I just have to fuck off into the night for somewhere to sleep.'
Adds Paul, with feeling: 'At the moment what the Government should do is put licences on clubs so that kids can have somewhere to go. But they're clamping down on all that. The situation that is beginning to happen now is their fault. If we end up wrecking the place it's the Government's fault. They'll bring back National Service and we'll all be sent down to South Africa or Rhodesia to protect white capital's interests. And then we'll all be slaughtered..."
They may knock society, but they're all living off the dole aren’t they? 'Yeah. We get a little freedom from social security. Otherwise I'd have to spend 40 hours a week lifting cardboard boxes or washing dishes or whatever I done in the past. But because we're on the dole – which is £9.70 a week – I can get a rock'n'roll band together.
'If I got up at 4.00am and went to Soho and joined a queue I could get a job as a casual washer-up. That's the other opportunity I've got. Or the opportunity to work in a factory.'
But someone's got to work in a factory? 'Why have they?' demands Mick. 'Don't you think technology is advanced enough to give all those jobs over to a few people and machines? They're just keeping people occupied my making them work.
'There's a social stigma attached to begin unemployed. Like "School Security Scroungers" every day in the Sun. I don't want to hear that. I cheer them. You go up North and the kids are ashamed that they can’t get a job!'
Aren't they being rather pious when all they are doing is playing in a rock'n'roll band? 'No,' says Paul. 'It's the most immediate way we can handle it. We can inspire people. There's no one else to inspire you. Rock'n'roll is a really good medium. It has impact, and if we do our job properly then we're making people aware of situation they'd otherwise tend to ignore. We can have a vast effect!'
Oh yeah? Rock stars have usually started out saying they're going to change everything. Joe reacts first. 'But you learn by mistakes. The Rolling Stones made mistakes. But I want to do something useful. I'm not going to spend all my money on drugs. I'm going to start a radio station with my money. I want to be active. I don't want to end up in a villa on the South of France watching colour T.V.'
Do they want money then? 'Yes,' says Paul. 'Money's good because you can do things with it. Bands like the Stones and Led Zeppelin took everything without putting anything back. But we can put money back into the situation we were in before, and get something going for the kids our own age.'
If present performance is anything to go by then we can expect the Clash to put any money they make where their mouths are. Already they are playing nearly as many 'benefits' as they are profit-making gigs. Not that there are any profits at all at the moment. The band is struggling harder than ever before to stay on the road.
'We make a loss at every gig,' says Joe. 'It's the promoters who we want to attack. I bet you can only name one or two who really care about music. I'm amazed there isn't one that really cares about what's happening at the moment. We're really having to get down on our knees and grovel for venues.'
The Clash are more politically motivated than the Damned, perhaps more musically accessible than the Pistols. Their lovingly painted clothes (the same on and off stage, of course) which are acrylic spattered with the ferocity of a Jackson Pollack action painting, have started one of the most creative fashion crazes of the year. And their acute awareness, and ability to articulate the essence of the era which inspires their music, will make their contribution to the history of rock of lasting significance. Happy times are here again...
In December the Clash were one of the bands on the Sex Pistols' 'Anarchy In The U.K' tour. Like everyone else, they came back to London tired, exhausted and stunned at the growing national outcry about the horrors of punk rock which was making it impossible for them to play anything but isolated gigs.
The Clash played the Roxy club on 2nd January 1977, but although the club was still flourishing the atmosphere was beginning to sour. Flights were always part of the scene, and accepted in moderation. The real aggression was reserved for outsiders – the 'boring old farts'. But after Christmas, 1976, there was a significant change in the nature of the aggression. It was as if the bands, especially the Pistols, unable to insult the Establishment without incurring severe retaliation turned in on themselves and their own.
In March the Clash signed to C.B.S. and released their debut single 'White Riot'.
© Caroline Coon, 1977Greatness from Garageland
editPeter Silverton, Trouser Press, February 1978
UNANNOUNCED, TO SAY the least, a kid in boots, suspenders and short-cropped hair clambers through the photographers' pit and up onto the stage of London's Rainbow Theatre. Benignly ignored by band, stage crew and security alike, he wanders around the stage a little drunkenly, uncertain quite what to do now that he's made it up onto the hallowed, sacrosanct boards and is not making quite the impression he thought. Decision flickers across his face, lit by the giant spots, and he grabs hold of the sing-er's mike and prepares to join in on the harmonies. When the singer wants his mike back, the kid's frozen to the stand in fear-drenched exhilaration so the singer has to shout the lines over the kid's shoulder while the kid pumps in the response lines on perfect cue.
The encore over, the band leaves the stage and the kid's stuck there in front of two and a half thousand people and unsure what to do next. With the merest jerk of his head the bass player motions the kid to join the band backstage and everyone goes home happy.
Sounds like some fantasy of what rock 'n' roll should be about or at least a case of a cunning audience plant, doesn't it? It wasn't. It was the Clash. And it happened just that way at the first of their three nights at the Rainbow in December.
That's the thing about the Clash; they can break rules you hadn't realised existed till they trashed 'em. That's why, in a year, without any kind of Springsteen-like hype – except from zealot journalists like myself – they've gone from empty college and club halls to three nights at a major London venue. Like the Pistols, they're so special that they've created not only their own style but also their own rule structure. Only the most carping would say that the Clash are like anybody or anything else.
Because of events like the one just described, the Clash command an awesome respect, even adulatory deification from their fans. Some of them really do seen, expect the Clash to slip 'em the meaning life in a three minute rock 'n' roll song. Mind you, full-grown rock writers have been known to make the same mistake. And to think, all that achieved with only two national tours of Britain and but one album and three singles (in total 17 songs, 19 tracks) in general circulation.
And I still don't think the Clash realise themselves what kind of position they're in. It's as if they're (very understandably) scared of facing up to the fact of that worship and its implications.
Here's another little scene which might help explain what I'm getting at. A few days before I sat down to tap this through my crappy little Smith-Corona portable I found myself at a gig, competing with Clash meistersinger Joe Strummer for the bartender's attention. (Incidentally, I won.)
Having known Strummer for almost two years, I wasn't too surprised when, after exchanging the usual pleasantries, he turned on me a little drunkenly and demanded know who my favourite English band was. More than a little embarrassed, I told him:
"Your lot."
"Nah, come on," he replied, "Tell me who you really think's the best."
"The Clash," my voice getting louder. "Honest!"
Joe didn't believe. "I bet you'll tell the Hot Rods the same thing tomorrow."
So, here in cold type, let's set the matter straight with an open letter.
Dear Joe,
The Clash are not only the best band in Britain. They're the best band in the world. (I think that for a magnitude of reasons I'll explain in good time.) For me, you're the latest in a straight three-act lineage: Chuck Berry, the Stones, the Clash. No one else comes near. The Beatles may have written better songs but...The Pistols may have been a bigger force of change but. . . Fercrissakes, if I didn't believe all this stuff, you don't think you'd catch me spieling out all these cascades of yeeugh-making praise, do you now? There's a whole lot more becoming things for an adult to do, you know.
Yours,
Pete
P.S. But I still don't believe that you're the saint, let alone godhead that some of your more impressionable fans crack you up to be. I know you're just as big a head-case as the rest of us.
Good. That out of the way, I can move on to telling you good and patient – you must be if you've got this far – readers just how and why the Clash have come to occupy such a prominent place in my – and a lot of other people's – affections.
The Clash at core are three people. Mick Jones on lead guitar, vocals and Keef lookalikes. He was in the London S.S., about whom the myths outweigh the facts at least tenfold. Paul Simonon plays bass, smiles a lot, lopes around like a grossly underfed gorilla on a vitamin B-and-methedrine cure for malnutrition and catches the fancy of more women than the rest of the band put together–Patti Smith, for example. Joe Strummer sings in a manner that some find so unmusical as to be repulsive (you find those kind of philistines everywhere) and others reckon is compulsive and entrancing. Joe was the leading light in the "world-famed" 1O1'ers and still plays the same tortured, demonic rhythm guitar that was the highlight of that band.
And then there's the fourth man, Nicky "Topper" Headon, the drummer. He gets left out of the central three because he's the last in a long line of skin-beaters with the Clash – Terry Chimes (a.k.a. Tory Crimes) plays on the album – and, although, Nicky's occupied the stool longer and deservedly so than anyone else, he's still relatively unimportant in the overall image of the band. But who knows, a year from now, he might be as important as Ringo was to the Fabs.
How did they come together? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, the line they usually hand out to gullible journalists is a heap of shit. They claim that Paul and Mick were trotting down Portobello Road one balmy Saturday, already intent on forming their own band, when they chanced upon Joe Strummer and, knowing him from the still-in-existence-at-this-point 1O1'ers, asked him to be their lead singer. After a couple of days to think it over, he junked the 1O1'ers and threw in his lot with Mick and Paul. That's the fantasy. The reality, as usual, is both more complex and much less romantic.
To explain for the benefit of future historians of the social mores of the seventies, I must backtrack to the first time I encountered Mr. Strummer.
I'd been writing for this rag for a bit and I'd decided I wanted to do a short piece on what it was really like for a struggling band in London, supposed Mecca of rock 'n' roll. On the recommendation of a friend who'd known Joe since schooldays, I went down to a truly scummy college benefit to check out the 1O1'ers.
At this point (two years ago) I was just emerging from a five-year period where I was so disgusted by the rock 'n' roll scene that I spent all day in bed listening to Chuck Berry and reading Trotsky. I'd come to like quite a few of the current pub rock bands but however much I enjoyed them, I knew in my heart of hearts, there was something lacking. And, although, if pressed, I'd say it had something to do with lack of stage presence, it wasn't till I saw Joe that night that I realised just what was lacking – full-blooded desperation to become a star and communicate with your audience and the sense to realise that not only is that a far from easy task but that, if you don't find your own way of doing it, you might as well junk the idea right there and then.
The 1O1'ers were an immensely loveable but generally pretty ramshackle bunch who'd rip through Chuck Berry and R&B numbers with not a trace of genuflection at the altar of the greats. What they – or rather what Joe took–was theirs/his.
I became so enamoured with the 101'ers that what had started out as a short article ended up as a veritable thesis which Trouser Press has on file (and I hope they don't dig it out, even if it is the definitive work on the subject). The day I mailed the piece, the band broke up. The rest of the 101'ers dropped into the limbo of obscurity but Joe, with much flourish, hair cutting and clothes altering, hooked up with Paul and Mick.
That something of the kind had been the offing I'd suspected since I'd been with Joe watching the Pistols (who were at this time supporting the 1O1'ers). As someone else put it, he saw the light and the Sex Pistols simultaneously.
Meanwhile Mick Jones, Brian James (later of the Damned) and Tony James (now in Generation X) had been sorting out their chops in a basement under the name of the London S.S. and the tutelage of future Clash manager Bernard Rhodes, a close pal of Sex Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren. The London S.S., unable to locate a suitable drummer, never actually played a gig but, according to the few who've heard them, their tapes were very impressive.
When Brian James walked off/was pushed off to form the Damned, the rest of London S.S. faced up to facts, chucked in the towel and went their separate ways.
This is when Mick joined forces with Paul – who'd never even touched a bass before ("I used to be an art designer till I discovered the Clash") – and Keith Levine, who only stayed long enough to do a few early gigs and cop a co-credit for ‘What's My Name’ on the album. He was a great guitarist but. . . well, just check out ‘Deny’.
Masterminded by their hustler-manager with tertiary verbal diarrhea, Bernard Rhodes, the three of them persuaded Strummer over a period of time that he was exactly the vocalist they needed. When Joe was finally convinced, the four of them moved into an enormous (but very cheap) rehearsal studio of their own and began to audition drummers. Getting the name was easy enough. After an initial flirtation with Weak Heart Drops (after a Big Youth song), they plumped for the challenge of the Clash. But getting a drummer wasn't so easy.
They searched with an unusual but un-derstandable and probably correct attitude toward drummers. To wit, drummers can't drum because they all suffer from a Billy Cobham complex and want to play as much as an egocentric lead guitarist. Therefore drummers have to be taught to drum. And drummers, being by and large nutters, don't take too kindly to such condescension. Also, at this time, while the rest of the band were outwardly convinced they'd be an unqualified success, under the surface they were stone scared that they couldn't live up to even their own belief in themselves. The tensions in the Clash camp (late summer '76) were running so high that just sitting around the rehearsal studio could be an exceedingly uncomfortable experience.
But, after rejecting various drummers who were more in tune with the band's commitment but couldn't really hack out the relentless trip-trap bottom line, they settled on Terry Chimes, who didn't give a flying one about the politics (in the widest sense) of the Clash but made up for it by being one of the best drummers this side of Jerry Nolan.
Anyway, that's how they'd shaped up to the point of their early gigs, so that's enough of this hagiography. That's not nearly as important as why the Clash are the CLASH.
Scene One:
Bernie Rhodes holds Clash preview for the press in the studio, subtly paralleling Paris schmutter previews. Giovanni Dadomo of Sounds is suitably impressed and reports that the Clash are the first band to come along that look like they could really scare the Pistols.
Scene Two:
The reaction sets in. When the Clash support the Pistols at a London cinema gig, Charles Shaar Murray says that they're a garage band who ought to get back in the garage and leave the car motor running. (This prompts them to write 'Garageland').
Scene Three:
The sides settled, every Clash gig becomes an event. When Patti Smith comes over, she sees the Clash at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and is so knocked out with them that she jumps up and "jams". And some kid in the audience does a mock up of biting off someone's ear (with the aid of a tomato ketchup capsule) and the picture gets in the weekly music press. By the time they play the Royal College of Art (Arty lot, aren't they? Still, what do you expect? They all went to art college and wear some of the flashest clothes imaginable), emotions are running way too high. They play a set under the rubric "A Night Of Treason". (It was November 5th, the night that honours the burning of Guy Fawkes, the bloke who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament). Some of the audience, when not lobbing fireworks around, take an extreme dislike to the Clash and start bunging bottles at the stage. The rest of the audience is split between Clash fans who already think their band can do no wrong and the uncommitted whose prevailing attitude is "Well, they are playing violent music and if you play violent, well you know what they say about what you sow..."
The band are certain how they feel about playing in a rain of bottles. Strummer lurches off stage and tries to sort out those responsible... personally.
The Clash style has been set. It's a straight case of being ruthlessly certain about how you feel and what you want to do and making sure that no one gets in your way. Like the man said, "We ain't looking for trouble but if someone starts it, it ain't gonna be us that's gonna be on the losing side."
Remember this is back in '76 when punk was still seen overwhelmingly as being POLITICAL. More than anyone else it was the Clash that everyone held responsible for putting down a party line. Now they're all pretty much retreated from that position (except the Clash, they just smile Highway 61 smiles) and say aw, we're really only into having fun, maaan. But then, you've no idea what a relief it was to have songs about something else than falling in love with some acne-infested adolescent or what a drag it is to be slogging our guts out "on the road" and staying in all these faceless hotels (when most kids in England have never even stayed in a hotel) or pathetic dirges about let's have a little more rock 'n' roll.
I know rock 'n' roll is supposed to be about the banalities of the pubescent dream but it had pretty much got to the stage where the average rock 'n' roll song was indistinguishable from moon/June bilge. If the Clash have done nothing else, they've given a big help to kicking out all that garbage (of course, many others have been working to the same end).
Strummer certainly didn't come from any poverty-stricken background (on the other hand, he never really pretended to) but his songs were like a well-aimed boot plonked straight into the guts of an overfed and complacent music business.
And Mick Jones was no slouch either.
'Career Opportunities' for example:
They offered me the office
They offered me the shop
They said I'd better take anything they'd got
Do you wanna make tea at the BBC
Do you, do you really wanna be a cop
Career opportunities
The ones that never knock
Every job they offer you's to keep you out the dock
Career opportunities
The ones that never knock.
Okay, so it ain't gonna cop him a poetry prize (who wants 'em?) but it displays both a savage understanding of the demands for immediacy in a rock 'n' roll song and a large helping of witty comment on what it's like to be given the choice of one shitty job or another shitty job. Of course, the Clash never thought they could really change things. They're only (only!) a rock 'n' roll band, not a political party. But, if you're gonna sing about something, you might as well sing about something that doesn't usually make it onto pop singles. Unfortunately, while they handled it, lesser talents came along and decided that they'd have to write 'political' songs and, as a matter of course, mostly came up with insulting simplicities like Chelsea's 'Right To Work.'
And then, even more important, there was the music. Even early on (and especially after Small Faces addict Glen Matlock got the boot) the Pistols were very fond of heavy metal drones. I don't think The Clash even listened to HM. Joe only cared for ‘50s rockers (especially bluesman Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, believe it or not) and reggae. Jones was deeply into Mott, which shows in the Clash's attitude toward their fans both in their songs and their stage demeanour. And Paul Simonon was into football (listen to the chant on 'Janie Jones') and painting (look at the clothes, stage backdrops and all their visual presentation.)
By the time they'd done the Anarchy Tour with the Pistols, the Clash were in an unrivalled second position. They began to get the kind of press eulogies and fan worship that'd turn anybody's head. How could anybody fail to react to them?
Onstage, Strummer is so obviously a natural star, forcing his body and Telecaster to ever greater heights of pain/pleasure, grabbing the mike and screaming lines like he really does care.
Mick Jones bopping around like a younger Keef (yeah, that comparison again) doing a military two-step and sending out shards of steely guitar licks.
And Paul lumbering around looking looser and more relaxed but thumping his bass while indulging in perverse, arcane calisthenics.
And the clothes. Obviously paramilitary in origin – zips and slogans featured very heavily – but whoever heard of an army splashing paint all over their tunics?
All this combines to make sure the Clash, even at their worst, are never mere music. I am absolutely convinced that it's not only me that feels that they're the ‘70s answer to the Stones. If asked, Clash fans will say they love 'em so much because "They're good to dance to" or "I fancy Mick Jones" or "I just like 'em, that's all". If that is all, why do they shout out for 'White Riot' all the time at gigs? It's not one of the Clash's best songs, but it is the one that most represents where they're coming from, what they stand for and, by extension, what particular fantasy they're enacting for their audience. If the kids just wanted to dance or screw, they could go to a disco/home to bed. They want and get more but their lack of articulacy prevents them explaining what. Where success and even the music are subordinate to the stance – they're saying not we play rock 'n' roll but we are rock 'n' roll. If Chuck Berry represents for me an idealised adolescence I never had, and the Stones were an adolescence that I lived through once removed because, like so many kids, I was too busy studying, the Clash are as good an excuse as any for me to live out a perfect adolescence ten years late. Hell, why else be a rock 'n' roll writer – there's more to it than freebie albums, you know.
Which is also why – just like the Stones – while the Clash will fire imaginations, they'll never become a grandiosely success-ful band. Some reckon they won't make it in the States at all. I don't agree with that. Judging by the recent Rainbow shows, they've got enough classic big stage rock 'n' roll choreography worked out to handle any auditorium. And their newer songs, like 'City of the Dead' and the as yet unissued 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' are played at a pace that even ears used to the Eagles can handle. Also, by slowing matters down a trifle, they seem to have upped the energy level – too much speed becomes nothing but a fast train blur. They learned their lesson on the first English tour. The set started out at 45 minutes. By the end of the tour it was down to 29 minutes and that included all the album plus '1977', 'Capital Radio' (only avail-able on a limited edition giveaway – which is a pity because it's one of their best songs), their truly awful version of Toots and the Maytals' sublime 'Pressure Drop' and 'London's Burning' twice. It gave their roadies something to boast about but if you wanted to keep up with it, you had to snort at least 2 grams of amphetamine.
This drop in speed/rise in intensity is obviously partly a result of their smoking a lot more dope and listening to a lot of very spliffed-out rasta roots reggae. They realised you ain't gotta run at full throttle to give out the necessary power.
Nonetheless, the Clash have come in for a lot of criticism. Ignoring the early jeers about unmusicality, the most hurtful has been that they're a kind of punk Bay City Rollers, programmed to do just what their manager tells them to do. Quite simply, that's like saying that the Stones were only Oldham's puppets. Of course, Bernie being some kind of weird conceptual artist lams in a fair share of the ideas but, at the last resort, it's Mick, Paul, Joe and Topper that cut the cake on stage and record.
Anyway, I reckon that carping like that is just more proof of the Clash's importance. Nobody gets into the same kind of polarisations about say Slaughter and the Dogs or 999. People only get into heavy-duty arguments about bands that really matter.
Look. If you already like the Clash, you'll like 'em even more live (if they play a good show – which admittedly, they don't do as often as they should). If you hate the Clash, you'll either learn the error of your ways when you realize what great little pop songs they write or continue to hate 'em. The choice is yours.
All I can say is that any band that can bring a relatively cynical scribbler like myself to gush like a besotted fan, has got to be one of the most special things to have ever happened.
© Peter Silverton, 1978- Band to be inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday night.
Mar 10 2003 12:50 PM EST, MTV
The Clash, who are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tonight, weren't the first punk band. The Ramones started pursuing their loud-and-fast vision in 1974, and released their debut album in the spring of 1976.
Nor were the Clash the first British punk unit. The Sex Pistols played their first, typically shambolic gig in November of 1975 (it lasted about 10 minutes), and the first Pistols single, "Anarchy in the U.K.," was released in December of '76.
But the Clash, who were inspired by the Sex Pistols (as were such other first-wave English punk acts as the Buzzcocks and Siouxsie and the Banshees), remain exemplars of the punk moment. Unlike the Pistols, whose world-shaking music was infused with a calculated, arty nihilism, the Clash were unabashed idealists, proponents of a radical left-wing social critique of a sort that reached back at least to the folk-styled anthems of Woody Guthrie in the 1940s.
Mainly, though, the Clash were a great band. They evolved out of a scrabbling hard-rock group called the London SS, which included guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and, in succession, drummers Topper Headon and Terry Chimes. They were subsequently joined by a one-time street singer called Joe Strummer, who had been leading a band called the 101ers. All of their lives had been changed by seeing the Sex Pistols play in early 1976.
"It was like, there ain't nothing like this," Jones recalled during a visit to New York the other day. "When they came out, it was like, it made everything else look lame."
The London SS changed their name to the Clash, and made their debut opening for the Sex Pistols at a gig on July 4, 1976. (The already influential Ramones played their first show in England that same night). At year's end, the Clash set out with the Pistols on an ill-fated excursion called the Anarchy Tour. This outing was supposed to have consisted of 19 dates, but most were shut down by hostile municipal authorities; in the end only three were actually played, amid much punk mania and lunk-headed bottle-chucking.
"You would look at the stage, and it was just twinkling in broken glass," said Paul Simonon, sitting by Jones' side with a gap-toothed grin. "And the drummer's got his cymbals turned flat-on to protect himself. That's why we ran around onstage so much, 'cause we were ducking the bottles."
The Sex Pistols, of course, imploded in early 1978, after releasing just one (great) studio album. The Clash, however, kept going, and growing. From the outset, the band had embraced Jamaican reggae (with a cover of Junior Murvin's "Police & Thieves") and cast a harsh lyrical light on British social inequity and racism ("White Riot"). They played Rock Against Racism benefits. They clashed with police themselves. (Simonon and drummer Topper Headon were once arrested for shooting pigeons.)
They also sold a lot of records — in Britain, anyway. In an instance of the sort of record-company incomprehension that had delayed the Beatles' U.S. breakthrough in the early 1960s, the Clash's 1977 debut album was held back in this country until 1979; and even then, the band's American label, Epic, scrambled its content.
The Clash toured America, but didn't really make much of a commercial impact here until 1980, when their classic double album, London Calling (which they insisted be retailed at the price of a single disk), climbed to #27 on the Billboard chart. The album also yielded the group's first Top 40 U.S. single, "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)."
By this point, the Clash's musical interests ranged from rockabilly to funk and dub; but the group was losing focus. The band's fourth album, a sprawling, three-record mess called Sandanista!, was a letdown after the vibrant London Calling. With the 1982 follow-up, Combat Rock, the Clash scored two more hit singles ("Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Rock the Casbah") and, for the first time, broke into the U.S. Top 10. But the end was near.
In the fall of 1983, Strummer and Simonon gave Mick Jones the boot — although not, as Jones recalled, for the usual "musical differences." "It was just ... we got fed up. We got fed up with each other and we didn't have any holidays or anything. Nowadays, groups have a holiday. They have a rest and they can get their heads together. We didn't have any of that."
With two new guitarists on board, a pale imitation of the Clash released an exhausted album called Cut the Crap in 1985. In early 1986, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon decided to bring down the curtain. "Me and Joe looked at each other and kicked each other out of the band," Simonon said. "There was no one left to kick out."
Unlike the Sex Pistols, the Clash never attempted a "reunion." They had, however, been weighing the possibility of getting back together for one last performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction (see "AC/DC, Clash, Police To Be Inducted Into Rock Hall Of Fame").
"Me and Joe were up for it," said Jones, casting a glance at Simonon. "We were going to try to persuade him."
"I was going to persuade them not to," Simonon said.
The idea became moot in December, when Joe Strummer was found dead at his home in Somerset, England (see "Autopsy Finds Joe Strummer Died Of Cardiac Arrest").
"It wasn't like a heart attack," said Simonon. "The doctors said he was an extremely fit man. It was a congenital heart problem that he had. So he could have died at the age of 2 or 82, really. Which is quite amazing, somebody reaching 50 and actually achieving what he had done in his life. It was quite an inspiration."
Today, Paul Simonon is an established painter in Europe. Mick Jones produces records for up-and-coming groups. Both wear nicely tailored suits. The fierce music that the Clash made two decades ago continues to inspire young bands, but the group's confrontational social commentary has few echoes, even in this time of thundering war drums and crumbling economies. Mick Jones still has hope, though.
"There's new bands coming up and it's really exciting," he said. "The more they develop and progress, I'm sure they'll find themselves. There's so much to talk about today. We're hoping that some of these groups are gonna start asking questions."
—Kurt Loder- An epiphany at a Sex Pistols gig led to the formation of the most enduring of punk bands. Here, in an extract from a new book, The Clash reveal how they started in a London squat
Friday, 10 October 2008
The summer of 1976 was long and hot, the airwaves full of the sound of disco, prog rock and Abba. But in a few dark cellars and pubs in London a new sound and a new look was developing. The back room of a bondage clothing store in the Kings Road had spewed up the Sex Pistols, who played a handful of chaotic gigs before landing a Tuesday night residency at the 100 Club. On 4 June, a Pistols show in Manchester organised by the Buzzcocks and attended by less than 100 people inspired journalists to hail the dawn of a new age of punk. A month later, at a small pub in Sheffield, The Clash made their live debut as support act for the Pistols.
JOE [strummer]: We started the 101'ers with one amplifier and one speaker. I built my equipment from a drawer, out of a skip. We booked our own club, too, 'cos no one was gonna book us into a club or pub, so we found a room upstairs in a pub, rented it for a quid for the evening and that's how we learned to play. By doing it ourselves. That was the punk ethos.
PAUL [simonon]: The first time I saw the 101'ers was at this dump which had people running about with their dogs and giant hippies stomping around. There was one guy called Dave the Van or something who wore blue overalls, had a big beard and was jumping around completely sloshed while Joe was on stage. He'd be playing and there was a woman breastfeeding a baby and dogs running across the stage, but Joe was definitely the guy to watch.
JOE: In 1975 Kilburn and the High Roads were the top of the tree that we were on. Then Dr Feelgood came along and they were like a machine of intense proportions and we fell into that scene. One night Allan Jones [later editor of Melody Maker and Uncut magazines], whom we'd known in Newport, came to the Pig Dog Club to see us and wrote a couple of lines about us in the Melody Maker, saying the 101'ers could really rock. I cut it out and took it to some pubs in West London, and eventually in the Elgin the landlord went, "alright, a fiver. Monday." And that was when we broke out of our little scene. The Elgin became a hotspot, the landlord switched us to a Thursday night because we were doing good business, and it really began to take off. Unknown to me the Sex Pistols would come there every Thursday and check us out. I didn't realise how good we were.
MICK [jones]: When Paul came into our basement rehearsal room he looked so stunning that we said, "can you sing?" He tried it and it didn't work out but he made an impression on me and we became quite friendly. He said, "let's get a group together", one day while we were walking round Portobello Market.
JOE: The first time I heard the word "punk" was in Time Out, a London magazine, where they wrote that Eddie and the Hot Rods were a second-generation punk band. I remember thinking, "what is this word?" Then the Pistols came through and it was clear what they meant.
MICK: We borrowed a bass guitar from Tony [James] and Paul painted the notes on it and then we (Paul and I) sat down to try and learn. He turned out to be a fantastic bass player. He had his own style, plus the look too, and was incredible. It was frustrating to begin with but he gradually built it up.
JOE: The 101'ers had been playing for two years or so when the Pistols burst onto the scene, and when I saw them I realised you couldn't compare the Pistols to any other group on the island, they were so far ahead. I mean, it can't be stressed enough, it was a quantum leap. As soon as I saw the Sex Pistols in the Nashville Rooms – they were supporting the 101'ers – and we had plenty of attitude, we were squatters and we didn't care a damn about anything or anybody but when this lot came in, I remember thinking, damn it, look at these guys. Sid Vicious was the last one in the queue as they came through the dressing room to do a soundcheck, and I thought, "I'm going to mess with one of these guys to see what they're made of", and he was wearing an Elvis Presley-like gold jacket so I said to him: "Oi". He went, "wot?", and I said, "where'd you get that jacket?". And I love Sid for this, 'cos the groups were like that in those days, facing each other out, like dog eat dog, and he could have said, "piss off turd", or something and he didn't. He said: "oh, it's really good, innit? I'll tell you where I got it, you know that stall..." I thought that was great, Sid didn't have to put on an attitude. Anyway, they played, there was hardly any audience, it was a Tuesday or something. And I knew we were finished, five seconds into their first song I knew we were like yesterday's papers, I mean, we were over.
PAUL: We saw the 101'ers at the Nashville with the Pistols. I knew Steve [Jones] and Glen [Matlock], though I'd never met John [Lydon]. He was fantastic on stage, really winding people up, blowing his nose, wearing a big, ripped red jumper and he just didn't give a toss. I thought they were great. I could really relate to them and didn't even notice the bad notes. When the 101'ers came on Joe was great and the rest of them were just sort of twiddling along.
MICK: We'd seen Joe with the 101'ers quite a few times and that he was out there playing was a big deal to us. We had this other singer, called Billy, from Wycombe, but it didn't work out and I can't remember why, but we were looking for a new singer. I think it was Bernie [Rhodes, The Clash's manager] who directed our thoughts to Joe. We'd seen him around, in the dole office and so on, and then we went to see the 101'ers with the Sex Pistols which ended up with the Pistols in a fight and that was the night we decided Joe was the best guy out there.
PAUL: We had a singer named Billy Watts who was a nice bloke but his look was a bit old-fashioned and we needed fresh input. I think it was Bernie who suggested we try to nick Joe from the 101'ers.
JOE: The first time I saw Mick and Paul we were all in Lisson Grove labour exchange. I was queuing to get dole, which was about £10.64, and they were obviously waiting to see someone in there. I could see them staring at me and I didn't realise they'd seen the 101'ers the previous weekend and were probably going, "look there's that bloke from the 101'ers." But I thought it was on, you know [a fight], so I ignored them, collected my dole and was expecting them to tangle with me on my way to the door or in the street, but they continued sitting there. They were eye-catching though, they already looked different to everyone else. But I thought there was going to be trouble so I was working out which one to punch first. I thought I'd punch Mick first because he looked thinner and Paul looked a bit tasty so I decided I'd smack Mick and leg it.
PAUL: I remember seeing Joe in the dole queue and I think he caught us looking at him and was a bit worried, like he might get done over. He looked, for a moment, quite timid and in terror. We were just going, "it's that bloke out of the 101'ers."
MICK: We decided to ask Joe if he wanted to join us, and were all in the squat when Bernie and Keith [Levene] went to see him play at the Golden Lion in Fulham. I think they gave him 48 hours to make his mind up but Bernie couldn't wait and phoned him after a day and Joe said yeah.
JOE: After seeing the Pistols I thought the 101'ers might as well give up there and then. The other members couldn't see it and we were beginning to splinter. The guitarist stormed off after a gig not much later at the Golden Lion in Fulham, V C but that night Bernie Rhodes came to the dressing room with Keith Levene and went, "hey, come with me, I want you to meet some people." There was something about the way he and Keith looked I just said "OK" and we went to Shepherd's Bush, to a squat in Davis Road where there were these two guys waiting who I'd seen in the dole office not long before. There were amps in the room and we started to practise either then or the next day. Afterwards Bernie said, "why don't you think about joining this band?" I thought about it for about 24 hours and then rang him and said, "OK, I'm in." It was the look of them more than anything else, you could see the new world.
MICK: He came to see us at Davis Road and we were all nervously waiting and then we went straight into it. We went into the little room where we'd put eggboxes on the walls to soundproof it and began. He didn't want to do his tunes so much but he was into improving our songs. So we had a great lyric writer working with us and Bernie helping us to realise what we were about and what we should be writing about.
JOE: The day I joined The Clash was very much back to square one, year zero. Part of punk was that you had to shed all of what you knew before. We were almost Stalinist in the way that we insisted that you had to cast off all your friends, everything you'd ever known, and the way you'd played before, in a frenzied attempt to create something new, which was not easy at any time. It was very rigorous; we were insane, basically. It was completely and utterly insane.
JOE: When The Clash formed there was no real agenda, it was what everybody put in. There was only Mick and Paul, and Mick was teaching Paul how to play bass 'cos he'd only been playing for three weeks or something. Mick could already play really great guitar and I could hack it in there, but we didn't have a drummer. It was all new, all built from the ground up.
PAUL: When Joe came to see us at Davis Road we went into the little room to practise, and me and Mick started throwing our guitars about, jumping around, and I think Joe enjoyed it 'cos he didn't get that from his other band, where everything they did had to be perfect. With us it was just bash it out, and with me it was pot luck whether I hit E or G, which is why I painted the notes on the neck. Mick would say "G" and then I could just go to the G. Mick called it the Paul Simonon School of Music method.
JOE: Paul was practising bass to reggae songs and the first Ramones album, which was seminal. It can't be stressed how great the first Ramones album was to the scene because it gave anyone who couldn't play the idea that it was simple enough to be able to play. We all used to practise along with it. Paul and I spent hours, days, weeks playing along to the record. Anyone could see where the notes went and it gave everyone confidence. It was the first word of punk, a fantastic record.
JOE: Our equipment was pretty rudimentary, we only needed three amps and cabs; we didn't have a drummer to begin with. Bernie bought us a PA and three microphones. One of our mics came from the English National Opera. I had a job there cleaning the toilets just before joining The Clash. I noticed a microphone high above the stage on the top gantry, for the man up there to talk to the wings or spot operators. One day when there was no-one around I climbed up this ladder to the very top with a pair of wire-cutters in my overalls. I got hold of the mic, cut the wires, stuffed the mic down the front of my trousers and climbed all the way down again. I was kind of sweating with the excitement of it all and, as I walked through the back corridor, the manager of the Opera House walked towards me and I thought, "he's sure to notice this microphone down my trousers", but he just walked straight past me. We used that mic in the early days.
This is an extract from 'The Clash: Strummer, Jones, Simonon, Headon' by The Clash, published by Atlantic, price £30
The first gig: 4 July 1976, the Black Swan, Sheffield (with the Sex Pistols)
Joe: The line-up for the first gig was Terry Chimes on drums, Paul Simonon, Mick Jones, myself and Keith Levene, so we had a three-guitar set-up at that time.
Mick: I don't think we had been rehearsing that long before the first gig.
Joe: The first gig we ever played was at what we used to call the Mucky Duck (actually called the Black Swan) in Sheffield. We had a song we did called "Listen", which had a bassline that went up in a scale and then down a note to start, and Paul was so nervous that he just kept going up the scale, and we all fell over laughing 'cos we didn't know when to come in.
Paul: The day The Clash started really was when we played the Mucky Duck with the Pistols, which was great.
It was the first time that I had ever played on stage. The night before it felt frightening but once we were on the way there then I began larking about. I tied one of Keith's shoes to a piece of string and hung it out of the back of the van – the door had to be open anyway so we could breathe. So there we were sitting with all the amps and luggage with a plimsoll bouncing around behind us and all the cars behind us slowing down to avoid it. But the moment that we walked out on stage it was like I was in my own living room. I felt really comfortable. Things went wrong during the evening, and Mick had to come over and tune my guitar, but it didn't bother me. I just wanted to jump around, but Mick wanted it to be in tune.Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer
www.fishrecords.co.uk/perrykeyesglossary.htm
On his 2007 album, "The Last Ghost Train Home" (named 2007 Radio National album of the year), Perry Keyes, the Australian singer/songwriter also released a song with the title "Joe Strummer". It contains many references to 'The Clash'. In his on line glossary of "The Last Ghost Train Home", Perry Keyes says that Joe Strummer was inspirational and 'wrote the best rock'n'roll lyrics ever.
10 JOE STRUMMER
Joe Strummer Joe wrote the best rock'n'roll lyrics, ever. He had the biggest rock'n'roll heart, ever. An absolute Inspiration!!
City of The Dead A Clash song title from the 'Black Market Clash' EP.
Arthur Scargill Leader of the British Miner’s Union during 1985 miners strike. When the British miners went on strike in the mid-eighties the nightly news would be full of images of the picketing workers facing off long lines of English Bobbies…Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Rupert Murdoch. The Forces of Darkness had taken hold of the reins with only Ken Loach standing in their way! In those days I looked at the world through a naïve kind of rock'n'roll filter and I remember watching the TV and thinking - the world needs The Clash to get back together…real quick.
Montgomery Clift American actor and inspiration for The Clash song 'The Right Profile'.
Joe Strummer Discography
editfrom: Albums by Joe Strummer - Rate Your Music
Albums
- 1987 Walker 2 issues
- 1989 Appears on: Wired [soundtrack] [Basil Poledouris] VSD-5237
- 1989 Earthquake Weather 2 issues
- 2001 Appears on: Small World Big Band [Jools Holland] 2 issues
EP
- 1989 Gangsterville Strum T1
Compilation
- 1986 Appears on: Sid & Nancy: Love Kills [Various Artists - Soundtracks - Film Soundtracks 1985-89] 088 112 413-2
- 1988 Appears on: Permanent Record [Various Artists - Soundtracks - Film Soundtracks 1985-89] 2 issues
- 1997 Appears on: Grosse Pointe Blank: More Music From The Film [Various Artists - Soundtracks - Film Soundtracks 1995-99] 2 issues
- 1997 Appears on: Kerouac - Kicks Joy Darkness [Various Artists - Genres - Spoken Word] RCD 10329
- 1998 Appears on: Chef Aid: The South Park Album [South Park] 2 issues
- 2003 Appears on: Unearthed [Johnny Cash] B0001679-02
- 2004 Appears on: Radio Clash [Various Artists - Books / Magazines - Mojo]
- 2007 The Future Is Unwritten 2 issues
Single
- 1986 "Love Kills / Dum Dum Club" 4 issues
- 1987 "Filibustero / Straight Shooter" 2 issues
- 1988 "Trash City / Theme from Permanent Record" TRASH
- 1989 "Gangsterville / Jewellers & Bums"
- 1989 "Island Hopping / 15th Brigade"
Bootleg / Unauthorized
- 1999 "Bankrobber 99 / White Riot"
- 2002 Appears on: Rocker Station [The Clash]
- ??? "London Calling" [Joe Strummer & The Pogues]
Video
- 2004 Let's Rock Again! 2 issues
- 2005 Viva Joe Strummer - The Clash and Beyond WHEI 10211
- 2007 The Future Is Unwritten
Solo albums
edit- Sid and Nancy Soundtrack (1986) Soundtrack for the film Sid and Nancy, featuring 2 songs by Strummer.
- Straight to Hell Original Soundtrack (1987) Soundtrack for the film Straight to Hell, featuring 2 songs by Strummer.
- When Pigs Fly Soundtrack (1993) Unreleased soundtrack for the film When Pigs Fly, scored by Strummer.
- Chef Aid: The South Park Album (1998) Features "It's A Rockin' World", performed by Strummer, Flea, Nick Hexum, Tom Morello, DJ Bonebrake, and Benmont Tench.
- Unearthed (2003) (guest appearance) A duet of "Redemption Song" with Johnny Cash.
- Black Magic (2004) (guest appearance) Strummer performed the song "Over The Border" with Jimmy Cliff.
Joe Strummer Appears On
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Joe Strummer Solo compilations
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Joe Strummer Solo live recordings
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Joe Strummer Solo Singles
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Joe Strummer Filmography
editA 49 minutes short, black and white, silent film written and directed by Joe Strummer
Genre: Crime
Cast: Martin Degville, Tony James, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer
Runtime: 49 min
Country: UK
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Aspect Ratio: 1.33
Sound Mix: Silent
Filming Locations: Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, England, UK
Filmed by Joe Strummer using friends and family during a break between tours with The Clash.
Included as a special feature on The Essential Clash (2003).
Cast
- Mick Jones as Socrates
- Paul Simonon as Earl
- Joe Strummer as a Police Officer
- Martin Degville
- Tony James
- "Version City"
- "Rudie Can't Fail"
- "First Night Back in London" (instrumental)
- "Know Your Rights" (instrumental)
- "Long Time Jerk" (instrumental)
- "Cool Confusion" (instrumental)
- "Ghetto Defendant" (instrumental)
- "Version Pardner"
- "Atom Tan" (instrumental)
- "Silicon on Sapphire"
- "Wrong 'Em Boyo"
- "Overpowered by Funk" (instrumental)
- "The Cool Out"
- "Red Angel Dragnet" (instrumental)
- "Jimmy Jazz"
- "Mensforth Hill" ("Something About England" backwards)
- "Junkie Slip"
- "Time Is Tight" (Booker T. Jones)
- "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over"
- "Listen"
- "The Equaliser" (instrumental???)
- "Police on My Back" (Eddy Grant)
- "Ghetto Defendant" (instrumental)
- "One More Dub"
- "Mustapha Dance"
The King of Comedy (1983)
editStreet Scum non-speaking cameo
Faucet
Straight to Hell (film) (1987)
editSimms
Candy Mountain (1988)
editMario
Mystery Train (1989)
editJohnny aka Elvis
I Hired A Contract Killer (1990)
editHimself by Aki Kaurismaki
Doctor Chance (1997)
editStrummer plays the character of "Brand New Cadillac" songwriter Vince Taylor in F. J. Ossang's French road movie Docteur Chance.
Documentary Subject
Let's Rock Again! (2004)
editDocumentary Subject
Documentary Subject
The 101'ers Albums
edit- Elgin Avenue Breakdown (1981) Compilation album with material recorded from 1974 to 1976.
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The Latino Rockabilly War albums
edit- Permanent Record Original Soundtrack (1988) Features songs by Strummer and The Latino Rockabilly War.
- Earthquake Weather (1989) Strummer's only full-length studio album with The Latino Rockabilly War.
The Mescaleros Albums
editRock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999)
editStrummer's first album with The Mescaleros.
- "Tony Adams"
- "Sandpaper Blues"
- "X-Ray Style"
- "Techno D-Day"
- "The Road To Rock 'N' Roll"
- "Nitcomb"
- "Diggin' The New"
- "Forbidden City"
- "Yalla Yalla"
- "Willesden To Cricklewood"
Global A Go-Go (2001)
editPeaked at #23 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart in the US. All songs by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros unless otherwise noted.
- "Johnny Appleseed" – 4:03
- "Cool 'n' Out" – 4:22
- "Global a Go-Go" – 5:55
- "Bhindi Bhagee" – 5:47
- "Gamma Ray" – 6:58
- "Mega Bottle Ride" – 3:33
- "Shaktar Donetsk" – 5:57
- "Mondo Bongo" – 6:14
- "Bummed Out City" – 5:33
- "At the Border, Guy" – 7:08
- "Minstrel Boy" (traditional) – 17:49
Streetcore (2003)
editStrummer's last album, released posthumously.
- "Coma Girl" (Shields/Slattery/Strummer) – 3:48
- "Get Down Moses" (Bullen/Shields/Slattery/Stafford/Strummer) – 5:05
- "Long Shadow" (Hormel/Strummer) – 3:34
- "Arms Aloft" (Bullen/Shields/Slattery/Stafford/Strummer) – 3:47
- "Ramshackle Day Parade" (Bullen/Shields/Slattery/Stafford/Strummer) – 4:02
- "Redemption Song" (Bob Marley) – 3:28
- "All in a Day" (Saber/Strummer) – 4:55
- "Burning Streets" (Shields/Slattery/Strummer) – 4:32
- "Midnight Jam" (Bullen/Shields/Slattery/Stafford/Strummer) – 5:50
- "Silver and Gold" (Dave Bartholomew, Antoine Domino, Robert Guidry) – 2:38
- Bacon, Mark L (1995). Anger and Angst: Portraits of Artists as Angry Young Men. Wilmington: University of North Carolina. OCLC 34108703.
This thesis explores John Osborne's 1956 play, Look back in anger, and the Clash's 1976 album, The Clash.
- Description & Notes: v, 76 leaves; 28 cm.
- D'Ambrosio, Antonino (2004-10-13). Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer. New York: Nation Books. ISBN 1560256257. OCLC 56988650.
Edited with an Introduction by Antonino D'Ambrosio.
- Description & Notes: Joe Strummer Biography. Paperback 21cm, xxix, 348 pages, illustrated.
- Davie, Anthony (2004). Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: New and Previously Unpublished Photographs. Northampton: Effective. ISBN 0954856813. OCLC 64898380.
- Description & Notes: 30cm., 30 pages, chiefly col. illustrated.
- Davie, Anthony (2004). Vision of a Homeland: The History of Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros. Northampton: Effective. ISBN 0954856805. OCLC 123775358.
- Description & Notes: Paperback 24cm., 247 pages, illustrated.
- DeCurtis, Anthony (2003). "1952-2002 Joe Strummer - A tribute to the late Clash singer and songwriter, plus his final remarks on the rise and fall of the legendary punk band". Rolling Stone. 914 (27). San Francisco, CA: Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 96002520.
- Ferraz, Rob (August 2001). "Joe Strummer & The Clash - Revolution Rock" (ASPX). exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- Matula, Theodore (December 2003). "Joe Strummer, 1952-2002". Popular Music and Society. 26 (4). Bowling Green, Ohio: Taylor & Francis: 523–525. doi:10.1080/0300776032000144968. ISSN 0300-7766. OCLC 89586252. S2CID 191412037.
- Description & Notes: Dept. of Sociology, Bowling Green State University
- Needs, Kris (2005-01-25). Joe Strummer and the Legend of the Clash. London: Plexus. ISBN 085965348X. OCLC 53155325.
- Description & Notes: Joe Strummer Biography. Paperback 24cm., 351 pages, illustrated.
- Salewicz, Chris (2007-05-15). Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer (1st American ed.). New York: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0571211784. OCLC 76794852.
- Description & Notes: Originally published in different form in 2006: Redemption Song: The Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer, London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0007172117
- Yewdall, Julian Leonard; Nick Jones (1992). Joe Strummer with the 101'ers and the Clash, 1974-1976. London: Image Direct. ISBN 0951921606. OCLC 28502630.
Photographs by Julian Leonard Yewdall; introductory text by Nick Jones.
- Description & Notes: Biography, 19 cm., 106 pages, illustrated.
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Trivia
editHere are the trivia items cut from the article on 2008-01-24:
- Jones produced the 1982 Theatre of Hate album "Westworld", editing snippets of film dialogue into the songs, a technique he was to develop further with Big Audio Dynamite.¶
- Jones has a cameo appearance in the 2003 film Code 46, singing the Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" in a karaoke club.¶
- Jones could be seen in the video for the Babyshambles and friends cover of The Clash song, "Janie Jones", which was recorded for the Strummerville foundation.¶
- In 2006, Jones was seen in the music video for the Johnny Cash song, "God's Gonna Cut You Down".¶
- Big Audio Dynamite's "E=MC2" is generally credited as the very first song to use a sampling technique.¶
- Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of The Clash play the two police officers in the video for Big Audio Dynamite's "Medicine Show".¶
- Mick Jones is a supporter of football team QPR.¶
- Mick Jones is Jewish.
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BAD Singles
editBAD Studio albums
editBAD Live albums
editBAD Compilations
editSoundtracks
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Paul Simonon Discography
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Topper Headon
editIn the late 1970s, a drummer called Topper Headon joined The Clash, the most exciting rock'n'roll band in the world. There followed five years of non-stop playing, partying and drug-taking...but by 1982, Headon's heroin addiction was out of control, and Clash leader Joe Strummer was forced to sack him. Then things got really bad. Today, reflective and sober, he tells Mark Lucas his remarkable story
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Driver K44 sits in a deep armchair with his Staffordshire bull terrier, Yowsah, lying across his lap. Stroking the dog he recalls the mini-cabbing job he took in west London in the late 1980s to fund his heroin addiction. "I look like death," he tells me. "I'm driving a Talbot Solara with a dodgy starter motor and I pick up this old lady. She goes to get in the car and I say, 'Excuse me,' and I hand her a broom. While I turn the key she has to bash the solenoid. The car starts and I go, 'OK, get in. Here's the A to Z – do you know where you're going?'"
By 1989, when the mini-cabbing work became too much for him, he had taken to the London Underground, busking with a set of bongos. "Every hundred people who passed, there'd be one who'd stop and ask, 'Are you Topper Headon from The Clash?'" He shrugs, "I'd have to say, 'Yeah, this is what I do now.' It was so humiliating."
More than 20 years have passed since I last saw Nick "Topper" Headon; we were fellow drivers at a mini-cab company in Fulham, west London, where I went by the radio call-sign K42. At the time, I thought Headon had taken the state of heroin addiction to a new level; it didn't seem possible that he could drive a car at all, let alone do it for a living. When I came across his name in the press recently, I was surprised to learn that he was still alive.
On a bright spring day, however, as I step out of Dover station, he pulls up in his customised Mini Cooper to collect me. Now 54, Headon is still small and slim. He is dressed in jeans, a striped shirt and trainers, he wears wire-rimmed glasses and his greying, spiky hair is receding. By the time we arrive back at his house, I have had a chance to adjust to how the man I knew all those years ago has been transformed in other ways, too. Where before he had the slack, cadaverous features and reduced conversational ability of the long-term heroin addict, I am now treated to his charming smile, lengthy anecdotes and frank admissions.
As if making up for his lost years, Headon is making an increasing number of appearances in the press: working with local music charities; drumming with various bands; being a spokesman for the Hepatitis C Trust, a virus that he has recently beaten. He is about to donate his beloved Mini Cooper to be raffled by the Strummerville Foundation, a charity for young musicians. To some it may seem ironic that Headon is so involved with the organisation set up in memory of The Clash's frontman, the late Joe Strummer, the man who sacked him from one of the 20th century's most revered rock'n'roll bands. Although already a heavy user, it was to be this event that propelled Headon into taking his heroin addiction to the next level.
"I just stuck needles in my arm, which I'd never done before," he says, explaining how his dismissal became his justification. "Only a junkie can think: 'I'll show you; I'll fuck myself up even more.'" More than 25 years after the event, however, the drummer has had plenty of time to reflect on where the blame really lies. "Joe wouldn't have sacked me if I hadn't been a raving heroin addict, trashing hotel rooms, throwing up, late for rehearsals." What unravels over the next few hours is the route Headon took on his downward, near terminal, journey and his recent recovery.
Topper Headon remains a hugely underrated drummer, so it comes as a surprise to learn that he arrived at the profession by accident. Aged 13, a broken leg put paid to his footballing ambitions and it was a doctor who suggested the drums as a way of venting his frustration. Within six months he was playing for a jazz band in a Dover pub.
When he later moved to London with his new wife Wendy, he was sacked from various drumming jobs for not hitting the drums hard enough, a legacy of these jazz beginnings. Drowning his sorrows at the Rainbow Theatre one night, he met The Clash's guitarist, Mick Jones, who was on the lookout for a replacement drummer.
Headon agreed to an audition but didn't bother going; he'd briefly been in Jones' previous band, the London SS, "but they were all long hair and afghans and stuff". He bought that week's edition of the NME, however, "and who's on the cover, but Mick, Joe and Paul [Simonon, bass player], and it was like... 'Oh, I'll be down in a minute, then!' I went in there and went bang! bang! bang! – I had to relearn my whole drumming style." He ended up with his hands covered in blood blisters but he'd got the job on a wage of £25 a week.
Being part of The Clash meant Headon had to give up his previous existence. Having set off for the audition in casual clothes and with long hair, he returned home dressed in punk gear, his head sporting hacked spikes. His name was changed next; Simonon rechristened him after deciding their new drummer looked like Mickey the Monkey from the children's comic, Topper. "I wondered: am I doing the right thing? I'd only been in the band a week – I'd had to deny I was married. It was quite intimidating, you had to ditch all your mates and be part of the gang."'
There was no room for Headon's marriage, but he bonded with the band through sheer industry and application: life became an endless cycle of touring and rehearsing.
It was some time before his drumming skills were fully appreciated by The Clash. His strength and stamina were obvious but his ability to play jazz, soul and funk weren't needed to begin with. Sandy Pearlman, the producer for the band's 1978 second album Give 'Em Enough Rope, was astonished by Headon, calling him "the human drum machine". "I was really on top of my game then," the musician recalls. "I didn't make mistakes. I really could drum." If Headon was gradually encouraging The Clash to play the sort of music he liked, he was also being introduced to reggae by the rest of the band. "I loved drumming, so I just thought, 'Right, I'm going to learn reggae now.' That's the way I was – I've got an addictive personality. All I ever did was drum, drum, drum. Then I went on the road and discovered booze. All I did was drink, drink, drink. Then Mick turned me onto coke and all I did was coke."
As we discuss the band's 1979 tour of the US, described by one observer as "like going on a commando raid with the Bash Street Kids", the band's former road manager, Johnny Green, arrives and happily joins in with the reminiscing.
The Clash were supported on the road by Bo Diddley. As the late rock'n'roll legend performed his soundcheck one afternoon, Headon leapt on stage and played Diddley's signature beat. For two nights, the drummer, fuelled by cocaine and alcohol, played with both The Clash and Diddley.
The two bonded immediately. As the tour bus crossed America, Strummer, Jones and Simonon would drift off to their bunks, but Headon and Diddley would be together drinking, snorting cocaine and watching the movie Behind the Green Door on the bus's video. "Which was arty porn, you know," Green tells us, straight-faced. "Thank you, Johnny," Headon replies, "I wouldn't have watched just any porn."
Headon loved being on the road but when the other band members were not performing they would retire to their hotel rooms to read or write songs alone. As their punk roots gave way to musicianship, they became more critical of Headon's behaviour. "I could see their logic," he says, "but at the same time I thought, 'Well I can't hang out with you guys because you just come back and go straight to sleep.'" Headon, by contrast, had reached the point where he was taking drugs on-stage to get through a gig. "Every three numbers I used to go... [he mimes a final drum roll] and the lights would go off and my drum roadie would be there with a mirror." Headon would snort a line of cocaine and be ready for the next song.
"The band were getting the hump with me using on stage." He couldn't see what they were getting annoyed about; he had taken drugs with all of them, too. "I'd think we were getting out of it every night," he recalls. "One night Joe would come down and we'd get drunk, the next night Paul would be down and I'd get out of it with him and the next night it would be Mick. I'd be thinking, 'This is great, we're all partying.' I wouldn't realise that only I was there constantly."
Heroin was fast becoming the drug of choice for the road crew and Headon took to it with his usual zeal. Later, he would be summoned to band meetings where his colleagues would tell him that he had to stop hanging out with the roadies. "Why?" he asked. "Because every time there's damage," Strummer told him, "the crew say, 'Well, Topper was with us...'"
Headon became so erratic and self-destructive that when they booked into hotels, Strummer, Jones and Simonon would demand to be put on different floors, but the drummer, oblivious, continued his hell-raising.
The band received an ecstatic reception when they arrived in Japan in 1982, but Headon, fresh from an enforced bout of rehab, was upset to find no drugs. He was dissuaded from his initial reaction of "No drugs, no gig" by the Japanese manager, who offered him oxygen on stage in order to give himself a regular boost. "So we get to the sound check and there's an enormous canister," he recalls, "and a nurse comes up and shows me how to use it." With his muscles re-oxygenated he was able to carry on drumming with renewed vigour.
"But the gig after that, I cut the mask off and now I've got this tube in my mouth." Headon was suddenly tackled off his stool by a Japanese stage-hand and a fight broke out between road-crew and local staff until all was explained in broken English: "Drummer... oxygen... explode!" Headon's cigarette had been dangerously near the canister. "I could've been the first drummer to explode on stage!" Headon says, on his feet acting the events out. Green nods approvingly, "That is self-destruction," he announces, "taken to a pinnacle."
By now, Headon's playing was being terminally hampered by the drugs. Strummer decided to give him a last opportunity at the next gig, which was, unfortunately for the drummer, in Amsterdam. "I don't know I'm being tested, do I? I don't know it's my last chance," he laughs, "and I'm running round trying to score coke. They're all sitting in the dressing-room, combing their hair in the mirror against the wall and I run in and go: 'Can I use the mirror?' His bandmates watched in silence as he placed the mirror on the floor and knelt beside it, chopping out generous lines of cocaine.
The drummer was "suspended" as soon as The Clash returned to London. He made an effort to pull things together but, shortly after, Strummer drunkenly told a journalist that The Clash had sacked Headon for being a junkie.
Months after being in one of the world's biggest rock'n'roll bands, Headon was living in a freezing, windowless squat in Fulham, while The Clash were performing stadium shows in the US in support of the single "Rock the Casbah", a song largely written by Headon and on which he played drums, bass and piano. He made various attempts to continue his musical career. His friendship with Pete Townshend nearly landed him the job of drumming for The Who. At the time, The Clash were supporting the British supergroup at Shea Stadium and Headon admits he would have relished playing for the headlining band, lording it over The Clash. But if drumming for The Who was ever really a possibility, Headon scuppered it in characteristic style. In full stage gear he climbed a 25ft drainpipe, ran across a roof and jumped off the other side, waking up in hospital with a broken leg and a policeman, who charged him with attempted burglary.
"In a bright red suit?" he inquired.
He formed a band with bass player Pete Farndon, recently sacked from the Pretenders for heroin addiction. "We got Rob Stoner – a heroin addict – from Bob Dylan's band and we got Pete Townshend – a heroin addict with one foot in recovery – to produce us. Then we went to Farndon's funeral – it's not funny, but within two months of forming the band the bass player's died. I mean, that was selfish – and Pete [Townshend] comes up to me and says: 'You're next.'"
Soon afterwards, Strummer sacked Jones from The Clash and the guitarist went in search of his former bandmate. He took a roadie to Fulham to "kidnap" Headon and get him back to his flat before putting him into the Priory for treatment. He was then enrolled into Jones' new band Big Audio Dynamite, and it was while they were returning from rehearsals one evening that Jones told Headon the good news: they were each about to receive £200,000 in royalties from The Clash, a sum roughly equivalent to £750,000 today.
"I went: 'See you, Mick!' Who wants to stay clean when you've got £200,000 in the bank?" The money lasted less than 18 months, at which point Headon was declared bankrupt. "My dealer used to come round and say, 'I'll take the rug,' and a big Persian rug would walk out for a gram. When I went to his I thought, 'Fuck me! This is my house!'" Headon was left sitting on the floor of his empty, remortgaged Abbey Road flat watching a black-and-white television.
In 1986 he released the largely ignored album Waking Up, in an attempt to finance his addiction. He also married his second wife, Catherine, who worked in the music industry. Six months after the album's release, however, Headon was arrested on charges of supplying heroin and received a 15-month jail sentence, which he served at Standford Hill open prison in Kent ("Horrible. But on the plus side, easy to get hold of drugs"). His musical career was effectively over: what little energy he had was used in the pursuit of heroin; when we drove together during this period he would only appear for as long as it took him to earn the £25 he needed to buy drugs.
The year 2000 saw the release of Don Letts' Clash documentary Westway to the World. Green, having long since lost touch with Headon, went to see the film, which features interviews with the band. "When Topper came on screen a gasp went up from the audience," he recalls. The driving force behind The Clash was hesitant and his speech was slurred. He weighed seven-and-a-half stone – an appearance emphasised by the oversize shirt that Jones lent him when Headon arrived for the interview in a T-shirt full of cigarette burns.
With his second marriage behind him, Headon found himself in St Mungo's hostel for the homeless just yards from the Westway, the elevated west London road The Clash had claimed as part of their urban identity, living on cans of Special Brew supplemented by twice-daily visits to soup kitchens.
He pauses. He's been trying to make light of this time, but as his story has got darker so has the mood in the room. Until this moment, I have had the feeling that Headon is finding it cathartic telling his story, but this is a period of his life that, even now, he is having difficulty coming to terms with. "I've been laughing," he tells us, shaking his head, "but this was..." he stops, searching for the right word but failing to find anything that goes far enough, "...horrendous."
He returned to Dover, becoming the local drunk, cornering people in pubs and shouting at cars in the street until his doctor told him that his liver was "waving the white flag". Some time during the 1980s Headon had – not uncommonly among intravenous drug users – contracted hepatitis C, which can cause cirrhosis: "It was the least of my worries," Headon says. He returned to heroin, before his doctor stepped in again, convincing him to move in with his parents before going back into the Priory. He has been through rehab 13 times, but this time it worked. Why? "I don't know. Something happened. I started feeling part of life again. I've been clean ever since."
He launched a Narcotics Anonymous group in Dover and set up a hepatitis C support group. Last year, he briefly appeared on stage with Mick Jones' band Carbon:Silicon for a couple of Clash numbers.
As for the break up of The Clash, he knows that Strummer was unhappy with the band The Clash had become; playing stadium concerts was the antithesis of Strummer's view of what The Clash should be. "Joe was sacking everyone else rather than just leave himself," says Headon, who bears Strummer no malice for the manner in which he was dismissed. "He had no choice," he explains. "I was in a state. We were kids," he shrugs. "Who cares?"
Strummer certainly did. He blamed himself for The Clash's demise, admitting that the band "never played a good gig after Topper left". With hindsight, however, Headon is glad it ended when it did. "It was the best thing that could have happened. We made all that fantastic music and then imploded at the top." He concedes, however, that what was best for the band was not necessarily best for the band members.
In 2002, Strummer made the only serious attempt to reform The Clash, to play at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the following year. Jones and Headon were ready, Simonon was against the idea "but Joe had lined up another bass player. And then he died."
Today, Headon feels that he is finally over the five years he spent in The Clash. He has borne the brunt of the blame for the band's break up, compounding the problem by making the widely misunderstood statement in Westway to the World that if he had his time over, he would do it all again. "I was trying to explain that when you're a heroin addict you don't choose to fuck your life up, it's inevitable." At one point, as we discuss Strummer, Headon interrupts. "By rights," he says with conviction, "it should have been me that died."
In fact, the drummer looks remarkably well. He keeps fit and his kitchen cabinets are crammed with health supplements. When it is time to leave he drives me to the station, stopping en route at Dover harbour where we watch the ferries heading out to France. "I'm just a middle-aged man by the sea," he muses. Later, I repeat this remark to Green. The Clash's former road manager is dismissive. "Rock stars are like Catholics," he tells me. "They may lapse, but they're still rock stars."
Topper Headon's Mini Cooper is being raffled online at www.strummerville.com with all proceeds going to charity. The winning ticket will be drawn on 13 July
Topper Headon Discography
editBooks
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editOther acts loosely associated with Clash members
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editNotes and references
edit- ^ Songinfo on Clash.wikia.com
- ^ Songinfo on Clash.wikia.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Green, Johnny; Garry Barker (2003) [1997]. A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with The Clash (3rd ed.). London: Orion. pp. 156–158, 161–162, 165, 194, 196, 218–219. ISBN 0752858432. OCLC 52990890.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "London Calling". theclash.org.uk. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
- ^ Gambaccini, Paul (1987). The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0517565617. OCLC 14359796.
This double album is filled to bursting with expressions of the energies of the Clash at their peak. The title tune was their biggest hit single at home. "Train In Vain (Stand By Me)" was their first US success. Ironically, it wasn't listed on UK labels in the interests of retaining street credibility.
"The Right Profile" touchingly saluted the troubled actor Montgomery Clift. It also included what must be the most difficult printed lyric any aspiring cover artist could have to tackle, Joe Strummer's "Arrrghhhgorra buh bhuh do arrrrggghhhhnnnn!!!!"
In 1987, London Calling was chosen by a panel of rock critics and music broadcasters as the #40 rock album of all time.
Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ "Clash star Strummer dies" (STM). Entertainment. BBC News World Edition. 2002-12-27. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
Rolling Stone voted London Calling, their classic 1980 album (released in 1979 in the UK) as the best album of the Eighties.
- ^ Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "8) London Calling". Rolling Stone The 500 Greatest Album of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1932958614. OCLC 70672814. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
Recorded in 1979 in London, which was then wrenched by surging unemployment and drug addiction, and released in America in January 1980, the dawn of an uncertain decade, London Calling is nineteen songs of apocalypse fueled by an unbending faith in rock & roll to beat back the darkness.
Related news articles:- "The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (Special Collectors Issue). San Francisco, California: Straight Arrow. December 11, 2003. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 1787396.
- "The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Special Collectors Issue. Rolling Stone. 2003-11-18. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- "8) London Calling". Special Collectors Issue. Rolling Stone. 2003-11-18. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ "My Favourite Album". ABC. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
My Favourite Album is ABC's national viewer poll to find Australia's favourite music albums of all time.
26. The Clash — London Calling - ^ Tyrangiel, Josh; Alan Light (2006-11-13). "The All-TIME 100 Albums". Time. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ a b "London Calling". Billboard. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1980. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 1532948.
The third album by the Clash, Britain's premier new wave act, is a double-album set, selling at a lower price. The music the four-man band plays is still angry political rock, but now it is much more carefully wrought and realized, making it more palatable to American radio and mass tastes. The songs are performed at less than breakneck speed, horns are used to fill out the sound and singer Joe Strummer works harder at making the words easier to understand. LP is getting great initial critical response. Best cuts: "Wrong 'Em Boyo," "London Calling," "Lost In The Supermarket," "Koka Kola," "Revolution Rock."
Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ a b c Interviewer: Unknown; Presenter: Kurt Loder. "MTV Rockumentary". London, England. MTVhttp://www.londonsburning.org/art_mtv_rockumentary_2.html.
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Related news articles:- "MTV Rockumentary Part 2". londonsburning.org. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
Kurt Loder: The loud and fast punk style became a straitjacket for many bands but with the masterful 1979 double album London Calling, the band broke free creating a multi-faceted sound that was all their own.
Paul Simonon: London Calling was really the album that marked a lot of changes because a lot of our musical interests sort of came all to the forefront. Like, I'm interested in reggae music which I suppose living in London we heard a lot of.
Mick Jones: I think by the time of London Calling, punk music was painting itself into a corner or something. And I think we attempted to show that we could play any type of music and that is what we continued to do from that point on.
- "MTV Rockumentary Part 2". londonsburning.org. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- ^ a b c Dimery, Robert (1999). Collins Gem Classic Albums. Glasgow: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0004724852. OCLC 43582584.
The Clash staked their claim as rock 'n' roll icons with London Calling, starting with the sleeve -- a pastiche of Elvis's debut album cover. Spiky guitars and a bass fanfare announce "London Calling." Over a nagging rhythm, past heroes are torched; the yowls, feedback and Strummer's hoarse vocal produce a truly apocalyptic vision. London Calling reveals the Clash as musical magpies. Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac" is sleazy rockabilly, while "Wrong 'Em Boyo," featuring a sassy sax, revisits the Stagger Lee myth. "Hateful" features a shuffling Bo Diddley rhythm (he supported them on their first U.S. tour). Paul Simonon's "The Guns Of Brixton" is a confrontational rallying cry, mixing brooding reggae with a classic bass riff. On "Koka Kola" and "Lost In The Supermarket" advertising is rubbished, while "Spanish Bombs" praises the heroism of republicans in the Spanish Civil War. "The Right Profile," a snapshot of the tragic actor Montgomery Clift, features bright horns, choppy guitars and emotional vocals from Strummer; the driving "Clampdown" rails against a conformist lifestyle with true punk vitriol. For sheer ambition, eclecticism and heart, London Calling wiped the floor with the Clash's punk peers. At the end of the '80s, Rolling Stone magazine voted it the album of the decade -- and it had been released there in January, 1980.
Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ a b c d Sinclair, Tom (2004-09-24). "The Best Album of All Time". Fall Music Preview. EW. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
So it was goodbye to raging three-chord rama lama, hello to a fresh panoply of styles that included rockabilly ("Brand New Cadillac"), ska-reggae ("Revolution Rock"), R&B ("Wrong 'Em Boyo"), ballads ("Lost in the Supermarket") – even touches of jazzbo cool ("Jimmy Jazz"'). "It wasn't about just limiting ourselves to one sound," says Simonon. "It was all about, What about that sound over there, and that music over there? What if we mix that with this, and then put it like this?"
- ^ a b c Guterman, Jimmy (1992). The Best Rock and Roll Records of All Time: A Fan's Guide to the Really Great Stuff. New York, NY: Carol. ISBN 080651325X. OCLC 25369444.
Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ a b c Erlewine, Michael; Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, William Ruhlmann (1995). All Music Guide to Rock: The best CDs, Albums & Tapes: Rock, Pop, Soul, R & B and Rap. San Francisco, CA: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 087930376X. OCLC 33079040.
What are we gonna do now?" asks Joe Strummer at the start of "Clampdown," one of this album's songs. But by the time you get to that track, it's already clear that the Clash have solved that problem by taking a giant step toward making craftsmanlike rock without sacrificing the urgency that made them punk leaders. From the title track through the reggae, rock, and pop tracks that follow, this is one of the premier albums of its time.
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Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ a b c Graff, Gary; Alan Paul (1996). Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 0787610372. OCLC 35029740.
London Calling is the band's masterpiece, balancing high energy punk efficiency with forays into roots rock, blues and reggae. Less intense than its debut, but also more accessible, this is simply a great collection of songs. – Alan Paul.
Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ a b c "1,000 Top Albums of All Time". Music Guide. New York: Zagat Survey. 2003. ISBN 1570065438. OCLC 53031106.
A revolutionary album that proved to be the voice of a generation, this sonic potpourri of rock, rockabilly, reggae and dub defines an era, yet remains relevant today. The UK godfathers of punk cast their jaundiced eye on politics, pop, consumer culture and, surprisingly, love on this staggering achievement-cum-encyclopedia for questioning authority and laid down the law -- which side are you on? This landmark screamed, making people want to dance, shout and incite riots.
Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ a b c d Blashill, Pat (2004-10-14). "London Calling 25th Anniversary Edition Review". Rolling Stone (10). San Francisco, CA: Straight Arrow Publishers. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 1787396.
Related news articles:- "The Clash - London Calling". Super Seventies. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ a b Metzger, John (November 2004). "The Clash London Calling 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition". The Music Box. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
Overflowing with ideas, the songs effortlessly leapt from rockabilly to reggae to hard rock, while folding in elements of blues, jazz, R&B, and folk, and all of it was delivered with the pummeling fury of a tempest unleashed.
- ^ a b "The Clash". Artist History. Aversion.com. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
With the release of London Calling, the band had pushed punk in a hundred different directions. From the rockabilly cover of Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac," to the ska of "Wrong 'Em Boyo," or "Spanish Bomb's" classical guitar, the Clash proved punk was more than the simple "1-2-3-4! Go!" of its early days.
- ^ Carson, Tom (1980-04-03). "The Clash: London Calling". Album Reviews. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-03-29.[disambiguation needed]
- ^ a b c "London Calling by The Clash : Reviews and Ratings - Rate Your Music". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
- ^ Clash, The (2004-09-21). London Calling (Compact Disc, DVD Video). New York: Epic. OCLC 56620494.
Compact discs accompanied by bonus DVD. Song lyrics inserted in container. 2 sound discs: digital; 4 3/4 in. + 1 videodisc (DVD, ca. 50 min.: sd., col.; 4 3/4 in.) + booklet ([36] p.: ill.; 12 cm.) + 1 lyrics sheet (2 p., folded). Contents: CD, disc 1, original LP: London Calling – Track listing. CD, disc 2, The Vanilla Tapes (previously unheard rehearsal sessions including five new songs) track listing. DVD: Last testament: The making of London Calling (30 min.) – Extras: Promos of London Calling, Train in Vain, Clampdown – Home video footage of The Clash recording London Calling at Wessex Studios.
- ^ Clash, The; Joe Grushecky; Katrina Leskanich; Willie Nile; Ship & Pilot.; Soul Food (Musical group); Sunset Heroes (2004-09-21). The Sandinista! Project A Tribute to the Clash (Compact Disc). England: 00:02:59 Records. OCLC 178980813.
- ^ "The Sandinista Project". sandinista.guterman.com. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
- ^ "Cary Baker's conqueroo - The Sandinista! Project Announcements". conqueroo.com. Retrieved 2008-02-20.