The Clash: Classic or Dud

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It’s Twilight of the Gods: The Clash, Classic or Dud.

Yep another holy cow gets it. What amazes me about The Clash is that in theory I should love them when in reality they’re so pedestrian. Why? Because the voices are shit. Because on the first records the sound so terribly thin (so weak in comparison with say The Pistols). Then when they find some bottom I always get the impression the music doesn’t gel, simply because they were more in love with the idea of black music as ‘being down with the brother man’ (indeed if the Manics nowadays would do the same thing with say…hip-hop, they would be crucified). Oh and ‘London Calling’ is one of the most boring and consequently overrated albums of all time. Still I suspect you probably had to be there and that it all was very exciting. So a kind way of putting it is “they aged badly”. So dud.

― Omar, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Well, the Manics did do it, witness their we're-not-worthy excitement over the Bomb Squad mix of "Repeat". Mind you, they weren't worthy.

Another day, another Classic (Clashic?) or Dud. I don't like the Clash. I borrowed a couple of their records just after discovering the Pistols and just thought they were a muggy mess. Then I tried again. And again. And again, most recently last year. And I still don't like them. I hate their myth, of course, but I don't think much of the Pistols' myth and I like their music. So it's not quite that. And I admire all the styles and influences they absorbed, too, and their attempts to keep their music fresh. So I think it might be as simple a thing as the voice and tunes not suiting me.

B.A.D.'s "E=MC2" I think is ace, though.

― Tom, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Is that 'the last white gang in town myth'? Being in a fair mood I tried to napster some songs before submitting another C&D (1.435.467 still to go ;) and I'm convinced it's the voices and the tunes, there's something so depressingly 1979/1980 about it. 4:23 minutes to go before Dr.C arrives with a classic verdict :)

Didn't know about the Manics remix, but that's the safe thing of commisioning a remix isn't it? You don't get your hands dirty.

― Omar, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

I'm getting predictable, but I can't fake this one. Absolute Classic (of course). Like the Smiths - great singles, great albums, great live. Mythology, excitement, controversy!

Where to start? The debut didn't have the best production but it sounds bloody powerful to me. Great songs too. They were never a straight-ahead punk band to me - the different musical roots all showed - Jones' glam guitar and camp singing, Strummer's rockabilly past and Simenon's immersion in Brixton dub-reggae. The inclusion of 'Police and Thieves' (and working with Lee Perry on 'Complete Control') was a brave and interesting move for the times, and totally genuine. I really can't see that they were interested in 'being down with the brother'.

I never really liked 'Give'em enough Rope', but all the hype about 'London Calling' is, for me, justified. Great, great rock and roll. 'Sandinista' is flawed genius - the band doing what they wanted, rather than what they should. Sure there's some crap on there, but THIS IS WHAT I WANT from artists - surprise, risk, the possibility of something new. 'Combat Rock' hasn't aged well, and 'Cut the Crap' isn't the Clash at all.

The Live album is beyond fantastic - if you can't get the power of the songs through the 1977 production, just hear the first album songs on this! As for the live versions of 'Bankrobber', 'City of the Dead' and 'Armagideon Time' - words fail me - genius. It;'s possibly the best Clash album of all! No doubt there will be some who agree and some who don't. It'll be interesting to follow the thread. Me? I'm in love with rock and roll, whoa!

― Dr. C, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Omar - Now I regret backing you up on the Smiths thread - I just might have to start a Neil Young - Classic or Dud on yo ass ;)

Anyway, The Clash has been my favorite band since I was 15. I won't try to explain why right now, and I'm not sure anything I could think of right now could quite explain their utter greatness. But in the meantime, a fucking C-L-A-S-S-I-C.

The voices sound perfectly fine to me - Strummer was, like Dylan, a limited singer whose voice was perfectly suited to his music - passionate and full of heart. And the way they integrated black music into their sound, especially reggae, feels more organic to me than any similar attempt by a white band - not that people try this sort of thing much lately.

Also, they were lots of fun - this is really important. Forget all the serious crap that everyone including myself always says about them.

Hmmm, I'll be back later :)

― Patrick, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

To answer Omar's myth queston - either you get off on the very idea of gangs of boys with guitars making rock and roll or you don't. I don't: I find pretty much every other pop archetype more interesting.

― Tom, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

"Give 'Em Enough Rope" is a classic album, lacking the problems of bad production and bad songs which ruined the debut. They might have been a good band if they ditched those stupid bloody double/triple LP ideas.

― Nick Greenfield, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

oh, easily a dud. i imagine my experience is close to tom's. i tried to like them, then again, then again. just the other day i was listening to story of the clash, even. and nothing. "white man (in hammersmith palais)" starts off well, ditto "train in vain." but they never go anywhere and i've never been enough of a fan of lyrics to get off on those and strummer has an absolutely awful voice. so, yeah, dud.

but the afghan whig's cover of "lost in the supermarket" is fab.

― fred solinger, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Omar and Fred are both, of course, astoundingly and exactly right. YAWN. The best thing they ever did was Strummer's pseudonym-hidden report of some of the band's funnier incidents over the years in _Story of the Clash_ -- things like the Suicide show, the French festival and Roxy Music's appearance and disappearance, etc. Now that's good stuff. But I don't need the music to enjoy it. ;-) The Damned, now *they* were a great band -- they essentially hit their wall in 1983 or so and have only retread here and there since, but _Machine Gun Etiquette_ over the entire Clash boredomology any day of the week.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Classic...not all of their output was good though...'The Clash' and @'Give em..' were weak in parts. But 'Combat rock' and 'London calling' are excellent. Joes voice is an aquired taste..i never had a problem with it. 'Stay free' is the best song about growing up EVER. The Clash rock.

― Michael bourke, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Okay, is this "Annoy Ally Week" at Freaky Trigger? Damnit, everyone is dissing bands I like. Why not start a Saint Etienne Classic Or Dud and just make up rubbish about everyone hating them?

Anyhow, classic. I don't know why. I just love them. The voice works with the songs, in general. The music rocks. It might also help to note that I think the Sex Pistols blow goats, so maybe it's impossible to like both bands, since about half the people saying they dislike the Clash have mentioned liking the Sex Pistols (or are people I know like them).

And, for the record, I think the Repeat mix is better than the Repeat original, but it's not saying much cos Repeat is one of the Manics' most annoying pre-disappearance songs. It's probably one of the most obvious examples of the pedestrian cut-and-paste sloganeering, innit?

― Ally, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

The Clash do have some good songs - most of them being the ones where Strummer doesn't sing. I completley agree with Ned about the Damned - Machine gun... is oneof the best albums I have.

― Nick Greenfield, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Absolute Classic. C'mon, if it REALLY came down to who can sing and who can't, then I'd imagine Mariah Carey would be on the top of everyone's "classic" list.

They continually evolved, which is more than I can say for 99% of the shite that people call "classic" these days. You know you're a Clash fan when you wish that SANDINISTA! was 4 records...

And how can you say they haven't aged well?!? Tell me, who in the last 15 years has gone down a similar path to the Clash and outdone them? That's right, nobody. Nobody has even come close.

― Tim Baier, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

I've always wished Sandinista was 5 records (with a bonus 7-inch)

― Dr. C, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

I think the reason nobody went down that path, Tim, is because nobody wanted to. Listening to "This is Radio Clash," can you blame them? ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Tell me, who in the last 15 years has gone down a similar path to Marillion and outdone them? That's right, nobody. Nobody has even come close.

― Tanya, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Topper Headons sister disses the Clash! I on the other hand think they're very good.

― Steven James, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

They were mostly poo. Joe Strummer has THE most annoying voice ever, their first album is rubbish (yes it is), they weren't as good as most of their contemporaries and The Ruts did the reggae thing much, much better. Dud!

― DG, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

It might also help to note that I think the Sex Pistols blow goats, so maybe it's impossible to like both bands, since about half the people saying they dislike the Clash have mentioned liking the Sex Pistols (or are people I know like them).

This is strangely true. My opinions on these two bands have totally reversed. At the time the Clash were, for a period, virtually gods to me (but I was rather indifferent to the Sex Pistols who seemed musically conservative). Now the Sex Pistols seem the more god-like, and the Clash a contrived mix of political posturing and repellent, ugly music

― David, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

After I decided that Rush was not my favorite band in the world, the Clash was and kept the title for a good three days or so. Finding the UK version of their first album even made me buy a record player, I think. I heard "London Calling" for the first time in ages the other night as warm-up music at the Weezer show, but I was much more excited that they played "If the Kids Are United" by Sham 69 right before (incidentally, there were actual *gutter punks*, at a fucking WEEZER show, clapping along to Sham 69. I also overheard a girl who said, "I'm 14; I've been listening to Weezer since the second grade"). The Clash get points for making political correctness and genuine eclecticism far less annoying than most other bands that try these things, which probably proves they had a better sense of humor than they are generally given credit for. They aren't nearly as funny as the Sex Pistols though. They probably aren't even as funny as Crass, though I wouldn't know because I can't stand Crass. You know what, maybe the Clash is the perfect example of the band I like because I feel sorry for them. Because it's not like I ever listen to the records or anything. I'd feel wrong calling them classic OR dud, at this point.

― Kris, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

i had the briefest of flirtations with punk and while i never rated the clash with the damned(were they really a punk band?) i still don't understand the disgust with joe strummer's voice. it always sounded to me as if he was leaving it all on the floor after singing a song, 'complete control' gosh that is an amazing song. mick jones was the weakness if there is a need to discuss one. 'earthquake weather' wasn't so bad either. and man the clash influenced rancid, classic all the way if for nothing other than rancid.

― keith, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

is this a joke?

FUCKING CLASSIC

― Larms, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

In reading your responses, I see where we differ...I hate Mick Jones' songs and love Strummer. Go figure.

― Larms, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Of course they weren't as good as the Sex Pistols, because no one was. So still, absolutely classic, for all the reasons listed above, as well as the fact that they had Topper Headon, one of rock and roll's most underrated drummers ever.

And the Ruts doing white reggae better? "Jah War" versus "The Guns of Brixton" or "One More Time"? Come on, there's no contest.

― Greg Ferguson, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

My point still holds because those songs suffer from that fool Strummer 'singing' on top of it. Ewwww.

― DG, Tuesday, 20 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Strummer doesnt sing on Brixton. Right?

― Larms, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Quite right about that being no contest -- "Jah War" rules. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

And for what it's worth, I'd have to say that the fact that the Clash, erm, 'inspired' Rancid is one of their greatest musical crimes ever. The humorless, self-righteous annoyance that is Rancid is the type of thing I'd immediately disown were I either Strummer or Jones -- though I fear they'd more immediately recognize kindred spirits, more's the pity.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

How the fuck can the fact that those useless turds Rancid were 'inspired by them' be held against The Clash? Why do they need to 'disown' something that has nothing to do with them.

― Dr. C, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

I'm pleased Greg has mentioned 'One More Time' - a great song, which I guess is ignored 'cos it's on Sandinista.

As for comments about Strummer's voice - who do you fuckin' want singing then? Neil Hannon? Mr. Belle and Sebastian? Kiri Te Kanawa?

― Dr. C, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Damon Albarn should sing them. Which I originally typed as "Damn Albarn", which is a darn sight better name for him.

Anyhow, yeah, what the hell? How can the existance of Rancid make the Clash's music good or bad? This gets perilously into the territory of a previous thread about holding the bands inspired by someone against the original band - an idea pretty much everyone disowned because it would mean every band ever would be labelled crap because someone out there who is talentless is inspired by them. It's unfair.

And Rancid aren't that bad - they could be, like, the Levellers.

― Ally, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

It is most specifically not unfair. Not when you've had to read an interview with Tim Armstrong and realize the idiocy punk in general and the Clash in particular excused. Yech. ;-) I'd rather listen to a typical George W. Bush drone for an hour, because comparatively the brain damage is actually less vicious with the beloved president.

Anyway, both the Clash and Rancid come across as patent bores who can't do anything interesting to save their lives. On that level they're equally culpable. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Rancid's songs sound pretty warm and friendly to me.

― Patrick, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Strummr sings like some kind of spaz. Jah War beats guns of brixton on A)Subject matter b)Authenticity (Owen actually sounds almost like a Rastafarian, unlike the afore mentioned spaz) and c)Bassline (i can do both!)

Also a double lp was a bit of a bad idea, but a triple!?

― Nick Greenfield, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Nah Ned, plenty of people have gone down a similar path (witness: Rancid references) but they all sucked. I didn't say nobody had tried.

Tanya: Well, if you are such a fan of Marillion, then you should be happy that they have aged well and nobody has surpassed them in recent years and made them look bad! ;)

Oh yes, and you can chalk me up as one who thinks both the Pistols (all 1 albums of them) and the Clash are brilliant.

― Tim Baier, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Classic. All "London Calling" is brilliant, particularly Lost in the Supermarket. Sandanista is equally great.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Classic. Sex Pistols were boring, turgid Marilyn Manson/Late Prodigy forerunners. The Clash were so much more than a straight punk band. Granted, some tracks (Hitsville UK, This is Radio Clash, The Magnificent 7) were really truly terrible. But the bulk of the Clash's material is pure classic. I don't understand why people find strummer's voice irritating (sure, it's not going to be as sweet as apple blossom - this is punk!)...

― Charlie Frame, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Yes, but even by punk standards Strummer sounds like a spaz. And just what was that Levi's ad all about? Eh?

― DG, Wednesday, 21 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Hang on: it ISN'T unfair to call the Clash crap because Rancid are crap? Right.

Therefore, the Smiths are the worst band of all time because Gene suck.

― Ally, Thursday, 22 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Given how much I loathe Gene, I'm completely in agreement with this assessment! Neither Morrissey nor Marr should be forgiven -- especially since apparently El Moz has willingly deigned a few Gene shows with his presence.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 22 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

Hmmm. Okay, fair enough, as long as it goes on universally, I'm fine with this theory.

Wire = Elastica = Crap. Madonna = Christina Aguilera = Crap. Clash = Rancid = Crap.

― Ally, Thursday, 22 March 2001 01:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

bankrobber 7" single = classic EVERYTHING ELSE = kilo-dud the ruts did it, like, 100 x better :)

"we're middle class - yeah, yeah, yeah ----we come from public school - yeah, yeah, yeah" ;-)

"they told us to release complete control - so we DID!" x0x0

― norman fay, Thursday, 19 April 2001 00:00 (12 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Worth reviving this thread in the light of the 'Never Mind the Bollocks' debate. The potency of 'The Clash' myth never ceases to amaze, once worked with prisoners in Leeds with Clash tatoos, Greil Marcus etc. Yet the few times I've tried listening to one of their albums from start to finish all I hear is dull, lame, grey, piss-weak pub rock.

― Stevo, Wednesday, 6 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, but wasn't 'Sandinista!' their 'Kid A'?

― tarden, Wednesday, 6 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

No. "Sandinista" was their "Tales From Topographic Oceans". I have owned both, so I know, right?

x0x0

― Norman Fay, Thursday, 7 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I thing the Clash beats Madonna any day of week. Tell, me are you going out this weekend? Thank you. Again, thanks.

― kenny shohan, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

"Cool Confusion" is classic, too.

― adaml (adaml), Sunday, 28 September 2003 22:47 (9 years ago) Permalink

Classic.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 28 September 2003 23:09 (9 years ago) Permalink

I'm not in agreement of saying a band is crap, because of the crap it inspired. If we were thinking that way, everything would be crap, cuz any good band has inspired their bits of crap. All of grunge would be down the toilet for making Creed, as would be all NWOBM for giving way to hair metal, all of classic punk would be down the toilet for inspiring all the hordes of late 90s 'punk' bands ala blink-182, rancid, etc. etc. etc. Pavement, Pixies, Replacements, Beatles, all crap if you judge 'em by those standards.

― Cacaman Flores, Sunday, 28 September 2003 23:18 (9 years ago) Permalink

All of grunge would be down the toilet for making Creed

I think I'd be fine with that, actually.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 28 September 2003 23:24 (9 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 100 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

30 years ago yesterday I saw the Clash on their 2nd US tour at the University of Maryland Richie Colisseum. Awesome show.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 05:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

I'm 100% envious. Love those guys, together, separately...love em. I always enjoyed that quote of Joe's about Mick: "He wouldn't show up, and when he did it was like Elizabeth Taylor in a filthy mood." Always made me LOL. Someone said WAY upthread about how funny they were...it's true, everyone thinks of them as boring bolshy swots, or Rik from the Young Ones.

― VegemiteGrrrl, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 05:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

What do you remember of the show? Feel free to wax lyrical...living vicariously etc

― VegemiteGrrrl, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 05:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

two weeks from now is the anniversary of my seeing them in '82! I was very young and impressionable. a reggae band called the Mighty Invaders opened. They played "The Prisoner". We had to drive a couple of hours to get there. The guy I got a ride with had a Bush Tetras poster on his wall.

― sleeve, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 05:54 (3 years ago) Permalink

x-post. I had missed their 1978 DC debut as high schooler at mom and Dad's me could not get a car and it was a snowy night and the show was in a kinda bad neighborhood, blah blah blah. Bo Diddley opened for them on that tour. So in September 1979 when then 18 year-old me was just starting at the U of Md outside DC and the Clash were coming (with Screaming Jay Hawkins opening). I was there. Early. I went there with friends and met others who would become my best buds to this day. The sound was horrible in that ancient 1,800 seat (?)concrete gym, but the Clash had so much energy and charisma. Joe had various stickers on his guitar. We stood up front jammed in with many on the floor. It was hot and sweaty there but that did not matter.

The show so impressed us that come December (I think) when the Clash returned for a US tour that did not include DC, we did a roadtrip to Philly to see them. There they played some of the soon to be or just released London Calling album, which aggravated some punkers there. We stuck around afterwards and met the band and Ian Dury who was touring with them. They did not want all the food spread that was there for them and told us to take some of it with us for our ride back to DC. We did (plus a bottle of rum--that we barely touched but treasured as "the Clash rum.").

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:44 (3 years ago) Permalink

That is really cool. Great story.

― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:48 (3 years ago) Permalink

― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:56 (3 years ago) Permalink

I've seen tons of gigs since then, I've read Simon Reynolds and others badmouth and critique the Clash for various reasons, but those 2 gigs, especially that first one I saw, still retain a mystical memorable quality to me. I remember us going back to a dorm and just sitting there on the floor drained but ecstatic. Also, context-wise, the Clash were far from being a band that would get played on the radio then.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

OTM. Hard to overstate the impact of the early singles and the first album, which still sound shockingly raw to me, even when stacked up against the big names of the first wave of UK punk.

― Soukesian, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 14:36 (3 years ago) Permalink

I'm about three feet away from being immortalized on the back cover of London Calling--that pic of them at the Agora in Atlanta. We were trying but couldn't get any closer to the stage. I've always wondered if that pic was cropped and I made the original photo. The band was like a runaway freight train. I'll always rank seeing them as a highlight.

― ellaguru, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:36 (3 years ago) Permalink

September '79 is when I saw them, too -- St. Paul (MN) Civic Center, with David Johansen and The Undertones. 1,000 people (probably every punk and new waver in the Twin Cities at the time) in a 16,000 seat hockey arena made the sound simultaneously tinny and cavernous. I wish I had pushed up closer to the stage. I can really only remember "Bored With the USA" and "White Riot." Yeah, they were doing quite a few unfamiliar-to-me "London Calling" songs on that tour. Quite honestly I thought Johansen (doing basically the set that's on the "Live It Up" album) came across much better.

― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 16:18 (3 years ago) Permalink

wow. curmudgeon and ellagru, Dan...thanks for sharing! I love hearing about that stuff. And curmudgeon, your story probably highlights one of the big reasons that Clash are so so C in my book: I never got to see them, or even Joe ever, but the stories I heard, and the stories I read from people about the way they were with their fans, those reams and reams of stories about them giving food to kids, letting them crash, giving them rides, hanging out and talking to them...that's what keeps them from being crusty punk cliches for me. Aside from the music of course. Because there's such a huge oral history that goes with those guys, because SO many people got close to them in those early years, and those people help them still feel, I dunno...real? Sorry. Waxing lyrical too much.

― VegemiteGrrrl, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 16:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

worst "2001 ilx" way to start off a thread ever

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 20:33 (3 years ago) Permalink

Only discovered "Bankrobber" last year but MY GOD, what a song, a parallel-universe "I Fought The Law".

― Tantrum The Cat, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 21:03 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Classic, easy. What I find most funny about this band is how my opinion has pretty much flip-flopped on the various sides of their work since I first heard 'em. When I got really into the Clash at age 14, I could only be bothered with the first three albums and couldn't stand Sandinista in the least. Now I tend to shy away from the more classic "punk" stuff (though its good at times) and really like the dubbier experiments. Listening to "Mustapha Dance" right now and loving it.

― rendezvous then i'm through with HOOS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 23 February 2011 17:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

And as I understand it, "Sandinista!" was written almost entirely in the studio, as the members filtered in and out between NYC distractions. Talk about a band at the peak of its powers, spilling over with ideas. Rarely get credit for being early (white, British) hip-hop adopters, too.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 23 February 2011 18:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

revisiting the first album...this will sound mega-goofball of me but it gives me goosebumps. It's just so 'turn everything up, go for broke'. Love it.

― VegemiteGrrl, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 05:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

ugh at all the 'strummer can't sing' comments on this thread.

i mean give me 20 hours of joe barking the phone book over two seconds of jeff fuckin' buckley.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 09:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

joe would have loved jeff tho

― Mark G, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 09:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

classic! (ecxept cut the crap obv)

― nakamura, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 11:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's better than its rep.

― Mark G, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 11:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

So my 17-year-old son likes The Clash's London Calling cd but this slightly older NPR intern is lukewarm about it (see below). They should get rid of this kid:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2011/02/11/133631581/youve-never-heard-london-calling

here's part of his review:

Ultimately, London Calling feels like a time-and-place album. If I'd been a teenager when this record dropped, I probably would sing its praises like so many others have. It's definitely a great entry point to one of the most important bands and periods in the last 30 years, and I plan on checking out the rest of the group's discography. I'm not giving up on the band, but I've come to love the subsequent bands London Calling inspired more than the album itself.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

Um, that reads OK to me.

That's a bit like my take on "Big Star"...

― Mark G, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

What bands did it inspire? I preferred the Clash when they were a punk band personally. Coupla later singles aside.

― Tom D (Tom D.), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well, you have yer Alarm, yer Manics, oh god...

― Mark G, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I'd be curious to hear who he likes that were inspired by The Clash. If his only answer is Green Day, then I know to not take him seriously.

― 'what are you, the Hymen Protection League of America?' (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well, you have yer Alarm, yer Manics, oh god...

Exactly, I don't think it inspired anyone good

― Tom D (Tom D.), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

It also inspired a lot of good bands that sound nothing like that album, so hey

― Mark G, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

No Doubt, sorry, no doubt

― Tom D (Tom D.), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 15:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I'd be curious to hear who he likes that were inspired by The Clash. If his only answer is Green Day, then I know to not take him seriously.

Rancid?

― You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. (hugo), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 16:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

What about stuff like the Angelic Upstarts? Though maybe that's not what this kid is talking about. I'm thinking there were a ton of bands that sprang up in 77 from the Clash/Pistols emergence?

― VegemiteGrrl, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 16:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I'd be curious to hear who he likes that were inspired by The Clash. If his only answer is Green Day, then I know to not take him seriously.

I hear The Replacements in "Four Horsemen" and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists in "Lost in the Supermarket." Other songs sound like they're laying the groundwork for the influx of pop-punk acts that spent the last two decades on the extreme-sports and music Warped Tour.

― kkvgz, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

Grr at "if I'd been a teenager when this record dropped..."

(...unless he means "dropped onto my old-fashioned turntable", I guess)

― I was bored/trolling one day (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

The amount of music in London Calling is staggering, but the songs aren't all winners. For every "Spanish Bombs" or "Death or Glory," there's a "Rudie Can't Fail" or "Jimmy Jazz."

RIGHT THAT'S IT

― VegemiteGrrl, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think I want to kill him. Not because he's not enthused, but...maybe it's the tone? agh.

― VegemiteGrrl, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

Rudie and Jimmy aren't winners? GTFO.

― Hardcore Bangage (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

Light your torches, people

― VegemiteGrrl, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

Nah, I just clicked the link and read the whole thing. He's basically alright.

― Hardcore Bangage (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm okay with him being lukewarm

but Rudie Can't Fail...

I just can't

― VegemiteGrrl, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

Tom's recent "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" is worth a read for the intelligent anti-Clash sentiments in the comments.

― Hey Look More Than Five Years Has Passed And You Have A C (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 17:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

joe would have loved jeff tho

if only he'd lived long enough to hear him :(

― side splitting genital based username (vdgna) (sic), Thursday, 14 April 2011 02:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

i hope this kid gives 'london calling' a few more spins. i mean, i didn't love it all the first time i heard it either.

i'm sure the clash have had all sorts of influence on bands that don't actually sound like them, but most of the ones who actually tried to act and look like the clash were indeed pretty shitty, yes.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 14 April 2011 03:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

Rudie and Jimmy aren't winners? GTFO.

― Hardcore Bangage (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, April 13, 2011 1:41 PM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

― ENBB, Thursday, 14 April 2011 03:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm still reeling over Rudie

It's just so sad, I want to help him...or beat him senseless, i can't decide

― VegemiteGrrl, Thursday, 14 April 2011 03:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

Tom's piece is fantastic and the comments cover the waterfront nicely. As someone who came to the Clash late and not wholeheartedly, I always felt that having reservations was crucial to liking them, and that the band themselves (or at least Strummer) would probably concur. They're a band who tried so many things that they were bound to fuck up some of them, but that gave their failures a certain nobility. People who profess to hate them seem to hate the myth more than the music.

― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Thursday, 14 April 2011 07:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

watching clash live on youtube - they really seemed to not care how they sounded that much and it was still awesome - how inspiring

― The Cheerfull Turtle (Latham Green), Thursday, 9 August 2012 19:14 (9 months ago) Permalink

I love the way they look like they're going to leap into the crowd and start whaling on them, esp Joe

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:13 (9 months ago) Permalink

The Clash are probably my favorite live band ever, but is there any doubt that they did too many drugs in the studio?

― Everything You Like Sucks, Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:27 (9 months ago) Permalink

As someone who came to the Clash late and not wholeheartedly, I always felt that having reservations was crucial to liking them, and that the band themselves (or at least Strummer) would probably concur. They're a band who tried so many things that they were bound to fuck up some of them, but that gave their failures a certain nobility. People who profess to hate them seem to hate the myth more than the music.
― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Thursday, April 14, 2011 7:50 AM (1 year ago)

this really sums it up nicely!

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:46 (9 months ago) Permalink

I've been learning all of "London Calling" with my guitar teacher, track by track, which has forced a closer listen. Remarkable how much chorus effect is on almost all the guitars, also how so many of the simple chord progressions support some awesome arrangements (organ, horns, percussion, etc.). Also amazed to discover that, for some inexplicable reason, "Lost in the Supermarket" seems to be in open E tuning, which is weird and relatively rare outside of the Allman Bros. and, I dunno, "She Talks to Angels" by the Black Crowes.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:59 (9 months ago) Permalink

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