The Clash: Classic or Dud

Not all flattering re Strummer--he only races back to London from Granada at one point because his significant other has called him (via a bandmate) and said that she's about to give birth and would like him there in the hospital. He had gotten so wrapped up in doing something new musically (producing the obscure band 091) after his version II of the Clash disentegrated (and folks were giving him grief for the dismissal of Mick Jones and more) that he lost track of stuff.

Oh, and it does sound like "Spanish bums" sometimes...

Pleasantly surprised by "Janey Jones" at a Five Guys this morning.

Circa 1999, I was well known for my hilarious parody song, “I’m in love with the Jenny Jones Show!

Ha

I thought those were the actual words, for longer than I would care to admit.

My wife always thought Mick Jones was saying Oh my car is on throughout Spanish Bombs

shareef don't like it,
lock the taskbar

I used to think it was a song about walls.

The rock and roll wall
The Ghetty Stone wall
The ginnyjone wall

etc

lmao mark. that's good.

haha mark otm, i used to think that too!!

*bump*

classic

Always

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/sandinista-188352/

We can still use that stubborn Sixties morality, and we would do well to remember the missed opportunity of punk — the revolution that wasn’t — without the simple postures of either of those underachieved countercultures. But we also need these post movement, postideological, private and public “count me out — and in” complications of identification and distance, of participation in and respite from the varieties of violence in the world and the inequalities that cause them. If I were younger, I’d write something on a bathroom wall. It’d be a lot shorter and more to the point. Maybe Lennon lives, Clash rule and rock against Reagan. And I wouldn’t worry about the improbabilities.

I had a blast last night at an International Clash Day dance party & art show. Some local players did a one-off cover band focusing on material up through London Calling (plus the two hits).

classic, then and now

burn all early-ILX UK contrarians at the stake

Even Ned?

Lol

I said "UK", 1st poster "Omar" specifically

I'm sure Ned has realized the error of his ways :)

omar was dutch? or spanish iirc

I stand corrected, before my time. But yeah these old threads really double down on the sacred cow mutilation, to their detriment.

NED IS A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

“ Why? Because the voices are shit” is one of my all-time favorite ILX lines

Did anyone listen to the Spotify miniseries history (hosted by Chuck D)? It was predictable hagiography, but still worth it imo. Lots of archival interviews. Last episode did a nice job of ending with the Joe/B.A.D. reunion, instead of the back-to-roots Clash mark 2 show. (I have a boot of the Latino Rockabilly War first show where they cover a few songs from the 2nd BAD record.)

Started to because a friend of mine mentioned it but got derailed/distracted. What I heard was pretty good. Obviously Chuck is burning his as well as their legend though.

Ha. Maybe. Both groups always wanted legend + mainstream success though. No doubt one of the reasons they're both interesting, but also why many the children of the double IPA generation are too good for them.

I liked that podcast in the predictable ways I would, as both a Clash and PE fan. I did learn a fair amount. My favorite episode was the recording of Sandinista, which made me revisit it. It sound like it was fun to make.

Burning=burnishing

what's the best book about the Clash

Last Gang In Town, probably

that was my guess but hard to tell from rando internet reviews

got it from the library - am learning a lot and generally enjoying it, but Grey's fixation on the band's various inauthenticities ("Joe Strummer's family life was not as terrible as he initially made it out to be!" or whatever) is kinda irritating/stupid

yeah I thought of caveating, but it doesn’t change the fact that the reporting is good

he gets really cranky & bitter abt selling out later on, iirc

lol I suspected as much

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

― tarden, Wednesday, 6 June 2001 bookmarkflaglink

lol

I really don't want to hate-listen to Sandinista but this might've pushed me over the edge

Something interesting I just discovered: the US version of the debut album has been memory-holed.

To recap, for those who don't know... the Clash's debut came out in the UK in 1977, but CBS in America hated it, so it didn't come out here until after Give 'Em Enough Rope, and the track listing was radically altered. "Deny," "Cheat," "Protex Blue," and "48 Hours" were removed, and post-album singles "Clash City Rockers," "Complete Control," "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais," and "I Fought The Law" were added, and the single mix of "White Riot" was swapped for the LP version. But if you pull the album up on Spotify in the US now, you get the UK version.

Black Market Clash gone too

Now you have to go into the comps and box sets to make a playlist version.

Although people already have

But if you pull the album up on Spotify in the US now

This is a very specific and miniature memory hole

Appalling. Here you go: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JaaajKZNOxriOZCJIZqB7?si=8f3a26cf911c4341

needs the 7" version of White Riot

I wanted to check Discogs before saying that Black Market Clash was "memory-holed" twenty-eight years ago when Super Black Market Clash came out worldwide, but an Omaha bar / Star Wars t-shirt shop did license a 5,000 copy 10" pressing from Sony in 2011

The weirdest thing about Super Black Market Clash was that it left off so many tracks from the original. I love the meandering b-sides, but it seems like those missing tracks would have still fit on the CD.

I don’t remember the pretty intro to “Capitol Radio.”

Is there any specific reason why a band with six albums on the same label has such a confused discography? Are there any songs from 1977-1985 that never came out on CD, or are currently not available or anthologized?

Good point.

xp:
Talk about memory holes. One of VG’s absentminded thread.