The Clash: Classic or Dud

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.

Now I’ve been studying the charts
Using my mind and my imagination

I’ve got a version of “This is England” on Dutch 7” that never was repeated

Is there any specific reason why a band with six albums on the same label has such a confused discography?

Two reasons - CBS in the U.S. fucking around with their debut, and the fact that they released so many non-LP cuts (45's, EP's, etc.)

The same thing happened with their peers (see Elvis Costello), and even trying to simplify things with a compilation gets messed up because inevitably the U.S. label will fuck with the compilation due to the original tracklist including stuff they put on the American versions of certain albums (and excluding the stuff they dropped).

Are there any songs from 1977-1985 that never came out on CD, or are currently not available or anthologized?

Nah, their last big release made sure of that too - it was a box set meant to be the very last word on Clash releases. (As promised, I don't think Mick Jones has touched any part of their catalog since.)

Is that Sound System or something else?

Correct, Sound System.

Seems to have everything but The Clash SqueezeCut the Crap.

HAH, true, but that's like fake Clash. "This Is England" is great, but fuck everything else on it.

I don't why "This is England" is considered a standout. That cast-o'-thousands chorus is corny as hell. I mean, the album is a dud, but I actually appreciate the cluttered mashups of "Dictator" and "Fingerpoppin'" as a continuation of where Combat Rock was headed.

I liked "Dirty Punk" as well. The album is bad, but not "cast this out of the canon" bad.

Cut The Crap is...as good as any other Clash album, and better than some. Their whole discography is a goddamn mess, and as a strip-it-to-the-bone, no-pop-moves record it more than does the job. The guitar sound is ugly as shit, but in a really interesting way, and when you combine that with the Big Black-ish drum machine, the random stabs of ultra-80s synth, and the gang vocals, Strummer was actually really onto something. People who don't like it are too attached to the mythology of four dudes in a room makin' rock 'n' roll.

IIRC, I think Bernie Rhodes was the one who dubbed in the chorus without Strummer's approval. It's probably better without it, but I'm okay with it - it's an anthem, and it does feel like a stadium full of soccer fans singing it. (Not a bad song for soccer fans to sing in unison, if that ever happens.)

Sound System doesn't include everything, it's missing 2 tracks from the This Is Radio Clash 12" for a start.

i had never really been bothered to check before as my wife was the clash fan in this house.
but it turns out that my cd of the debut is the US tracklisting.
is that the standard edition these days, or, if i see it again will it be more likely to be the UK tracklisting ?

Looks like since 2002 CD reissues have been the UK version

I hadn't listened to the first album in ages until this revive. Hit the spot. It's remarkable how much the band benefits from better production. On the US version, "I Fought the Law" just pops right out for that reason.