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The Story of the Clash
Well, I started out with grandiose plans to write an awe-inspiring tale that would knock the socks off everyone reading this. I didn't get too far before I realized there was at least one other bio on the net that said it far better than I would. So if you want to hear a funny little tale about me, Natalie and Maya click here. For the best biography I've ever read online scroll down. There's also some links to other sources at the bottom, too, mainly music encyclopedias etc. Sorry if you wanted to read some new stuff by me- I thought however that most of you might be interested in a thorough and factual account of The Clash. ~peki
Contemporary Musicians
November 1990 , Volume: 4
by Calen D. Stone
Personal Information
Band formed in 1976 with guitarist and vocalist Joe Strummer (name originally
John Mellor; born 1953, in Ankara, Turkey); Keith Levene (left the band after first
tour); guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones (born 1956; from Brixton, England); bass
player Paul Simonon; drummer on first and last LP, Terry Chimes (a.k.a. Tory
Crimes); drummer who replaced Chimes, Topper Headon (real name, Nicky
Headon; from Dover, England).
Career
Band first toured the U.K. and the U.S. with the Sex Pistols in 1976; first
recording contract granted by CBS records in February of 1977, first album
released soon after; first solo tour in 1977; LP Combat Rock went platinum in
1982.
Awards
Selected band of the year, 1980, in Rolling Stone Critics Poll; London
Calling named 25th best guitar LP of the 1980s by Guitar World, and named
album of the year, 1980, and best LP of the 1980s by Rolling Stone.
A new musical movement began to rear its head in England in the latter part of
the 1970s as a revolt against the establishment and high unemployment rate
more than as an artistic statement. "Punk" rock was not a pretty sight but its
emotion and power gave pop music a long overdue and much needed kick in
the head.
Punk bands like the Sex Pistols and Generation X burned with an incredible
intensity that was unique at first, but their energy also caused them to burn out
much sooner than they expected. One band, however, was able to rise above
the punk death wish, to go beyond the limited musical range of their
contemporaries, to survive and create important statements and well-crafted
songs: the Clash. "They may well be the greater rock band ?compared to the
Sex Pistols, as that judgment is conventionally understood," wrote Greil
Marcus in the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. "That they were
not the greater punk band has been their salvation." The Clash formed in 1976
with Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Terry Chimes, and Keith
Levene. Guitarists Strummer and Jones had both been in other bands (the
101ers and London SS, respectively) but bassist Simonon had never even
played an instrument before. Levene soon left the group and later joined Johnny
Rotten's band, Public Image Ltd.
The Clash, managed by punk guru Malcolm McLaren's friend, Bernie Rhodes,
earned immediate recognition with their political viewpoints. Singles like "White
Riot," "London Burning," and "Career Opportunities" told the British youth to
stand up and take a look at the blight of their nation. In live settings, like their
billing on the Sex Pistol's "Anarchy in the U.K." tour, the Clash created
energetic dance rhythms that drove crowds into a frenzy. "Their music is
primitive and aggressive," reported the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, "but
the chemistry is combustible--on stage they are a complete audiovisual
experience, driven forward on a wave of passion and pure energy."
The band signed with CBS Records for $200,000, and their first LP, Clash, was
released in the United Kingdom in 1977. The record company considered the
album too crude for U.S. release, however. It wasn't until 1979 that a
compilation LP of ten album cuts and seven later British singles would be
released as The Clash in America. Even though this version was weaker than
the English one because the songs were out of order and out of context,
American listeners were impressed to say the least. "Here was a record that
defined rock's risks and pleasures, and told us, once again that this was music
worth fighting for," wrote Tom Carson in Rolling Stone. In Robert Christgau's
Record Guide, the author gave the album an "A" and wrote: "Cut for cut, this
may be the greatest rock and roll album ever manufactured in the U.S." When
the Clash finally toured the States, audiences were blown away by the band's
energy and stance. They "arrive in America not simply to make themselves
know but precisely to make a difference, as rock and roll politicians out to
create a new rock version of the public space," said Greil Marcus in the Rolling
Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll.
When the Sex Pistols disintegrated, the Clash carried on the punk flag with the
1977 "Complete Control," a rocking reggae attack on record companies which
was produced by Jamaican Lee Perry. "The force of character and the sense of
epic in the band's songs, for all their topical urgency, have a grandeur that's
almost Shakespearean," wrote Tom Carson in Rolling Stone.
When their second LP, Give 'Em Enough Rope, came out on Epic in 1978 and
entered the U.K. charts at Number 2, the band immediately was criticized by
the press for their strong political views and seeming advocation of violent
terrorism. "Our music's violent. We're not," said Strummer in Rolling Stone. "If
anything, songs like 'Guns on the Roof' and 'Last Gang in Town' are supposed
to take the piss out of violence. It's just that sometimes you have to put yourself
in the place of the guy with the machine gun. I couldn't go to his extreme, but at
the same time it's no good ignoring what he's doing."
The band had replaced Chimes with Topper Headon on drums and also
recruited rock band Blue Oyster Cult's producer, Sandy Pearlman, for the
album. "The Clash see the merit in reaching a wider audience," said Pearlman
in Rolling Stone, "but they also like the idea of grand suicidal gestures. We
need more bands like this as models for tomorrow's parasites." The band fired
and sued their financial manager, Rhodes, as his ineptitude had threatened the
band with extinction. Caroline Coon took over the books in an effort to
straighten matters out as the band worked on London Calling with producer Guy
Stevens. The Clash took an unprecedented risk by releasing the 19-song,
double LP at an extremely low price. "I remember that things were so up in the
air, and there was quite a good feeling of us against the world," said Strummer
in Rolling Stone. "We felt that we were struggling, about to slide down a slope
or something, grasping with our fingernails. And that there was nobody to help
us."
Critics went crazy over the hastily released album in which the hit "Train In
Vain" was thrown on so quickly that it didn't even make it onto the cover label.
The Clash had drawn on rock, reggae, and rockabilly to create a diversified
effort that Rolling Stone picked as the best LP of the 1980s (it had reached
Number 27 on the charts). It was also voted "25th Best Guitar LP of the 1980s"
by Guitar World, a publication that usually caters to pyrotechnics, proving that
Mick Jones was more than a three-chord basher. A critic in that magazine
wrote: "He moves nimbly from subtlety to excess, wielding the scalpel and the
wrecking ball with equal facility."
By now the band had dumped their third management group, Blackhill
Enterprises, and bassist Paul Simonon took over the band's business affairs.
Still wanting to flex their musical muscle for more accessibility, the Clash
began working on their angry three-record set, named Sandinista! in honor of
the Nicaraguan revolution. "The music--just bang, bang, bang--was getting to be
like a nagging wife," Jones said to James Henke in Rolling Stone. The new
albums featured an updated studio sound, extra musicians, women and
children on vocals and a more varied musical style than its predecessor. "An
everywhere-you-turn guerrilla raid of vision and virtuosity," wrote John Piccarella
in his Rolling Stone 5-star review. If London Calling shocked the music
industry's conception of marketing, Sandinista! gave them a heart attack. The
three-record set was priced at $14.95 for kids who listened, not for the pockets
of executives. "We believe what we're doing is right," said Simonon in Rolling
Stone. "If we had to be dictated by what other people say, it wouldn't be The
Clash."
In 1982, the year of the band's biggest album, Combat Rock, Topper Headon
left the band, citing "political differences," and was quickly replaced by former
member Terry Chimes. The LP (which went platinum) yielded a Top 50 single,
the college party anthem "Should I Stay or Should I Go," and a Top 10 single,
"Rock the Casbah." The success would not keep them together; it wasn't long
before the group followed the path of most punk bands and broke up after an
album's release. In what may best describe the movement and the band's
demise, Paul Simonon said in Rolling Stone, "People don't understand. Punk
was about change--and rule number one was: there are no rules."
Selected Discography
Clash, CBS Records, 1977. Give 'Em Enough Rope, Epic, 1978. The Clash,
Epic, 1979. London Calling, Epic, 1979. Sandinista! Epic, 1980. Combat Rock,
Epic, 1982. The Story of The Clash, Vol. 1, Epic, 1988.
Sources
Books: Christgau, Robert, Christgau's Record Guide, Ticknor & Fields, 1981.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, compiled by Nick Logan and Bob
Woffinden, Salamander, 1977. The Rolling Stone Record Guide, edited by Dave
Marsh with John Swenson, Random House/Rolling Stone Press, 1979. The
Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, edited by Jim Miller, Random
House/Rolling Stone Press, 1976. Periodicals: Guitar Player, September 1988.
Guitar World, February 1990. Rolling Stone, January 25, 1979; March 8, 1979;
April 5, 1979; October 18, 1979; April 17, 1980; March 5, 1981; April 16, 1981;
August 19, 1982; November 16, 1989.
~~ Calen D. Stone
Okay, if you're still with me, here's some links to other Clash history related info on the net.
Biography From MyLaunch
Biography #1 From All Music Guide
Biography #2 From All Music Guide- very comprehensive
Biography From Omnimedia
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