This is Radio Clash- a look at the history of the band
Somebody Got Murdered- recent and archived news of the band and its members
Capital Radio One- interviews with the band
Career Opportunities- discography and reviews

Clash City Rockers- pics of the band
Rudie Can’t Fail- not with these links, anyway
Lost in the Supermarket- where you can find the best clash stuff on the net
The Volatile Molatov- about the creator of this site

Safe European Home- back to the main page

The Clash

Formed during the first explosion of '70s English punk, the Clash came to notoriety for their loud, uncompromising sound and leftist politics. But while their fan-first ideology may have endeared them to their large cult audience and journalists, obviously what has made the Clash legacy so powerful has been their expansive and ever-changing music. Joe Strummer may have yelled like an angry upstart, "No Beatles or Stones in '77!" but it was just this willingness to go along with the great rock tradition that labeled his band so many heads and shoulders above their competition.

Their first album, The Clash, never saw proper release in the U.S. and, when finally issued, had several album tracks removed for the sake of catchier singles. Their initial roar is a convincing one, though accounts of singer Strummer's radical transformation from pub rock with the 101ers to the full-out velocity of the Clash had some claiming him less the authentic street punk than his CBS Records bio let on. But while the Clash raised ethical issues of "purity" in music--standards that would be wholeheartedly embraced by future hardcore (especially straight-edge) bands--it was the band's ability to pull off both rock and reggae convincingly that proved their mettle. Their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope, was produced by Sandy Pearlman and contains some of their most anthemic songs. Pearlman, most noted for working with Blue Oyster Cult, added heavy metal's ritualized thunder to the band's chaotic crappy punk ways. Critics blamed Pearlman with sanitizing the band, but the real problem was material. Having toured constantly and written much from the road, the band needed a chance to catch their breath. The movie Rude Boy captures this heated time and features some better-than-average footage of the band, though the "acting" segments are painful to view.

London Calling came as the breakthrough. Produced by Guy Stevens (Mott The Hoople), LC was a double-album with a free-sprung approach, sounding menacing ("Clampdown"), ominous ("London Calling"), determined ("Death Or Glory"), silly and serious ("Koka Kola") and like a rock band having the time of its life. The album featured the Clash's first U.S. hit, "Train In Vain (Stand by Me)," which wasn't even listed on the album proper, having been added as an afterthought. Encouraged by the wider acceptance and driven by a quest to be as musically challenging as possible given punk's limitations, the Clash recorded the three-record set Sandinista! Priced to sell at well below the standard rate--the Clash agreed to lower royalties--the album was an ambitious mess, featuring excursions into dub with Mikey Dread and a generous helping of politics. The title fared well critically, inexplicably topping critics' polls (as it was generally acknowledged that the album lacked focus). Combat Rock continued their retreat from the obvious rock noise of their early sound. Though U.S. hits "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" and "Rock The Casbah" had the propulsion of their early work, the album was strongest with the eerie "Straight To Hell." Poet Allen Ginsberg guested on a track, and overall the album struck little compromise.

Curiously, the band opened for the Who during one of their countless final tours. Eventually, Strummer kicked out guitarist Mick Jones and wrote the Cut The Crap album with band manager Bernard Rhodes. While Jones went on to Big Audio Dynamite, Strummer eventually abandoned this half-assed version of the Clash and opted for an uneventful solo career. They have since patched up their differences. Rumored to headline the 1996 Lollapalooza tour, the Clash had no such intentions of reforming, unlike their crasser contemporaries the Sex Pistols.

Rob_OConnor

From MyLaunch