122-589: The Latino Rockabilly War was a band most notable for backing the Clash frontman Joe Strummer . The band, which played a fusion of Latin and rock music, was formed by Strummer with meeting Joey Altruda and Willie McNeil of jazz-punk group Tupelo Chain Sex , along with musician Zander Schloss. With Strummer, the Latino Rockabilly War created the album Earthquake Weather , released through Epic Records . The album
244-837: A band called Havana 3am . Headon recorded a solo album Waking Up but was imprisoned in 1987 for drug-related offences. Cut the Crap Cut the Crap is the sixth and final studio album by the English punk band the Clash , released on 4 November 1985 by CBS Records . It was recorded in early 1985 at Weryton Studios, Munich , following a turbulent period: co-founder, lead guitarist and co-principal songwriter Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon had been dismissed by lead vocalist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon . Jones and Headon were replaced by three unknowns: guitarists Vince White and Nick Sheppard and drummer Pete Howard . During
366-463: A benefit show for striking miners. In November 1985, they released the album Cut the Crap ; it includes the single " This Is England ", which charted at number 24 in the UK Singles Chart. Strummer later noted: "CBS had paid an advance for it so they had to put it out". Dave Marsh later listed "This Is England" as one of the top 1001 rock singles of all time. The album peaked at number 16 in
488-480: A classic example of the kind of contract that no group should ever sign—the group had to pay for their own tours, recordings, remixes, artwork, expenses ..." According to Strummer in March 1977: Signing that contract did bother me a lot. I've been turning it over in my mind, but now I've come to terms with it. I've realised that all it boils down to is perhaps two-year's security ... Before, all I could think about
610-408: A fantastic record". Afterwards "came the first example of the rivalry-induced squabbling that was to dog the punk scene and undermine any attempts to promote a spirit of unity among the bands involved". Simonon fought with J.J. Burnel , the bass player of The Stranglers , a slightly older band who were publicly identified with the punk scene but were not part of the "inner circle", which centered on
732-431: A favourite with Clash fans and was voted single of the year in the 1978 NME Readers' Poll. Before the Clash began recording their second album, CBS requested they adopt a cleaner sound than its predecessor to reach American audiences. Sandy Pearlman , who is known for his work with Blue Öyster Cult , was hired to produce the record. Simonon later said: "[R]ecording that album was just the most boring situation ever. It
854-575: A go at it." After his dismissal, Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite (B.A.D.), who released their debut album This Is Big Audio Dynamite late in 1985. Jones and Strummer worked together on their respective 1986 projects; Jones helped with the two songs Strummer wrote and performed for the soundtrack to the film Sid and Nancy (1986), and Strummer co-wrote a number of the tracks for the second B.A.D. album No. 10, Upping St. , which he also co-produced. With Jones committed to B.A.D., Strummer moved on to solo projects and screen acting. Simonon formed
976-579: A growth in support for the far-right political party The National Front . Also on the bill were X-Ray Spex , Steel Pulse , Misty in Roots , and headliners Tom Robinson Band ; they played to 100,000 people, who marched through London and attended the RAR Carnival. In June, the band released " (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais " as a single, which peaked at number 32 in the UK Singles chart; it quickly became
1098-415: A hand in everything. Not the lyrics—he didn't help with the lyrics. He didn't tell us not to write love songs, as the myth goes—that's kind of simplified version of it. He told us to write what we knew about" Strummer performed lead vocals on the majority of songs but he and Jones sometimes shared the lead. Once the band began recording, Jones rarely had a solo lead on more than one song per album, though he
1220-521: A kit. I mean every drummer in London. I think we counted 205. And that's why we were lost until we found Topper Headon." Simonon nicknamed Headon, who had briefly played with Jones's band London SS, "Topper" because he felt Headon resembled Mickey the Monkey , a character in the comic Topper . Headon could also play piano, bass and guitar. The day after he signed to the band, Headon said: "I really wanted to join
1342-622: A leg of their final US tour that included a show at New York's Shea Stadium . Chimes left the band after the Combat Rock Tour and was replaced with Pete Howard in May 1983. The Clash co-headlined the US Festival in San Bernardino, California , on 28 May in front of a crowd of 140,000. After the show, members of the band brawled with security staff. The festival was Jones' last appearance with
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#17328762405851464-539: A live show and recorded only one demo. London SS were managed by Bernard Rhodes , an associate of impresario Malcolm McLaren and a friend of the members of the Sex Pistols , whom Mclaren managed. Jones and his bandmates became friendly with Sex Pistols members Glen Matlock and Steve Jones , who helped them as they auditioned potential new members. Vocalist Paul Simonon and drummer Terry Chimes auditioned for London SS but were rejected, and Nicky Headon drummed with
1586-407: A lost opportunity given that the song had been a "killer" live favourite. "Are You Red..Y" had originally been titled "Are You Ready for War". "Cool Under Heat" is a reggae-ballad whose production choices have been criticised as cluttered and confused, several writers noting that its strong lyrics and tune are buried underneath a jumble of extraneous instruments and studio effects. The guitar sound
1708-482: A manager whose musical ambitions were overstretched by a lack of experience. The over-laid vocals in the choruses, which give the football chant feel, were harshly viewed by critics at the time, both because the effect seemed like low-brow rabble-rousing, and they compared unfavorably with Jones's earlier backing vocals. The drums are largely untreated with sound effects which left them sounding dull. Knowles suggested that adding reverb would have helped to create
1830-479: A more organic "roomy" sound, so the songs wouldn't feel "so canned and phony". Against this, the live instrumentation is tight and cohesive. Each of the new recruits was a skilled musician, and they had just come off a tour during which Rhodes had instructed them not to vary song structures or guitar leads between performances. "Dictator", one of the earliest songs the new line-up played during their European tour, has been described as "the poorest possible choice for
1952-584: Is again supplied by a drum machine. Lennox described it as a "tuneful, beautifully crafted overview of social decay in England, where political philosophies joust for hegemony while the country sinks into ignominious decline and millions of youths turn to the dole ." The lyrics convey societal alienation , lamenting the national mood in 1985; the line "South Atlantic wind blows" refers to the Falklands War . Writing for Vulture in 2017, writer Bill Wyman described
2074-464: Is especially flat and restrained by overly compressed production. Popoff found the album version inferior to the Clash's live versions that were reminiscent of the Pogues , which the band had played on an early-1985 busking tour. The opening line of "Movers and Shakers"—" The boy stood in the burning slum"—was described by writer Sean Egan as "a piece of unconscious self-parody that is quite probably
2196-399: Is the only track which had not been played live before. Its chorus, stylistically akin to the punk subgenre Oi! , was described by Popoff as a "curious thumping party rocker that makes little sense" and begged the question why a songwriter of Strummer's ability would write "such banalities". The album cover was conceived by Rhodes, who contracted Mike Laye to shoot the pictures. The artwork
2318-404: Is the year of The Clash". On 25 January, the band signed to CBS Records for £100,000, a remarkable amount for a band who had played about thirty gigs and very few headlining shows. Clash historian Marcus Gray said: "the band members found themselves having to justify [the deal] to both the music press and to fans who picked up on the critics' muttered asides about the Clash having 'sold out' to
2440-412: Is widely regarded as the album's stand-out track. It was released as the band's last single and Strummer himself called it the "last great Clash song". Co-written by Strummer and Rhodes, the song retains some of the reggae influences of their earlier albums. Like "We Are the Clash", its chorus is sung in a football chant, but here it is higher in the mix. The guitars are also prominent, but the percussion
2562-575: The Orlando Sentinel described the record as a "sometimes embarrassingly anachronistic ... attempt to rekindle the Clash's punkish, militant energy." Music critic Liam Lacey was more favourable and concluded that, given the strength of "This Is England", "in its cheesily self-aggrandizing way, the new Clash may be on to something." Cut the Crap has been favourably reevaluated in some retrospective reviews, many praising Strummer's songwriting and vocal performance. The writer Jon Savage praised
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#17328762405852684-527: The 100 Club Punk Special , sharing the bill with the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Subway Sect . Chimes left in late November; he was briefly replaced by Rob Harper as the Clash toured in support of the Sex Pistols during December's Anarchy Tour. The Clash promoted a left-wing message in their songs and interviews, and sang about social problems, such as career opportunities, unemployment, and
2806-520: The 7-inch release of "This Is England". A lithograph of the cover is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York , who attribute an "unknown designer". Rhodes titled the album, taking the words "cut the crap" from a scene in the 1981 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max 2 , when Mel Gibson 's character, Max Rockatansky , insists on driving the oil tanker on which the settlers' survival depends: "Come on, cut
2928-725: The Billboard chart. In the UK, the title track was released as a single and peaked at number 11—the highest position any Clash single reached in the UK before the band's break-up. London Calling was released in December 1979; it peaked at number 9 on the British album chart and at number 27 in the United States, where it was issued in January 1980. The album's cover photograph by Pennie Smith became one of
3050-545: The Extended Play (EP) The Cost of Living , which includes a cover of Bobby Fuller 's song " I Fought the Law ", two original songs and a re-recording of " Capital Radio ". The EP reached 22 in the UK charts and the band dismissed Coon as their manager. They then embarked on a second tour of the US, adding Mick Gallagher on keyboards. In August and September 1979, The Clash recorded
3172-493: The 101ers and the Clash, material co-written with Mick Jones for Big Audio Dynamite 's No. 10, Upping St. album, and a cover of the Pogues ' song "If I Should Fall From Grace With God." This article on a United Kingdom band or other musical ensemble is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . The Clash The Clash were an English rock band that formed in London in 1976 and were key players in
3294-422: The 1976 Notting Hill Carnival was important in the development of the Clash's political stance and inspired Joe Strummer to write " White Riot ". Images of the riots were used as The Clash's stage backdrop and as the back cover of their first album, and was reprinted on badges and Clash t-shirts. By January 1977, punk had become a major media phenomenon in the UK; according to New Musical Express (NME): "1977
3416-420: The 1984 tour, when Strummer was attending to his terminally ill mother, so it is assumed that most of the lyrics were composed by Rhodes. They are written from the point of view of a young punk who feels overshadowed by an older brother, but the story is told in such simple terms that it has been characterised as having " Neanderthal lyrics that read as if a parody of a punk rock song". The relative simplicity of
3538-416: The Clash found themselves as the flag-wavers of the punk rock consciousness". Though The Clash quickly rose to number 12 in the UK, CBS refused to give it a US release, believing that its raw, barely produced sound would make it unmarketable there. A North American version of the album with a modified track listing released in the US in 1979, after the UK release, became the US's best-selling import album of
3660-409: The Clash. I want to give them even more energy than they've got—if that's possible"; in an interview over twenty years later, he said his original plan was to stay briefly, gain a name for himself, and then move on to a better gig. Strummer later said: "Finding someone who not only had the chops, but the strength and the stamina to do it was just the breakthrough for us". In May, The Clash set out on
3782-469: The Crap in 1985 before disbanding a few weeks later. In January 2003, shortly after the death of Joe Strummer, the band, including original drummer Terry Chimes , were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Clash number 28 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" . Before the Clash's founding, the band's future members were active in different parts of
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3904-415: The Crap sold poorly compared to earlier Clash releases, reaching just number 16 in the UK charts and number 88 in the US. On release, British and American critics alike generally viewed the album in an unfavourable light. Melody Maker and NME both published sharply negative reviews, the latter of which was titled "No Way, Jose" in sarcastic reference to the "Jose Unidos" production credit. Reflecting
4026-620: The German studio because the band's finances were dependent on ongoing legal cases, including moves by Jones to prevent them recording under the name "the Clash". Rhodes hired engineer Micheal Fayne on the basis of affordability, and his prior experience with programmed drum machines , which Strummer wanted to use on the album because, according to Rhodes, "Joe wanted to compete with Mick's drum machine thing". Rhodes also employed engineers Ulrich A. Rudolf, Simon Sullivan and Kevin Whyte, who are credited on
4148-577: The London music scene. Joe Strummer , whose real name was John Graham Mellor, sang and played rhythm guitar in the pub rock band The 101ers , which he had formed in 1974 with Alvaro Pena-Rojas. Mellor later abandoned his original stage name "Woody" Mellor in favour of "Joe Strummer", a reference to his rudimentary strumming skills on the ukulele while he was a busker in the London Underground . Mick Jones played guitar in protopunk band London SS , who rehearsed for much of 1975 but never played
4270-672: The Maytals ' song " Pressure Drop ", once again illustrating the group's reggae influences. In support of the album, the Clash toured the UK supported by the Slits and the Innocents . The tour, which consisted of more than thirty shows, was promoted as the Sort It Out Tour. The band later undertook their first, largely successful tour of North America in February 1979. In June 1979, the band released
4392-589: The Sex Pistols at the Black Swan nightclub in Sheffield . The Clash wanted to appear on stage before their rivals The Damned , another London SS spinoff, made their own scheduled debut two days later. The Clash did not play in front of another audience for five weeks. Levene was becoming disaffected with his position in the group. At the Black Swan, he approached the Sex Pistols' lead singer John Lydon , whose stage name
4514-489: The Sex Pistols shitless". On 29 August, the Clash and Manchester's Buzzcocks opened for the Sex Pistols at The Screen on the Green ; it was the Clash's first public performance since 4 July. The triple-bill show is seen as pivotal to the consolidation of the British punk scene into a movement; New Musical Express reviewer Charles Shaar Murray wrote: "The Clash are the sort of garage band that should be speedily returned to
4636-414: The Sex Pistols. Rhodes insisted the Clash should not perform live again until they were much tighter so they intensely rehearsed the following month. According to Strummer, the band devoted themselves to creating a distinct identity, saying: The day I joined The Clash was very much back to square one, year zero. Part of Punk was that you had to shed all of what you knew before. We were almost Stalinist in
4758-534: The UK Albums Chart and at number 88 in the US. Strummer largely disowned the album but later said: "I really like 'This Is England' and [album track] 'North and South' is a vibe". In January 1986, it was announced that the Clash had disbanded. Strummer later said: "When the Clash collapsed, we were tired. There had been a lot of intense activity in five years. Secondly, I felt we'd run out of idea gasoline. And thirdly, I wanted to shut up and let someone else have
4880-576: The UK Singles Chart. In October, the band's US record company released a B-side compilation EP called Black Market Clash , which was later re-released in expanded form as a full-length album. In December 1980, The Clash released the 36-song triple album Sandinista! , which again reflected a broad range of musical styles. It was produced by the band members with further participation of Mikey Dread . Sandinista! proved to be controversial, both politically and musically. Critical opinions were divided; Trouser Press writer Ira Robbins described half of
5002-547: The UK album chart. NME readers voted Give 'Em Enough Rope the second-best album of 1978 and the Clash were voted the best group in the same end-of-year poll. In the US, the album peaked at number 128 on the Billboard chart . "Tommy Gun", the album's first UK single, peaked at number 19, the highest chart position for a Clash single to date. To accompany the single, the band produced their first official music video, in which Joe Strummer wears an H Block T-shirt in support of
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5124-552: The United Kingdom with the release of their debut album The Clash (1977) and their second album Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978). Their experimental third album London Calling , which was released in the UK in December 1979, earned them popularity in the United States, where it was released the following month. A decade later, Rolling Stone named London Calling the best album of the 1980s. Following continued musical experimentation on their fourth album Sandinista! (1980),
5246-533: The White Riot Tour, headlining a punk package that included Buzzcocks, The Jam , Subway Sect, The Slits and The Prefects . The day after a Newcastle gig, Strummer and Headon were arrested for stealing pillowcases from their hotel room. The highlight of the tour was the Rainbow Theatre in London on 9 May; it was the first time The Clash had played a major music venue. The audience began ripping up seats and
5368-488: The World (2000) and was acknowledged only briefly in the official illustrated biography The Clash (2008), not receiving an overview as the first five studio albums had. The album has been omitted from many Clash compilations, box sets and reissues, including The Story of the Clash (1988), Clash on Broadway (1991), The Singles (1991), Sound System (2013) and 5 Album Studio Set (2013). According to Simonon, Cut
5490-425: The aggression or purpose of early Clash records". Strummer was depressed by both the album's sound and critical appraisal. Asked in 1986 how the reviews affected him, he replied, "Sure I read [them] but I didn't need them to tell me. It was like when you're younger and you're trying to make a date with a girl but she won't have any of it. You keep going back, trying to fool yourself that this time will be better." He
5612-417: The album as "great" and the other half as "nonsense" and worse, while New Rolling Stone Record Guide critic Dave Marsh said: " Sandinista! is nonsensically cluttered. Or rather seems nonsensically cluttered. One of the Clash's principal concerns ... is to avoid being stereotyped." The album sold reasonably well in the US, where it charted at number 24. In the UK, the album peaked at number 19 and
5734-436: The album has been excluded altogether from most of the Clash's compilations and box sets. Although it is still generally regarded as the band's worst album, contemporary critics have praised Strummer's songwriting and vocal performance, especially on the tracks " This Is England ", "Dirty Punk" and "Three Card Trick". The Clash 's internal difficulties during 1983 led to two of its core members being fired: guitarist Mick Jones
5856-410: The album in his influential 1991 book on the history of punk, England's Dreaming , highlighting the "innovative use of rap rhythm and atmosphere". Yet its reputation as a failure, or at least as a lost opportunity, has endured. In 2002, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described "This Is England" as "surprisingly nervy" on a record that, in his view, is otherwise "formulaic, tired punk rock that doesn't have
5978-449: The album with him and writing five songs together. Cut the Crap was remastered and re-released in Europe in the mid-2000s, with the bonus track "Do It Now". The reissue was unannounced and not promoted. It came after the rest of the band's catalogue had been reissued between December 1999 and January 2000 in the US. The album was not mentioned in the Clash documentary The Clash: Westway to
6100-414: The album would advance the Clash's success in the United States, and planned an expensive video for a lead single . On release, Cut the Crap was maligned in the UK music press as "one of the most disastrous [albums] ever released by a major artist". Strummer disowned the album and dissolved the Clash within weeks of its release. He performed only one song from the album live during his solo career, and
6222-450: The album's sound as brash and seemingly "designed to sound hip and modern—' 80s style! ". Rhodes chose the album title, taken from a line in the 1981 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max 2 . The recording process and tension between Rhodes and Strummer left other band members disillusioned. White's and Sheppard's contributions are almost entirely absent in the final mix, and Howard was replaced by an electronic drum machine . Epic Records hoped
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#17328762405856344-485: The album's uptempo songs less effective than those on earlier Clash records, but concluded that Strummer's singing is compelling and "This Is England" and "North and South" make the record "more than passable". The absence of Jones and Headon led many to regard it as a Joe Strummer solo album—an impression further solidified by Simonon's involvement being limited only to the pre-production stage. Its shortcomings were often attributed to Strummer's evident disillusionment with
6466-457: The band achieved further commercial success with the release of Combat Rock (1982), which includes the US top-10 hit " Rock the Casbah ", helping the album to achieve a 2× platinum certification there. In 1982, Headon left the band due to internal friction surrounding his increasing heroin addiction, and Jones departed the following year. With a new lineup, the band released their final album Cut
6588-478: The band began work on their fifth album Combat Rock , which Glyn Johns produced and was released in May 1982. In the UK, the first single "Know Your Rights" reached number 43. The lead single in the US was " Should I Stay or Should I Go ", which was released in June 1982 and received significant airplay on Album-oriented rock (AOR) stations. The follow-up single " Rock the Casbah " was composed by Headon, who performed
6710-404: The band for a week then quit. After London SS broke up in early 1976, Rhodes continued as Jones' manager. In February, Jones saw the Sex Pistols perform for the first time and commented: "You knew straight away that was it, and this was what it was going to be like from now on. It was a new scene, new values—so different from what had happened before. A bit dangerous." In March of that year, at
6832-437: The band members attended a private screening of a new film called Rude Boy , which is part fiction and tells the story of a Clash fan who leaves his job in a Soho sex shop to become a roadie for the group. The movie, which was named after the rude boy subculture, includes footage of the band on tour, at a London Rock Against Racism concert, and in the studio recording Give 'Em Enough Rope . The band were disenchanted with
6954-523: The band out on tour to promote the album, Rhodes asked the three remaining members to consider hiring a new singer, rationalising that "The Clash has always been an idea ... Now, how to take that idea to the next level!" They briefly considered the possibility; Rhodes made the suggestion to Simonon, a position the bassist resolutely refused until Strummer officially disbanded the group. Strummer then reunited with Jones for Big Audio Dynamite's second studio album No. 10, Upping St. (1986), co-producing
7076-582: The band's name; they had briefly named themselves the Weak Heartdrops and the Psychotic Negatives. According to Simonon: "It really came to my head when I started reading the newspapers and a word that kept recurring was the word 'clash', so I thought 'the Clash, what about that' to the others. And they and Bernard, they went for it." After rehearsing with Strummer for less than a month, the Clash made their debut performance on 4 July 1976, supporting
7198-529: The band's rehearsal location on Davis Road. After Strummer turned up, Levene played "Keys to Your Heart", one of Strummer's own tunes. Rhodes gave Strummer 48 hours to decide whether to join the new band that would "rival the Pistols". Within 24 hours, he agreed. Simonon later said: "Once we had Joe on board it all started to come together". Strummer introduced the band to his school friend Pablo LaBritain, who sat in on drums during Strummer's first few rehearsals with
7320-479: The band, but was refused. Simonon does not appear on any of the final recordings; the basslines were performed by Norman Watt-Roy , former member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads , who was not credited on the sleeve. Howard's exclusion from the album has been lamented by many critics. Knowles described him as an "astonishingly powerful and prodigious" drummer, and said that replacing him with electronic percussion
7442-530: The band. LaBritain left the band shortly after and joined 999 . Terry Chimes, whom Jones later referred to as "one of the best drummers" in their circle, became the band's regular drummer. In Westway to the World , Jones said: "I don't think Terry was officially hired or anything. He had just been playing with us." Chimes did not like Strummer at first, saying: "He was like twenty-two or twenty-three or something that seemed 'old' to me then. And he had these retro clothes and this croaky voice." Simonon thought of
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#17328762405857564-533: The band; Strummer and Simonon dismissed him in September that year. Nick Sheppard , formerly of the Bristol -based band The Cortinas , and Vince White were recruited as the Clash's new guitarists. The band's new lineup played their first shows in January 1984 with a batch of new material and embarked on the self-financed Out of Control Tour, travelling widely over the winter and into early summer. The band also headlined
7686-399: The bridge changed to an intro and the call-and-response chorus removed. The song has received mixed reviews. It was criticised for its confused politics and thin sound, the guitar solo and back-in-the-mix vocal chants in particular lacking low-end frequencies. Vulture placed it last in its 2017 ranking of all 139 songs by the Clash from worst to best. Rolling Stone took issue with
7808-621: The campaign for political status for Irish Republican prisoners. The band embarked on a North American tour, culminating in a performance at the Palladium in New York City. " English Civil War ", which warned against the rise of the far-right in the UK, was released as the album's second single in February 1979, reaching number 25 in the UK Singles Chart . The B-side is a cover of the Toots and
7930-403: The communal sing-alongs the Clash performed during their busking tour the previous year, and thus evoked memories of a less tense period in their career. The massed vocals were provided by several dozen of their friends and families, and several of the inner team remembered those sessions as the only enjoyable period during the album's recording. The only other aspect that the musicians agreed on
8052-478: The contract negotiated by manager Bernie Rhodes , who had earlier been fired due to personal differences with Jones. The relationship between Strummer and Jones had broken down by this point. Not long into rehearsals, Strummer and Simonon had fired Jones. A week before the official announcement of the dismissal, Strummer, Simonon and Rhodes began to look for replacements and met Pete Howard . The band placed anonymous advertisements for replacement guitarists in
8174-438: The crap. I'm the best chance you've got." According to Jucha, the sentiment reflected the band's view of themselves in the mid-1980s: "the back-to-basics Clash, Round two—like the initial band of UK punk rockers—were going to eradicate the meaningless New Romantic bands dominating the British pop world. They were 'the best chance [the world's] got'." Nevertheless, the title is widely disliked; Jucha described it as "awful". By
8296-469: The critical consensus at the time, Mike Laye—a writer, photographer and Clash insider—said the band should "just drop the 'Cut' from the title, because to me this [is] crap." Robert Christgau , a longtime champion of the Clash in the US, offered only restrained praise in a Village Voice review that alluded to the negative word-of-mouth and summarised most of the album as "stubborn and jolly and elegiac and together". Music journalist Richard Cromelin found
8418-505: The double album London Calling , which Guy Stevens , a former A&R executive who had worked with Mott the Hoople and Traffic , produced. The double album was a mix of punk rock, reggae, ska, rockabilly and traditional rock and roll. It is regarded as one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded. In the US, the single " Train in Vain " became their first top-40 hit, peaking at number 23 on
8540-456: The drums are considered too low in the mix, and the shouted choruses have been described as resembling Adam and the Ants , its demo version is considered superior. The penultimate track "North and South" was written and sung by Sheppard. It features a simple guitar line and uncluttered production, and has often been highlighted as one of the album's strongest tracks. The album closer, "Life Is Wild",
8662-408: The duties for a time. Rhodes was watching Strummer, with whom he made exploratory contact; both Jones and Levene had seen Strummer perform and were impressed. In April, Strummer saw the Sex Pistols open for one of his band's gigs. Strummer later said: I knew something was up, so I went out in the crowd which was fairly sparse. And I saw the future—with a snotty handkerchief—right in front of me. It
8784-415: The establishment". Mark Perry , founder of the leading London punk periodical Sniffin' Glue wrote: "Punk died the day the Clash signed to CBS", but recanted when he first heard the single " White Riot ", saying: "They're the most important group in the world at the moment. I believe in them completely. All I said about them is crap." According to one of the band's associates the deal "was later used as
8906-590: The film so they had Better Badges make badges that said: "I don't want RUDE BOY Clash Film". On 27 February 1980, the film premiered at the 30th Berlin International Film Festival , where it won an honourable mention. The Clash had planned to record and release a single every month in 1980. CBS dismissed this idea and the band released only one single—an original reggae song called " Bankrobber ", in August. It featured Mikey Dread and reached number 12 in
9028-407: The garage, preferably with the motor still running". Strummer later credited Murray's comments with inspiring the Clash's song "Garageland" . In early September, Levene was fired from the Clash. According to Strummer, Levene's dwindling interest in the band was due to his use of speed , a point Levene denied. On 21 September 1976, the Clash performed publicly for the first time without Levene at
9150-480: The gig turned into a riot. The Sun reported the violence with the front-page headline "Punk Wreck". New Musical Express, while expressing serious concerns over the violence, said: "The Clash are probably the best band in the country right now". Strummer commented: "That was the night punk broke ... we were in the right place doing the right thing at the right time". That same month, CBS released " Remote Control " as The Clash 's second single, defying
9272-422: The group and the fact that he was grieving over the recent deaths of his parents. Joe Sasfy of The Washington Post wrote that the "revised version of the Clash sounds like a pale and ghostly facsimile of this once-great band"; he disliked the "[tiresome] garbled choruses" and he found that "Strummer's attempt to enliven them with horn charts creates an ungainly mess of a sound." Similarly, Richard Defendorf of
9394-472: The group to "bait their masters". The single peaked at number 28 on the UK chart and has been cited as one of punk's greatest singles. In October 1977, the Clash set out on the "Out of Control" UK tour. The tour was due to open at the Ulster Hall , Belfast but the insurance was pulled and the gig was cancelled at the last moment. This led to punks blocking the road outside the venue and a confrontation between
9516-404: The guitar overdubs have been considered unnecessary, given that Sheppard and White were both using Gibson Les Pauls and as such their sounds were tonally similar, and there was not significant variation in either their chord progressions or riffs . Rhodes may have felt the need to fill each channel on the 24-track mixing desk . Author Gary Jucha summed up the album as having been produced by
9638-512: The instigation of Rhodes, Jones contacted Simonon and suggested he learn an instrument so he could join the new band Jones was organising. Soon Jones, Simonon on bass, Keith Levene on guitar and "whoever we could find really to play the drums" were rehearsing. Chimes was asked to audition for the new band and was accepted but quit soon after. The band were still searching for a lead singer. According to Chimes, Billy Watts, who "seemed to be, like, nineteen or eighteen then, as we all were", handled
9760-408: The less successful of the new tunes". The guitar-based "Dirty Punk" is built from a basic three-chord structure reminiscent of the band's self-titled debut studio album . White believed it should have been the lead single and could have been a hit. Although generally well received, critics dismissed its synthetic drum sound as at odds with its back-to-basics sound. The track was written just after
9882-654: The line-up as "the Clash, Round Two", a phrase adopted by the press as "the Clash Mark ;II". They booked a short tour of the US West Coast, debuting new songs, which prompted Jones to boast to concert promoter Bill Graham that he was planning his own tour with Headon as "the Real Clash". Jones's lawyers had frozen the band's earnings from both the US Festival and sales of Combat Rock (1982). In response, Strummer wrote
10004-554: The live version was good enough to have appeared on any Clash album, and that Strummer had developed a real skill for writing mid-tempo songs. The track begins as a straightforward punk song with a simple ska bassline. Writer Mark Andersen described "Fingerpoppin'" and "Play to Win" as essentially B-side -quality songs that should have been excluded from the track listing. The latter is a sound collage which Popoff views as incoherent and basically "noise, bongos , and nonsensical fragmented conversations between Joe and Vince". Although
10126-426: The lyrics were criticised by Vulture , who described them as akin to " Mick Jagger 's '80s output, bland cliché for bland cliché." The rallying cry lyrics for "We Are the Clash" are sometimes seen as a defiant response to Jones's lawsuit. The album version differs substantially from both earlier live recordings and a 1983 demo. It is more polished, the lyrics have been changed in parts, the tempo has been slowed down,
10248-451: The magazine Melody Maker . After auditioning over 100 candidates, they eventually hired unknown musicians Nick Sheppard and Greg White . White took the pseudonym Vince after Simonon complained that he would prefer to quit than play in a band with someone named Greg. Both were given a weekly wage of £100 rather than recording contracts . Strummer had been the band's principal lyricist, while Jones had written their music. After Jones
10370-485: The material. Finally, given that Rhodes had so heavily revised the original songs and used so many samples and studio effects, he and Strummer disagreed on how the tracks should be played live. Strummer dissolved the band that October, giving each of the remaining members a thousand pounds each as severance payments . Howard told him, somewhat bitterly, that "this is where it got you" for following Bernie's lead—a statement to which he agreed. Under pressure from Epic to get
10492-404: The most-recognisable images and Q magazine later cited it as the "best rock 'n roll photograph of all time". During this period, The Clash began to be regularly billed as "The Only Band That Matters". Musician Gary Lucas , who was employed by CBS Records' creative services department, has said he coined the tagline. Fans and journalists soon widely adopted the epithet. At the end of 1979,
10614-473: The need for a backlash against racism and oppression. Joe Strummer said in 1976: "We're anti-fascist, we're anti-violence, we're anti-racist and we're pro-creative". Strummer also said: "I don't believe in all that anarchy bollocks!" According to the Clash guitarist Mick Jones : "The important thing is to encourage people to do things for themselves, think for themselves and stand up for what their rights are". A confrontation between Black youth and police at
10736-519: The opening track". Music critic Lennox Samuels wrote in 1985 that the song is "a messy mix of horns and a Pink Floyd -like voice-over". The album cut omits the live version's bridge , changes the drum pattern, and replaces most of the guitar parts with atonal synth lines. The music journalist Martin Popoff described the lyrics' depiction of a Central American authoritarian as "surprisingly flat and dead". The critic Mark Andersen described it as "one of
10858-510: The original wave of British punk rock . Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they used elements of reggae , dub , funk , ska , and rockabilly , and they contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that followed punk. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer , lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones , bassist Paul Simonon , and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon . The Clash achieved critical and commercial success in
10980-435: The past ... He wanted to take it forward, to control it, to mastermind the whole thing, and what they were doing was a bit too reminiscent of what it was". Disillusioned and lacking reinforcement or direction from Strummer, Howard seriously considered leaving the band at several points. Most of the Clash and the production team liked the football-style chants used in some of the choruses. They were in part inspired by
11102-443: The percussion, piano and bass on the track. It became the band's biggest US hit, charting at number eight while the album reached number two in the UK and number seven in the US. After the release of Combat Rock , the Clash began to disintegrate. In May 1982, Headon was asked to leave the band because his addiction caused reliability problems. Chimes was brought back to drum for the next few months. The band opened for The Who on
11224-585: The period in which the bands' material was recorded, drummer Jack Irons (formerly of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam ) was in residency at a mental institution. Therefore, Strummer had to arrange transportation and leave for Irons in order for him to participate in the bands' output. The band toured with Strummer on the Rock Against The Rich Tour in 1988 with friends in tow, including film director Alex Cox . Their sets included songs spanning Strummer's career to that point, including works from
11346-480: The project in part to prove that Jones hadn't been the Clash's only songwriter. Epic Records intended a tour shortly after the release, but there were practical issues that made this impossible. Foremost, Strummer was in Spain and refusing promote the record; he had even threatened to take legal action to prevent its release. After their treatment during the album's recording, White and Howard were reluctant to engage with
11468-468: The promotional lead up, Strummer told journalist Richard Cook that he was not going to release any new material until he knew it could "last ten years". Most critics and fans were disappointed on its release—especially with its sound and production values, and the omission of stand-out live tracks "In the Pouring Rain" and "Ammunition", usually titled "Jericho" in contemporary bootleg recordings . Cut
11590-462: The punks and the police, which became known as the "Battle of Bedford Street". In February 1978, the Clash released the single " Clash City Rockers "; and played the song live, along with " Tommy Gun ", on BBC television's youth show Something Else . On 30 April, the Clash played at Rock Against Racism in Victoria Park, London . Late 1970s England had seen an increase in racist attacks and
11712-484: The recording. The band's first single "White Riot" was released in March and peaked at number 34 in the UK Singles Chart . The album The Clash was released the following month and peaked at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart ; with lyrics criticising the ruling establishment, bosses and the police and addressing themes such as alienation and boredom. The Clash presaged the band's future works with their cover of
11834-412: The reggae song " Police and Thieves ". The band had been influenced by the subject matter, slogans and lyrics of reggae, which they often played in rehearsals but recording "Police and Thieves" was an important step that was only taken after a lot of discussion within the group. According to music journalist and former punk musician John Robb : "Amidst the Sex Pistols' inertia in the first half of 1977,
11956-423: The single "The Call Up" charted at number 40. In January 1980, Rhodes was reinstated as the band's manager and the single "Hitsville UK" reached number 54 in the UK Singles Chart while "The Magnificent Seven" charted at number 34, and the band spent most of the year touring. In December 1981, the Clash released " This Is Radio Clash " as a single; it charted at number 47 in the UK Singles Chart. In September 1981,
12078-530: The sleeve. Strummer and Rhodes disagreed on the direction of the recordings almost from the outset. Rhodes, credited on the sleeve under the pseudonym "Jose Unidos", had no previous experience with either songwriting or record production. While Strummer had been pleased with his demo versions, he fought against his manager over the album's production. Rhodes believed he had discovered a new genre, seeking to mix electro , hip hop and cut-up technique . He replaced live musicians with synthetic sounds and layered
12200-572: The song "We Are the Clash", which, along with "Three Card Trick", "Sex Mad Roar" and " This Is England ", was debuted during live appearances in January 1984. In all, the Clash Mark II had written around 20 new songs before entering the studio to record what became the band's final studio album. The album was recorded between January and February 1985, on a 24-track mixing desk in Weryton Studios, Unterföhring , outside Munich , Germany, with some parts recorded in London . Epic Records chose
12322-529: The song as the only successful track on Cut the Crap , writing that "the sound collage and the gentle, troubled synth lines undergird the song unerringly, and for once the group-shouted chorus, though still over-loud, conveys some wan meaning. This can't have been a good time for Strummer, and you can hear it in his voice, as he sings the fuck out of this." The production of the live favourite "Three Card Trick" has been praised as relatively uncluttered, although it does contain programmed hand-claps. Jucha said that
12444-406: The song's title, calling it "an outright lie" in light of the album's exclusion of both Jones and Headon. Music critic Tony Fletcher responded to the chant of "We Are the Clash" with the words "No you're not ... you're a pale imitation of Sham 69 at the disco". Clash biographer Chris Knowles disliked Rhodes's production but admired Strummer's songwriting, and considers the album version as
12566-481: The tense recording sessions, Clash manager Bernie Rhodes and Strummer fought each other for control over the band's songwriting and musical direction. Strummer and Rhodes co-wrote most of the songs. During production, Rhodes took charge of the arrangements , track sequencing and the final mix . His production choices, which rely heavily on Strummer's preference for synthetic drum sounds and Rhodes' own inclusion of sampling , were widely derided. One writer described
12688-423: The time for his opinion on the debut BAD album , Strummer described it as one of the "worst pieces of shit I have ever heard." In 1986, Strummer said that he had liked a few of the tunes but "really I hated it ... I didn't hear [the album as a whole] until it was in the shops." Strummer ultimately lost control of Cut the Crap to Rhodes, and became so disillusioned that at one point he asked Jones to rejoin
12810-511: The time the new "Mark II" line-up released Cut the Crap on 4 November 1985, they were an accomplished live band, and had written and performed several songs that would appear on the final studio album; a few had been live favourites. On the strength of their recent gigs, the UK press were optimistically waiting for the album's release. Epic Records anticipated that both the three-year gap since Combat Rock (1982) along with their updated sound, would result in critical acclaim and high sales. In
12932-473: The tracks with audio from TV programs. Fayne described Rhodes's treatment of Howard as "damaging". Rhodes would begin recording sessions by asking the drummer to play what he wanted, but would inevitably respond to Howard's parts by saying "no, not that", or "no, not that either". In one incident, Rhodes appeared in the recording room and began to "smash the drum kit up", at which point Howard stood up and left. Fayne said, "Bernie didn't want any connection with
13054-525: The way that you had to shed all your friends, or everything that you'd known, or every way that you'd played before. Strummer and Jones shared most of the writing duties; according to Jones: "Joe would give me the words and I would make a song out of them". The band sometimes met in the office over their Camden Town rehearsal studio. According to Strummer: "Bernie [Rhodes] would say, 'An issue, an issue. Don't write about love, write about what's affecting you, what's important." Jones's later said: "Bernie had
13176-408: The wishes of the band, who saw it as one of the album's weakest tracks. Headon's first recording with the band was the single " Complete Control ", which addresses the band's anger at their record label's behaviour. It was co-produced by reggae artist Lee "Scratch" Perry , though Foote was summoned to "ground things". The single was released in September 1977 and NME commented that CBS had allowed
13298-441: The worst line ever to appear on a Clash record". Fletcher called the lyric "excruciating" given that Strummer was then a successful rock star, but resigned himself with the observation "fortunately for [him] not enough people were listening to be truly offended." Apart from the lyrics, the song's drum programming has often been criticised as clunky, although the vocal melody has been praised. "This Is England" opens side two , and
13420-485: The year. Chimes, whose career aspirations owed little to the punk ethos, left the band again soon after the recording sessions. He later said: "The point was I wanted one kind of life and they wanted another and, like, why are we working together, if we want completely different things?" As a result, only Simonon, Jones and Strummer are featured on the album's cover, and Chimes was credited as "Tory Crimes". Strummer later said: "We must have tried every drummer that then had
13542-524: Was "like replacing a Maserati with a Matchbox ". Regretting the decision, Strummer later vowed to never use a drum machine again. The consensus among critics is that the album's production choices distract from otherwise strong songwriting by Strummer and Rhodes. Strummer's vocals are placed low in the mix, sometimes buried underneath electronic drums, synthetic keyboards and studio effects. The sound has often been described as muddy and cluttered due to multi-layered guitar tracks and backing vocals. Many of
13664-471: Was Johnny Rotten, and suggested they form a band together if the Pistols broke up. Hours after their debut, the Clash, most of the Sex Pistols and much of London's "inner circle" of punks attended a performance by New York City's leading punk rock band the Ramones at Dingwalls ; according to Strummer: "It can't be stressed how great the first Ramones album was to the scene ... It was the first word of Punk,
13786-511: Was fired, the band assumed that anyone could write a punk song. This proved to be a mistake and, unknown to members of the Clash, Rhodes had already conceived his own solution to Jones's departure—he would take control of the music. Strummer intended the second Clash line-up to encapsulate a back-to-basics approach to punk. The new musicians largely avoided the reggae -influenced style of their two previous studio albums, Sandinista! (1980) and Combat Rock (1982). Strummer began to refer to
13908-434: Was immediately clear. Pub rock was, "Hello, you bunch of drunks, I'm gonna play these boogies and I hope you like them." The Pistols came out that Tuesday evening and their attitude was, "Here's our tunes, and we couldn't give a flying fuck whether you like them or not. In fact, we're gonna play them even if you fucking hate them." On 30 May, Rhodes and Levene approached Strummer after a 101ers gig and invited him to meet up at
14030-487: Was just so nitpicking, such a contrast to the first album ... it ruined any spontaneity." Strummer said: "it wasn't our easiest session". The band dismissed their manager Bernie Rhodes and hired journalist Caroline Coon to replace him. The album Give 'Em Enough Rope was released in early November 1978, and received mixed reviews in the UK music press, where some reviewers complained about its relatively mainstream production style. The album reached number 2 in
14152-419: Was my stomach ... Now I feel free to think—and free to write down what I'm thinking about ... And look—I've been fucked about for so long I'm not going to suddenly turn into Rod Stewart just because I get £25.00 a week. I'm much too far gone for that, I tell you. Mickey Foote, who worked as a technician at the band's concerts, was hired to produce their debut album, and Terry Chimes was drafted back for
14274-504: Was particularly upset that people had thought the "Jose Unidos" pseudonym credited as a producer was him rather than Rhodes, and said "it wouldn't have been so bad if Bernie had just got the blame but that was unbearable." The album was cited by several contemporary reviewers as symptomatic of why punk rock had failed. Strummer said in 1988: "To someone who says I was ... 'the spokesman for your generation and you fucked it up', I say yeah, but we tried." He admitted that he had undertaken
14396-406: Was responsible for two of the group's biggest hits. On 13 August 1976, the Clash, wearing paint-spattered " Jackson Pollock " outfits, played in their Camden studio before a small, invitation-only audience, which included Sounds magazine critic Giovanni Dadamo , whose review described the band as a "runaway train ... so powerful, they're the first new group to come along who can really scare
14518-520: Was seen as adopting rock star posturing that lead vocalist Joe Strummer considered anathema to what the band stood for, and drummer Topper Headon had developed a heroin addiction which left him unreliable. After the band undertook rehearsals in London during June 1983, interpersonal tensions reemerged. The two principal songwriters no longer trusted each other, due to Jones's frequent absence from rehearsals and use of synthesizers. Both Jones and bassist Paul Simonon have said that they refused to sign
14640-421: Was sub-contracted to Eddie King and Jules Balme, the art director for Stiff Records , who had earlier overseen the covers for Sandinista! (1980) and Combat Rock (1982). It shows a punk, apparently King's brother, wearing a mohawk , black leather jacket and sunglasses—all markers of 1980s punk fashion . The image is rendered so that the portrait looks like a poster glued to a wall. A similar image appears on
14762-486: Was the quality and commercial potential of "This Is England", a song into which Rhodes allowed the musicians significant creative input. Rhodes suddenly ended the recordings and took the master tapes from the studio, after which he added further synthesizer parts. Although Jones's use of synthesizers and samplers was one of the main reasons behind his dismissal, those instruments brought him critical and public acclaim with his next band Big Audio Dynamite . When asked at
14884-493: Was well received by critics, but did not sell well. Led by Strummer, the band also contributed five songs to the soundtrack for the movie Permanent Record , which featured a young Keanu Reeves : "Trash City", "Baby the Trans", "Nothin' 'bout Nothin", "Nefertiti Rock", and the instrumental "Theme from Permanent Record". In a segment of the documentary film Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten , Anthony Kiedis mentions that during
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