Album: London Calling
Artist: The Clash
Born: London
Released: December 1979
Genre: Rock
Influenced: The Pogues, Minutemen, Sleater-Kinney, Stone Roses, The Libertines
Recorded in the summer of 1979 and released just before Christmas that year, London Calling definitely looks back to soul and rock & roll (see the Elvis Presley-inspired album cover) rather than forward to the 80s. I've always thought the album a little overrated, especially given its pretty weak side 3 and lack of coherence compared to other great 70s records, but I love it all the same. For what the Clash lost in terms of punk edginess they more than gained in terms of musicianship, range of styles and songwriting. This was undoubtedly the high point of the Mick Jones & Joe Strummer partnership, and also saw Paul Simonon emerge as a songsmith. Punk may have been a short-lived, London-centric phenomenon but the shockwaves it created led to a highly fertile period of musical creativity, especially in Britain. This filtering out effect is summed up brilliantly in the album's title track, with London calling to the faraway towns of the country to rise up; as John Peel so brilliantly discovered, post-punk was largely a regional phenomenon from Coventry (The Specials) to Glasgow (Orange Juice), Leeds (Gang of Four) to Manchester (The Fall).
So much has been written about this album that the only original thing I can think of is to write a short, single sentence impression about each song:
London Calling: Urgent intro, then Strummer howls about the coming Apocalypse on a track that sounds like the Kinks' Dead End Street updated with a new punk energy.
Brand New Cadillac: Cover of a 50s rockabilly track by Vince Taylor played with passion.
Jimmy Jazz: Tempo slows as Strummer tells the story of underworld figure Jimmy Jazz and then falls into incoherent scatting.
Hateful: Pretty clear anti-drugs message with a great melody and bleakly funny lyrics ("This year I've lost some friends / Some friends? What friends? / I dunno, I ain't even noticed").
Rudie Can't Fail: Always the best, most original punk interpreters of reggae, the Clash really nail this ode to Jamaican rude boys and Desmond Dekker's 007 (Shanty Town).
Spanish Bombs: Terrible Spanish accents, strange departure into power pop and confused political statement.
The Right Profile: Soulful brass section and rambling lyrics about an old film star, Montgomery Clift.
Lost In The Supermarket: Really like this, Mick Jones sings with a quiet intensity about suburban alienation and the dizzying feeling of being a young man in an increasingly commercialised world (it reminds me of this artwork).
Clampdown: Whoah, this is the sweet spot of the record for me, a great song sandwiched by two others that sees Strummer railing with youthful idealism against the capitalist clampdown ("It's the best years of your life they want to steal!")
Guns of Brixton: This is reminiscent of my favourite Clash song, White Man In Hammersmith Palais, as the band mixes reggae with weird pogo sounds and ominous lyrics about inner-city violence.
Wrong 'Em Boyo: Pretty forgettable cover of a ska song.
Death or Glory: Probably the pick of the side 3 tracks, love the opening bars that are reminiscent of the Undertones and the lyrics that reveal a maturity beyond empty sloganeering.
Koka Kola: Mercifully short diatribe against commercialism and a world saturated with advertising.
The Card Cheat: Quite an interesting departure for the band into Springsteen and 60s pop territory, as the band tell the story of a gambler tied up in deceit.
Lover's Rock: Terrible song about safe sex.
Four Horsemen: Another one I would drop if selecting a "best of" London Calling, definitely errs on the side of self-aggrandisement, with the band portraying themselves as harbingers of the punk apocalypse.
I'm Not Down: Definite nod to the Kinks in the guitar riff; really like the soulful flavour of this song as Jones sings about survival and defiance.
Revolution Rock: Another reggae-inspired track, like the joyous feel but it's far from the most memorable song on the record.
Train In Vain: The album ends on a real high with a song that references some blues (Robert Johnson) and soul (Ben E. King) greats, while updating that legacy with another brilliant vocal performance by Mick Jones.
Recorded in the summer of 1979 and released just before Christmas that year, London Calling definitely looks back to soul and rock & roll (see the Elvis Presley-inspired album cover) rather than forward to the 80s. I've always thought the album a little overrated, especially given its pretty weak side 3 and lack of coherence compared to other great 70s records, but I love it all the same. For what the Clash lost in terms of punk edginess they more than gained in terms of musicianship, range of styles and songwriting. This was undoubtedly the high point of the Mick Jones & Joe Strummer partnership, and also saw Paul Simonon emerge as a songsmith. Punk may have been a short-lived, London-centric phenomenon but the shockwaves it created led to a highly fertile period of musical creativity, especially in Britain. This filtering out effect is summed up brilliantly in the album's title track, with London calling to the faraway towns of the country to rise up; as John Peel so brilliantly discovered, post-punk was largely a regional phenomenon from Coventry (The Specials) to Glasgow (Orange Juice), Leeds (Gang of Four) to Manchester (The Fall).
So much has been written about this album that the only original thing I can think of is to write a short, single sentence impression about each song:
London Calling: Urgent intro, then Strummer howls about the coming Apocalypse on a track that sounds like the Kinks' Dead End Street updated with a new punk energy.
Brand New Cadillac: Cover of a 50s rockabilly track by Vince Taylor played with passion.
Jimmy Jazz: Tempo slows as Strummer tells the story of underworld figure Jimmy Jazz and then falls into incoherent scatting.
Hateful: Pretty clear anti-drugs message with a great melody and bleakly funny lyrics ("This year I've lost some friends / Some friends? What friends? / I dunno, I ain't even noticed").
Rudie Can't Fail: Always the best, most original punk interpreters of reggae, the Clash really nail this ode to Jamaican rude boys and Desmond Dekker's 007 (Shanty Town).
Spanish Bombs: Terrible Spanish accents, strange departure into power pop and confused political statement.
The Right Profile: Soulful brass section and rambling lyrics about an old film star, Montgomery Clift.
Lost In The Supermarket: Really like this, Mick Jones sings with a quiet intensity about suburban alienation and the dizzying feeling of being a young man in an increasingly commercialised world (it reminds me of this artwork).
Clampdown: Whoah, this is the sweet spot of the record for me, a great song sandwiched by two others that sees Strummer railing with youthful idealism against the capitalist clampdown ("It's the best years of your life they want to steal!")
Guns of Brixton: This is reminiscent of my favourite Clash song, White Man In Hammersmith Palais, as the band mixes reggae with weird pogo sounds and ominous lyrics about inner-city violence.
Wrong 'Em Boyo: Pretty forgettable cover of a ska song.
Death or Glory: Probably the pick of the side 3 tracks, love the opening bars that are reminiscent of the Undertones and the lyrics that reveal a maturity beyond empty sloganeering.
Koka Kola: Mercifully short diatribe against commercialism and a world saturated with advertising.
The Card Cheat: Quite an interesting departure for the band into Springsteen and 60s pop territory, as the band tell the story of a gambler tied up in deceit.
Lover's Rock: Terrible song about safe sex.
Four Horsemen: Another one I would drop if selecting a "best of" London Calling, definitely errs on the side of self-aggrandisement, with the band portraying themselves as harbingers of the punk apocalypse.
I'm Not Down: Definite nod to the Kinks in the guitar riff; really like the soulful flavour of this song as Jones sings about survival and defiance.
Revolution Rock: Another reggae-inspired track, like the joyous feel but it's far from the most memorable song on the record.
Train In Vain: The album ends on a real high with a song that references some blues (Robert Johnson) and soul (Ben E. King) greats, while updating that legacy with another brilliant vocal performance by Mick Jones.
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