Album: The Clash
Artist: The Clash
Born: London
Released: April 1977
Genre: Punk Rock
Influenced: Billy Bragg, The Mekons, Rage Against The Machine, Blur, Arctic Monkeys
British pop seems to throw up musical stand-offs for each generation, from the Beatles & the Stones to Blur & Oasis. During Punk Rock Year Zero 1977, the Clash and the Sex Pistols were the two opposing musical forces. I'm sure punk rock was hugely exciting at the time, but like any pop craze (Britpop being a good example) distance and time help provide perspective, and it's pretty clear to me that it was clever PR rather than great music that helped British punk catch fire. Both the Clash and the Sex Pistols were malcontents moulded by marketing masterminds, Bernard Rhodes and Malcolm McLaren respectively. Also, the fact that punk rock was a London phenomenon was just as much to do with it being the base for major record labels as it was with any nihilistic rage in the capital's suburbs. That said, as much as punk gave voice to a new generation of women, it was also largely a South London phenomenon, with Sid Vicious (Lewisham), Paul Simonon (Brixton), Mark Perry (Deptford), Poly Styrene (Bromley), Siouxsie Sioux (Chislehurst) and Captain Sensible (Balham) among its prodigious punk progeny. This helped give the scene an unpretentious, unvarnished feel.
Perhaps punk's most lasting legacy is its DIY ethic. This allowed any young kid brave enough to pick up a guitar the courage to start a band, with Sid Vicious the prime example of someone with little or no musical talent making it to the top. This is my main issue with the Pistols, once you strip the band of its political context the playing just isn't that good. John Lydon's follow-up project, Public Image Ltd, was far more interesting musically than the Pistols. I also think the Clash were a much more engaging band when they shook off the garage rock template and started experimenting with different musical styles. All that said, I would still take the Clash's first record over any other punk rock album.
If the clip above demonstrates anything, it's that there was a huge appetite among the young for something different, exciting and now. What the clip doesn't show so well is that the Clash, compared to many of their punk peers, could actually play. The poor production and primitive song structures on this record were a ploy to make them sound edgy and on album opener Janie Jones, they encapsulate perfectly the simmering boredom of the working class stuck in crap jobs. I'm So Bored With The USA became another punk anthem, chiming with public distaste about the creeping Americanisation of British culture. White Riot articulates the Clash's left-wing politics, referencing the London race riots and calling on white kids to ditch education and show the same bravery by fighting the powers that be ("are you taking over / or are you taking orders?"). Career Opportunities voices frustration at high levels of unemployment and London's Burning is another call to arms to the capital's bored youth. Police & Thieves also showed the influence of reggae on the band's sound, a style they would explore in greater depth on later records and the brilliant 1978 single, (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais.
British pop seems to throw up musical stand-offs for each generation, from the Beatles & the Stones to Blur & Oasis. During Punk Rock Year Zero 1977, the Clash and the Sex Pistols were the two opposing musical forces. I'm sure punk rock was hugely exciting at the time, but like any pop craze (Britpop being a good example) distance and time help provide perspective, and it's pretty clear to me that it was clever PR rather than great music that helped British punk catch fire. Both the Clash and the Sex Pistols were malcontents moulded by marketing masterminds, Bernard Rhodes and Malcolm McLaren respectively. Also, the fact that punk rock was a London phenomenon was just as much to do with it being the base for major record labels as it was with any nihilistic rage in the capital's suburbs. That said, as much as punk gave voice to a new generation of women, it was also largely a South London phenomenon, with Sid Vicious (Lewisham), Paul Simonon (Brixton), Mark Perry (Deptford), Poly Styrene (Bromley), Siouxsie Sioux (Chislehurst) and Captain Sensible (Balham) among its prodigious punk progeny. This helped give the scene an unpretentious, unvarnished feel.
Perhaps punk's most lasting legacy is its DIY ethic. This allowed any young kid brave enough to pick up a guitar the courage to start a band, with Sid Vicious the prime example of someone with little or no musical talent making it to the top. This is my main issue with the Pistols, once you strip the band of its political context the playing just isn't that good. John Lydon's follow-up project, Public Image Ltd, was far more interesting musically than the Pistols. I also think the Clash were a much more engaging band when they shook off the garage rock template and started experimenting with different musical styles. All that said, I would still take the Clash's first record over any other punk rock album.
If the clip above demonstrates anything, it's that there was a huge appetite among the young for something different, exciting and now. What the clip doesn't show so well is that the Clash, compared to many of their punk peers, could actually play. The poor production and primitive song structures on this record were a ploy to make them sound edgy and on album opener Janie Jones, they encapsulate perfectly the simmering boredom of the working class stuck in crap jobs. I'm So Bored With The USA became another punk anthem, chiming with public distaste about the creeping Americanisation of British culture. White Riot articulates the Clash's left-wing politics, referencing the London race riots and calling on white kids to ditch education and show the same bravery by fighting the powers that be ("are you taking over / or are you taking orders?"). Career Opportunities voices frustration at high levels of unemployment and London's Burning is another call to arms to the capital's bored youth. Police & Thieves also showed the influence of reggae on the band's sound, a style they would explore in greater depth on later records and the brilliant 1978 single, (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais.
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