The Clash Album: “London Calling”

The album that changed my life. In 1980 I was 17 years old living in Seattle--a total 70s rocker when I saw London Calling in Tower Records. It had the coolest cover I had ever seen--a black and white photo of Paul Simonon smashing his bass on stage. Something just clicked in my brain and instead of buying the latest Aerosmith album, I bought London Calling and at first the Clash were a total shock to my Led Zeppelin soaked system. Now in 1980, American rock radio consisted of songs that consisted of a really cool guitar intro, 1rst verse, chorus, 2nd verse, chorus, a really bitchin solo by Jimmy Page, Michael Schenker, or Ted Nugent, the 3rd verse, and the chorus. Usually the song was about partying, chicks (and sex), or enchanted forests and castles and such and if the song didnt sound like this we hated it. And here in my innocent hands was a record about revolutions, fascists, junkies, race riots, nuclear destruction, gangsters, rude boys, suburban alienation, consumerism, and Montgomery Clift for Gods sake! And all of this was played in all different styles--ferocious punk with snarling vocals, rockabilly, jazz, ska, and reggae. It totally blew away my perception of what rock music was supposed to be. (I became more aware of the world and what was happening politically thanks to the Clash)

This is one of those rare records that never lets up from beginning to end and is truly packed with with some of the Clash's greatest songs. Their cover of "Brand New Cadillac" is just smokin rockabilly, "Rudie Can't Fail" is irresistable reggae rock, "Clampdown" is just pure Clash style punk with angry lyrics and a thumping rhythm, "The Guns of Brixton" features Paul Simonon's bass as the lead instrument (and his vocal) and the result is a very cool reggae number about racial violence, "Wrong Em Boyo" reworks the old song "Stagger Lee" into a catchy ska workout.

There is also the ultimate Clash song, "Death Or Glory", which is a culmination of everything the Clash are. It is a kind of merging of their early punk thrash with the more sophisticated arrangements they were growing into at this point. About a gangster trying to settle down it opens with Joe Strummer's raspy voice singing, "Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the world and ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl" Rock and Roll doesn't get any cooler than this.

London Calling is a band brimming with confidence--they can do anything--a band at its absolute peak. This is essential for anyone who loves rock and roll and has a sense of history, of where influential music was created.

"When phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust..." cries Joe Strummer from the opening track "London Calling". I don't know about the U.S., but here in the UK we ARE drowning from the tenth-rate phoney Beatle-worshipping Oasis. How we deserve it! The Clash were knocked by us from the moment they arrived. It's only in retropsect that we realise that there will probably never be a band like this again. And never an album of this quality. Every track is brilliant. Why? Because the guys who made it were fundamentely cool, calm and collected. They could rock. They had funk and flavor because they absorbed reggae, jazz and dub. The lyrics are intelligent but not dull. The guitar work on this album showed how talented Mick Jones is as a songwriter, but he didn't have to add layer-upon-layer of gloss to prove his worth. Most of all, the Clash knew how to present an album, present an idea, present themselves. Take most every band and they lack in some crucial department. Take the Clash apart and they still stand up. This is an outstounding album. Trust me. All we have now on offer is watered-down weak-willed wannabes. London Calling - don't have no fear.

You'd have to have a hard heart to deny Joe's ex and Mick and Paul one last payday. I remember buying this record in September of 1980; two records for a list price of $7.98, a year later they'd release Sandinista (three LPs!) and list it at $9.98. This at the same time that Columbia was asking $11.98 for Bruce Springsteen's two-LP The River and $14.98 for The Wall. Joe always had a keen sense of the thin wallets in the pockets of his fan base.

I remember bringing this record back to my dorm (fall of my freshman year) and dropping the needle on Side 1. It didn't matter who you played it for -- skinny-tie new wavers, heavy metal freaks (this was the year of AC/DC), Jefferson Starship fans, CSN fans -- no one could deny the genius of it. I wore out all four sides in this order -- Side 1, Side 3 (Elevator! Goin up!), Side 4, Side 2. These days you can have all 4 sides (no flipping, no wear!) for $10.98. It's still the best bargain in rock history.

Or you can have this thing for $26.98 (hey! down to $24.98!). There's nothing essential on the Vanilla Tapes, though I'm still glad to own it. The DVD, like all such "making-of" endeavors, is best avoided. The full-size fold-out lyric sheet is welcome. Whoever decided to illustrate the broadside interior and several pages of the booklet with generic 50s "sock-hop" clip-art should meet the same fate as the Card Cheat. But all in all, it's a generous tribute to a band that was once "the only band that matters."

It's not the best album of all time. It's not the best album of the decade (either the 70's or 80's, depending on which country you're in - the LP was released in December '79 in the UK and January '80 in the US), perhaps. Heck, some punkers would even claim that it's not even the best album The Clash ever released, instead choosing the speedy burst of bile that was their debut.

Nevertheless, whenever somebody asks me to recommend an album that will change their musical world and broaden their horizons, I don't even have to think twice before I pretty much beg them to get this one. Let me make this absolutely clear: if you don't have London Calling already, run, do NOT walk to the nearest CD store, be it online or real-world, and buy this. If you don't have enough money, then sell a kidney. It's really that good. Even my 57-year old father loves it - now THAT'S cross-generational appeal. Don't be scared by the fact that The Clash are supposed to be a mean 'n' nasty "punk" combo; that was really only true for their first (and part of their second) album.

Because cripes! Who would have thought that the same four guys who did the sometimes faceless Give `Em Enough Rope could come up with THIS? With London Calling The Clash mysteriously mutated into the most versatile band of their generation - this is no longer stereotypically "punk" music. It's an amazingly well-produced (by infamous loon Guy Stevens, who also worked with Mott The Hoople) set of pop & punk & soul & reggae & rock & lounge & ska & whatever numbers that's easily one of the finest double albums ever made. All this from an ostensibly simple "punk" band, no less.

And in truth, the key difference between this album and the ones that preceded it is spiritual: no longer are they So Bored With The U.S.A. Here The Clash acknowledge a fascination with American rock `n' roll and culture, from Elvis on up to poor Montgomery Clift, and it transforms them. What remains unchanged, however, is their lyrical vision: London Calling is populated with junkies, gamblers, murderers, rude boys, punks, and outlaw figures ranging from card cheats to Clift, all set on the horizon of impending nuclear war. And yet this cast is sympathetic and integrated into the basic humanity of The Clash's vision: for every knock they make on cocaine snorting suits ("Koka Kola") there's an expression of solidarity with the underclass and their struggle for and against respectability ("Rudie Can't Fail," "Death And Glory"). Their lyrics have never been more mature or subtle, either. Is "Clampdown" a polemic against the rise of neo-Fascism in England? Or a parable of the inevitable soul-crushing plight of the factory worker? Or are they both "working for the clampdown" in the end? Similarly, "Death Or Glory," while musically one of the simplest three-chord rockers on the album (and one of the best they ever did, mind you), sends two contradictory messages: is "death or glory/just another story?" Then why do Strummer and Jones insist at the end that they're "going to run a long time, going to fight forever, fight till you lose?"

Ah, forget it. Love the album for its music, which is as uplifting as any I've ever encountered. I mean, "London Calling" isn't the happiest song ever written, and Simonon's "The Guns Of Brixton," is similarly take-no-prisoners, but otherwise this album is a musical celebration, whether it's lyrically dejected but musically happy "Train In Vain" or the sadly upbeat "Lost In The Supermarket." Or the impressionistic masterpiece "Spanish Bombs," written about the romanticization of the Spanish Civil War of all things. (How's THAT for creative songwriting inspiration?) And nothing so encapsulates rock's potential to lift us up out of our doldrums as the survivor's shout of triumph which is "I'm Not Down."

There are a couple of throwaways on this album (the minor-key "Jimmy Jazz," the Stagger Lee update of "Wrong 'Em Boyo," the preachiness of "Lover's Rock") but such is the quality of even these minor pieces that they mesh seamlessly with the whole, creating nothing less than one of truly indispensable albums of the last 40 years. As I said, it's not the best album of all time, but it certainly ranks with the heavyweights. I have no qualms about placing London Calling among the company of the best of The Beatles, Stones, Dylan, and the Who. And neither should you.

Jack Black spouts this in the recent film, 'School of Rock', as he sees school kids taking over a bus, and it's funny to many people, but some may scratch their heads. Why? Simply because the image of punk rock today is so distorted. It's albums like this where you really see how trashed the name punk became and what the hell IS punk rock.

'London Calling' is a vertebrae for all that is different in the genre so aptly labeled, punk. It has a melodic rock sound, it has reggae/rhythmic vibes, and it's definitely not the same each time around. Strummer Inc. made something that was basically a road sign that took you off the main highway. From the title track forward, the album is a raw slam with lessons and literature.

From 'Guns of Brixton' to 'Rudie Can't Fail', I mean, where do you not see difference? When everyone mentions punk and the godfathers behind it, they never mention Bowie, The Who, or even Cash, they always mention the now brothers and siblings of punk, Ramones and Sex Pistols. What makes The Clash so different from them is that this isn't the usual taste of punk, it's rock and roll daring to be different...which is what punk is in general. If everyone's wearing greasy hair, the kid with the hat is more punk rock than the bar chords of today.

See that's why 'London Calling' is so exceptional. It's such a farce in today's standards that punk rock is the ridiculous truckers' hats sideways and the shorts all mocked up;in actuality it's a fad that everyone does, contradicting what it is! It's laughable if you know where I'm coming from. In conclusion, punk rock is rare...and it's certainly not what it's called today. You want originality, theory, and difference? 'London Calling' is, no pun intended, your calling.

Exceptional is an understatement.