If the old adage of life beginning at forty applies to art as well as people, then The Clash double album ‘LONDON CALLING‘ (this month marking forty years since its December 1979 release), will be starting over as one of the most ambitious and enthralling rock records ever made – a second coming for the last word in how compelling and creative popular music can be.
Too young to appreciate the cultural impact of say ‘Rubber Soul‘ or ‘Let It Bleed,’ at the age of 19 there was no way I could miss the seismic significance of ‘London Calling.’
Having spent the previous two years enthralled by the inspirational audacity of The Clash, their passion and purpose – matched to the emotive lyrics of rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer – set them not only as a punk rock band apart, but a group who held territory no other could find, let alone occupy.
Hence their totemic, self-titled first album (1977) with its themes of boredom and inner-city alienation still receives the SAMTIMONIOUS.com vote for greatest debut LP ever recorded.
With their second album ‘Give ‘Em Enough Rope‘ (November 1978), Strummer, along with song writing partner and guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer ‘Topper’ Headon, conjured another thought provoking, often highly-politicised work.
It lacked the overall consistency of its predecessor but added four more outstanding songs to an already breath-taking body of work – which by now included the incomparable punk/reggae single ‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais.’
When touring the US in early 1979, The Clash chose an eclectic set of opening acts ranging from raw country-rocker Joe Ely to R&B stalwart Bo Diddley to rockabilly act The Cramps – artists whose sounds and approach would add to the established Strummer/Jones set of Who/Mott the Hoople influences they had so far infused with reggae stylings.
With a third LP imminent, word began spreading through the UK music press, a Clash double album, varied in content and extravagant in scope was on the verge of release – yet when it appeared few were prepared for the embarrassment of riches ‘London Calling‘ would contain.
Given their punk origins and role as its standard bearers, it quickly became apparent ‘London Calling‘ was not a punk rock album at all. Yes, there are moments when their trademark ferocity (brilliantly captured by producer Guy Stevens) is evident – but through sixty-five minutes of glorious invention The Clash weave overtones of reggae, jazz, R&B, jazz, calypso and rockabilly into a seamless, cohesive whole.
Indeed, from front cover lettering reminiscent of Elvis Presley’s debut album to the revved-up take of ‘Brand New Cadillac,’ a 1959 hit for Vince Taylor (performed with late-50s twang but heightened tension), there are times when ‘London Calling‘ is closer to punk rock ‘n’ roll than punk rock – and that’s before factoring the quiff in Joe Strummer’s haircut.
In creating a masterpiece, The Clash also achieved perfection in timing. Released seven months after the UK elected Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister, the sharp switch to the right in British politics was anathema, not to say affront, to the socialist principles The Clash had espoused from day one.
With an internal battle underway for the soul and direction of the Labour Party – making the 40th anniversary of ‘London Calling‘ even more telling – Conservative hegemony had free rein.
When Strummer howls ‘What are we gonna do now‘ at the start of ‘Working for the Clampdown,’ a brilliantly drawn observation of the political landscape that begins in despair but ends with defiance, his question harks back to the May night when Thatcher was elected.
Two years earlier with ‘London’s Burning,’ The Clash had ranted on behalf of disaffected urban youth.
But now, less than three years later, in focusing their anxieties once more on the capital, the city was not on fire but drowning – the ‘London Calling‘ title track a pounding proclamation of distress that evokes a frightening world of nuclear errors, brutal law enforcement, right wing power brokers, crops failing, the planet facing imminent meltdown.
In the accompanying video, The Clash are filmed in winter darkness being lashed by rain in the shadow of Big Ben, the fast-flowing Thames an ominous backdrop in giving further nuance to the line:
‘London is drowning and I live by the river.’
In less than three and a half minutes The Clash not only set the bar incredibly high, but through the fusion of urgent guitars, rumbling bass and whiplash drums they have also created an opening album track that for company only has ‘Baba O’Riley‘ as a comparable statement of intent.
After giving his reasons for the earth being on notice, Strummer asks that we give him a smile, only for ‘London Calling‘ to end with ‘SOS’ in Morse code – the present decade, just like the 60s, ending with a bad moon on the rise.
Throughout the first two years of their existence, Clash songs tended to be written from a first-person perspective with the group often used by Strummer in his lyrics as a point of reference (‘Complete Control,’ ‘Clash City Rockers,’ ‘The Last Gang in Town‘). This had given rise to accusations of them being too willing to self-mythologise – but on ‘London Calling,’ as if to counter such criticisms, Strummer for the most part creates characters in order to make his point.
‘Hateful‘ explores the relationship between drug user and dealer, the disgust of the addict at his weakness almost lost in the rowdy chorus, hand claps and jive-styled beat. On ‘Rudy Can’t Fail‘ where the protagonist is a put upon, but down at heel cavalier (‘first they curse, then they press me till I hurt‘), the horn section is set against the foreground sound of The Clash giving ‘Not Fade Away‘ a Caribbean twist, reggae coming as naturally to them as rock.
After depicting an ‘English Civil War‘ on the previous album, Strummer turns his attention to the internal conflict that ravaged Spain during the 30s on ‘Spanish Bombs.’ Drawing allusions between Republican militias of the time and present-day terrorist groups, no other lyricist was tackling such subject matter.
This anthemic, riveting song – the most old-school Clash piece on the record – moved at least one listener to investigate why the Spanish Civil War came about, Strummer stressing the importance of what can be learnt from these events, but the need to draw personal conclusions.
The same can be said for ‘The Right Profile‘ a homage to the late American actor Montgomery Clift, the wailing horns a forerunner of the relaxed soul sound soon to be popularised by Dexys Midnight Runners.
The only drawback in showing such eagerness to evolve, both musically and lyrically, being that in December 1979 The Clash were in danger of outrunning their audience. For example, the Paul Simonon composition ‘The Guns of Brixton‘ was similar in theme to their barnstorming ‘I Fought the Law‘ hit of earlier in the year, but different in just about every other respect.
With justifiable claim to being the earliest example of UK dub music, it is leaden with doom in prophesising the riots that would the ravage the South London neighbourhood of the title soon after – foreshadowing the degradation The Specials would articulate in ‘Ghost Town‘ eighteen months later.
‘Koka Kola‘ was a take on how consumerism had resulted in the public being sold politicians in the same way as household products, with echoes of Mott the Hoople also evident on ‘Lover’s Rock‘, where Jones’s lead guitar work is even more exemplary.
The power-chords and crunching drums of ‘Four Horsemen‘ sound reminiscent of The Who’s ‘Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,’ and if looking for the origins of ‘The Card Cheat‘ they would surely be found in the evocative piano work Bruce Springsteen had used to such great effect on ‘Born to Run.’
When the lyrics do turn introspective, Jones comes up with some stunning lines for ‘Lost in the Supermarket‘ which moves from childhood drama to adult conformity:
‘I wasn’t born so much as I fell out/Nobody seemed to notice me/We had a hedge back home in the suburbs/Over which I never could see.’
At first glance ‘Death or Glory‘ looks a terrible name for a Clash track, a song-title more associated with an outfit taken to slavishly flogging heavy metal – but Strummer defies any negative connotations with a superbly crafted lyric that is biting and funny in equal measure.
Based on the notion that in the final analysis most rebels end up compromising, at the time of release the lines that end verse two were the most eye-catching (‘But I believe in this and it’s been tested by research/He who fucks nuns will later join the church,’) to be found on the ‘London Calling‘ inner sleeves.
They have been routinely quoted in most ‘forty years on‘ appraisals of the album, but just as potent are ones that proceed it, (‘Every gimmick hungry yob digging gold from rock ‘n’ roll/Grabs the mike to tell us he’ll die before he’s sold,’) words that now bring to mind the string of sterile pomp-rock bands who would dominate the 80s – most of whom could write the same power-pop chord progressions of ‘Death or Glory‘ but could not get within a million miles of the wit and originality of the lyric.
Aside from ‘Brand New Cadillac‘ the two other cover versions are ‘Wrong ‘Em Boyo,’ an enjoyable run through of a reggae hit for Jamaican band The Rulers, The Clash decorating it with approximations closer to Battersea than Bridgetown (and thus giving Madness a nod), the last being ‘Revolution Rock‘ – that according to the original sleeve is the eighteenth and final track.
Originally recorded by Danny Ray and The Revolutioneers the previous year, this delicious Ska-infused celebration makes a joyous reference to ‘No Woman No Cry‘ (‘Everything gonna be alright,’) in ending proceedings on an optimistic note – Strummer using the closing seconds to merrily declare: ‘El Clash combo…. weddings, parties, anything and bongo jams a specialty.’
Having spent the previous hour entranced, back in December 1979 I rose from the chair to take side four off the record player, only to be stopped in my tracks halfway across the bedroom floor when thumping drums and ringing guitars burst forth from the speakers – the unmistakable voice of Mick Jones delivering a song that sounded like it was called ‘Stand By Me.’
Studiously checking the sleeve and rotating vinyl there was no trace of this extra track anywhere, so flushed with excitement telephoned a friend in order to gleefully explain that somehow I had obtained a copy of ‘London Calling‘ where the tape had been left running – this oversight in pressing finding its way to a small town in England.
Suffice to say, all this time later I have yet to live that conversation down, being still referred to now whenever The Clash are discussed, laughter at my naivety always forthcoming when the magnificent ‘Train in Vain‘ is heard – an eleventh-hour addition to the track listing, it arrived too late to be printed on the back cover.
In the forty years to have elapsed since, I have listened to a great deal of rock music, the journey taking me deep into the compelling back catalogues of Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison, developing long-standing respect for Jackson Browne, constantly fascinated by Dylan, endlessly enthralled by Marvin Gaye, The Beatles and the Stones, steadfast in my admiration of The Who and The Kinks – but nobody has moved me in quite the same way as The Clash.
It feels a touch predictable typing out the time-honoured Clash-fanatic mantra of them being ‘the only band that matters‘ but in their idealism and the righteous spirit in which they communicated, The Clash were bold, captivating and utterly convincing.
The passage of time has brought realisation not everything The Clash did was great, yet as the decades roll on my admiration of them, if anything, has increased – the ambition and audaciousness that informs their most inspired work still capable of inducing awe.
True, there were times when their politics and non-conformist ideology could come across as heavy-handed, but that is far out-weighed by incredible verve and creativity – which is why, in nigh-on forty-five years of taking a serious interest in popular music, I have no hesitation in naming ‘London Calling‘ as the greatest album made during that time.
Released January 1980 in the United States, Rolling Stone magazine placed it number one on a list of the best albums made during that decade – although its lasting legacy is seen more in clothing emblazoned with the ‘London Calling‘ cover.
The image of Paul Simonon smashing his bass into the stage is often seen on tee-shirts of teenagers, youths unlikely to have been born when Joe Strummer sadly passed away in December 2002.
In recent weeks the UK General Election campaign saw Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson wax lyrical on how great The Clash were – presumably the foppish, Old Etonian is unaware that on the first album drummer Terry Chimes is named as ‘Tory Crimes‘ or listened to the political gist of ‘Working For The Clampdown,’ which if little else would have offered guidance on how to string coherent sentences together.
‘What are we gonna do now,’ indeed.
No matter. ‘London Calling‘ remains, unlike Johnson, a thrilling and absorbing listen, forever making good on its intentions to exhilarate, inform and stimulate.
All back here then in ten years time for its fiftieth.
THE CLASH – ‘LONDON CALLING‘ (Released in the UK on December 14 1979):
London Calling/Brand New Cadillac/Jimmy Jazz/Hateful/Rudie Can’t Fail/Spanish Bombs/The Right Profile/Lost in the Supermarket/Clampdown/The Guns of Brixton/Wrong ‘Em Boyo’/Death or Glory/Koka Kola/The Card Cheat/Lover’s Rock/Four Horsemen/I’m Not Down/Revolution Rock/Train in Vain;
This article was first published on 20/12/2019.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.