The Clash
Profile
The Clash was a British punk rock group that existed from 1976 to 1985. One of the most critically lauded bands of their period, The Clash was noted for being musically far-reaching (they incorporated reggae, roots rock, and eventually many other music styles into their repertoire), for displaying a political and lyrical sophistication that distinguished them from most of their colleagues in the punk movement, and for uncommonly intense stage performances. They are considered as one of the most influential and best-known punk acts. Besides contemporary American punk outfits like Green Day, Blink 182 and The Offspring, which cite The Clash as a major influence, seminal alternative rock bands like U2, the Cure and R.E.M. borrow much from The Clash. The 1990s British music of the Britpop movement has also been influenced by The Clash -- via revolutionary looks and big, catchy hooks. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash [Apr 2005]Magnificent Dance and seventies club music
The fact that rock bands like The Clash , with their "Magnificent Dance" track got heavy rotation at Paradise Garage and Loft shows the openness of the late seventies black American music scene.Lipstick Traces
Just four years after Combat Rock, with "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" still firmly ensconced in the radio consciousness of the Western World, Greil Marcus went Hebdige one better. His book Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century used the punk events between 1976 and 1979 as the touchstone for his ambitious title. Lipstick Traces places the full weight of the history of the twentieth century intellectual avant-garde squarely on the shoulders of punk. For Hebdige, punk was emblematic of particular sociocultural moment in history; for Marcus, punk was emblematic of the nature of twentieth-century history itself. All of this scholarship romanticizes the idea of punk as a kind of living history that is not only historically interesting but necessary to subvert, from within, what is constructed as a creeping fascism of government in league with consumer culture. -- Greg Wahl in http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue02/features/roots1.htmLee Perry
In the Autumn of 1977 the Clash apparently teamed up with reggae producer Lee Perry. At Sarm East Studios they recorded Pressure Drop and Complete Control. The latter completely remixed by Mick Jones for the single. The B-side version of Pressure Drop was re-recorded again early 1979. Last Gang in Town / Marcus Gray pp321Punk Died
Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS", --Mark Perry in Sniffin' Glue fanzineArdent reggae devotees
Elvis and The Clash
Elvis Presley (1955) - Elvis Presley [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
London Calling (1979) - The Clash [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
London Calling, a double album released by The Clash in December, 1979, marked the band's critical and commercial breakthrough. Besides straightforward punk rock, it featured a much wider array of styles than the Clash's earlier albums, including American-style rockabilly and reggae works that resonated with the Ska movement in Britain (see 1979 in music). The album is considered a landmark by some, and tracks such as "Train in Vain", "Clampdown", and "London Calling" show up with regularity on rock stations to this day.
The title track alludes to the BBC World Service's station identification: "This is London calling...", that was used during World War II.
The cover features a photograph by Pennie Smith of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar, surrounded by typography that imitates Elvis Presley's debut album, Elvis Presley. The picture was later voted the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine, although ironically at the time Smith did not want the picture used as she did not feel it was technically a very good shot. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Calling [Apr 2005]
see also: spoof - parody - homage - plagiarism - Elvis Presley - The Clash
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