Because I was given a blog for some reason, I have an uncontrollable urge to make content for it. Even if most of it is talking out of my ass. So I’ve decided to do this thing where I talk a bit about a really great album you’ve probably heard of, then post links to videos and playlists so you can hear what I’m talking about.
A lot of pretty intense political things were happening in 1980. Britain was beginning to roil and chafe under Margaret Thatcher‘s iron womanhood. In Canada, we re-elected Pierre Trudeau, giving centre-left government a swan song before swerving right with the rest of Western Anglo democracy. The U.S. won a gold medal in ice hockey at the Olympics while just revolutionized Iran continued to destroy Jimmy Carter‘s domestic popularity. But also significant for the States was the January release of one of the most diverse and ambitious punk records ever: The Clash’s, London Calling.
The Clash: Live At The Capitol Theatre - 3/8/1980 – London Calling
The third full-length from Joe Strummer & Co. was and is one of those benchmark albums not just for a specific band but for an entire genre. A double LP, it was built off of a solid foundation, The Clash’s previous records of straight up first-wave Brit Punk. While the group’s first releases had been relatively straightforward punk songs done from the perspective of white, working class Brits, London Calling expanded immensely on this framework into something more representative of political and social struggle in general. Songs like Guns of Brixton and Rudie Can’t Fail dealt with the issues of Afro-Caribbean community in England (a far cry from the Clash’s first single White Riot); others, like Death or Glory, tread the familiar territory of working-class British malaise.
The Clash – Guns of Brixton
The Clash – Death or Glory
Untypical, however, was the musical direction taken on the album. This wasn’t the first time that Punk Rock had merged with sounds like Dub, Reggae (See: The Specials) or Rockabilly (See: X), nor was it the poppiest example of the genre at the time (See: Stiff Little Fingers). The combination of these influences filtered through Joe Strummer and Mick Jones’ minds, however, resulted in an amazingly potent combination that broke through the wall that had been erected between the underground and the popular music scene. Some people could read that as The Clash “selling out” and paving the way for further usurpation of rad music by the ravenous industry. But in reality, selling out’s what The Sex Pistols set out to do from Day 1. Punk’s not dead, it’s just always been a zombie. And there is some pretty damn fine voodoo on this record. If you’ve for some reason never heard London Calling all the way through, take an hour and revel in it.
Words by: Andrew Tape
