Music Festival News

Whilst they were by no means the first British Punk rock band (that accolade should probably go to Messrs Rotten, Vicious and co), The Clash, in the end, came to exemplify UK punk. With many other acts of the same era, the fury and vitriol was empty, a rebellion against everything; The Clash were political, idealistic, and, perhaps, most significant of all to their fortunes, they knew how to write a great pop song.

By the autumn of 1979, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon were hard at work on what would become their Magnum Opus. For what is perhaps the definitive record of the London punk scene, London Calling had a strangely backwards-looking birth. Following on from the raw, primal ‘now’ snarl of their debut, The Clash, and the larger-sounding, more polished, yet still incredibly powerful sophomore effort Give ‘em Enough Rope, double-LP London Calling’s bizarre yet infectious fusion of punk, 60’s-style pop, R&B, reggae, ska, rockabilly, jazz and lounge music marked a massive leap forward, in both the sound and the quality of songwriting, for The Clash, and rock music as a whole.

The summer prior to the conception of London Calling, The Clash had embarked on their second US tour, in fact the second that year, along with Mickey Gallagher, one of The Blockheads, as keyboardist. But the addition of a keyboard player was nothing on the support acts the band also took with them; names included R&B legends Bo Diddley and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Country singer Joe Ely. It seemed that the sneering modernist punks had become captivated by ‘classic’ Rock ‘n’ Roll, a fascination which was evident on hearing the array of styles present on their third LP, which came out that December.

The album also become punk’s first double-LP, and in a stroke of genius, it sold for the price of one. This, however, was only achieved by tricking Epic Records; The Clash asked execs if they could include a free 12” single with the record. The label agreed, and the band decided they would make the second disc a full length album. Sticking two fingers up to the company that released their records; evidently, the old Clash were still in there somewhere.

But to the music. Like many punk musicians, The Clash wanted to change the world, and London Calling is their most overtly political release. The title track (incidentally, London Calling is the only Clash release with a title track) deals with the horrors of nuclear war and the climate of fear that existed at the time, whilst also tackling the band’s debt-ridden situation, Spanish Bombs tackles the Spanish Civil War, in which the fascists under Franco were ultimately victorious, Clampdown was a vicious attack on Nazism, Capitalism and a lack of liberty in general (‘the men in the factory are old and cunning/You don’t owe nothing, so boy get running!’), and the heavily reggae-infused The Guns of Brixton depict the distinctively African culture of the area, and the growing discontent among its residents.

The style of the music, whilst heavier lyrically, is easier-going on the ears than previous releases. The addition of brass and keyboards gives the album a livelier, more upbeat feel, whilst the addition of less harsh, more pop-orientated numbers such as Lost in the Supermarket (about struggling to deal with the commercialisation of the world), Lover’s Rock (an ode to The Pill) and number 4 single and hidden track Train in Vain, released the following February, and quickly becoming the band’s highest charting release so far, although it is alleged that releasing such a mainstream pop song may well have been the start of the rift between Strummer and Jones that would later tear the band apart.

Preceded by the single release of the apocalyptic title track, which went to number 11 on the charts, London Calling hit the shelves on the 14^th December, 1979. The sleeve, its green and pink typography clearly influenced by Elvis Presley’s debut, featured a now-iconic black and white photo of bassist Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar, Who-style, against the stage, on the second US tour in 1979. The broken remains of the guitar now sit permanently in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

In the UK the album charted at number 9, and reached number 27 in the US. The album regularly makes ‘greatest albums of all time’-style lists; making number 1 on Rolling Stone’s greatest albums of the 1980s, and number 8 on their greatest albums of all time. Q Magazine also placed it at the 32^nd greatest album ever made, and the 4^th greatest British album.

Usually, when a band emerges from an underground musical movement, and successfully goes on to commercial success and ‘goes mainstream’, they are met with howls of protest, the artists being accused of ‘selling out’, and usually a loss of much of their formerly core audience.

London calling was The Clash’s breakthrough record in terms of commercial success, but the howls never came. That’s because London Calling is a remarkable record that successfully managed to juggle a newfound musicianship, diversity and ear for melody, without compromising anything The Clash stood for. And that, in itself, is a very, very rare thing.