The Clash - Live At Shea Stadium

By the time they stepped on stage at New York’s Shea Stadium on October 13, 1982, the Clash had fulfilled all of their recklessly wild ambitions. Landmark albums ‘The Clash’, ‘London Calling’ and ‘Sandinista!’ had not only changed the face of music and the perception of punk’s possibilities, but they had also set new benchmarks for musical courage that challenged other artists to follow. They had even broken into the US Top 40, something they had been trying not very hard to do for years. However, their implosion was imminent. Drummer Topper Headon had been fired for heroin addiction, replaced by Terry Chimes. Within eleven months, lead guitarist and genius arranger Mick Jones would be fired as well, leaving the embarrassing ‘Cut The Crap’ to be recorded by lead singer Joe Strummer, bassist Paul Simonon and three others nobody can remember. ‘Live At Shea Stadium’, then, represents the final peak of ‘the only band that matters.
The set list reads like an abbreviated best of almost all of the fourteen songs here are classics in their studio versions. Certainly, it’s hard to go wrong with a show that opens with London Calling and follows with Police On My Back. Yes, they show their pop side, particularly with their two hit singles from ‘Combat Rock’, but the vast majority are definitive, hard-hitting pieces. In their uncompromising song choice, the Clash bring the mountain to Mohammed. This is the band we are, and if you don’t like it... well, we’ve done alright without you, haven’t we? Most of the performances are stellar anyway: the slightly stretched out versions of Spanish Bombs and Clampdown bring the audience’s focus to Strummer’s lyrics. These are not background songs. The Clash grab Shea Stadium by the lapels and order them to listen. Meanwhile, the drop-in and drop-out of the hypnotic, quiet reggae of Armagideon Time, which sits in the middle of The Magnificent Seven, as the band takes the crowd “from New York to Jamaica and back” may be the concert’s highlight.
A couple of songs are carried by their quality and not their performances: despite their bravado, the Clash and their sound are obviously affected by the rainy conditions. Closers Should I Stay Or Should I Go? and I Fought The Law, both depending on Jones’s waterlogged guitar and amp, sound as if they’re tussling to muzzle the disobedient noise. Meanwhile, Rock The Casbah desperately misses Topper’s piano and is very underwhelming as a standard rock song. The only genuine stinker, though, is Guns of Brixton. Simonon proves that he had one good vocal take in him, used to greatness on the ‘London Calling’ original. His terrible monotone and lyrical gaffes garble a Clash classic. Yet it is the only genuinely weak song here: Tommy Gun, Police On My Back and Career Opportunities are all killers, whilst Jones’ lovelorn Train In Vain stands out like a rose amidst all of the surrounding ragged, raw passion.
But now for the question you’ve all been waiting for: how do the Clash – or, specifically, Strummer – fare in their attempts to win over the massive New York crowd? Their backs are to the wall: they are a foreign band who have just broken into the US charts, but with a song that isn’t exactly indicative of their typical sound. Whatsmore, that ‘typical’ – read ‘eclectic’ – sound is backing lyrics of social dissection (you’d struggle to find a US chart song in October `82 that had a line like “No man born with a living soul can be working for the clampdown”). Oh yes, and they are opening for one of rock’s great, stadium filling overlords in The Who.
But you know what? The Clash forged one of rock ‘n roll’s most important legacies by fighting with their backs to the wall...and winning. So, as usual, they refuse to play it safe. Songs of rebellion, social unrest, terrorism, and working-class rebellion are rattled off to the crowd, dressed in punk, reggae, pop, funk and rock. Strummer is bold to the point of abrasive: he orders the audience to “stop YAKKING” during Police On My Back and declares that the funky Magnificent Seven is based on “a black New York rhythm...that we stole one night.” The crowd, to their credit, clearly enjoys the banter, and roars in appreciation when Strummer cheekily refers to them as “72,000 guinea pigs” during Clampdown.
Alas, Strummer would have been able to claim victory if it weren’t for his brazen performance for English Civil War. Gambling on turning his most incendiary riot song into a triumphant show stealer, Strummer leaves out the “Hurrah, hurrah” of the verses in hope that the crowd will passionately fill them in...which they don’t. Refusing to acknowledge his misjudgement, he continues with the tactic and the audience stubbornly refuses to participate. Ah well. Can’t win ‘em all, Joe. And anyway, when I Fought The Law fades out and he farewells his beloved guinea pigs with a “Mucho graçias, adios, adios!”, congratulating them on a well-played duel, there’s one thought on your mind: The Who better have followed this with a helluva gig.
 
“We ain’t got no baseball, no baseball tonight!
We ain’t got no football, they’re on strike!
What we have got for ya is a little bit of what’s going on in London at the moment!
So will you welcome, all the way from Ladbroke Grove, London, W10: THE CLASH!”

The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

The central theme of the Clash’s “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” was disillusionment. Practically since their first note, the punk band had been making the somewhat paradoxical argument that punk and reggae were one in the same thing – despite their drastically different takes on religion and sonic style- because they were both “real” music as opposed to the disco/pop/Elton John garbage heard on the radio. So, what a disappointment it was for vocalist Joe Strummer, Don Letts and roadie Roadent, to go to the famed Hammersmith Palais where Dillinger, Leroy Smart, and Ken Booth, were performing, and for the reggae legends to crank out glammy-showbiz style performances instead of heavy duty dread reggae. The Clash had built their image and ethos with a large block of reggae philosophy, and when they actually got to see it live, it was left wanting.
The 70s were a time of profound and rapid creativity for the band, so while the show left them with a sick feeling in their stomach, they converted that disappointment into perhaps their most poignant statement ever. Using the cheesy gig as a springboard, Strummer masterfully built from his personal disillusionment up to greater global issues. He next attacked punk groups perceived as committing the same sin as Dillinger that fateful night, only to stretch that criticism to the national level, suggesting that even Adolph Hitler himself would be warmly greeted by the British government. Leave it to the Clash to build a wasted evening into a cutting musing on the nature of phoniness.
Of course, the song was equally informed by its white-reggae beat. Although the band previously covered “Police and Thieves,” that take was still essentially a punk cut with Jamaican lyrics dropped over the top. By contrast, “White Man” was rooted in the Jamaican music style, as seen through four white British dudes. Wisely, instead of trying to duplicate Lee Perry or Leslie Kong, the band knew they could never out-do Max Romeo, so they kept their punk strike in the upstroke, creating a hybrid style that to this day, is attempted by punk bands, but rarely, if ever duplicated. It’s telling that despite the band’s disappointment with the gig, they still showed a profound reverence for reggae as they bounced through the track. It almost suggested that ideals were more important than reality- something that Strummer himself would benefit from later on in his career…
Meanwhile, the Mick Jones sung B-side played foil to the A-side. Just as “White Man” dealt with the Clash facing, embracing, and accepting reggae music, “The Prisoner” detailed the world of despondent British youth as seen through the culture clash that was 70s Briton. Jones details German and French people bashing against one another as well as the musical influences that formed the band, shouting out both “Johnny Too bad” and “Johnny B. Goode.” If there’s a better way to succinctly describe the band, you’d be hard pressed to find it.
Built around the earliest Clash style of a ripping, but melodic riff, Jones contrasted his youthful, earnest vocals against the harder, smashing music. In usual Clash style, this created the effect of having somewhat sensitive, introspective lyrics stretched across an aggressive beat. Like few punk bands before them, the Clash were both thoughtful and hostile at the same time.
At this period, everything the Clash touched turned to gold. No doubt, it was in part created in a cauldron of youthful rage, idealism, and a lack of second-guessing. The Clash would go on to make perhaps more reflective, more poetic lyrics, but this single is what not only defined them, but removed them from the limited space of their contemporaries. Despite the fact that both sides of this slab deal with disillusionment, the overall statement of the record itself, as it broke punk into new areas, was one of the movement’s most hopeful statements ever.

John Gentile

Joe Strummer - Earthquake Weather

Joe Strummer, a huge influence in my life, passed away at the age of 50 in 2003. He left behind a legacy that included more than just his words and melodies in The Clash. His solo albums, not including his posthumous, dare I say, masterpiece, Streetcore, are also works of art that are often unnoticed and rarely listened to. One such album is Earthquake Weather, which, as the title implies, lives in Los Angeles (where it was recorded) but is dreaming of the Bayou.

The album is hard for a casual Clash fan to swallow at first. Released in 1989, nearly a decade since the demise of the Clash, Strummer pushes his musical acumen towards the synergy of the 1980 masterpiece Sandinista!, which is still being sorted out by fans in a love-it-or-hate-it fashion. The further Strummer pushed towards this, the faster casual fans tuned out. Earthquake Weather would be lost in the haze of the early 1990s.

But I argue that this album, along with Walker (1987), Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999), and Global A-Go-Go (2001), Earthquake Weather is not only a hidden force of rock music lost in the decadence of the 1980s but also smart, crafty experiment which – like Sandinista! has its moments, but overall transports the listener to its time and beyond.

Earthquake Weather is Joe Strummer's first official solo album after the breakup of the Clash, discounting his soundtrack for Walker. That it's nearly a disappointment, but manages to rise above its flaws, is a testament to Strummer's pedigree and abilities. Strummer sticks to his usual stylistic proclivities, touching on dub reggae, mournful folk, and rock stompers. The album has its share of delightful highlights. The fast-paced, eclectic "Gangsterville" and "King of the Bayou" blend dub and rock jams effortlessly, with Strummer's confident voice echoing over bombastic backing revelry. "Island Hopping" slows things down, its tropical folk charm foreshadowing the mature, optimistic route Strummer would adhere more faithfully to with Global a Go-Go. "Leopardskin Limousines" and album closer "Sleepwalk" both bristle with emotion, thanks to a tasteful Spanish guitar, an interesting choppy rhythm effect, and hushed vocal processing on the former and the latter's subtle, graceful pace. Outside of these highlights, the remaining songs are quite passable and enjoyable, even though there's a sense that Strummer went into Earthquake Weather with an incomplete blueprint. Lonnie Marshall's bass playing frequently recalls Flea's tackier funk excursions, wailing guitar solos appear haphazardly, and, too often, Willie MacNeil's drums are too quiet in the mix to allow for the necessary dynamic punch, and there's a sense that Strummer was just a step or two away from going a cheesy world beat route at times. If these flaws keep the album from greatness, at least Strummer's voice and songwriting are engaging enough throughout the 14 songs that there's never a second where things come off as dated or rushed. Indeed, the flaws reside only in elements that add texture and flare, so they're somewhat easily ignored, especially since the production is so layered and there's so much going on in each song. Earthquake Weather is a solid, fascinating album, mostly because of Joe Strummer's always fiery charisma, his impeccable vocals, and his mostly unerring musical exploration and experimentation. Even when Strummer occasionally goes wrong stylistically, his conviction is too winning and his passion for music too strong to allow him to turn in a subpar performance.

Give 'Em Enough Rope

Can Rudie fail? No, no he can't. The Clash made this abundantly clear by incorporating the message into two of their very best songs ("TWO?!?!" cries the casual the Clash fan, "WHAAAA?!?"). While we're all familiar with "Rudie Can't Fail" from London Calling, there is also a lesser-known Clash song called "Safe European Home" that also brandishes this lyric in an equally epic and climactic sing-along. The song, a rocker with a reggae breakdown, is highly enigmatic. Musically, it seems to suggest that the Clash are growing restless in the safety and non-experimentation of three-chord punk rock, brandishing a relatively unorthodox song structure and an experimental ending complete with a fade-out and a fade-in. Lyrically, on the other hand, it states that they have ventured out into new physical territory (Jamaica) only to hastily retreat back to the safety of the environment they know (Europe). Nice.

Sandwiched between The Clash and London Calling, two of the finest albums in punk (and the latter in all of music), Give ‘Em Enough Rope does not get the attention it deserves. At the point of this recording, the Clash were a band in transition. The sound on this album is slicker than that of their first, and the non-punk elements pop up sooner rather than later; and continue to poke their head up consistently through the album (a little honky tonk piano here, a little cowbell there). If you don't have this and you've ever wondered what the hell got into the guys between `77 and `79, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.

The Clash

Often compared to the Sex Pistols, The Clash had just as much raw energy, but a lot more to say. Whilst the gobbing anarchic former raged against everything for the sake of anything, the well-mannered, socially aware latter raged about injustice and poverty for the sake of revolution. Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Keith Levene and Terry Chimes had been spending most of their time hanging out in the bars and high rises of west London when they recorded The Clash. This band wrote about what they knew: clashes with police, clashes between black and white, clashes with each other. They couldn’t have come from anywhere other than London. Whether it's with the Ramones-like burst that is White Riot, inciting activism in Britain’s disaffected white youth, or London's Burning which tells of drugs, boredom and apathy, The Clash sums up what it was like to be young in London in the 1970s. Elsewhere, Career Opportunities is about living off the dole, and Garageland simply celebrates being in a band. The band raised its profile backing the Pistols on the now infamous 1976 Anarchy Tour. Despite some initial bad reviews - NME wrote, "They are the kind of garage band who should be speedily returned to the garage with the motor running" - the boys were signed to CBS and this debut was speedily recorded. Pretty soon after, Terry Chimes was replaced by Topper Headon as the band's drummer, though it wasn’t until 1979 that CBS released the album in the States, worrying perhaps too much that this London export wouldn’t go down so well across the Atlantic. As it happens, I’m So Bored With the USA was loved by fans and the band were known to open their US gigs with the track. This debut buzzes with the arrogance of youth who have something to prove. Each member brought a slightly different influence, whether it was Joe's folk lyricism and rockabilly rhythms, Mick's rock adulation for the Stones, Mott the Hoople and the Faces or Paul Simonon’s Brixton-born reggae, what you get is a unique blend. With a fingers-up gesture to the music press, it was Micky Foote - the band's touring soundman - who was recruited to oversee the recording in an attempt to recreate the band's live sound. The Clash is probably as close as you’ll get to hearing them live today. 

1977 Revisited

Save for 1980's incomplete 10" vinyl Epic Nu-Disk compilation Black Market Clash, 1977 Revisited was the first cost-efficient way for North American Clash fans to get their hands on the band's B-sides. With liner notes by veteran rock scribe Ira Robbins, this 1990 compilation -- coming six years after the demise of the only band that mattered -- gave amazing tunes like the Dylan-derived "Groovy Times" and the Mick Jones-sung anthem "Gates of the West" stateside availability. Aside from those non-LP tracks (culled from 1979's The Cost of Living EP), the sugary pop blast of "1-2 Crush on You" showed an early, accessible side of the group. Some of this material was repeated on the 1991 box set The Clash on Broadway, and the ten-song disc was ultimately deleted in favour of 1994's expanded Super Black Market Clash. This short-lived collection on the Relativity label is a concise, near-perfect assortment of the only flip sides that mattered.

Flash Bastards

Who noticed the slight fuck up yesterday evening?

Yeah, yeah…get a life!

So, (heh) here’s a quickie to fill this evening’s gap.  An outstanding bootleg from the greatest band ever, during their peak. There’s no actual review of the disc, but I thought you might like to read the bumfluff that usually accompanies such discs.

THE CLASH

London 1978 [no label, 1CD]

Live at The Lyceum, London, UK; December 28, 1978. Very good to excellent soundboard.

Thanks to j-blokhed for this recording; and to theface07 who shared this at Dime in 2006.

theface07 notes:

I’d like to begin by thanking j-blokhed for this recording. Here is an amazing Clash show from late ‘78. This was a great period for the band who are in fine form and are complemented here by an excellent soundboard source. I decided to remaster this recording since I liked the performance so much and wanted to hear it in as high quality as possible. For the remastering, I applied virtually the same edits to all tracks. A couple of tracks were slightly different in frequency response and were adjusted accordingly.

There were also a couple of drop-outs which I corrected (as good as possible). No noise reduction of any kind has been used here. A low amount of hiss is present after equalizing but not enough to be a distraction or even heard at most levels. The equalization used is light in general as the recording only needed a cut in a few resonating frequencies and a slight boost in some higher frequencies. I hope you like what I’ve done and consider this an improvement over the original source.

Original torrent info:

Here’s another SBD - and one of my favorites. The Clash played three shows around New Year’s 1979 that were recorded for possible use in the film Rude Boy. The dates were Dec 28-89, 1978, and Jan 3, 1979.

The first of these shows to fall into collector’s hands was a very good audience recording released first on LP, and then on CD, as “Sort It Out”. This is NOT that show. The exact dates of these recordings has been in question, but I believe that “Sort It Out” (also released as “USA 1979″ [sic] as well as other, later, titles) is in fact Jan 3, 1979. I think that this recording is Dec 28, 1978.

This tape fell into my hands indirectly from an inside source (KV), and was probably 2nd-3rd gen when recorded to CD-R. It has since spread throughout collector’s circles, and the artwork included here is strictly homemade “fan club”.

This is one of the very best.