Essentials by the Dozen - The Clash in 12 Tracks

With respect to The Clash, if you’ve ever made statements worthy of a solid facepalm, such as “If you name me one of their songs, I probably heard of them”, or found yourself listening in on some conversation that had you asking, “Are they not a little overhyped?”, then this next list should serve as a good starting point if you wish to expand your knowledge on one of music’s most celebrated music groups.

[NOTE: This list is not a definite top 12 of The Clash’s all-time greatest songs. Rather, it should be viewed as a strong collection in their catalogue that would essentially allow to have an efficient overview of their entire career. As a Clash fan myself, I also firmly believe that you should at the very least know every single one of these songs if you ever wish to debate the brilliance of their music. If at the moment you do not, RELAX, SIT BACK & ENJOY THE MAGIC OF ROCK.]

1. Janie Jones (1977)

If you’ve had the chance to read any of my previous articles, you would probably gather by now that I am an enormous fan of the punk scene which developed in the late 70’s. If you have not had the chance to read my other articles or simply could not care less for the other articles, know that I am kind of a nut about punk. Just as I believe the writers from the Lost Generation to have been part of the most interesting historic period of literature, I truly believe the late 70’s punk scene to have been the most interesting period in recent popular music. All through high school, as of secondary three at the age of fourteen, The Clash was undoubtedly my all-time favourite group. Everything about them seemed perfect to me. Topper Headon was a hell of a drummer, Paul Simonon, an outstanding bass player, Mick Jones, a sensation as the group’s lead guitarist, and Joe Strummer seemed to represent everything I strived to be. Punk emerged as a rebellious movement to counter the mainstream pop music of the era. Just like the genre’s innumerable artists, The Clash began their careers as loud, chaotic and anti-authoritarian (which I was all for in my late teens), but there seemed to be an added layer to their music that lacked amongst the other punk bands, an odd magic that distinguished them from the rest. “Janie Jones” is the opening song to The Clash’s legendary self-titled debut album. It is punk rock in its purest form.

Great Moment:

“He’s in love with rock n’ roll, whoa

He’s in love with gettin’ stoned, whoa

He’s in love with Janie Jones, whoa

He don’t like his boring job, no”

2. Police & Thieves (1977)

I never understood how people could only enjoy listening to one genre of music. It’s like when my cousin once asked me, “You like that rock stuff, right?” after admitting only ever listening to rap. For one to say they like or don’t like rock means absolutely nothing. Rock is enormous and contains so many subgenres, I don’t see how one can possibly detest all of them. If there was one particular genre that truly resonated with many of the punk rockers of the late 70’s, it was reggae. During this time, there indeed seemed to be a mutual respect that emanated amongst the musicians of both reggae and punk. “Punks are outcasts from society. So are the Rastas,” Bob Marley once declared. Therefore, as reggae was a genre The Clash unreservedly adored, they opted to incorporate it in their songs whenever deemed fit. “Police & Thieves” is amongst the earliest examples of The Clash attempting something different. It is a cover track incorporated onto their debut album, and while Lee “Scratch” Perry, the producer of the original version, was not fond of what The Clash had created through the punk sound, other reggae legends such as Bob Marley were left impressed.

Great Moment:

“From Genesis to Revelation

The next generation will be, hear me

From Genesis to Revelation

The next generation will be, hear me”

3. (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais (1978)

The Clash’s second album Give ’Em Enough Rope was not only another fine punk rock endeavor within the band’s catalogue, but it was also arguably their last. In between the LP’s recording sessions and its subsequent launch to market, The Clash released “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais”, a track many Clash fans consider to be their absolute best. It is another example of the band performing a reggae song (which they wrote, this time) through the raw sounds of punk. Compared to the group’s earlier songs, “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais” demonstrates a lyrical maturity, in that it touches upon a variety of social issues in the UK at the time. Musically, it perfectly displays why The Clash is one of the all-time greats, in that the song sees the group perform a wholly distinct genre while maintaining their punk sound, nonetheless. Soon afterwards would follow many other unrelated genres the group chose to tackle and integrate into their music.

Great Moment:

“But it was four tops all night with encores from stage righten

Charging from the bass knives to the treble

But onstage they ain’t got no roots rock rebel

Onstage they ain’t got no roots rock rebel”

4. London Calling (1979)

The opening track to the band’s legendary third album London Calling is an absolute triumph in popular music. It was their first song I ever heard, and I distinctly remember being unable to move from my computer chair once it concluded. It was what sparked me to explore the entirety of their catalogue. It was what made me purchase the album, in the most mawkish of fashions, while visiting London on a family trip. It was what made me then force my family to visit Camden Market for an entire afternoon. More importantly, it was what made me take on a more rebellious attitude towards life in general, but in a perceptive manner like my hero Joe Strummer as opposed to drawing inspiration from the idiotic tendencies promoted by Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols. “London Calling” is straightforward punk, and its lyrics, which truly frightened me at the age of fourteen, still seem to resonate today. Although I could not initially understand what each of the verses meant, the seemingly contradictory line “But I have no fear cause London is drowning and I… live by the river!” startled me above all else and having done ensuing research on the meaning to the lyrics, it startles me now more than ever. Midway through secondary three, my English teacher asked me and my classmates to present and analyze any song of our choosing in front of the class, and I chose “London Calling”. I will never forget the words my teacher uttered to notify me it was my turn. “Alright, Gabe, it’s your turn. Show us what some real music sounds like.”

Great Moment:

“The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in

Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin

Engines stop running, but I have no fear

Cause London is drowning

And I live by the river”

5. Rudie Can’t Fail (1979)

Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were the main songwriters of the band, and this was another of their many gems. It exudes a Caribbean sound and pays homage to the reggae genre once again. Its subject matter deals with a rudie Jamaican boy who takes a dissatisfied stand against what is expected of him from his disciplined elders. One element of The Clash’s music I always truly admired was the apparently insouciant attitude they would add to their songs. At the start of this one, although I am aware it is but a minor detail, the fact that Joe Strummer states, “Sing, Michael, sing” after which he shouts, “On the route of the 19 bus, we hear them saying” before Mick Jones carries on singing the remainder of the track is such an enjoyable addition to “Rudie Can’t Fail”, and the band knew they could afford to include this because it oddly blends in perfectly with the rest. Two thirds into the track, Strummer also adds the line “You’re looking pretty smart in your chicken skin suit”, and although I admit still being unaware of its meaning, it is a marvelous line that does not feel forced in any which way.

Great Moment:

“First you must cure your temper

Then find a job in a paper

You need someone for a saviour

Rudie can’t fail”

6. Wrong ’Em Boyo (1979)

What makes an album like London Calling stand out amongst the all-time greats is The Clash’s bizarre accomplishment to incorporate a wide diversity of music into one double LP while sounding like a punk band, nonetheless. “Wrong ’Em Boyo” is another cover song from a band called The Rulers whose original version sounds both unhurried and outdated. Bassist Paul Simonon cherished the track and believed the band could do it justice. Horns were added, as was an irreproducible vitality, and the band members truly seemed to have fun with this one. Similar to what is heard on the original “Wrong ’Em Boyo”, the band members decide to cut the song short about thirty seconds in and resort to completely change the sound for the remainder of the two-and-a-half minutes. The result is a flawless inclusion on one of the most accomplished albums in modern music.

Great Moment:

“Why do you try to cheat?

And trample people under your feet

(Don’t ya know it is wrong) to cheat the tryin’ man

(Don’t ya know it is wrong) to cheat the tryin’ man

But you better stop

It is the wrong ’em boyo”

7. Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice) (1980)

The Clash’s fourth album was the triple LP Sandinista!, which persisted with the band’s willingness to incorporate a wide array of musical genres, amongst which included funk, gospel, dub, disco and even rap. Yes, punk rock group The Clash attempted to incorporate rap into their music after having been thoroughly amazed by some of the era’s old-school hip-hop acts (still very much underground and unknown to the majority of the White population in 1980). They rightfully believed these acts were altering the course of music for the better and admitted being awe-struck by all that these hip-hop artists strived to accomplish. Within the two-and-a-half-hour phenomenon that is Sandinista!, The Clash twice attempts the genre, succeeding both times, and “Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)” is the lesser known of the two. It is the opening track to the second of the album’s three units and begins with a man telling a radio disc jockey, “Let’s have some music now, huh?” before aggressively erupts a classic funk loop that repeats throughout the entirety of the song.

Great Moment:

“Get out your money — peel a slab

Roll some notes and hail a cab

Drive in church, drive in back

Drive down Seventh in a tank

Take in the sights, feel the breeze

See the New York’s one and only tree

It can be found in Garbage park

But don’t inspect it after dark

Strike! New York! Lightning!

Not once but twice!”

8. Let’s Go Crazy (1980)

After a brief introduction by some Jamaican-sounding man whose identity I was never able to unearth, the happy tropical sounds of percussion instruments ring about, and the song commences. My uncle once told me that not all of the tracks off Sandinista! are that impressive, stating this one as an example, but I begged to differ. This is one of those songs that can play endlessly on a beach, and I would not grow tired of it. In point of fact, it could play endlessly in my home during the brutal winters suffered here in Montreal instead, merely reminding me of a beach, and I would not grow tired of it. To fathom that The Clash were amongst the frontrunners of the punk rock movement but two years prior, in 1978, becomes absolutely ridiculous after listening to a song like “Let’s Go Crazy”. In 1979, double LP London Calling was released and one year later, triple LP Sandinista! saw its entry onto the market. Let that sink in.

Great Moment:

“Darkness comes to settle the debt

Owed by a year of S.U.S. and suspect

Indiscriminate use of the power of arrest

They’re waiting for the sun to set

They’re waiting for the sun to set

So you wanna go crazy

So you wanna go crazy

Let’s go crazy”

9. If Music Could Talk (1980)

As an immense Clash fan, I admit it might be strange to consider this my favourite song from the group, but it definitely is, and I would go so far as saying that it would probably be in my all-time ten favourite songs by any artist. Although I always mean it with complete sincerity, I am aware that I throw around a lot the notion that if some particular song would greatly extend its length, I would not grow bored of it. “If Music Could Talk” is the epitome of this notion. As the track’s musical fusion of instruments inexplicably nourishes my ears in the most blissful of ways, Strummer’s poetic words, delivered via two simultaneous lyrical journeys which stem from a highly distinctive stream-of-consciousness wholly soothe my mind. For me personally, “If Music Could Talk” sounds exactly as its title suggests, and I believe this to be music in its purest form, regardless of genre or era.

Great Moment:

“Taking cover in the bunker tonight

Waiting for Bo Diddley’s headlights

I feel alright

Gotta Fender Stratosphere

I can do anything tonight

It’s in neon lights and global rights

Frank? He’s on the phone

There ain’t no German girl outside

But who cares when it’s warm inside?

With music”

10. Police on My Back (1980)

Since their fourth album is a triple LP, it is only normal that there will be more songs from it to include on this list of essentials. Their fifth album is the last one The Clash released with all core members still present, so there won’t be any tracks from their sixth lesser-known album on here. That being said, “Police on My Back” is the final Sandinista! track to appear on this list and serves as proof that the band were still more than capable of recording a punk song in its purest form, regardless of their experimentation with other genres. It was originally a pop song from the 60’s, performed by English band The Equals, but The Clash were quick to claim it as their own, for their rendition is beyond compare. When I was working at a high school, amongst my numerous artist recommendations requested by some of the kids, The Clash were the only ones they found to be slightly overhyped, much to my dismay. After revisiting “Police on My Back”, I returned to them and singled out this track above the rest, and they hastily changed their minds. One kid — a French girl bearing similar traits to Audrey Hepburn and having no real relation to any of the members of the punk rock group — went so far as to say that she listened to it every morning for two months straight on her way to school. The power of great music.

Great Moment:

“I been running Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Running Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday”

11. Rock the Casbah (1982)

Arguably the group’s most accessible song, “Rock the Casbah” is a flawless example of what The Clash were able to accomplish in the 80’s during the new wave era. The track’s chorus is so incredibly memorable, and the music that accompanies it calls on all spellbound listeners to get up and move to its beat. For all those who are into that nostalgic aura emanated by so many hit songs of the 80’s, “Rock the Casbah” is as good a song as any, and it’s one to which I personally listened hundreds of times in my life. As per most of the band’s lyrical content, the song serves as a social commentary on another of the world’s issues at the time, “Rock the Casbah” taking its inspiration on Iran’s ban on Western music following their 1979 Revolution. This is one that people of all ages can enjoy, no matter what genre of music best suits your needs. Take my younger cousin for example who, at the age of two, would shout “He thinks it’s not kosher!” in the backseat of the car every time the band members would sing the chorus.

Great Moment:

“But the Bedouin, they brought out

The electric camel drum

The local guitar picker

Got his guitar-picking thumb

As soon as the Sharif had cleared the square

They began to wail

Sharif don’t like it

Rockin’ the Casbah

Rock the Casbah”

12. Overpowered by Funk (1982)

The final inclusion on this list of essentials was a tough choice to make. Every song on The Clash’s official final album Combat Rock is out of this world, and any of them could have been included here. I ultimately chose to contrast the popular “Rock the Casbah” with the lesser known “Overpowered by Funk”. As its title suggests, it is essentially a funk song, but there are elements of hip-hop added to it in its final minute as well. The Clash could do anything. My uncle once told me, “I don’t think I know of anybody who really has a problem with these guys”, and he could not be more right. Unfortunately, Topper Headon’s addiction to drugs and Mick Jones’ dissatisfaction with the band’s return to the eccentric sounds of their earlier years through the post-punk genre of Combat Rock caused both members to be dismissed by the group shortly after its release, and The Clash were pretty much done by 1983. Still, the first five albums released under their name were more than enough to cement their legacy as amongst the most important and famous groups of popular music. To perfectly sum up the wonder of The Clash, it is important to know that for the longest time, they held the distinct title of “The only band that matters”.

Great Moment:

“Part of the swarming mass? Funk out!

Slugged by the new increase?

Scared of the human bomb?

Overpowered by funk? Funk out!”

BONUS:

1. “Hate and War”

2. “Career Opportunities”

3. “English Civil War”

4. “Spanish Bombs”

5. “Clampdown”

6. “Revolution Rock”

7. “The Leader”

8. “The Crooked Beat”

9. “Know Your Rights”

10. “Atom Tan”

Disclaimer: The original version of this story was published on another platform. Link to original version: https://medium.com/@gabriele_delbusso/essentials-by-the-dozen-the-clash-in-12-tracks-60e233055f0b