4-21-10 The Clash
Even at the onset of punk / new wave – I was never terribly interested in The Clash. As a conflicted young adult, I knew even then that there was ‘more than this’ – so my enthusiasm for ‘new wave’ came along with Magazine and XTC. The Clash didn’t seem to have a sense of humor like, say…The Damned. And I wasn’t sure…was “White Riot” a racist song?
So, I didn’t need the Sex Pistols or The Clash. Eventually, I did, of course, hear a Clash song that caught my ear – because it sounded like it had actually been written: “Safe European Home” on their 2nd LP, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope”. Didn’t take ‘em long to go the route: double album, then triple album – going on and on a bit.
A bit o’ Clash has creeped into my record collection anyway:
CD CLASH ON BROADWAY, THE (CD #1 only)
1991 25 TRK Collection - disc 1 of boxed set
CD CLASH ON BROADWAY, THE (CD #2 only)
1991 20 TRK Collection - disc 2 of boxed set
CD CLASH, THE EPIC JPN MHCP 520
1977 14 TRKS ('04 issue) kami sleeve
7" I FOUGHT THE LAW / WHITE MAN… EPIC US 9-50738
1979 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
Always mystified by people buying boxed sets and trading in ‘part of the set’ – but that’s what happened with “The Clash on Broadway” – first, I found Disc #1, and a few years later (somewhat recently), I found Disc #2 – which contains my favorite Clash song, as described above.
Then there’s the matter of the debut album, as a Japanese little paper album cover CD. I suppose the softening in my rigidness about 1977 punk rock gave rise to the notion that “Their first album can’t be all bad” – I have yet to play it all the way through. How nice – it came with a lyrics sheet, so – if I cared – I could determine in 2010 if “White Riot” was a racist song or not.
And I found an “I Fought The Law”
And if I ever discover that ‘I need more’ – Dorothy has the 2CD + DVD Legacy Edition of “London Calling”. I recall that video was not their selling point – the “Rude Boy” film was not very much fun – but I do remember a laser disc with a bunch of their music videos a little more fondly.
To be honest: I wouldn’t buy Disc #3 of their boxed set for $2. I am not interested in the “Rock The Casbah”-era of the works of The Clash.
3 comments:
I really enjoy Sandinista! because it's so sprawling and all over the place. Excessive? Yes, but that's one of its strengths. I'd much rather listen to this than "Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends, Ladies & Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer!" I have two Clash albums. London Calling & Sandinista! London Calling was "commercial" but pretty good stuff. I bought Combat Rock when it came out and got rid of it! An awful album with one good song (Straight To Hell)! I never had (or heard) the first or second Clash albums. Any good?
I really enjoy "London Calling" and find I like it as much now as ever. "Sandinista!" was just too much for me, but I respect what they were trying to accomplish. I have no other Clash material. I remember holding a really cheap copy of the Clash laserdisc back in the day, and just putting it back since none of their videos were ever appealing to me.
First album is OK. 2nd album has my favorite Clash song "Safe European Home", but the rest of album #2...?
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