This is Radio Clash on pirate satellite.
Welcome to an imaginary radio show with The Clash at the (complete) controls.
There are dozens of Clash playlists and compilations – this is not one of them. I want to celebrate the immense source of inspiration that this band has been for a lot of people around the world since they burst onto the London punk scene in 1977. This is about the legacy left by Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon, Mick Jones, and Topper Headon.
The Clash has always been so much more than ‘just’ a punk band: Paul brought in reggae from South London, Joe was a rockabilly man at heart, and Mick had a great knack for pop melodies, as well as a love for nascent hip-hop. Topper Headon kept it all together thanks to his impeccable drumming inherited from years playing in jazz bands.
Music critics still debate about which is the first ‘white’ rap single: “Rapture” by Blondie or “The Magnificent Seven”? The fact is that The Clash recorded it six months before “Rapture”. They would carry on incorporating rap into their music, and Mick Jones would take this further with his post-Clash band, Big Audio Dynamite (B.A.D.).
Of course, there’s no Clash without reggae: they took their name from the Culture classic “Two Sevens Clash”, they collaborated with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and Mikey Dread, they covered lots of Jamaican artists (Police and Thieves, Pressure Drop, Armagideon Times, Wrong Em Boyo...) and created some pretty fat dub basslines too (“Guns of Brixton”, “Bankrobber”…)!
As for rock’n’roll, apart from creating punk classics (“Janie Jones”, “White Riot”, “Career Opportunities”…), The Clash covered some absolute beauties, like “Police on My Back” (by the first multiracial band in Britain – the Equals – with Eddy Grant on vocals) or “I Fought the Law” and “Brand new Cadillac”. I also include here my favourite song from the 101ers, Joe Strummer’s first band, which references a London club where I spent many nights, the St Moritz in Soho.
And of course there are the beautiful pop melodies they crafted: “Straight to Hell” (Strummer declared it his ‘masterpiece’), “Rock the Casbah” (the only song composed by their drummer), “Charlie Don’t Surf”, and “Train Vain”, covered here by June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash’s wife.
I am taking you on a trip around the world, from London to Algiers via Buenos Aires, New York, L.A., and Kingston. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!
“This is not free Europe
Not an armed force network
This is Radio Clash using audio ammunition
This is Radio Clash can we get that world to listen?
This is Radio Clash using aural ammunition
This is Radio Clash can we get that world to listen?
This is Radio Clash on pirate satellite”
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