This is a CLASH POLL service announcement...WITH RESULTS!!!!!! ILX Artist Poll #41

http://www.theclashblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/clash-left-roof.jpg

43 Ballots
114 Songs

Counting down the Top 60.

Live Tracks

This was a silly idea, and very few people actually submitted anything, although two tracks got two votes so I'll post those last. Many songs were from From Here to Eternity so I'll skip those and just post a few others that are available on Youtube.

Amazingly, nobody voted for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhv2lhGZsNU

"The Street Parade" - Bonds Casino

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMR_ae14Pg4

Great thread title!

"Capital Radio" - Manchester '77

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4VPkYzc1nE

Clampdown - Official Live Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ82BX0hGBM

Somebody Got Murdered - Japp Edenhall, Amsterdam 1981

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8XziO7L78I

The "Clampdown" video has two of my favorite Clash moments: the run-up to the mikes, and Topper "in the engine room."

And now, the two that got multiple (i.e. two) votes!

"The Magnificent Seven" - Tom Snyder Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_DPKWGH9yc

"Complete Control" - From Here to Eternity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeTw_p_WglY

Ok I'll be back in about 15 minutes with the albums and then we can get this show on the road.

cool, that'll give me time to change into my poll fedora

http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/ap/65910b9c-6624-4275-be61-e3d2da01ab52.grid-6x2.jpg

That live "Street Parade" is great. I love how the Sandinista! material sped up ridiculously in concert.

Albums

This was optional, so not everybody voted, but it's a bit wonkier than usual as some people only voted for one or two albums and others ordered all 8. I assigned points going down anyway, but if people didn't put an album on their list, it got no points. Unscientific, sure, but maybe this is a poll about enthusiasm anyway.

Cut the Crap - 7 pts

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091101152922/lyricwiki/images/c/cf/The_Clash_-_Cut_The_Crap.jpg

(d'oh)

too high

(d'oh at CtC getting 7 whole points, or not getting more?)

d'oh for me submitting the post without adding the image. Somebody recommended a live track from the 1984 Glasgow show that I couldn't find the individual songs for, but I listened to some of it and the songs do sound a lot better without Bernie's studio trickery.

I didn't even consider that this would be eligible but two people voted for it anyway. And it still beat Cut the Crap

8. From Here to Eternity - 8 pts

http://image.lyricspond.com/image/t/artist-the-clash/album-from-here-to-eternity-live/cd-cover.jpg

Wow, I never realised just how much the Manics were cribbing 'til I saw that vid for Complete Control

Dammit, forgot to vote in this poll.

Write in vote for 'Lost at the supermarket' as my numero uno followed by magnificent seven and bank robber.

7. Super Black Market Clash - 88 pts

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/83597747/Super+Black+Market+Clash+BSides+Collection+SuperBlackMarketClashalbumcove.jpg

ok i have to run an impromptu errand so i'll be back with the rest of the albums in a bit.

Combat Rock wins, right?

Big Audio Dynamite shockah

Been listening a lot to Combat Rock and Super Black Market Clash lately.

What a weird fuckin' band they were.

Combat Rock is certainly the oddest "sellout" album ever recorded.

i don't know much about that album...was there a sense that its success was deliberate and planned, or was it kind of a 'right songs at the right time, no double/triple album to scare off casual fans' thing?

how was it a sellout album?

London Calling and Sandinista sold modestly but of course generated massive cred, print magazine discussion (back when this meant something), and critical acclaim, so I guess there were set to capitalize. I AM surprised the album went top ten, double platinum, lingered in the chart a year, etc. It reminds me a bit of Speaking in Tongues' trajectory.

how was it a sellout album?

― fit and working again, Monday,

I've read carping in the British and American press. I forget which eighties punk band included a lyric about destroying any band that would release a Combat Rock (Rob Sheffield quotes it fully in his Clash entry for the SPIN book).

I always thought the only "sellout" aspect was that it was released as a single record rather than the double they'd recorded. But that may have been more to do with internal bickering; the rest of the band didn't like Jones' mixes, so everyone agreed to hand the mixing (and possibly track choice/sequencing) over to a neutral 3rd party (Glyn Johns).

"Should I Stay" sounds more obviously radio-friendly than anything else on the record, but it didn't even hit the top 40 (whereas "Casbah" topped out at #8).

There were serious-minded punks (including Johnny Ramone) who hated all the funk and dub stuff. I remember Johnny calling it a disco record.

went #1 in England in the early nineties too..as a jeans advert, nO?

xpost

Yep, with "Rush" by B.A.D II as the b-side!

rush for a change of atmospheeeeeewhereeeehuwheeereeeughwweeeeerrreeeeeeee

Should I Stay was playing in the sandwich shop the other day and 50% of the people in there were tapping their feet to it. Which made me like, wow this is a really well-liked song by lots of non-Clash-liking people...and simultaneously thinking that it's a really fucking annoying song

come sit by me

Chart succession
Preceded by
"Do the Bartman" by The Simpsons

UK number-one single
9 - 16 March 1991 (2 weeks)

Succeeded by
"The Stonk" by Hale and Pace

yeah, i fully expect to see a lot of 'should i stay' hate in this poll -- i'm pretty indifferent to it personally. hoping not to see any hate for 'rock the casbah' which is awesome.

They're both wonderful, but Rock The Casbah is better by miles.

Alfred: Are you thinking of Too Much Joy ("Any great band should be shot / before they make their Combat Rock")?

btw if you want to compare US vs UK reactions to the Clash, check out the comments in Tom's Popular entry for "Should I Stay"

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/popular/2011/03/the-clash-should-i-stay-or-should-i-go/?cp=0

"Should I Stay" is garage-rock royalty, but I'll wait for it to show up to mount a proper defense.

Didn't vote for it, but I like it. I am a little surprised that there were Clash fans at the time that didn't hear it as a fun piss-take.

I remember being indignant at the time that it was getting much more radio attention than the far superior Straight to Hell on a AA side, and even made me (very briefly) a bit anti-Mick. But I like it fine these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w50RblItq4E

Combat Rock is awesome. Nothing wrong with that record. And it's not like the alternate "Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg" version reveals some crazy alternate "Combat Rock" universe. Basically more of the same. Also good.

There was talk last year about releasing a 30th anniversary Combat Rock with the original Rat Patrol mixes/tracks/running order. Supposedly the reason it got nixed was that Mick felt it would be wrong to release something Joe disliked at the time and wasn't around to approve/disapprove.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH_kgfDyRPg

Etc.

alright, sorry for the delay.

6. Give 'Em Enough Rope - 93pts

http://www.musicshop.com.au/media/catalog/product/4/9/4962462_3.jpg

wow. that's terrible. guess I should be thankful it beat out Super Black Market Clash but damn!

and probably only because of my number one vote

Absurd!!

I should say I just assigned points from 8-1 on these.

Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.

then yeah, I saved Give 'Em Enough Rope from total humiliation. still, this is some extreme revisionism

5. The Clash (UK Version) - 104 pts

http://24.media.tumblr.com/5f7ec67511c4ce13bd112b5f00e9e8a7/tumblr_mofb3vpFXG1soyk8ho1_500.jpg

I like this album, but with the glorious exception of "Stay Free," the back half is pretty weak. At least by their standards.

Whoops, that was about Rope.

I ranked Rope #5 out of 5 on my ballot. I like it fine, but I was never able to connect with it as much as their other records.

i voted for all of the second half of rope in the trax, so i'm gonna just say i disagree that the back half is pretty weak

no 4 out of 5 i guess

4. Combat Rock - 107 pts

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5xktxUiVR1r19b3po1_500.jpg

Rope was my number one. it's one of the greats for me. love that Greil Marcus review that links it with Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed and Never Mind the Bollocks. the great "defeated" albums I would call them (all four of those in my top 10-20 all time), and The Clash were the only ones who were actually fighting in the first place. anyway, the U.K. version of the debut is their "fighting" album and it's glorious. it was number two on my list.

I've never warmed to Rope outside of a few tracks.

yeah it's not my favorite

I love Rope, so many bangin' tracks

3. The Clash (US Version) - 133 pts

http://image.lyricspond.com/image/t/artist-the-clash/album-the-clash-us-version/cd-cover.jpg

Alright, here's the top 2.

i had a feeling it would be the top 2 now

Oh weird, I thought US version might win.

Now I think it's Sandanista.

Sandinista is their best record so I'd be cool with that.

2. Sandinista! - 168 pts

http://images.gibson.com/Lifestyle/English/aaFeaturesImages2010/clash_sandinista.jpg

1. London Calling - 196 pts

http://www.abortmag.com/abortpegs/lcalling.jpg

boo!

sandinista coming 2nd is ilm enough w/out straying into self-parody

tbf London Calling does have a buttload* of good songs.

*within +/- 3 butts.

Sandanista and the US s/t were tied for the most number one votes, but London Calling had soo many #2 votes.

Totally fair. Everyone (myself included) thinks London Calling is a good record. It's just not their best.

i can appreciate the wackiness of "sandinista" but its 3/4 shite tbh

If you said 1/4, I'd let it lie...

I would've voted for something other than London Calling at no.1, were it not complete insanity to do so

I even rep for most of the weirdo-dub shit. "Silicone on Sapphire" is awes.

I think you either accept the kitchen sink nature of Sandinista or it drives you batty. I find it's more than the sum of it's parts, and when you take it apart for something like a tracks poll a lot of those parts seem a little daft.

Because of my misadventures at the impound lot today, I'm running behind schedule, so #60-41 are going to come faster than I'd like. I'll slow it down tomorrow.

A note on ranking: A number of people combined o.g. versions with their dub counterpart, so I combined certain tracks with their other version at my subjective discretion. I did not count different versions (a la Sandinista "Career Opportunities") in the tally for their o.g. As we go through I'll try to list the breakdown if I combined tracks. If you don't like it, well too bad, because The Clash ain't about RULES, maan.

Also apologies for the images. Never done them before and I just now realised I made them too big so I'll scale them down but they'll look (even!) worse.

60. Hate and War - 96 pts - 6 votes

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1700/3ebx.jpg

leave them HUGE! The Clash deserve big fuckoff pictures.

The ska "hate hate hate hate" only one part of all-amazing.

58. (TIE) Car Jamming - 104 pts - 7 votes

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4278/dxbz.jpg

"Car Jamming" placing makes me happy even though it missed my ballot.

otm

"Car Jamming" the best song on Combat Rock after "Straight to Hell."

agreed

"selling is what selling sells but only saints of the seven avenues can sell the seven hells" is one of my favourite lyrics

i struggled with leaving car jamming off my ballot, am glad my comrades could make it happen

he fellllass

58. (TIE) Pressure Drop - 104 pts - 10 votes

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/5433/0lqu.jpg

"car jamming" was the first clash song i really dug outside of the hits

it's not a GOOD cover, but the guitar is so addictive I can't help but love it

Ghetto Defendant - 106 pts - 10 votes

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/4670/z9jb.jpg

should have said 57.Ghetto Defendant - 106 pts - 10 votes

Not much to say about old Allen there

56. Up In Heaven (Not Only Here) - 111 pts - 10 votes

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/5585/s3cg.jpg

My vote. I vacillate b/w thinking it's one of their best songs and disappointment at its lack of vim. Maybe Jones and Strummer sharing vocals is the problem?

I didn't realise that song had a Phil Ochs quote.

Yeah they don't *quite* match up together, which is a shame because the melody is great. I get a good Killers vibe off the guitar riff :)

55. Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad - 113 pts - 11 votes

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7775/ahoe.jpg

YEAH! love this track

Should note for legal purposes that even though that is Leif Fielding in the centre there, the girl is probably not Julie.

My first to place!

54. Jail Guitar Doors - 122 pts - 11 votes

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/227/0v7i.jpg

My first to place!

I love the honky-tonk swing of Julie -- and the piano <3

53. Capital Radio - 124 pts - 7 votes

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/308/gi0r.jpg

"Capital Radio" got 50 pts, "Capital Radio Two" got 74 pts. I combined them because afaik they re-recorded it and released it because people were spending a lot of money to get the oop original version.

Two wins for me for "Hey Jonesy!! "yeah whut"

52. Remote Control - 126 pts - 9 votes

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3702/1a00.jpg

(typo on the image re: number of votes)

51. Gates of the West - 127 pts - 6 votes - 1 #1

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/3082/jeke.jpg

My Number 1 btw

this band, they had an awful lot of good songs

lol that's very Grudenesque.

"the immigrants and remnants of all the glory years are huddled 'round the bar again for another round of beers. Little Richard's in the kitchen playing spoons and plates he's telling the waitress he's great"

lol JF. this band, the clash! they might be one of the best pure punk rock bands in the charts today. i love watching these guys play.

50. 1977 - 131 pts - 10 votes

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3933/1prh.jpg

For anyone that loves "Gates of the west" : You have to track down "Ooh Baby Ooh (It's not over)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig9cibn4gY4

49. Groovy Times - 136 pts - 8 votes

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7950/uxoj.jpg

lool nice Grudenism, Spiralli :D

48. (TIE) Groovy Times - 136 pts - 8 votes

rather

TOOOOOO LOOWWWWWWWW

48. (TIE) Jimmy Jazz - 136 points - 8 votes

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9072/7jig.jpg

Didn't vote for many of these, could have voted for all of these.

47. Garageland - 138 pts - 9 votes

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/7097/v40h.jpg

gotta love the lyric i read about at least a dozen times before i actually got to hear it sung:

NO ELVIS BEATLES OR THE ROLLING STONES
IN 1977!!!!!

There was Elvis for most of 1977 tho...

Jimmy Jazz is so neat

46. Wrong 'Em Boyo - 140 pts - 10 votes

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8841/zdhn.jpg

gotta head out in a bit so i'm gonna move this along

is everything on london calling going to place then?

Jimmy Jazz! love love love. And Wrong em Boyo is fkn neat as hell

45. Charlie Don't Surf - 142 pts - 12 votes

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/3021/lrbd.jpg

44. What's My Name - 145 pts - 10 votes

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4961/ztw7.jpg

'jimmy jazz' just barely made it onto my poll on the strength of strummer's wonderful vocal -- i love the moments where he doesn't even sound like he's singing words, just making random guttural noises.

43. This is England - 148 pts - 10 votes

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2391/zwod.jpg

^^^ in my top ten. As a last gasp it's glorious.

I didn't vote for it but kinda regretting that now. Great stuff

Strummer surveying the wreckage of Thatcher's England over the synths that have invaded the marketplace -- and it doesn't sound reactionary. It's like good Mekons.

43. The Prisoner - 151 pts - 8 votes

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/9517/uy36.jpg

"Jimmy Jazz" was a late cut. Almost made it for being the first song played on their first Chicago show, with Mick sneering, "So, Chicago, this is the home of the blues, right?"

Last one for today...

41. Hitsville U.K. - 157 pts - 12 votes

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8514/04yo.jpg

Nice! Thought this was one of my weird picks, so wasn't sure it'd place (though apparently it was a single).

Hitsville UK is terrible! I like This Is England though.

i have always been baffled by the appeal of hitsville uk

I gave Hitsville a big bump -- top 5 for me.

It didn't make my ballot, but I can definitely see the appeal. Probably the sweetest-sounding song they ever did.

First time I heard it was on the radio, and I didn't immediately recognize it as the Clash, but the drumming tipped me off. In addition to his many other talents, Topper had such a great and disctinctive sound on the kit.

Yes -- one of my favorite drummers of all time.

Hitsville's pretty yuk to me, I have a hard time listening very hard at all beyond just generally recoiling

Mick has this thing where the more he's involved in a song, the more he scrubs off all the stuff that makes you like the Clash and you're left with this sheeny stuff that *sort of* sounds like the Clash, that you kinda tolerate because aw it's Mick innit

I like that he's trying to nod to Motown but uggggggggggggggggh

Hitsville, it makes me nauseous

"Hitsville" is initially attractive but sounds rather coy, thanks to Ellen Foley's non-vocal and the arrangement.

i'll cop to having hitsville at the bottom of my ballot. i just remember putting on sandinista and being amazed and appalled and then more amazed. like how did this band make this song and put it on this record. so, y'know, kudos for just not giving a fuck what anyone thinks. punk rock.

like, young rogermexico learned a valuable lesson that day about what it really means to be punk as fuck.

Isn't that exactly the kind of *people's vocal* that was prominent in the music they're praising in the song, though? I don't find it coy.

xp

but I can't praise it for its intentions

I'll praise it for its execution, actually, which I think is fine. It's an aesthetic of charm in just regular humanity, I think.

I think my problem with "Hitsville" is it thinks good music can exist without "smarmy eels" and "slimy deals," and Foley's vocal is precisely what I don't want to hear on a hit.

And, you know, creativity over athletic gifts or accomplishments.

xp

Foley's vocal makes the sentiment sound affectless, which is even more damaging. I don't know what Strummer would've done with the lyric tbh

I love Hitsville, voted for it somewhere in the 20s. I think it's funny, and meant to be.

I like that he's trying to nod to Motown but uggggggggggggggggh

TS: "Hitsville UK" vs. "A Town Called Malice"

TS: mouth vs marblemouth

I like the misguided romance and sonic clatter of "Hitsville" more than anything placing so far off the Cost of Living EP ("Groovy Times," "Gates of the West," "Capital Radio 2"), where they make fun of disco and Chic's "Good Times." That they embraced both on London Calling and Sandinista! (by way of "Rapper's Delight") a small span of months later is one more thing to love about them.

These graphics are awesome.

Though I gotta clear this up: Is Joe screaming, "I'm the one that I want" at the end of "Capital Radio 2," 'cause that's hilarious.

I've had 8 place so far, with "Car Jamming" in my top 5 and "The Prisoner" falling just outside my top 10. "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" is the song off Rope that most obviously points to London Calling -- the raucous New Orleans rhythm, the sense it was recorded at a shouty basement party.

yeah, going to read this thread now.

I didn't vote in this, but I'm enjoying the hell out of this thread; thanks for doing it guys.

I think for every song result so far I've lit up and went "I love this song!" Images are cool, too. It's easy to forget, because I hardly ever listen to them these days, but I love this band so fucking much.

xxxp i always assumed that's what he said

It's like good Mekons

So OTM.

This is a band I love so much I've almost by design not dug beneath the surface. LIke, I haven't learned the lyrics, or tracked down live shows, or looked for clips and stuff. I've lived with these albums for decades now, and they often still feel like the first time when I put them on.

yeah I'm the same way

I really got into them in my late teens and read books/tracked bootlegs down etc (most of which I don't remember now). What's been really great these past few weeks is paying attention to the lyrics for the first time in so long. I don't think it clicked just how global Sandinista! (yeah, the name, i know i know) and, really, just how good they are.

I like how much of the Ramones I can hear in their first album now that I am listening to it with more ~context~

yeah, 'janie jones' and 'career opportunities' in particular sound pretty ramones-y to me.

totally!

One thing that's neat about Sandinista is when there's a great song buried in the muck someplace. I forgot "Up In Heaven" and "Corner Soul" even existed until a couple years ago. I keep discovering things in that record. I still remember when Street Parade jumped out at me as being a great song. It just happened one day.

And Give 'Em Enough Rope got cheated, but Safe European Home is their best album opener and All The Young Punks is their best album closer. Wish all their albums sounded like it too. Production is great.

Rope gets short shrift for some reason and I've never really worked out why

Give 'Em Enough Rope sounds fantastic blasting loudly in a bar.

i want to go to that bar right now

i vote we move this poll to that bar & finish it there, all in favor

aye

are you guys still at the bar?!?

Give 'em enough soap.

40. The Street Parade - 162 pts - 8 votes - 1 #1

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/972/9kpr.jpg

39. The Right Profile - 168 pts - 8 votes - 2 #1

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/3664/9k82.jpg

how much do I love that "the right profile" snagged two #1 votes? a lot. this is going to be a great rollout.

Glad to see "The Prisoner" yesterday; thought "This Is England" and "Garageland" might have finished higher.

38. Lose This Skin - 173 pts - 9 votes - 1 #1

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6804/a619.jpg

A #1 vote for "Lose This Skin?!" I didn't even expect that anyone else would have it on their ballot!

Well liked in certain corners. I'm in that corner, obv.

i suspected there would be a good spread of #1s. this is great. right profile and street parade near misses for me.

My highest rated Sandinista! track.

("Lose This Skin" that is)

"The Right Profile" was on my shortlist of things that didn't quite make the cut, but I love it to pieces. Especially the breakdown where the song is sort of falling apart the same way Monty is, but then Topper and the horns pull it all back together and lurch unsteadily toward the exit.

The "Lose This Skin" number one was mine. It's a fantastic song, very free and inspiring and the idea of the Clash being super awesome on a friend's song is very touching in a very Clash way to me.

37. Washington Bullets - 174 pts - 10 votes

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/6392/1hut.jpg

From Kosmo Vinyl's Clash on Broadway liner notes:

A long time after 'Washington Bullets' came out, I asked Joe if he'd known that there was a basketball team called the Washington Bullets, and he said that he didn't, and that if he'd known at the time he wrote it, he would have given the song a different title.

see now here's a case of Jones-Strummer harmonizing well

A #1 vote for "Lose This Skin?!" I didn't even expect that anyone else would have it on their ballot!

― The Butthurt Locker (cryptosicko), Tuesday, July 16, 2013 12:00 PM (22 minutes ago)

Well liked in certain corners. I'm in that corner, obv.

― Gukbe, Tuesday, July 16, 2013 12:03 PM (19 minutes ago)

i suspected there would be a good spread of #1s. this is great. right profile and street parade near misses for me.

― Roberto Spiralli, Tuesday, July 16, 2013 12:05 PM (17 minutes ago)

It wouldn't surprise me if the Clash get the highest # of different #1s of these artist polls. (Fewest -- probably Led Zeppelin?)

"The Right Profile" was on my shortlist of things that didn't quite make the cut, but I love it to pieces. Especially the breakdown where the song is sort of falling apart the same way Monty is, but then Topper and the horns pull it all back together and lurch unsteadily toward the exit.

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, July 16, 2013 1:07 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's got my favorite Joe noise: ughgg...ugghghgchhgyughbugh...grrrblblbrlbrlbrl

otm

36. Brand New Cadillac - 190 pts - 8 votes

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/1371/00rl.jpg

By the way, Gukbe, GREAT photos!

Brand New Cadillac YESSSS

opening riff kills me

Never one of my favorites, but appearing right after "London Calling" is brilliant because it lets in the fun/tradition/rock and roll after the uber-serious (and great in a very different way) lead cut.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who learned to play this very early on.

Amazed at anything from LC only picking up eight votes

xp hahaha, it was the first (or second) song I learned to play on guitar!

I dropped "Brand New Cadillac" at the end and stuck with "Jimmy Jazz" instead. It's hard for me too separate them; side 1 of that LP 1 is a continuous epic jam in my head.

one of the best rockabilly performances of all time, that

35. London's Burning - 220 pts - 14 votes

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/6561/6gep.jpg

xpost see that's what chafes me about 'Hitsville' -- the Clash can interpret all KINDS of musical styles, and they can do it really well. They could have pulled off that Motown sound in their own way and been fucking awesome at it. But that pastiche or homage to Motown or whatever it was that Mick seemed to be trying for just was not. good. It didn't *need* all those fkn horns and layered sounds and bullshit.

imo

xpost LALALALALA

I dropped "Brand New Cadillac" at the end and stuck with "Jimmy Jazz" instead. It's hard for me too separate them; side 1 of that LP 1 is a continuous epic jam in my head

lol, just realised I shifted those an extra place apart on ballot, the reason for which can only be so that Gukbe doesn't think I can't tell the difference

they are such a perfect pair!

yeah they're almost like part 1 and part 2 of a larger song, they slot so well together

London's Burning was on and off my ballot a few times. Ended up cutting it, but what a song.

EVERYBODY'S SITTING ROUND, WATCHING TELEVISION!!!

34. I'm Not Down - 226 pts - 15 votes

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/8442/hre7.jpg

Gah! Love this, was hoping for a surprise top ten slot

literally the last song cut from my ballot. If I had known dub versions would be combined with the originals I would have had room for it, but I wanted to acknowledge the awesome dubs.

I ranked it fairly high on my ballot, but like was said about "Brand New Cadillac"/"Jimmy Jazz", the awesomeness of "I'm Not Down" is best appreciated paired with "Four Horsemen"

Great countdown so far, slightly sad to see 'What's My Name' so low down, that was my favourite off the s/t for a long time.

Spotify playlist in progress: http://open.spotify.com/user/gcwright/playlist/2AGLq6uRy39wYD7cycuY0u

xp and followed by revolution rock.

"I'm Not Down" is one of my favorite Topper showcases. He keeps switching up patterns, it's like almost every line has a slightly different feel.

33. Clash City Rockers - 277 pts - 18 votes

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/6200/1bxb.jpg

woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Love this, as I've noted, but this seems like a reasonable placement for it.

Yeah I didn't expect top 10 or anything, I just like that it gets love

Playing catch-up. One of the "Right Profile" #1's was me.

Also this:

..."Lose This Skin"... It's a fantastic song, very free and inspiring and the idea of the Clash being super awesome on a friend's song is very touching in a very Clash way to me.

― Three Word Username, Tuesday, July 16, 2013 12:09 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I didn't think "Clash City Rockers" would place in the top 10.

I thought it would place in the top 5.

:(

"Yeah Yeah"

32. The Card Cheat - 278 pts - 15 votes - 1 #1

http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/6299/5u1b.jpg

apparently they recorded the song twice, then overlay the second version atop the other to give it that Spector feel.

wonderful wonderful song.

My #1!

I mean, I could gripe about it placing too low, but as was mentioned upthread, the scattered vote distribution among these tracks is a testament to just how awesome they were.

31. Should I Stay or Should I Go - 280 pts - 19 votes

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/6014/u8el.jpg

Gotta run out for a bit. I'll be back in a little while with the final 10 for the day.

i worked with a guy who was at the recording of Bank Robber. he was thanked on the back of the sleeve or something iirc. there was 2 of them present at the session and they were both only young lads at the time, the other one was his mate Ian Brown of Stone Roses front-man fame.

Happy to see this place, and happy to see it this low. Well done everybody!

Good showing. I've never gotten tired of "Should I Stay"--the stop/start structure, the howling, all the Spanish, the garage-band chords (found out one day that even I can play it). Also works as a nice metaphor for their situation at the time, intended or not.

Listened to "Should I Stay" again this morning; probably the least-dated sounding use of gated drums.

all the Spanish

Joe Ely!

http://www.theclashblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/two-joes.jpg

http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2000-05-19/77249/

Didn't know any of that--I liked some Joe Ely around that time.

"So me and Strummer and the Puerto Rican engineer sat down and translated the lyrics into the weirdest Spanish ever."

I don't know Spanish, so I don't know what exactly is weird about their translation, but I did have to check before posting what language it was--almost sounds like they're speaking in tongues.

This thread prompted me to listen to Sandinista! on Spotify this afternoon, and it just feels wrong. That's maybe the one album I love that I think really needs to be owned/heard on vinyl, not just for the sound, but for the way it breaks the album up so cleanly into digestible, six-song segments. Even the CD version always felt like blasphemy to me. "Lightning Strikes" and "Lose This Skin" must start their own sides (ditto the freaky radio host from "Version City" who binds the album's final act).

"Have you ever asked yourself, who holds the key that winds up Big Ben...."

I've only ever heard Sandinista! on CD, but the side-beginnings are pretty obvious (erm, beyond "Police" starting the second disc). Dudes were masters of sequencing.

30. The Call Up - 290 pts - 19 votes

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/6659/jclj.jpg

Nice! Did you combine with "the Cool Out" or leave them as discrete versions?

One of mine. I never thought this'd be well-loved, that's a lot of votes.

Wait, Ian Brown has a credit on a Clash record?

"The Call Up" is amazing.

I left them as discrete versions, which I think was an oversight really. I was going to have everything separate but people nominated both versions of certain songs as one track so I just combined those and then wound up mixing the dub versions with the regulars on those. I should have done it for all, as "The Cool Out" had 3 votes including a number 1 for a total of 53 points. I'll try to explain my scattered through process in later entries.

xposts

On the spur of the moment I said 'I'm going to do the backing vocals in Spanish,' ... We needed a translator so Eddie Garcia, the tape operator, called his mother in Brooklyn Heights and read her the lyrics over the phone and she translated them. But Eddie and his mum are Ecuadorian, so it's Ecuadorian Spanish that me and Joe Ely are singing on the backing vocals. -Joe Strummer, 1991

This is also the only track that I didn't combine with another version that would have affected its placing, so I'll make a note when we get to where it would have placed.

Thanks for the clarification on Call Out/ Cool Out.

Call Up/Cool Out, obv.

29. Tommy Gun - 291 pts - 17 votes - 2 #1

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3761/z98o.jpg

I remember hearing or reading (but can't substantiate it now) that the whole Spanish-vocals thing started with Mick not wanting to record the song at all because it was too pop, and he said he'd only do it if Joe did a call and response with him, and Joe said he'd only do the call and response in Spanish.

Also, Tommy Gun is great. I probably should have voted for it, but ...

28. Hateful - 298 pts - 15 votes

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3889/6u3o.jpg

There's my no.3. Too low.

I don't know if its my favourite Topper jam, but it's definitely one of them. The way he switches into the '...and I'm so grateful' bit.

He was so great, imagine playing with him

So many great bits in this short song

omg two of my favorite Clashes right there

tooooooooooooooooooommmmy guuuuuuun and the staccato guitar <3

hateful is the fucking BEST EVER EVER EVER god I can't even put into words how much I love this song it makes me want to dance forever

Yeah, I was in a band in college that did "Hateful" and I never really nailed that transition in the drum part. Hard to make it flow so seamlessly. Just a great, great tune. So lively for such a dark, dank lyric. (Could basically have been written about Topper just a few years later.)

those bright horns are really something

And the way they all nail the ending -- bam bam -- and then it's right into "Rudie Can't Fail." The comment about sequencing earlier was otm, their albums are full of great timing and lead-ins from one song to another.

I never really though about it, but really Joe did write most of everything, didn't he? Haven't read the books, but what was the division of labor, generally? Did they write together?

I like this story re: Rock the Casbah:

Digby Cleaver (Mick Jones' guitar technician): "I just remember [Topper Headon] sitting at the piano and playing that riff. [...] He put bass and drums on it, and it sounded brilliant. He did the whole thing himself. He presented it to Joe with this soppy set of lyrics abou how much he missed his girlfriend. Joe just took one look at these words and said 'How incredibly interesting!', screwed the piece of paper into a ball and chucked it backwards over his head. Topper's face! Joe said 'Look, I write the bloody words. I've got a set of lyrics that will fit this already.' And that was what became 'Rock The Casbah'."

lol poor Top

27. Stay Free - 299 pts - 17 votes - 1 #1

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/8114/d4eq.jpg

Haha

But to Joe's credit, he'd had a pretty good track record of replacing the original writer's intent with his own ("Mick said, 'It's called "I'm So Bored With You"! It's about my girlfriend!' I said, 'Never mind all that!'")

xp

Stay Free was the first song I ever played with my first real band. That my first real band would go on to invent emo is probably not a coincidence.

I tried to get my band back in the day to cover it, but the bass player couldn't handle it.

Also GIS suggests the lyrics are a favourite among tattoo enthusiasts and graffiti artists.

I almost always wrote my own basslines to Clash stuff, being unable to hack Simonon's parts -- but this one fell right under my baby fingers for some reason.

I love Joe's antiromantic tyranny, imagine what a bunch of sops they'd be without him rampaging over their broken hearts, lol

26. Know Your Rights - 310 pts - 19 votes

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/6168/x58v.jpg

"It's called 'Lovely Call Me' about a girl I broke up with and I want her to call me"
"RAGH. Sod that. London Calling."

xpost nooooooooooo too low

THIS IS A PUBLIC
SERVICE
ANNOUNCEMENT

WITH

GUITAAARS

"Stay Free" quoted on The Wire:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPScohqtbyo

ha. never noticed that.

"Stay Free" is the first one that makes me really wanna yell TOO LOW. My favorite Mick vocal.

I didn't vote for "Know Your Rights" but two things: One of my favorite Youtube sights is seeing Paul play bass on it; and it's the only Clash song I've ever seen a high-school student of mine (Mexican American sophomore) get excited about.

I cited Know Your Rights in a law school exam once. The class was called Law In Society and when I got into the exam there was an essay question about depictions of law in popular culture. We hadn't studied that in the class at all but I thought 'fuck it, I'm doing that one', and Know Your Rights was one of the things I wrote about.

I had never heard Know Your Rights at the time, I just knew the title.

Really not an obvious cover choice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbLlQxMjmqc

voted for "Stay Free." Jones is rather fey on it, no?

Jones is Guy to Strummer's Ian MacKaye.

xpost I really dig the PJ version

25. Somebody Got Murdered - 325 pts - 24 votes

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3830/2mxf.jpg

OH SHITE
SOUNDS LIKE MURDER

Know Your Rights was my #2. Bummed that it just missed the top 25.

Too good for the movie Scarface

24. Armagideon Time/Justice Tonight/Kick It Over - 339 pts - 17 votes - 3 #1

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/4104/uags.jpg

woooh

I don't know why my expectations when I started this had this in the top 5.

By "this" I mean Armagideon Time.

Oh, and this is where "The Call Up" would have placed if I had added "The Cool Out".

Gotcha. I do wish the combination policy was clear before voting, but at the same time my two votes for a few songs & dubs pushed them higher. 6 of one, half dozen of another.

Yeah, that's my bad.

23. Death or Glory - 356 pts - 24 votes - 1 #1

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6165/pe2v.jpg

It's no biggie. I doubt any of the dubs would have placed on their own.

xpost

way too low

"He who POLLS nuns later joins the church"

oh man i wish i had thought of that

22. I'm So Bored with the U.S.A. - 369 pts - 19 votes - 1 #1

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/5508/nt7i.jpg

I am too, Clash. I am too.

aren't we all.

ok, last one for today.

Police and Thieves - 396 pts - 23 votes - 1 #1

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/2811/dmx8.jpg

what a way to go out

i'M

SO BOOOOOORED

WITH THE

U!

S! A!

I was one of the #1 votes for "Tommy Gun," I really had no idea how well regarded the song was so I'm a little disappointed it's that low

It was in my top 10, at #10 I think. I could've easily bumped it up and felt no remorse. Great song!

Oops, #9 even.

cf Death or Glory imo. expect it'll tank in this poll due to antirockist bias but to my ear it's nothing short of a complete musical and spiritual triumph and kinda encapsulates everything i love about the band.

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 9 July 2013

I stand by my post in the voting thread.

I held off on using that iconic picture just for that song.

it's a great match

as good a place as any to mention that among its many virtues: crack-pate backing vox worthy of keith richards

Rundown so far...

60. Hate and War - 96 pts - 6 votes
58. (TIE) Car Jamming - 104 pts - 7 votes
58. (TIE) Pressure Drop - 104 pts - 10 votes
57.Ghetto Defendant - 106 pts - 10 votes
56. Up In Heaven (Not Only Here) - 111 pts - 10 votes
55. Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad - 113 pts - 11 votes
54. Jail Guitar Doors - 122 pts - 11 votes
53. Capital Radio - 124 pts - 7 votes
52. Remote Control - 126 pts - 9 votes
51. Gates of the West - 127 pts - 6 votes - 1 #1
50. 1977 - 131 pts - 10 votes
48. (TIE) Groovy Times - 136 pts - 8 votes
48. (TIE) Jimmy Jazz - 136 points - 8 votes
47. Garageland - 138 pts - 9 votes
46. Wrong 'Em Boyo - 140 pts - 10 votes
45. Charlie Don't Surf - 142 pts - 12 votes
44. What's My Name - 145 pts - 10 votes
43. This is England - 148 pts - 10 votes
43. The Prisoner - 151 pts - 8 votes
41. Hitsville U.K. - 157 pts - 12 votes

40. The Street Parade - 162 pts - 8 votes - 1 #1
39. The Right Profile - 168 pts - 8 votes - 2 #1
38. Lose This Skin - 173 pts - 9 votes - 1 #1
37. Washington Bullets - 174 pts - 10 votes
36. Brand New Cadillac - 190 pts - 8 votes
35. London's Burning - 220 pts - 14 votes
34. I'm Not Down - 226 pts - 15 votes
33. Clash City Rockers - 277 pts - 18 votes
32. The Card Cheat - 278 pts - 15 votes - 1 #1
31. Should I Stay or Should I Go - 280 pts - 19 votes
30. The Call Up - 290 pts - 19 votes
29. Tommy Gun - 291 pts - 17 votes - 2 #1
28. Hateful - 298 pts - 15 votes
27. Stay Free - 299 pts - 17 votes - 1 #1
26. Know Your Rights - 310 pts - 19 votes
25. Somebody Got Murdered - 325 pts - 24 votes
24. Armagideon Time/Justice Tonight/Kick It Over - 339 pts - 17 votes - 3 #1
23. Death or Glory - 356 pts - 24 votes - 1 #1
22. I'm So Bored with the U.S.A. - 369 pts - 19 votes - 1 #1
21. Police and Thieves - 396 pts - 23 votes - 1 #1

You know, with all the Clash lyrics Joe wrote, the only 'romantic' line he had was the mention of 'my sweet Gabriella' (his rl girlfriend) in 'Junco Partner'

That smart girl wouldn't sign her name

SMASH THE ROMANTIC TYRANTS

Safe European Home and Tommy Gun were my #1 and #2. Also bummed to see Tommy Gun place so low.

P.S. Here's Sleater-Kinney covering it. Way better than you'd think for a one-off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfZ7w5PqWsI

joe didn't write junco partner

Not The Slits, then?

xpost I know, but there are loads of versions where you can add whatever you like to it. As did Joe...

Nah, that was a joke. I thought it'd be funny to make it impossible to find.

the "I would have pawned my sweet..." line is in james wayne's 1951 version.

"Gabriella" being the key ..

Anyways...

my 6, 9 and 10 have come up so far - hateful, card cheat and call up. i am officially concerned about 1 of the rest of my top 10.

Realised I had the whole of side 1 of rope in my 30

Is there a definitive Clash bio, or even a good one? I think I have the first edition of the Marcus Gray, but I've yet to read it.

I kinda like that there isn't one - all just different competing stories. Even VInce White's book is good as long as you're thumbing through it in a store (I wouldn't suggest buying it)

Vince White's book is more an unflinching portrayal of alcoholism than a Clash biography as such. It's kinda great though.

Just checking this out for the first time. I guess we're experiencing a shortage of gimmick hungry yobs digging gold from rock n roll, because Death Or Glory is far, far too low.

"I'm So Bored" is the 2nd of my top 5 to show up (way too low). I love the punchy syncopated rhythm guitar on the verses, and the blare and roar of the chorus. Maybe my favorite punk song (or at least part of a foursome with "God Save the Queen," "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Oh Bondage Up Yours").

yeah it has that classic punk sneer and bop

Just checking this out for the first time. I guess we're experiencing a shortage of gimmick hungry yobs digging gold from rock n roll, because Death Or Glory is far, far too low.

― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, July 16, 2013

hey at least someone had the foresight to give it a #1 vote

Death Or Glory was my 2. I can't say my #1 cause it hasn't come up yet, but it's a lock for the top 5 and is just so immense there was no way I couldn't put it at the top.

i didn't vote, so not complaining or anything, just noticing:

astonished and very very pleased that sandinista was #2 album. i always thought that album divided fans in a big way. astonished and a touch saddened that the debut album wasn't #1, but maybe the two versions split too many votes?

and i'm crying here over the terribly low ranking of the great mick moment "stay free."

as I noted in voting thread, written by Joe for Mick

so bummed this poll didn't happen next year

(but great to see fcc popping up for it!)

Xpost -- had no idea that was Pearl Jam until the end. I joined a friend's band onstage to cover it once. Great song and in my top 5. The echo on Mock's guitar there (and throughout combat rock) is a thing of beauty.

Surprise Armagideoj Time was not top ten. You know it would have made Joe's top ten!

anyone read this?

https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312046823l/804111.jpg

Mick's (no disrespect meant)

Armagideon. Damn iPad. Stupid capital P autocorrect

Riot of Our Own is a must-read, though I think only covers a couple of years.

Don Letts' documentary was surprisingly disappointing. He directed the punk and the dance/hip hop episodes of the WGBH history of rock and roll and they are really worth seeking out. But the Clash doc imo is a bit too safe.

That book is great 'fun', and it had a lot to do with 'Return of the last gang in town' being much better. (Sorry, Josh)

astonished and very very pleased that sandinista was #2 album. i always thought that album divided fans in a big way. astonished and a touch saddened that the debut album wasn't #1, but maybe the two versions split too many votes?

I think it's aged remarkably well. It's taken decades for me to come around on it, but whenever a track from it comes up on shuffle I end up listening to the rest of the album from that point. I wish more bands could be as confidently shambling as the Clash. I guess Exile On Main St. was an outlier album for a long-time too.

The lyrics are the big weak point for me. It sounds like it was put together in a hurry, which can be carried by a good groove and a great producer, but you can't paper over lyrics or tunes.

I think the lyrics are amazing.

Listening to it a lot over the past few weeks that's what has really stood out for me.

I'm kind of amazed by how excited I am about this poll. You all voted White Man #1 too, right?

shh.

If both versions of the self-titled album were counted together, that'd be #1 and knock everything down a spot, remember (assuming that there weren't a ton of people who voted for both)

I did not vote "White Man" #1, but I could have, and if it was today, I might have!

I didn't either, but I would be perfectly happy with it as a poll winner.

Outside the top 5 would be a travesty.

I can't claim to be unbiased (Clash fan and all), but I love the Letts documentary to pieces. It's got their warmest interviews, touches on everything I would, and has the momentum of their music. Julien Temple's Strummer doc is a perfect compliment. I saw that another doc screened in Minneapolis last year, but anything non-ironically titled the Rise and Fall of anything feels like bad news.

Bearing in my mind my poor track record of predicting poll results I'm going to say White Man #1, Train in Vain #2 and Guns of Brixton #3. A nice Joe/Mick/Paul Top 3.

My guess would be "Complete Control," but I'm off on a lot of these too.

Complete Control was my #1, iirc. Didn't vote Train. Or Guns, I don't think!

We're taking it to the top, then.

My 100% track record of wrong predictions looks safe.

All three of predicted top 3 are in my top 10, but Complete Control is my #1. TO THE TOP!

*DL's predicted top 3

I don't even know how this is being scored - songs with eight votes scoring near double the total of songs with fourteen votes makes me think this might all look a bit weird up top.

I downloaded a vinyl rip of "Sandinista!" that breaks the album down into side by side blocks. It is a better way to listen than the double-CD, by far!

20. Bankrobber/Robberdub - 399 pts - 21 votes - 1 #1

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7004/h92d.jpg

19. Career Opportunities - 406 pts - 26 votes

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/6566/sewu.jpg

Promising start to the top 20 so far.

Nice. I was never a huge fan of "Bankrobber" but it is widely beloved enough to be Top 20. "Career Opportunities, on the other hand, kicks ass and should be higher.

If there was one track that pushed me into liking dub, it was "Bankrobber". I love it.

Thought "Career Opportunities" might place higher.

"Bankrobber" was Top 5 for me, so glad it got a #1 vote. And since no one commented on it at the start of the thread....OMG @ that TOTP clip!

So far 14 of mine have placed.

And yeah I would have thought CO would have placed higher too. It was my #4.

Same here, including half of my top ten.

15 of mine have placed so far. CO wasn't in my top 10, but I assumed it was a lock for the top 10.

clash are one of those bands where there are 15-20 locks for the top 10 tho

Only two of my top 10 have placed - CO and I'm Not Down.

MY NUMBER ONE BETTER BE THE NUMBER ONE BECAUSE IT IS THE BEST SONG EVER PERIOD.

18. Rock the Casbah - 441 pts - 25 votes

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/1607/5ply.jpg

some big names being taken in the high teens

Cool. Does that include votes for "Mustapha Dance"?

and "Look Here."

That does not include "Mustapha Dance", which got 18 pts. Wouldn't have affected the ranking.

no.18 ffs

17. This is Radio Clash - 463 pts - 23 votes - 1 #1

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/5534/yd6x.jpg

Too low! I still hold the 12-inch of this as some kind of mysterious 2001-like object. Mick really picked up what was going on in New York dance production around that moment and went nuts with it.

Thought I'd take a moment to marvel again at the list of openers for their Bonds residency: the Slits, Funkapolitan, the Equators, Grandmaster Flash and the Treacherous Three, the Sirens, the Sugarhill Gang, Lee Perry, Joe Ely, the Nitecaps, Miller Miller Miller & Sloane, Kraut, the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, the Fall, the Bloods, ESG, and the Brattles (a high-school aged band).

that's a ridonculous line-up

16. Lost in the Supermarket - 465 pts - 25 votes

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/2899/1dhf.jpg

idg why Lost In the Supermarket is so high...I mostly skip it (sorry Mick)

Career Opportunities is such a jam. and it always get me fired up! ...even though I've been gainfully employed for 10 yrs

THIS IS RADIO CLASH AT #17? THIS IS INSANITY.

For reals, I thought it had a great shot at winning, but definitely going top 5.

see I *like* Radio Clash, but I don't rate it in the top 10

Btw that's "This is Radio Clash" and "Radio Clash" combined.

Hmmm I dislike "Radio Clash."

Mick really picked up what was going on in New York dance production around that moment and went nuts with it.

otm. That was a top 10 pick for me, still sounds so urgent and funky and freaked-out.

acts' big singles do usually get the shaft in these polls, but none more unfairly than Rock The Casbah imo

15. Spanish Bombs - 476 pts - 26 votes

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/5830/rvhi.jpg

"Lost in the Supermarket," besides the great hook, has some of Joe's best writing ever. The thing about "the people who lived on the ceiling" screaming and fighting and "hearing that noise was my first ever feeling" -- and "long distance callers make long distance calls/and the silence makes me lonely" -- I mean, lots and lots of people have done middle-class anomie, but not many have made so plaintive and identifiable. He empties a bottle, he feels a bit free, he puts on his giant-hit discotheque album, the pipes in the walls make him noises for company. It could have been a novelty song, but instead it's a Raymond Carver story.

I once saw Spanish Bombs as an audio exhibit at the Imperial War Museum, alongside some period propaganda and a book of Lorca

Love all the old Austin, Texas stuff in the Casbah vid...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ9r8LMU9bQ

did This Is Radio Clash leave a legacy? I'm not aware of it having been sampled, or becoming a club classic or anything

xp Joe's haircut in that video is so now

I love Spanish bombs

I do know the Clash rarely get name checked as early hip-hop adopters, unlike Blondie, say. Sandinista! came out like a month after Autoamerican.

I love Lost in the Supermarket - it made my top ten and Spanish Bombs almost did but came in at #11 for me.

"Magnificent Seven" was used in some early hip hop songs, no? xpost

did This Is Radio Clash leave a legacy? I'm not aware of it having been sampled, or becoming a club classic or anything

― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, July 17, 2013 1:53 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Pardon my ignorance, but how much Clash stuff has been sampled in the post-clearance era? I guess it could be alot, and I'm probably forgetting something, but I seem to recall an interview w/Garbage after their debut wherein they allude to paying an arm & a leg by a major act to clear a sample, which had to be "Train In Vain" on "Stupid Girl" because The Clash were easily the biggest act of the three or four samples on that album.

"To a major act"

"This is Radio Clash" was in my top 10. Love it. I didn't hear it until the late 80s, and for a long time I had no idea where it fit into their chronology. I assumed it was the last thing the original lineup had done (post-Combat Rock, pre-Crap), and while it obviously wasn't, it sounds like it could've been.

"Paper Planes" sampled "Straight to Hell"

<facepalm> Of course...

14. London Calling - 477 pts - 27 votes - 2 #1

http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/6794/gdif.jpg

xp: Yeah, "Lost" describes simultaneous alienation from and comfort from capitalism at the bottom of heap better than just about any song I can think of--it's a warmer "Janie Jones."

Happy to see "London Calling" this low. It's a cracker, and a classic one at that, but enough is enough.

Higher than I thought it would be tbh. Rock The Casbah should be higher

13. White Riot - 494 pts - 29 votes

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/831/0yki.jpg

Some songs I thought were Top 10 locks are falling short!

xpost Post clearance is a different issue. I know the aforementioned Too Much Joy tried to sample the Clash and was denied. Obviously the Beastie Boys pulled it off. Um, Big Audio Dynamite sample the Clash!

Will Smith borrowed virtually the whole of Casbah, but he rapped about the 'year 2G' in it so I'm cool with it

Yeah, I always wondered that. Was it super easy for Mick to get the rights to Clash samples, or did he just have to go through the usual channels?

I remember Joe talking about the "Should I Stay or Should I Go" usage in the Levi's ad, and he said something to the affect of "it was Mick's song so he could do what he wanted with it."

But he and Strummer share writing credit on that; surely Joe could've nixed it (like John Densmore did with a Doors song not too long ago) ?

Well he could have, but I think the point was that he felt it was Mick's and so didn't get in the way.

Ah, got it.

xp: By 1990 "This Is Radio Clash" was still getting regular play as a video/track in Danceteria-type clubs like the 9:30 in D.C. and First Avenue in Minneapolis, a perfect bridge for mixing rap, house, industrial, punk, etc. And it got regular play on MTV well past it's release, like into '84 at least. That's an amazing afterlife, when you think about it. The Clash coming out on CD in '88 must have helped.

Samples aren't always the best chart of influence, but I do wonder if ESG playing that Bonds gig the same month as their release of "UFO" helped make that the most sampled punk record of all time.

12. Clampdown - 521 pts - 25 votes - 1 #1

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2282/h3un.jpg

so good! who is not voting for clampdown? savages

My #1.

Love the Vanilla Tapes version of "Clampdown," and the Indigo Girls':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0oai2wAj4Q

I stuck "Clampdown" and "London Calling" at the very end of my ballot because I wanted to throw some weight behind other tracks. They're both amazing though and I felt compelled to include them.

i have cranked out this tune before but a pox on any kind of tactical voting in these polls imo

It became tactical when there were 50+ deserving songs. Top 15 in order, and then the rest fall as they may.

No vote from me for Clampdown. Probably my least-favourite on the album, never gets going for me.

11. I Fought the Law - 522 pts - 23 votes

http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/6674/fiqd.jpg

TOP TEN, PEOPLE. WE'RE TO THE TOP TEN!

Never thought this cover was anything special. They did much better covers than "I Fought The Law"

if 20-11 had been their top 10 tracks the clash would have every reason to be delighted with themselves. but there are still ten more tracks to come, and another mile of height atop this precarious punk tower of babel.

i think i fought the law is their best cover, and probably the only one i would say beats the original. the energy of that recording is insane.

but i didn't vote for any covers, seemed wrong

Yeah, I'm probably partial to The Clash's version of I Fought The Law because it was the first band I heard do the song. Other versions (including the original) sound good. The Clash's sounds great.

Energetic, yes, but doesn't add anything to the Bobby Fuller version's sneer. It doesn't feel like a Clash song the way some of the other covers fit them.

i think i fought the law is their best cover, and probably the only one i would say beats the original. the energy of that recording is insane.

― Roberto Spiralli, Wednesday, July 17, 2013 4:06 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^this. I *think* the opening drums (which go from "oh, this'll be fun" to "OH SHIT I better duck") are doubled, but on the live versions, Topper's sound is just as charging and heavy.

I couldn't love I Fought The Law any more than I do, yet it's still only my no.3

white riot should be higher imo

no.4 even, what a band

10. The Guns of Brixton - 540 pts - 24 votes - 1 #1

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/833/8hzb.jpg

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESS

GO PAUL GO

nice.

oh! london calling poll winner iirc so expected higher but feels like a good spot for it.

I forgot it won that poll. It's the highest ranking London Calling track on my ballot so I'm good with it.

Best use of Velcro in music?

TS: The Guns of Brixton vs Belle and Sebastian's "Expectations"

Simonon was SO HOT.

Sometimes I envy the band's energy, but then I think about the copious amount of speed they and every punk band was doing and I don't feel so bad.

"Spanish Bombs" boasts the best mangled Spanish I've ever heard, and it took months before the Internet to decipher it.

I do appreciate the fact that he sings with a Barcelona accent. It's Spanish-Spanish!

9. Police on My Back - 541 pts - 26 votes - 1 #1

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/1261/zqer.jpg

That's one of the better covers.

reward for all those that did not bail out of Sandinista!

love this, i thought maybe it had missed out by this point

I think my #1 missed out. :(

I like the story from the box set about how they had somebody dig up Joe's copy of POMB and ship it to the studio in New York because nobody they talked to over here knew the song or who The Equals were.

I thought that was IFTL

8. The Magnificent Seven - 548 pts - 28 votes - 1 #1

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3875/5bzk.jpg

loooove the version on From Here to Eternity.

magnificent 8

Oh good!

should have been 1 higher...

you lot! wot?

Guessing "Midnight Log" won't make it :-(

don' stop..

SEVEN!

loooove the version on From Here to Eternity.

Ha, that version -- or, more accurately, Chimes' playing on it -- actually makes me angry. He removed Topper's swing and replaced it with plod.

police on my back was my #1, it's everything the clash were about

I thought that was IFTL

― Mark G, Wednesday, July 17, 2013 3:35 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nah, they picked that one up off a jukebox at bar near a studio.

fair enough

huh i never rated funkified clash that highly, tho i like it. i even love overpowered by funk with futura. whoever wrote that they just kept piling more shit on top with it is otm (at least i think someone wrote that around here).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXJxYNUoJKs

Pretty clear what's left in store here, but the order may be a surprise.

I have forgotten all of them on purpose.

(except one)

First time I've ever heard the original--excellent. Had the Clash #2.

7. Rudie Can't Fail - 564 pts - 28 votes - 2 #1

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6285/hrd5.jpg

Gah! My no.1

Total jam.

What a track, it's as good as rock gets, so many hooks