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The Clash
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
The Clash was formed in London in 1976. In the best-known line-up the singer and guitarist Joe Strummer, the guitarist Mick Jones, the bassist Paul Simonon and the drummer Topper Headon played; the first drummer was Terry Chimes. The Clash began in the London punk scene, alongside the Sex Pistols and The Damned. The band is important because it showed that punk did not have to be a fixed style, and because its lyrics were about politics and life in the city.
Music and breakthrough
The debut The Clash (1977) already contained a cover of the reggae song Police and Thieves. On the double album London Calling, released in England in December 1979 and recorded with the producer Guy Stevens, the band mixes punk with reggae, ska, rockabilly and New Orleans rhythm and blues. The record company CBS sold it for the price of a single LP. Train in Vain, which was not listed on the sleeve, became the group's first American top 40 hit. On Pennie Smith's cover photograph Simonon smashes his bass guitar on the stage of the Palladium in New York.
Influence
The triple album Sandinista! (1980) and Combat Rock (1982), with Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go, followed. In January 1986 the end of the band was announced. Strummer died in 2002, and in 2003 The Clash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone placed London Calling that year at number 8 on its list of the 500 greatest albums, the highest place for a punk band. The blend of punk and Jamaican music made punk an attitude rather than a sound.
Listening
London Calling · The Clash, 1979Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 1977The Clash
- 1978Give ’Em Enough Rope
- 1979London Calling
- 1980Sandinista!
- 1982Combat Rock
- 1985Cut the Crap
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 2: Youth Cultures 1950-1980NL Reader
- Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still PopNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Punk Genre
The Ramones played at the New York club CBGB; in London there were the Sex Pistols and The Clash.
- London Calling Album
After their second album, the Clash were stuck.