104.3, broadcasting from Radio Free Elsewhere. Your glitch in the airwaves.
The Glitch WeeklyExtra
The Clash
English punk rock band (1976–1986)
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements of reggae, dub, funk, ska and rockabilly.
The band also contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that followed. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon.
members: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Terry Chimes, Keith Levene
formed in: London
labels: Sony Music, Columbia Records
genres: new wave, ska, reggae, post-punk
influenced by: The Who, The Kinks, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Mott the Hoople, Kiss, The Stooges, Elvis Presley
awards: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, MOJO Awards
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
punk rockdance-punknew wavepost-punkpunkbritish
Radio Free Elsewhere BulletinExtra
Origins: 1974–1976
Before the Clash's founding, the band's future members were active in different parts of the London music scene. Joe Strummer, whose real name was John Graham Mellor, sang and played rhythm guitar in the pub rock band The 101ers, which he had formed in 1974 with Álvaro Peña-Rojas. Mellor later abandoned his original stage name "Woody" Mellor in favour of "Joe Strummer", a reference to his rudimentary strumming skills on the ukulele while he was a busker in the London Underground.
After rehearsing with Strummer for less than a month, the Clash made their debut performance on 4 July 1976, supporting the Sex Pistols at the Black Swan nightclub in Sheffield. The Clash wanted to appear on stage before their rivals the Damned, another London SS spinoff, made [[Live at the 100 Club (The Damned album)
In August and September 1979, the Clash recorded the double album London Calling, which Guy Stevens, a former A&R executive who had worked with Mott the Hoople and Traffic, produced. The double album was a mix of punk rock, reggae, ska, rockabilly and traditional rock and roll. It is regarded as one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded. In the US, the single "Train in Vain" became their first top-40 hit, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard chart. In the UK, the title track was released as a single and peaked at number 11—the highest position any Clash single reached in the UK before the band's break-up.
The Clash are mainly described as a punk rock band. According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, "Sex Pistols may have been the first British punk rock band, but the Clash were the definitive British punk rockers". Later in their career, the Clash used elements of a variety of musical genres, including reggae, rockabilly, dub and R&B. With their double album London Calling, the band expanded the breadth of their musical styles. Consequently, the band's music has also been described as experimental rock and new wave. Since their beginnings, the band has covered and composed songs in the reggae genre, and incorporated lovers' rock into London Calling.
Influential British punk rock group from west and south London, active between 1976 and 1985. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters." The band became known for exploring wider musical horizons than most of their contemporaries, incorporating reggae, dub, rockabilly, hip hop and funk influences into their music.
Their second album ("Give 'Em Enough Rope") was the first one released in the U.S. to coincide with the band's first transatlantic tour in early 1979, with their first (self-titled) album then repackaged and released there. The following year, they received worldwide acclaim for their third album, "London Calling."
The band's classic lineup (circa 1977–1982) comprised Joe Strummer (born John Mellor), Paul Simonon, Mick Jones and Topper Headon.
Starting in 1982, the band went through lineup changes due to infighting, and disbanded in January 1986. Soon after Strummer's death, on March 10, 2003, the band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Performer).
Also known as: Clash, The Crash, The Crush, The Lash, The Pampers
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
The Clash, the records, oldest first
The Clash
1977 album
Give ’Em Enough Rope
1978 album
The Cost of Living E.P.
1979 ep
London Calling
1979 album
wanted
Sandinista Now!
1980 album
Sandinista!
1980 album
Combat Rock
1982 album
Cut the Crap
1985 album
Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg
2003 album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" is a song by the English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a 7-inch single, with the B-side "The Prisoner", on 16 June 1978 through CBS Records.
Inspiration and composition
The song showed considerable musical and lyrical maturity for the band at the time. Compared with their other early singles, it is stylistically more in line with their version of Lee "Scratch" Perry-Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves" as the powerful guitar intro of "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" descends into a slower ska rhythm, and was disorienting to a lot of the fans who had grown used to their earlier work. According to Mick Jones, "The music is a mixture of the reggae influence and punk, and was the next step after Police And Thieves". "We were a big fat riff group", Joe Strummer noted in the Clash's film Westway to the World. "We weren't supposed to do something like that." The song's opening line "Midnight to six, man for...
Critical reception
"(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" helped the Clash assert themselves as a more versatile band musically and politically than many of their peers, and it broke the exciting but limiting punk mould that had been established by the Sex Pistols; from now on the Clash would be "the thinking man's yobs".
Cover versions
Fighting Gravity covered the song on their 1999 live double album Hello Cleveland. In that same year, 311 contributed their rendition of the song to the charity album Burning London: The Clash Tribute.
"Bankrobber" is a song by the English rock band the Clash. The song was not released on any of their studio albums, instead appearing on their compilation Black Market Clash.
Upon its 1980 release as a single it peaked at No. 12 on the UK singles chart, and at No. 14 on both the Irish Singles Chart and the New Zealand Singles Chart.
Music video
Don Letts filmed a low-budget video for the song, depicting members of the band recording the song in the studio, interspersed with Clash roadies Baker and Johnny Green wearing bandanas over their faces, performing a bank heist in Lewisham. During the filming, Baker and Green were stopped and questioned by the police, who thought they were genuine.
Cover versions
Audioweb recorded a rock/reggae cover in 1996 that reached number 19 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Career Opportunities" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, recorded for their debut studio album, The Clash, in 1977.
Background
The song attacks the political and economic situation in England at the time, citing the lack of jobs available, particularly to youth, and the dreariness and lack of appeal of those that were available. They specifically mention service in the police forces in addition to jobs that are often perceived as being 'menial' such as a bus driver or ticket inspector, as well as "making tea at the BBC". The song also mentioned service in the military with "I don't wanna go fighting in the tropical heat." Later, the band would change the lyrics during concerts, replacing "tropical heat" with "Falklands Strait". This version of lyrics can be heard on Live at Shea Stadium.
"Clampdown" is a song by the English rock band the Clash from their third studio album London Calling (1979). The song began as an instrumental track called "Working and Waiting".
It is sometimes called "Working for the Clampdown", which is the main lyric of the song and also the title provided on the album's lyric sheet. Its lyrics concern those who have forsaken the idealism of youth and urges young people to fight the status quo.
Cover versions
"Clampdown" was performed by Rage Against the Machine at their first live show in 1991, as well as during a show in Antwerp, Belgium, on 2 June 2008. It was recorded by Indigo Girls and can be heard on Rarities (2005) as well as the Clash tribute album Burning London: The Clash Tribute (1999). The song was also performed several times by the Strokes, most notably in 2003 at the Alexandra Palace, which was used as the B-side to their "The End Has No End" single. The Strokes also played their interpretation at their July 2004 T in the Park appearance. Poster Children recorded it on their 2004 release, On the Offensive, and James Dean Bradfield performed it on his solo tour in October 2006. Another band that recorded this song was Hot Water...
"Clash City Rockers" is a song by the English rock band the Clash. It was first released in February 1978 as a single with the B-side "Jail Guitar Doors", the latter a re-worked version of a song from Joe Strummer's pub rock days.
"Clash City Rockers" was the second of three non-album singles released between the group's eponymous first album in 1977 and their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978). It was later included as the opening track of the belated US version of the band's debut album.
Background
The song was first played live at Mont De Marsan (Landes, France), in August 1977, and recorded the same year in the band's October and November sessions at CBS Studios.
Composition
The Clash's first overt attempt at self-mythology, "Clash City Rockers" is, by and large, a song about positivity and moving forward, and revisits themes common in Clash songs of the era, specifically dead-end employment and having a purpose in life. Jones has said that the song "was one of the first numbers we did where we really began to stretch and experiment."
Recording
In December, producer Mickey Foote—Strummer's old sound-man from the 101'ers and producer of The Clash and "White Riot"—increased the speed of the tape for the finished master of the song, after manager Bernie Rhodes decided the song sounded "a bit flat". This technique, known as "varispeeding", rendered the song one semitone higher in pitch. Strummer and Jones were in Jamaica at the time, and when they heard the finished result, they fired Foote. With the exception of the 2000 re-issue of the US version of The Clash, the original version of the song (at the proper speed) has been used on every re-release since.
"Complete Control" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, released as a 7" single and featured on the US release of their eponymous debut studio album.
Background
The song is a polemic on record companies, managers and the state of punk music itself, the motivation for the song being the band's label (CBS Records) releasing "Remote Control" without asking them, which infuriated the group. Stereogum described it as "this extraordinary airing of grievances, a desperately catchy cataloguing of the many ills visited upon a young band experiencing its first forays into corporate culture".
"English Civil War" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, featured on their second studio album, Give 'Em Enough Rope, and released as a single on 23 February 1979. It reached No. 25 on the UK singles chart and No. 29 on the Irish Singles Chart.
Background
The song is derived from an American Civil War song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", written by Irish-born Massachusetts Unionist Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore. It was popular among both sides of the conflict.
"Garageland" is a song by the English rock band the Clash featured as the final track for their debut studio album, The Clash (1977).
Writing and recording
Upon the Clash's early appearance at the Sex Pistols Screen on the Green concert, Charles Shaar Murray, an NME critic, produced a damning review of the band:
Reception
Ironically, only two years after the 1976 review that inspired the band to write "Garageland", in NME Murray called the Clash "the greatest rock band in the world".
"Groovy Times" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, featured on their The Cost of Living EP and also included with initial pressings of the US release of the band's debut album. It was originally recorded as "Groovy Times Are Here Again" during the recording sessions for Give 'Em Enough Rope; however, this demo has never been officially released, but can be found on many Clash bootlegs.
It was never performed live. The vinyl version contains the song "Gates of the West".
"Janie Jones" is a song by the English rock band the Clash. It is the opening track on their debut studio album, The Clash (1977).
The song is named after Janie Jones, a cabaret singer who organised sex parties at her Kensington home.
Composition
The song is named after Janie Jones, a minor English cabaret and pop singer in the 1960s who was convicted in 1974 of "controlling prostitutes" at sex parties she held at her home in Kensington. She was released from prison in 1977, and an allegedly smitten Joe Strummer composed the song in her honour.
Releases
In addition to The Clash, the song has appeared on the compilation albums The Story of the Clash, Volume 1 (1988) (disc two), Clash on Broadway (1991) (disc one; demo version), and The Essential Clash (2003) (disc one). A live version recorded on 4 June 1981 at Bond's Casino, New York City, is featured on the bootleg Live at Bond's Casino (2000).
Cover versions
A rockabilly remake of "Janie Jones" by the Farrell Bros. is included on the various-artists tribute album This Is Rockabilly Clash, released by Raucous Records in 2002. In 2005, The Slackers and Chris Murray covered it on their collaborative album Slackness and the folk noir trio Songdog included a version on The Time of Summer Lightning. Babyshambles released their version, with contributions from others, in 2006 to benefit Joe Strummer's charity foundation Strummerville.
Music video
The video revolves around (the real) Janie Jones being chauffeured around London with Mick Jones. Many of the contributors to the song feature in the video. Drew McConnell accompanies Janie Jones from the Windmill theatre right at the beginning as she's getting into her car, Alan Donohoe from the Rakes is driving the car, two members of Cazals are walking down the street near the start and their singer, Phil Bush, mimes 'lucky lady', the two guys standing in front of the telephone box are Josh Hubbard from The Paddingtons and one member of Guillemots; Carl Barât, Anthony Rossomando, Gary Powell and a guitar can be seen in a car pulling up to a petrol station, while Jack Peñate is also seen at the petrol station and Lisa Moorish is seen...
"London Calling" is a song by the English rock band the Clash. It was released as a single from the band's 1979 double album of the same name.
This apocalyptic, politically charged rant features the band's post-punk sound, electric guitar and vocals.
Writing and recording
The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The title alludes to the BBC World Service's station identification: "This is London calling..." which was used during World War II, often in broadcasts to occupied countries.
Chart success and critical reception
"London Calling" was released as the only single from the album in the UK and reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1980, becoming at once the band's highest-charting single until "Should I Stay or Should I Go" hit No. 1 ten years later. The song did not make the U.S. charts, as "Train in Vain" was released as a single and broke the band in the United States, reaching No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Notable appearances and covers
The Clash turned down a request from British Telecom to use the song for an advertising campaign in the early 1990s. In 2002, the Clash incurred criticism from some fans of the band when they sold the rights to Jaguar for a car advertisement.
"London's Burning" is a song by the English rock band the Clash from their eponymous debut studio album. It is the eighth track in the UK version of this album, and the seventh track in the US version, from 1979.
"Lost in the Supermarket" is a song by the English rock band the Clash. Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones and produced by Guy Stevens, it is credited to the Strummer/Jones songwriting partnership.
It was released on their third studio album, London Calling (1979), and appears as the eighth song on the track listing. Although it features Jones on lead vocals, the song was written by Strummer.
"Rock the Casbah" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash, released on 11 June 1982 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Combat Rock (1982). It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and, along with the track "Mustapha Dance", it also reached number eight on the dance chart.
Recording
The music for "Rock the Casbah" was composed by the band's drummer Topper Headon, based on a piano part that he had been toying with. Finding himself in the studio without his three bandmates, Headon progressively taped the drum, piano and bass parts, recording the bulk of the song's musical instrumentation himself.
Lyrics
The song gives a fabulist account of a ban on Western rock music by a West Asian or North African king. The lyrics describe the king's efforts to enforce and justify the ban, and the populace's protests against it by holding rock concerts in temples and squares ("rocking the casbah"). This culminates in the king ordering his military's fighter jets to bomb the protesters; however, after taking off, the pilots ignore his orders and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios, joining the protest and implying the loss of the king's power.
Music video
The music video for "Rock the Casbah" was filmed in Austin, Texas, by director Don Letts on 8 and 9 June 1982. It intermixes footage of the Clash (with Terry Chimes on the drums) miming a performance of the song, with a storyline depicting two characters travelling together throughout Texas. The video depicts a Muslim hitchhiker (played by actor Titos Menchaca) and a Hasidic Jewish limo driver (Dennis Razze) befriending each other on the road and skanking together through the streets to a Clash concert at Austin's City Coliseum. Throughout the video, an armadillo appears at points. At one point they are seen eating hamburgers in front of a Burger King restaurant. At another point, the Muslim character is seen drinking a beer; Letts stated...
Legacy
The song was chosen by Armed Forces Radio to be the first song broadcast on the service covering the area during Operation Desert Storm. In the 2007 documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, a friend states that Strummer wept when he heard that the phrase "Rock the Casbah" had been written on an American bomb that was to be detonated on Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.
"Rudie Can't Fail" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, featured on their third studio album London Calling (1979). The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, who sing it as a duet.
Composition
Like some songs on London Calling, "Rudie Can't Fail" has a strong reggae and rocksteady influence. Donald A. Guarisco of Allmusic described it as "an exuberant, horn-driven number that mixes pop and soul elements in to spice up its predominantly reggae sound".
Lyrics
"Rudie Can't Fail" praises the rude boys of Jamaica in the 1960s who challenged their elders' status quo. The song is about a fun-loving young man who is criticised by his elders for not acting as a responsible adult, drinking beer at breakfast, and describe him as being "so crude and feckless", to which he responds "I know that my life make you nervous, but I tell you I can't live in service." The song's title derives from Desmond Dekker's 1967 song "007 (Shanty Town)", and is in homage to Ray Gange, who had portrayed a roadie who quits his job to follow the Clash around in the 1980 film Rude Boy. Rudie Can't Fail was the working title of a planned second movie for which the Clash would provide the soundtrack. Reference is made also to Dr...
Cover versions
In 1999, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones covered the song for the Burning London: The Clash Tribute tribute album.
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash from their fifth studio album, Combat Rock, written in 1981 and featuring Mick Jones on lead vocals. It was released in 1982 as a double A-sided single alongside "Straight to Hell", performing modestly on global music charts.
In the United States, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 without reaching the top 40. The song received greater attention nearly a decade later as the result of an early-1990s Levi's jeans commercial, leading to the song's 1991 re-release, which topped the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 10 in New Zealand and several European countries.
Background and production
Though the composition was credited to the Clash, Mick Jones was its principal songwriter. Its melody and chord structure shared resemblance with "Little Latin Lupe Lu", which was written by Bill Medley in 1962 and provided a hit for his act the Righteous Brothers the following year, as well as for the Kingsmen in 1964 and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels in 1966.
Releases
The song had various single releases. In North America, the American record label Epic Records released one edition with "Inoculated City" as its B-side in May 1982. Another edition by Epic with "First Night Back in London" as its B-side, released in July 1982, peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week ending 18 September 1982, the edition's tenth week on the chart. Another edition by Epic with "Cool Confusion" as its B-side, released in February 1983, peaked at number 50 in the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere, the international record label CBS Records released the song in September 1982 as a double A-side with "Straight to Hell". The double A-side release peaked at number 17 on the UK Single Chart for the week ending 17...
Critical reception
NME journalist Adrian Thrills in 1982 gave the double A-side single release "Straight to Hell"/"Should I Stay or Should I Go" four-and-a-half stars out of five. Despite "Should I Stay or Should I Go" having received more radio airplay, Thrills stated that the single's other A-side track "Straight to Hell" was "the reaffirmation that there is still life in The Clash."
Music video
The video for the song was made by Don Letts. It consists of the band's USA tour with images of their visit to New York City, where the band were filmed driving in an open-topped Cadillac to a gig; there, Joe Strummer is featured performing in sunglasses and a Davy Crockett hat and Mick Jones in a red jumpsuit and beret. The concert was at Shea Stadium on 13 October 1982, in the band's second night opening for the Who.
"Straight to Hell" is a song by the English rock band the Clash from their fifth studio album Combat Rock (1982). It was released as a double A-side single with "Should I Stay or Should I Go" in September 1982 in 12" and 7" vinyl format.
Writing and recording
"Straight to Hell" was written and recorded toward the end of the Clash's New York recording sessions for Combat Rock. Mick Jones' guitar technician Digby Cleaver describes the sessions as "a mad, creative rush" that occurred on 30 December 1981, the day before the Clash were due to depart New York.
Reception
In 1982, NME reviewer Adrian Thrills gave the double A-side single release "Straight to Hell"/"Should I Stay or Should I Go" four-and-a-half stars out of five. Despite "Should I Stay or Should I Go" having received more radio airplay, Thrills wrote that "Straight to Hell" "reaffirm[s] that there is still life in The Clash". Vulture cited it as "punk poetry of the highest order, and maybe real poetry too".
Notable covers and samples
"Straight to Hell" has been covered or sampled by many artists. Heather Nova and Moby covered the song in 1999 for the Clash tribute album Burning London. In 2007, British rapper M.I.A. sampled "Straight to Hell" in her song "Paper Planes" which, like "Straight to Hell", deals with the topic of immigration. "Paper Planes" was itself sampled in Jay-Z and T.I.'s 2008 song "Swagga Like Us"; the songwriters of "Straight to Hell" received co-writing credits for both songs.
"The Magnificent Seven" is a song by the English rock band the Clash. Released in 1981, it was the third single from the Clash's fourth studio album, Sandinista!.
It reached No. 34 on the UK singles chart.
Composition
The song was inspired by old school hip hop acts from New York City, like the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Rap was still a new and emerging music genre at the time, and the band, especially Mick Jones, was very impressed with it, so much so that Jones took to carrying a boombox around and got the nickname "Whack Attack".
"This Is England" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, released on 30 September 1985 by CBS Records as the lead and only single from their sixth and final studio album, Cut the Crap. Produced by Bernard Rhodes and co-written by Strummer and Rhodes, it was the band's last single in their later incarnation of Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon, Nick Sheppard, Pete Howard and Vince White.
Composition
"This Is England" comprises a list of the problems in England during the early years of the Margaret Thatcher administration, addressing inner-city violence, urban alienation, life on council estates, high unemployment rate, England's dying motorcycle industry, racism, nationalism, and police corruption. Additionally, the song explores two very common subject matters for the mid-1980s left-wing songwriters: the wave of patriotism from the Falklands War in 1982 and the consumerist, subservient mindset of many English people at the time.
Release
The single was released on 7-inch vinyl, backed with "Do It Now", and on 12-inch vinyl format with a different cover and an additional track on side two, titled "Sex Mad Roar". Strummer described "This Is England" as his "last great Clash song".
Critical reception
John Leland of Spin wrote, "anthemic Brit power the likes of which we haven't heard in years (Billy Bragg notwithstanding). It's definitely a rocker, with a ballsy rhythm-guitar line and a football-chant chorus. Strummer is in peak psychotic/idealist form."
Legacy
"This Is England" was included on The Essential Clash career-spanning greatest hits album in 2003. In 2006, the single was fully re-released on CD as disc 19 in Singles Box, accompanied by a faithful re-creation of the single's original artwork and the extra track "Sex Mad Roar" from the original 12-inch pressing. The single also appears on the compilation album The Singles (2007). "This is England" is also the only song from Cut the Crap to ever appear on compilation albums.
"This Is Radio Clash" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, released as a single in 1981. It received mixed reviews from critics who wanted the Clash to return to their anarchic punk roots.
The experimental nature of the song drew praise, as well as the Clash's signature anti-authoritarian political lyrics. The song continued the Clash's shift to rap rock and funk, a combination which had succeeded in the American market.
Legacy
American critic Eric Schafer described the song as "a magnificent, daring, challenging record that was years ahead of its time; one of the great rock records of the 1980s, it has never been given its just credit. Twenty-eight years after its debut, were it released today it would still burn up the radio."
"Tommy Gun" is a song by the English rock band the Clash, released as the first single from their second studio album, Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978).
Background
Joe Strummer said that he got the idea for the song when he was thinking about terrorists, and how they probably enjoy reading about their killings as much as movie stars like seeing their films reviewed.
"Train in Vain" (or "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)") is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released as the third and final single from their third studio album, London Calling (1979).
The song was not originally listed on the album's track listing, appearing as a hidden track at the end of the album. This was because the track was added to the record at the last minute, when the sleeve was already in production.
Meaning and inspiration
When the album London Calling (1979) was released, many fans assumed it was called "Stand by Me", but the meaning of the song's title is obscure as the title phrase cannot be found in the lyrics. Mick Jones, who wrote most of the song, offered this explanation: "The track was like a train rhythm, and there was, once again, that feeling of being lost."
Critical reception
Cash Box wrote that this was Clash's "most commercial effort ... to date", stating that "an infectious rhythm has supplanted the three chord guitar attack" and added that Joe Strummer's playing is "more restrained but equally as effective". Record World wrote that "Mick Jones' vocals reach expressive cries and the overall sound has a crisp, rockabilly feel that should move the Clash into best-seller status."
Covers and samples
"Train in Vain" has been covered by varied artists such as the British indie dance band EMF, American country singer Dwight Yoakam, and San Francisco rockers Third Eye Blind.
"White Riot" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash, released as the band's first single in March 1977 and also included on their self-titled debut album.
Composition
Lyrically, the song is about class struggle and race and thus proved controversial; some people thought it was advocating a kind of race war.
Reception
The Clash performed "White Riot" in public for the first time when they played the 100 Club Punk Festival on 20 September 1976. "White Riot" is considered a classic in the Clash canon, although as the band matured, Mick Jones would at times refuse to play it, considering it crude and musically inept. Over two decades later, Joe Strummer would perform it with his band the Mescaleros. The B-side of the single was "1977", a non-album track. This song was along similar lines to "White Riot", suggesting that the music of Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones was no longer relevant.
Cover versions
The song was covered by Clash contemporaries Sham 69. The punk rock/Oi! band Cock Sparrer also did a live cover version of the song, which even appeared on their The Best of Cock Sparrer and England Belongs to Me albums. The Mekons' first single, "Never Been in a Riot", was a response to "White Riot".
