I’ve done it! I’ve found the answer about how to make any situation punk rock. It’s a simple solution, really. Put on The Clash’s iconic album London Calling and whatever you are doing will immediately become punk rock. Now, I’m sure I’ll catch a lot of flak from any “real punk rocker” about that statement, but c’mon, The Clash are the definition of punk rock. Listening to their music evokes a certain attitude that screams, “I don’t give a fuck! I’m gonna drink beer for breakfast and I’m gonna smoke these cigarettes whenever and wherever I please! Here’s my middle finger!” The irony about London Calling is that it is so punk rock that it isn’t even punk rock. Now, if that isn’t punk then I don’t know what is. London Calling, the Clash’s third studio album, was released in the UK on December 14, 1979. Prior to that punk rock was considered fast paced, edgy music with, excuse me, minimal real musical talent by bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. And then a revolutionary idea came about! The Clash said “Hey, let’s take this punk music that we’ve been playing and add in some jazz, and some reggae, and how about some ska! Hell, we’ll even play the bloody piano! And we’ll do it all with legit skill!” They flipped the establishment of punk upside down and laid the blueprint for the possibilities of things to come.
Now, back to me and how I became the proud owner of this magnum opus of punk rock on vinyl record. After my record craze began with a stack of my dad’s old albums, I knew that it was time to make my first purchase. As I was driving to the record store, iPod on shuffle, fate intervened and The Clash’s “Train in Vain” came through the speakers. I knew that if London Calling was tucked away somewhere on the shelves on Monster Music that I was going to have to get it. Sure enough, staring at me like a hooker on the Sunset Strip winking with a subtle “You know you want it” was the most badass photo in the history of rock n’ roll… Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar on the stage of the Palladium in New York City. And my shopping was done.
London Calling’s album cover, with it’s pink and green Elvis Presley inspired font, is, was, and will continue to be one of the best ever and being able to hold this genuine art form in my hands makes it that much more special. It’s almost as if the photo is representative of The Clash’s distinct change of style and rethinking of what punk is and could be. Smashing the guitar with a statement to that world that says, “This is who we are and what we are going to do!” Punk at it’s finest.
London Calling holds true to The Clash’s punk roots with the two opening tracks “London Calling” and “Brand New Cadillac” but with added depth, catchy hooks, and tightly knit rhythm sections. And then all hell breaks loose from there! “Jimmy Jazz” follows with some fancy saxophone playing and a bass line that makes me feel as if I should be two stepping up and down the strings. Influences from a wide array of genres begin to flood London Calling particularly when the last track of side two kicks in, “The Guns of Brixton.” Heavily reggae influenced by parts of the culture in London at the time, this song takes me to a back alley in a Guy Ritchie film such as Snatch or Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels as me and my mates are about to beat some gangsters to a bloody pulp. Side three showcases The Clash’s ska elements with “Wrong ‘Em Boyo” while “The Card Cheat” features something very un-punk rock, the piano. And people thought Green Day was revolutionary when they released “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” in 1997. Sorry, The Clash did it 18 years earlier.
The album concludes, fittingly, with the song that started me on this journey, “Train in Vain.” This song, to me, is the “Sir Duke” from Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life of The Clash’s London Calling. I couldn’t imagine this song, with it’s extremely catchy melody and chorus, not on this album. If this song, at the least, doesn’t make you tap your toe and want to sing along, then you might want to consider going to a psychiatrist. It’s a beautifully written love song about needing that special someone to stand by your side and that need can be summed up with the lines:
“Now I got a job
But it don’t pay
I need new clothes
I need somewhere to stay
But without all of these things I can do
But without your love I won’t make it through”
I bought London Calling on vinyl because I felt, out of respect, that it deserved to be heard on its original format. Even though I wasn’t born yet nor have ever been to England, I feel like I’m being transported back to London in 1979 every time I listen to this album. It’s a classic and a true pioneer of not only a genre, but a movement.
A week later, I was back at Monster Music. This time, I figured I’d get a little hip-hop up in my system with A Tribe Called Quest’s Low End Theory. So check the rhime until next time
