Articles that make The Clash out to be gods among men and continually extol their general awesomeness are pretty much okay with me.

Not sure if they're gods, but there was probably no production magic when they recorded the song, and certainly none when they shot the video. Yet the end-product is riveting, even all these years later.

I'd love to see another band with that kind of talent and presence. The Clash were truly a rare act.

You know who else owned? Monarchy and aristocracy, that's who

When I look back at iconic and innovative rock bands such as The Clash, The Ramones, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc., I wonder what, if any, bands of today will be thought of in the same light 30-40 years from now.

Any ideas?

Joe Strummer's record collection:

World service bulletin from the nightshift D.J.
To all wavebands on earth
Reconnoitre on the killahertz

This tune is going out to Marconi
To all corners of the globe
There ain't no hut in the Serengeti
Where my wavelengths do not probe
If a rocket went to Saturn
We sure hope a D.J. is on board
For some anti-gravity mixing
With two dub plates of U-Roy

Throwdown Stray Cat strut in Bulawayo - hey, Bulawayo
Buddy Rich in Burundi
Quadrophenia in Armenia
Armenia City In The Sky
Big Youth booming in Djkarta
Nina Simone over Sierra Leone
Wild sound of Joujouka in Nevada - hey, Joujouka
Everywhere, everywhere Bob's bringing it all back home

Yeah, I let the boogie-woogie rumble
In the back of Bangalore
I get complaints from Bondi Beach
What, no longboard surf hardcore
Oh, send the rock steady out to Freddy
Who juggles plates in Tsing Tao City

Cos tonight Bo Diddley's in Finland Station - hey, Bo Diddley
Sun Ra's in Omaha
The Skatalites in New York City - hey, Skatalites
The Stooges rule over Habana
The Bhundu Boys rock Acapulco - hey, hey Bhundu Boys
Good hip hop in Islamabad
Ali Farke Toure's in Oaxaca - hey, Farke Toure
And Baaba Maal's all over Stalingrad

Yeah, while some are waking, some are sleeping
From Kamchatka to the Gabon
Above the tradewind, wingtips beating
We calling out for Ronnie and da-do Ron, Ron, Ron

We call the Cumbria to tumble
From the peak of the Himalayas
We send the funk into the jungle
To the last outpost of the bass player

/Satta Massagana

I saw them in '82 and yes they did pwn

jj325: I was 15 when Give 'em Enough Rope came out and it moved me, touched me, changed me.

I found Give 'Em Enough Rope when I was 17 (2002) and it moved me, touched me, changed me. The old stuff still works. It started an unhealthy love affair with the clash that continues to this very day.

"If Adolf Hitler were her today they would send a limousine anyway"

Gunny Highway: jj325: I was 15 when Give 'em Enough Rope came out and it moved me, touched me, changed me.

I found Give 'Em Enough Rope when I was 17 (2002) and it moved me, touched me, changed me. The old stuff still works. It started an unhealthy love affair with the clash that continues to this very day.

"If Adolf Hitler were her today they would send a limousine anyway"

Did you hear, Natty Dread drinks at the Sheraton Hotel?

FarkedOver: Did you hear, Natty Dread drinks at the Sheraton Hotel?

I thought you never told.

Gunny Highway: FarkedOver: Did you hear, Natty Dread drinks at the Sheraton Hotel?

I thought you never told.

Sorry, I did. I met some bossin' yabbos and we did chance to speak.

"If Adolph Hitler flew in today", would Joe Strummer play this?

Link (new window)

The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

I'm too young to have seen them, and yes, that pisses me off. It's the only reason I can think of to wish I were older.

Ah, The Clash before drugs, egos and shiatty white-boy reggae ruined everything.

jonnyh: Not sure if they're gods, but there was probably no production magic when they recorded the song

Of course there was! Sandy Perlman was an experienced producer, had made at the least three kick-ass records with Blue Öyster Cult (debut, Tyranny and Mutation and the masterpiece Secret Treaties) and he and his engineers knew how to make records that had punch and presence.

On the first Clash album, the guitars sound thin and washed out, here they roar. Listen at 1:56 in the clip at the link, that's excellent production/engineering work to have the drums still upfront in the mix and pushing the song forward and not letting them get buried beneath all the guitar overdubs.

Great song, great album, still one of my very favorites.

Henry Holland: Great song, great album, still one of my very favorites.

IIRC G'ER is the 2nd CD I ever bought
/1986
//I had it on vinyl already
///get off my lawn

downstairs: Bell's Boy: The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

In what way?

I too am curious about this.

downstairs: Bell's Boy: The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

In what way?

I wouldn't say "most overrated in music history," but I don't think their music has aged all that well. I played "London Calling" on a road trip with my mostly musically-unrefined GF a while back, and tried to explain to her why the album was (is?) considered such a classic. I found myself saying over and over again "at the time, ..."

The reggae inflections, the political/socially-conscious lyrics, etc. certainly seemed fresh and new in 1979, but they're a dime a dozen today. That's not a dig at the Clash -- it's great that they influenced a lot of subsequent artists and changed the face of music -- but it doesn't make their own work product sound timeless. As a result, I find that I appreciate it in a historical sense, but it's not something I put on because I feel like listening to great music. It's just not "great music."

Lee's_Austin: downstairs: Bell's Boy: The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

In what way?

I too am curious about this.

I should revise that statement to "the most overrated "punk band" in music history." First off, I didn't grow up then so perhaps what Uzzah says about them not aging well is true. They just never seemed all that original, and their music certainly did not seem punk to me. The energy wasn't there for that. I liked when they were more political a bit, but it still came off as a heavier U2. I'm not saying they were a bad band, I'm just saying that Clash fans constantly put them on a pedestal that I don't think they deserve.

Most bands don't do live videos because the music doesn't match the record they hope you'll buy after seeing the video.If the video's live and sounds just like the record,it's probably a fake stage set up and the band's lip synching.

/The only band that matters.

Bell's Boy: The energy wasn't there for that.

Did you watch the linked video?

Bell's Boy: I liked when they were more political a bit, but it still came off as a heavier U2.

In "The Future Is Unwritten" Bono says U2 started after going to see the Clash IIRC

Bell's Boy: I'm just saying that Clash fans constantly put them on a pedestal that I don't think they deserve.

I have them on that pedestal for sure but every has different taste. What punk band do you think "bring it" for lack of a better term.

downstairs [TotalFark] Quote 2010-09-02 06:00:36 PM
Bell's Boy: The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

In what way?

Link (new window)
for a damn good reason

bossuniversalAA: downstairs [TotalFark] Quote 2010-09-02 06:00:36 PM
Bell's Boy: The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

In what way?

Link (new window)
for a damn good reason

Thanks for enlightening the populous you methadone kitty. Ill be over here doing the slam dance cosmopolis

Bell's Boy: The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

I wouldn't go that far, but London Calling is one of the most overrated albums.

The Clash is overrated, Joe Strummer is not.

seabass242: Bell's Boy: The Clash is the most overrated band in music history.

I wouldn't go that far, but London Calling is one of the most overrated albums.

I'd agree there, if only because I liked Sandinista! better.

They're lip-synching.

They didn't need highly produced music videos, they had a whole movie for that. Rude Boy

Henry Holland: Henry Holland 2010-09-02 06:14:32 PM
Ah, The Clash before drugs, egos and shiatty white-boy reggae ruined everything.

jonnyh: Not sure if they're gods, but there was probably no production magic when they recorded the song

Of course there was! Sandy Perlman was an experienced producer, had made at the least three kick-ass records with Blue Öyster Cult (debut, Tyranny and Mutation and the masterpiece Secret Treaties) and he and his engineers knew how to make records that had punch and presence.

On the first Clash album, the guitars sound thin and washed out, here they roar. Listen at 1:56 in the clip at the link, that's excellent production/engineering work to have the drums still upfront in the mix and pushing the song forward and not letting them get buried beneath all the guitar overdubs.

Great song, great album, still one of my very favorites.

Sandy Perlman is the man who actually gave cowbell to "Don't Fear the Reaper." SNL gave Christopher Walken the wrong name...

Cool video, that site set off my virus protection like crazy though...

Here's the link right to the youtube video.

Link (new window)

If nothing else, The Clash were certainly innovators in the field of drinking iced tea out of Jack Daniels bottles, baby!

poot_rootbeer: If nothing else, The Clash were certainly innovators in the field of drinking iced tea out of Jack Daniels bottles, baby!

Meh, even David Lee Roth doesn't give a fark about what David Lee Roth has to say.

Most of the Clash's music videos were no-frills performance clips. The reason was simple: the Clash owned the stageThe Clash split up in 1985, and made all their most important records before 1981 i.e. long before music videos had made pop music even less about music and even more about manufactured image.