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London Calling, a double album released by The Clash in December, 1979, in the UK and the first week of January 1980 in the US, marked the band's critical and commercial breakthrough. Besides straightforward punk rock, it featured a much wider array of styles than the Clash's earlier albums, with sophisticated pop songwriting that incorporates elements of rockabilly, 60s-style pop, lounge jazz, R&B, ska, rocksteady, hard rock, and reggae. The various Jamaican musical styles on London Calling are often perceived as a reflection of the Ska movement in Britain (see 1979 in music). The album is considered a landmark by many, and tracks such as "Train in Vain", "Clampdown", and the title track "London Calling" show up with regularity on rock stations to this day.

History

Continuing Clash practice, the record is politically motivated. Lyrical themes include: punk rock faddishness, drug addiction, American folk legend Stagger Lee, young rebels growing up and getting old, the rise of far-right politics under British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Spanish Civil War, race riots in England, troubled American method actor Montgomery Clift, the growing power of media advertising and corporations, and even the Pill.

The cover features a photograph by Pennie Smith of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar against the stage. The picture is surrounded by typography similar to Elvis Presley's debut album. The picture was later voted the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine, although ironically at the time Smith did not want the picture used as she did not feel it was a technically good shot because the photograph is slightly out of focus (as she was backing away from Paul to avoid getting hit). However, Joe Strummer convinced her to use the shot.

A number of songs from London Calling have been sold to various corporations for various commercial purposes. Examples include the use of the album's title track in the James Bond film Die Another Day, and in a Jaguar car commercial. The use of these songs have annoyed many fans who consider the band's public persona to be representative of a left-wing, anti-establishment, and, by extension, anti-corporate worldview.

"Train in Vain" was a last minute additon to the album, after the deal for The Clash to write a song for an NME flexi disc fell through, and as Mick Jones commented "This is a bit too good to give away on the NME". The result of its late addition was that it was the only song without lyrics printed on the insert, and was not listed as a track.

In January 2000, London Calling, along with the rest of the Clash's catalog was remastered and re-released.

On September 21st, 2004, Epic/Legacy Records released a Legacy Edition of the album which included not only the original remastered album (first released in 2000) but also The Vanilla Tapes, long rumoured lost, which contained rough rehearsal sessions for the album named after the studio in London where the recordings took place and a DVD containing a documentary and promos about the making of the album.

It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted London Calling the 32nd greatest album of all time; Rolling Stone named it the best album of the 1980s (although it was released in 1979 in the UK, its U.S. release was in 1980) in 2000, and in 2003 named it number 8 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time"; also in 2003, the TV network VH1 placed it at number 25. Pitchfork Media ranked it number two on their Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly named it the Greatest rock album of all-time.

Track listing

All tracks written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer unless noted.
  1. "London Calling" – 3:20
  2. "Brand New Cadillac" – 2:08 (Vince Taylor)
  3. "Jimmy Jazz" – 3:54
  4. "Hateful" – 2:44
  5. "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:29
  6. "Spanish Bombs" – 3:18
  7. "The Right Profile" – 3:54
  8. "Lost in the Supermarket" – 3:47
  9. "Clampdown" – 3:49
  10. "The Guns of Brixton" – 3:09 (Paul Simonon)
  11. "Wrong 'Em Boyo" – 3:10 (Clive Alphanso)
  12. "Death or Glory" – 3:55
  13. "Koka Kola" – 1:47
  14. "The Card Cheat" – 3:49 (The Clash)
  15. "Lover's Rock" – 4:03
  16. "Four Horsemen" – 2:55
  17. "I'm Not Down" – 3:06
  18. "Revolution Rock" – 5:33 (Jackie Edwards/D. Ray)
  19. "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)" – 3:09

25th Anniversary Edition track listing

Disc two on the 25th Anniversary Edition of the album containing The Vanilla Tapes
  1. "Hateful"
  2. "Rudie Can't Fail"
  3. "Paul's Tune" (Paul Simonon)
  4. "I'm Not Down"
  5. "4 Horsemen"
  6. "Koka Kola, Advertising & Cocaine"
  7. "Death Or Glory"
  8. "Lover's Rock"
  9. "Lonesome Me" (The Clash)
  10. "The police Walked In 4 Jazz"
  11. "Lost In The Supermarket"
  12. "Up-Toon (Inst.)"
  13. "Walking The Sidewalk" (The Clash)
  14. "Where You Gonna Go (Soweto)" (The Clash)
  15. "The Man In Me" (Bob Dylan)
  16. "Remote Control"
  17. "Working And Waiting"
  18. "Heart & Mind" (The Clash)
  19. "Brand New Cadillac" (Vince Taylor)
  20. "London Calling"
  21. "Revolution Rock" (Jackie Edwards/D. Ray)

Samples

Personnel

Chart information

  • In the United Kingdom the album charted at #9 and stayed on the British charts for 20 weeks.
  • In the United States the album peaked at #27 spending 33 weeks on the chart and reaching gold status.

External links

1979 albums | The Clash albums | Double albums | Epic Records albums

London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling | London Calling

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "London Calling".

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