Chasing the long tail of new media
Album: Your Favorite Music
Year: 1999.
Always a cult band, Clem Snide have been releasing albums on an off and on basis since the late 1990s.
These days, they are probably best known for “Moment in the Sun” which was the theme song to the cult TV show Ed during the season where the producers of Ed couldn’t secure the rights to the Foo Fighters song (“Next Year”) they clearly preferred.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #237: Clem Snide – “I Love The Unknown”
Single, 1985.
I’ve already written about how not having a high school newspaper means I don’t have any embarrassing 1980 pans of London Calling out there. However, since I ended up publishing the KFSR fanzine in 1983, I do have a couple of dead wrong #hottakes on The Clash post-Mick Jones to quote from!!
At some point in mid-October of 1983, after I found out that Mick had been booted from the band, I wrote:
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #236: The Clash – “This is England”
Album: Combat Rock
Year: 1982.
On October 23, 1982, I saw The Clash open for The Who at the Oakland Coliseum. Not just me of course: Kassia, Tim & Larry also went, among with other folks.
Everything was changing: KFSR was scheduled to go on the air within the week, and I was turning 20 soon after that. By the time the year was over, my life was going to be completely different, I could feel it. It was somehow apropos that the last major concert I’d ever see as a teenager featured the two bands that had dominated my teenage years. A simultaneous summing up and letting go of a major phase of my life.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #235: The Clash – “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”
Album: Combat Rock
Year: 1982.
Here’s some cognitive dissonance for you: I think that Combat Rock is unfairly slagged. I don’t particularly think that Combat Rock is a very good record.
I mean all of the tendencies that made London Calling and Sandinista! so amazing are still there: the desire to experiment with new forms; the fascination with rap & reggae; the top-notch musicianship.
What’s lacking is the songwriting chops and especially the melodies. I know that’s insane to say for an album that sported their two biggest hit singles, but Combat Rock is dominated far more by more grooves and chants than verses and choruses.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #234: The Clash – “Know Your Rights”
Album: Sandinista!
Year: 1980.
. . . by the time we got to side five, the only thing we knew for sure about Sandinista! was that we didn’t know anything at all about Sandinista!
At this point, it was clear that anything could happen, that the the best thing was to sit back, enjoy the ride and hope for the best.
Still, the one thing that we couldn’t have known — even after all of the twists and turns — was that Sandinista! had one more surprise up its sleeve: putting one of its very greatest songs at the very end of side five. Most records didn’t even have a side five . . .
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #233: The Clash – “The Street Parade”
Album: Sandinista!
Year: 1980
I’ll get into the last of the great Clash covers in a second, but I would be remiss if I didn’t take a second to talk about The Equals, one of the greatest 1960s bands you’ve probably never heard. I realize that in 2015, nobody thinks that’s a category, but of course it is.
The Equals blended rock, pop and soul in much the same way that Sly & The Family Stone did, but never made it as big as their American counterparts for a couple of reasons: 1) they weren’t nearly as funky 2) Eddy Grant (yes, that Eddy Grant) wasn’t as good of a songwriter as Sly Stone. Nevertheless, you should go out and find the First Among Equals compilation and find out why their musical blend was an influence on The Clash.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #232: The Clash – “Police on My Back”
Album: Sandinista!
Year: 1980.
Closing out side three of Sandinista! with a great joyous blast of gospel music, “The Sound of The Sinners” just might be the most fun Joe Strummer ever had on record.
Sure, it’s all a bit tongue-in-cheek, but if you think about it, who better than to do a gospel song than Saint Joe Strummer?
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #231: The Clash – “The Sound of The Sinners”
Album: Sandinista!
Year: 1980.
I haven’t really touched on the political aspect of The Clash, which of course was a huge part of their appeal to me. Not so much because I agreed with everything they sang about — I personally think that the globalization of U.S. popular culture was a huge factor in defeating Communism, so who cares if it bored Joe Strummer? — but because I loved their conviction when they were doing political songs.
And as always with me, my favorite Clash political songs were the ones I loved musically and then discovered lyrically: “White Riot,” “Clampdown” “Know Your Rights” and the utterly anthemic “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)”
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #230: The Clash – “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)”
Album: Sandinista!
Year: 1980.
One of my many theories about Sandinista! is that the reason it was initially so confusing was that it was the first Clash album where the default musical style wasn’t rock, but rather reggae. Not only are there reggae songs on every single side of the record, the last disc amps up the dub in the same way that All Things Must Pass amped up the jams.
So its not surprising that Sandinista! produced what I think is their single greatest reggae song: the monumental “One More Time.”
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #229: The Clash – “One More Time” / “One More Dub”
Album: Sandinista!
Year: 1980.
Suddenly appearing in middle of side two after a long Mikey Dread toast the ends with an echoed “mur-dah! mur-dah!”, “Somebody Got Murdered” is the arguably the first rock song on Sandinista! (Though I suppose you could make a case for the rockabilly of “The Leader.”)
It’s also been one of my favorites, featuring powerful drumming from Topper, a chittering keyboard part from Mickey Gallagher, and an empathetic vocal from Mick Jones.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #228: The Clash – “Somebody Got Murdered”