Certain Songs

Certain Songs #230: The Clash – “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)”

June 23, 2015 by Jim Connelly

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)”

Certain Songs #229: The Clash – “One More Time” / “One More Dub”

June 22, 2015 by Jim Connelly

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.”

Certain Songs #228: The Clash – “Somebody Got Murdered”

June 21, 2015 by Jim Connelly

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.

Certain Songs #227: The Clash – “The Magnificent Seven”

June 20, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: Sandinista!
Year: 1980

What happens when your favorite current band changes everything? If you’re lucky, you’ll get to answer this question more than once in your life. But as a hard rock loving newly-minted adult (legally only, emotionally years and years later) (maybe), “The Magnificent Seven” felt like a slap in the face.

I mean this was the band that did “Safe European Home?” While 1978 was only two years prior, it suddenly felt like light years away — and why not: The Clash had packed other artists entire careers into just two albums. Still, my thinking was that Rap was simply a passing fad. The last gasp of Disco with some (admittedly) clever rhymes on top. But did it rock? No! Rock ‘n’ roll forever dude!!

Certain Songs #226: The Clash – “Stop The World”

June 19, 2015 by Jim Connelly

B-side, 1980.

In retrospect it seems insane that the first single — “The Call Up” for those of you keeping score at home — from Sandinista! should also include a non-album B-side that ranks with the top cuts from those sessions.

But, of course, it just goes to how incredibly prolific that The Clash were in 1979-1980 — music was spilling out from them in all directions, and only the limitations of the contemporary formats could hope to contain them. Nowadays, they probably would have been releasing those songs as they wrote them, like Ryan Adams or Kanye West, or just put out a nonstop stream of albums, like Robert Pollard.

Certain Songs #225: The Clash – “Armagideon Time”

June 18, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: Black Market Clash EP
Year: 1980.

Arriving as a 10-inch “Nu-Disk” (no really) stop-gap release in October 1980, and nearly as long as either The Clash or Give ‘Em Enough Rope, the original release of Black Market Clash might be the single weirdest entry in The Clash’s discography.

Side one was mostly punky b-sides, some of which (“City of the Dead,” “The Prisoner” & “Pressure Drop”) nearly made this project, and side two was all spacey Clash reggae, perfect for putting on as I desperately tried to sleep in the weird days of late 1980. The key track on the record was their cover of Willie Williams “Armagideon Time,” which — even more than “Police & Thieves” — they totally reshaped in their image.

Certain Songs #224: The Clash – “Train in Vain”

June 17, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: London Calling
Year: 1979.

The first thing you need to know about the infamous “secret hidden track” on London Calling is that it wasn’t all that hidden. Despite not being listed on either the sleeve or the label, it was in all of the publicity, not to mention that you could clearly see there were five songs on side four of London Calling.

To me, the mystery surrounding “Train in Vain” isn’t so much the fact that it was a hidden track, but rather “what kind of music is this even?”

Certain Songs #223: The Clash – “The Card Cheat”

June 16, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: London Calling
Year: 1979.

If “Lost in The Supermarket” bugged 17-year-old Jim with its relative lack of the big guitars, then “The Card Cheat” should have had me white rioting.

After all, there’s not an audible guitar to be found on the whole song. Instead, it’s all “M.Jones—-Piano” and the Irish Horns blaring away. There’s even a gods damned trumpet solo!

And yet, “The Card Cheat” always been one of my favorite songs by The Clash.

Certain Songs #222: The Clash – “Death or Glory”

June 15, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: London Calling.
Year: 1979.

And then there’s the cover of London Calling. That iconic Pennie Smith shot of Paul Simonon smashing his bass in New York City. I’d heard of guitars being smashed — I mean my other favorite band at the time was The Who — but whoever heard of a bass being smashed? Was it even possible? Those things are heavy!

Certain Songs #221: The Clash – “Clampdown”

June 14, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: London Calling
Year: 1979.

And then there’s “Clampdown.” Full of righteous fury and anger, and driven by a Topper Headon beat that shouldn’t possibly work, “Clampdown” is probably the closest thing musically to their early days. And by “early days,” of course, I meant “just a few months prior.”

I remember reading a Joe Strummer interview (probably in CREEM) just prior to London Calling where he was talking about how they were going to expand their music, and so even a song like “Clampdown” sounds different — guitars mixed down or doing subtle things, organ prominent, weird percussion effects — than it would have on the previous records.
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