(12) Should I Stay or Should I Go (COMBAT ROCK) Yet another Mick Jones love tune, it was a Top-20 single hit for The Clash on both sides of the Ocean (U.S.:#13/U.K.:#17), it would later become the band's only #1 single chart topper, but in bizarre circumstances.
In 1991, this almost self-retro punk song of The Clash was licensed for for a commercial for Levi Jeans and released subsequently as a single, which went to #1 for 2 weeks on the UK Single charts.
Should I Stay or Should I Go (11) Bankrobber (BLACK MARKET CLASH)Originally written and performed by Strummer as another heroin-quick punk rock tune, it was retuned into a slow-paced raggae, almost do-wop-like song. Topped #13 on the UK Single charts.
Bankrobber(10) London's Burning (THE CLASH) LONDON'S BURNING! *drum-roll* How can you not dig a song about political apathy that plays itself in a mocking, surf-song fashion?
London's Burning While you are at it, check out the short-lived, one-night-only reunion of Mick Jones and Joe Strummer back in November 2002, their first in 18 years. Its real emotional, since you realized that a Clash reunion tour could have so happened, but instead, Strummer drops dead a few weeks later. Well, at least the serious Clash contributors got to play again together before it was too late.
One More Time (9) Police on My Back (SANDINISTA!) Long story short, after the phenominal success of LONDON CALLING, The Clash decided to raise the stakes. In a 3-week jam recording fest, their end result was a 3-disc schezephrenic album SANDINISTA! Like LONDON CALLING, it was sold for the price of a 1-disc album in stores, but the general consensus is that out of the 3 discs of the band experimenting in every possible genre (even dance ballad music. Don't Ask), there is a great 1-disc album buried in there. Still, there is lots of great music on the album, like their cover of this song, originally recorded by The Equals.
Police on My Back (8) This is Radio Clash (SUPER BLACK MARKET CLASH) By 1979 and 1980, with their club and arena dates in New York City, The Clash came into contact with a brewing black music movement from the streets of Harlem that would be marked as the early days of Electro and Hip-hop rap.
Considering that Punk Rock and Hip-Hop had the same origins and energetic fresh attitude for their time, it seemed obvious that The Clash would fully embrace it, yet they suffered severe backlash with their fans for moving away from their routine punk tunes. Now history fully vindicates The Clash for at least being a pioneering white rock act that understood the quality of hip-hop almost a decade before the rest.
This is Radio Clash (7) English Civil War (GIVE 'EM ENOUGH ROPE) In economically depressed regions, extremists tend to gain public traction. Its a historic fact. In the late 1970s, the Neo-Nazis were at the peak of their notoriety in England, and Strummer feared the inevitable clash for the country. The song is played on the rhythmn of the American Civil War-era song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
English Civil War (6) The Magnificent Seven (SANDINISTA!) If "This is Radio Clash" indicated The Clash's deep investment within hip-hop, "The Magnificent Seven" represents a successful hip-hop-inspired danceful effort that seemed almost a promising fusion with punk rock. Check out their performance on the Tom Snyder Show from way back in 1981.
Really, The Clash are very notable in actually being better at times live in concert or TV gigs (where most acts coast) than many of their studio recordings.
The Magnificent Seven
