Desideri, Fausto. "The Clash Italian Discography '77 - '85." Raropiù, no. 53, Jan. 2018, pp. 16-23.

— The Clash's discography from 1977 to 1985, includes rare Italian pressings, collector notes, anecdotes about recording sessions in London, New York, and Bangkok.

No. 53 first release: 4 January 2018. Monthly magazine of music culture, collecting and cinema. Year VI - €7.00 www.raropiu.com

Born in the height of the punk era, The Clash spoke about the problems of a society in crisis, attacking authority. They created their own style by blending different musical genres and even conquered America, recording historic albums such as London Calling and Sandinista!

"I watched Mick Jagger wriggle and sing Not Fade Away on the little black-and-white television in the school common room and I realised that this was the road to my liberation...", so recounts Graham Mellor, son of a British diplomat, describing the encounter with music that would lead him to become one of the greatest rockers of our time.

Raised in boarding school, he left as a teenager after experiencing the tragedy of his older brother David’s suicide. He moved to Wales, where he did humble farm work and called himself Woody Mellor, in honour of Woody Guthrie. He learned to play the ukulele and joined a small band, The Vultures. He decided to become a street musician singing rock songs, and the passers-by in the London Underground stations nicknamed him Strummer, meaning “strummer”.

Still a teenager, he formed the group The 101'ers, a pub rock band whose name was taken from the torture chamber in George Orwell’s novel 1984. Together with his guitarist Keith Levene, at the request of manager Bernard Rhodes, he joined the three members of the group SS London: Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and drummer Terry Chimes. Mick and Paul had a different story, growing up in the working-class district of Brixton. Simonon was attending art school when he met Jones, a lanky guitarist and fan of Jimi Hendrix, who chose him for his group purely for his image and style. Paul knew nothing about music, and Mick immediately taught him how to play bass.

The new group would be called The Clash, a name chosen by Jones because it was the word (“clash”) that appeared most often in newspaper headlines. It was May 1976, and three months later the band held their first concert before a few friends and acquaintances in an old railway depot in Camden Town, but their real debut was a few months later in Sheffield as support for the Sex Pistols. Keith Levene was removed from the group shortly before the recording of their first album, and John and Mick began writing their songs, creating a new songwriting duo. They would soon be nicknamed the "Lennon-McCartney of the punk era".

The first explosive single was also released in our country; a song that calls for revolt, being a harsh attack on institutions and racism. It recounts the clashes in Notting Hill in London the previous year between police and young members of the black community during the Afro-Caribbean Carnival festival, which had been witnessed directly by John and Paul. A track that became the manifesto of The Clash, now truly the political soul of the punk movement, at times anarchic, at times proletarian. The song is different from the one issued on the album, which, however, we find again in the later American version of the same record.

On side B, they speak of the past year and the English crisis that seemed to have no hope even in the years to come. In England, it entered the Top 40 chart. In Italy came their video, broadcast by local television, alternating images of the group live with those of the serious-looking London policemen. The sleeve of the Italian edition reprises the photo from the third Clash single, Complete Control.

Janie Jones / Remote Control / I'm So Bored With The U.S.A. / White Riot / Hate & War / What's My Name / Deny / London's Burning / Career Opportunities / Cheat / Protex Blue / Police & Thieves / 48 Hours / Garageland

It was the year of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, a figure that young English people were beginning to contest, and of the simultaneous explosion of punk. The Clash signed a contract with CBS, triggering the excommunication of purists who now judged them sold out to the record business.

The Clash is a visceral and rough record, like the old jeans they wore. Compared to the Sex Pistols and The Damned, it does not have a kitsch, violent, and savage defeatism; The Clash could play, compose, and hold the stage without vulgarity. They sang about the problems of young English people and were not ashamed to attack political leaders with raw words. They believed in the messages of their songs—teachings more from rock than from the fashion of the moment.

In Janie Jones they tell the story of a modest singer who was later arrested for exploitation of prostitution, becoming the anti-symbol of prudish English bourgeois society. In I'm So Bored With The U.S.A. they sharpen their weapons against the American political system. Lovers of the sound of the West Indies, The Clash were the first to combine punk and reggae and they designed the cover of Police & Thieves, a recent hit by Lee Perry. They take direct aim at the problem of unemployment in Career Opportunities.

The cunning of record companies takes centre stage in Remote Control, where The Clash fire a poisonous dart at CBS itself. For critics, their debut album crudely and directly reflected the malaise of young English people, the same ones who began to love this young band; The Clash reached an excellent 12th place in the sales charts. The cover shot is by rock photographer Kate Simon and portrays the group on a staircase at Camden Market in London. Chimes would play the tracks of the debut album but would be replaced by Topper Headon, in their opinion the most powerful live drummer in all of London.

Strummer and his companions revisit in Clash City Rockers the themes of their first album, calling for rebellion against authority and for fighting those who turn work into exploitation. At the end of the song, they also hit out at their critics, inviting them to leave the city.

This track became a true anthem and was performed live for the first time in August 1977 in Mont de Marsan during the European tour, and it remained the opening track—before London Calling—for all the band’s concerts until 1980. The making of this record and problems in the production phase led to a crisis between the group and producer Rhodes, who was thus forced to end his collaboration with the band.

Safe European Home / English Civil War / Tommy Gun / Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad / Last Gang In Town / Guns On The Roof / Drug-Stabbing Time / Stay Free / Cheapskates / All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)

The Clash began their series of concerts, the White Riot Tour, in a period of great social tension; their tour concluded in London at the Rainbow Club and the audience responded to the rebellion called for by the band by clashing with the police. The band would always have a particular relationship with the law, accused of petty theft and illegal possession of weapons.

The new album was recorded over three months between London, San Francisco, and New York under the production of Sandy Pearlman, one of the first American punk producers, and features songs that address heavy subjects such as totalitarian regimes, international terrorism, and the possibility of a civil war in England. You hear driving tracks like Safe European Home, or songs dealing with the use of weapons such as Guns On The Roof and Tommy Gun, the latter reaching the top 20 of the UK singles chart.

The serious problem of drugs, ostensibly banned by all punk bands, is sung about in Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad and Drug-Stabbing Time. The record closes with the beautiful Stay Free and the grand finale All The Young Punks, in which The Clash manage to capture the particular moment they were experiencing.

The sleeve is a graphic design by Gene Greif and combines the image of an old postcard depicting a dying cowboy by Adrian Atwater with figures of the Chinese army cavalry. For critics, the album was not very punk and lacked the grit of the previous work—too pure and precise—so much so that it was branded as an American record in the most derogatory sense.

Despite this, The Clash had by now conquered England; the fans rewarded them by taking them to second place in the UK sales chart after just one week, forcing Epic to release the first album in the United States as well. The Clash did not want to fight only in the suburbs of London—now America was ever closer…

London Calling / Brand New Cadillac / Jimmy Jazz / Hateful / Rudie Can't Fail / Spanish Bombs / The Right Profile / Lost In The Supermarket / Clampdown / The Guns Of Brixton / Wrong 'Em Boyo / Death Or Glory / Koka Kola / The Card Cheat / Lover's Rock / Four Horsemen / I'm Not Down / Revolution Rock / Train In Vain

The Sex Pistols had split, Sid Vicious was dead, punk had finished its mission, and now The Clash were fighting alone. Now they were ready to declare war on Thatcherite England and even on American capitalism.

The title takes its cue from the opening phrase of wartime BBC radio broadcasts: This is London Calling.

Recorded in the summer of 1979 with Guy Stevens producing, the iconic sleeve features a photo by Pennie Smith taken at New York City’s Palladium on 20 September 1979, showing Paul Simonon smashing his bass on stage, while the graphics closely follow that of Elvis Presley’s first LP. The Clash were like a snake shedding its skin, creating a double album to be listened to in one breath. Strummer and company alternated harder rock with pop, soul, and reggae, creating a unique, compelling sound. The album opens with the dark chimes of London Calling, whose single reached 11th place in the UK charts. This is followed by Brand New Cadillac—the 1960s dirtied by punk—Spanish Bombs, an emotional ballad marked by the Strummer–Jones duet, where a carefree rhythm contrasts with the memory of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War; The Right Profile describes the distinctive personality of actor Montgomery Clift, one of Hollywood’s beautiful and damned; in The Guns Of Brixton, a dark reggae number cuts deep thanks to bassist Simonon’s voice.

The loneliness of a childhood spent in the poverty of London’s suburbs shines in the moving Lost In The Supermarket, sung by Mick Jones, which also highlights the consumer society and rampant urbanisation.

Koka Kola is a cheeky and raw critique of the American world, while I'm Not Down is a clear sign of the new direction of The Clash, the opposite of the nihilism of the Sex Pistols. The reggae cover of Revolution Rock is another statement of opposition.

On the vinyl label, the closing track—the magnificent Train In Vain—is not listed; it was released as a single only in the USA, reaching the Top Twenty there. This work – declared Mick – was started with the intention of making songs just for ourselves without worrying about what others would think. We recorded the music we liked, and that was the only thing that mattered. London Calling reached 9th place in the UK chart and the Top 30 in the USA; naturally, they organised their first American tour: only six dates, accompanied by a blues star like Bo Diddley.

The group enjoyed solid success, presenting themselves with a renewed look: jackets, rockabilly hats, and work boots.

The Magnificent Seven / Hitsville U.K. / Junco Partner / Ivan Meets G.I. Joe / The Leader / Something About England / Rebel Waltz / Look Here / The Crooked Beat / Somebody Got Murdered / One More Time / One More Dub / Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice) / Up In Heaven (Not Only Here) / Corner Soul / Let's Go Crazy / If Music Could Talk / The Sound Of Sinners / Police On My Back / Midnight Log / The Equaliser / The Call Up / Washington Bullets / Broadway / Lose The Skin / Charlie Don't Surf / Mensforth Hill / Junkie Slip / Kingston Advice / The Street Parade / Version City / Living In Fame / Silicone On Sapphire / Version Pardner / Career Opportunities / Shepherds Delight

Paul Simonon recalls: We were together playing 24 hours a day, nothing stopped us; Mick composed on the guitar while John was always typing new lyrics on the typewriter…

The Clash had by now become rock workmen, carrying out increasingly gigantic and innovative projects; the result was a triple album with no fewer than 36 songs, paving the way for the next 30 years of rock music fused with the most diverse forms of Black music.

With perfect lyrics and great compositional quality, Sandinista! became an album with a true soul, rich with such creativity as to overwhelm the listener. The title takes its name from the Nicaraguan liberation army, clearly signalling their desire to express their political ideas. Recorded between London and New York and self-produced, it was sold at the price of a double album—yet another anti‑commercial gesture by the group, who gave up part of their royalties. The Magnificent Seven opens the work, drenching the listener in funk and rap from the outskirts, followed by the Motown‑style Black sound of Hitsville U.K.

It’s reggae time with Junco Partner, the wild electronic R&B of Ivan Meets G.I. Joe, and the nervy rockabilly of The Leader. Pop raised to the level of a fanfare can be heard in Something About England, while Strummer adds his own touch of elegance in the a cappella swing of Look Here—a refinement that continues in the jazzy Broadway.

Angry, aggressive Clash return in a few tracks, such as Somebody Got Murdered, followed by Eddy Grant’s reggae number Police On My Back. Experimentation is heard in the violin dub of The Equaliser, the breezy calypso of Washington Bullets—a critique of America and its support for dictatorial regimes—and in Charlie Don't Surf. Not only rock, but also a Black‑and‑white weave in the ska of The Call Up. With so much material, there is room—if only briefly—for tracks arguably not up to the ambitious project, such as Mensforth Hill and Shepherds Delight, and throwaway dubs like One More Dub and Version Pardner.

To close this small work of art, The Clash revisit the song from their first album, Career Opportunities, in an almost self‑mocking way. The album only reached 19th place in the UK and 24th in the US, partly due to inadequate promotion from CBS. Three singles were issued for the UK market: The Call Up, Hitsville U.K. and The Magnificent Seven, all stalling in the Top 30.

The sleeve features a black‑and‑white photo taken in London at Camley Street, and inside is a six‑page insert titled The Armagideon Times No. 3, with song lyrics and drawings. First frictions arose between Mick and Joe, by now two prima donnas vying to outshine each other on stage.

In 1980, The Clash played in Italy for the first time, in Bologna, in a historic three‑hour concert in Piazza Maggiore, and the success extended to our country; Sandinista! reached 12th place in March 1981, remaining in the charts for four months. If their aim was to make an album that would go down in rock history, proving that the music of the future must be born from the union of different musical genres, The Clash succeeded.

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York in November 1981, the track is by now a tribute to rap and hip‑hop.

Hip‑hop was spreading more and more in the States, to the point that DJ Grandmaster Flash opened their concerts. Strummer imagined a radio run by his band and, as he himself admitted, the bass line echoes Queen’s Another One Bites The Dust. The B‑side, Radio Clash, has different lyrics over the same rhythm track, creating some confusion. The celebrated video by Don Letts was taken from footage for an unfinished documentary, Clash On Broadway, about the group’s two weeks in New York during shows at Bond’s Casino. It also did well in Italy, helped by exposure on the TV show Mister Fantasy, while the song reached the UK Top 50.

It reached the same position in both the US and UK charts. This track is regarded by critics as the meeting point between rock and rap—the first hip‑hop track in the history of English music.

Know Your Rights / Car Jamming / Should I Stay Or Should I Go / Rock The Casbah / Red Angel Dragnet / Straight To Hell / Overpowered By Funk / Atom Tan / Sean Flynn / Ghetto Defendant / Inoculated City / Death Is A Star

After the explosion of an intense work like Sandinista!, only the remnants remained—the leftovers of so much energy. An unrestrained album in which the will to fight to the bitter end still prevails, even against themselves and their old songs. Joe Strummer wanted a return to the raw, direct sound of the early albums, while Mick Jones wanted to continue along the fervent experimental path. Combat Rock is a catchy, commercial album and certainly the most carefully produced.

It contains three milestones in the history of the group and of rock itself: Should I Stay Or Should I Go, Rock The Casbah, and Know Your Rights—all heavily played on American radio. Should I Stay Or Should I Go became one of the great rock classics and seemed to foreshadow the imminent split between Mick Jones and Joe Strummer.

The single reached the US Top 50. Rock The Casbah is their best-selling record but, strangely, does not bear the signature of Joe and Mick—it was the work of drummer Topper Headon. With this track, The Clash responded to the ban on the broadcast of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini.

Years later it would become an anthem for American troops during the Gulf War and in Iraq. The single reached No. 8 in the US chart. To the classic rock sound, they added a new funky streak as in Overpowered By Funk and dance influences, with tracks embracing dub (Straight To Hell) and even Caribbean music. A sound appreciated not only by the American public; the album topped charts worldwide, reaching No. 2 in the UK behind Tug Of War by Paul McCartney and No. 7 in the US. After three years, old manager Bernie Rhodes was brought back, while production was handled by The Clash themselves; mixing was entrusted to Glyn Johns, famous for his work on The Beatles’ Get Back project.

The sleeve of Combat Rock features a shot by Pennie Smith taken near Makkasan Station in Bangkok, Thailand, where the poster photo was also shot in the interior of a venue. There is also a version with the poster reproducing the cover image and an inner sleeve with lyrics.

In December 1981, Topper Headon was arrested for cocaine possession. This led, a few months later, to his dismissal by Strummer, who justified the decision only as differences of opinion. Terry Chimes was brought back to complete the Combat Rock Tour, later replaced by Peter Howard, who would also play in the famous 1983 Shea Stadium concert from which a celebrated live album was taken.

Know Your Rights / First Night Back In London
45 giri / CBS A 2309 €20

This was the only single for the Italian market taken from Combat Rock; in this exhausting, pounding rock number, Strummer reminds the whole world of the only three rights we have: the right not to be killed, the right to get the money to eat, and the right to freedom of speech.

The B‑side features the previously unreleased First Night Back In London. In the UK charts, the single stalled in the Top 50, while in Italy it met with no success. On 29 May 1983, at the US Festival, the last Clash concert with Mick took place. After a troubling press silence, on 10 September a statement was released: Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon have decided that Mick Jones must leave the group because he has strayed from the original idea of The Clash. The band will, however, continue to work, returning to the original project. For many fans, the story of the true Clash ends here.

Three years had passed since the last work, and of the original Clash only Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon remained, after the painful departure of the group’s true musicians—namely Mick Jones, who had founded Big Audio Dynamite, and Topper Headon. Strummer once again sang an attack on Thatcher’s England, still hailing himself as a champion for the overthrow of the system, calling everyone to revolt. A mix of new wave keyboards over a track from ten years earlier for a revolutionary message now anachronistic.

In the same vein is the B‑side of this record, which was well received in Italy, even making our Top 40. In the UK chart, however, it reached 24th place.

Dictator / Dirty Punk / We Are The Clash / Are You Red... Y / Cool Under Heat / Movers And Shakers / This Is England / Three Card Trick / Play To Win / Fingerpoppin' / North And South / Life Is Wild

The Clash of Cut The Crap regenerated from their own ashes with a new record totally devoid of any nostalgia. The new faces were guitarists Vince White and Nick Sheppard, plus drummer Peter Howard, already enlisted in the final live shows. Strummer and Simonon did not erase their previous experiences but brought them back into play, ranging from punk to rock’n’roll, from funk‑rap to reggae. The album was ambitious and heavily arranged, marking the return of Bernard Rhodes to production, credited on the sleeve under the pseudonym José Unidos. Sleeve with photos and lyrics. The result was a confused record where genius reigned alongside proverbial arrogance.

For many, it was just a bad Strummer album accompanied by mere session men. Worth saving and listening to are Are You Red... Y, a combat‑dance track, Movers And Shakers, and Dirty Punk, a revised return to the punk sound; you could dance to Fingerpoppin' and conclude with a Jamaica‑meets‑punk mix in Three Card Trick. In Great Britain it reached 16th place in the chart, while in an America captivated by Live Aid and new British groups, their album entered only the Top 100. The tour to launch the record had such low advance sales that Strummer and Paul announced the dissolution of the group. For years, fans hoped for a reunion, but the band even refused five million dollars to reunite during an American rock festival. The hope of seeing them together again on stage died in 2002 with the death of Joe Strummer from a congenital heart problem. Their music is still relevant and belongs only to them—a unique and inimitable band. After all, one journalist labelled them perfectly: The Clash are the only band that matters!

Note alla discografia

The American version of the first LP The Clash (Epic 36060) arrived here as an import and showed notable differences; the tracks were:
Clash City Rockers / I'm So Bored With The U.S.A. / Remote Control / Complete Control / White Riot / White Man In Hammersmith Palais / London's Burning / I Fought The Law / Janie Jones / Career Opportunities / What's My Name / Hate And War / Police And Thieves / Jail Guitar Doors / Garageland.

Also included in the first copies was the bonus single Gates Of The West / Groovy Times.

The first Italian pressing of Give 'Em Enough Rope reproduced the sleeve of the American edition; in fact, it featured the band name and title in block capitals, unlike the UK version, where The Clash appeared in Asian‑style characters.

Furthermore, on the back cover eleven songs were listed, while the record contained ten—the same as the original UK version. Two titles were given: That's No Way To Spend Your Youth, the American title for All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts), and Gates Of The West, not on the record. The Clash took part in the Concert For The People Of Kampuchea, performing Armagideon Time on the evening of 27 December 1979.

The record with the live performance was released in Italy by Atlantic (ATL 60 153).

We cannot fail to mention two important records for collectors: in 1979, the EP Cost Of Living (CBS 7324) was released with the tracks:
I Fought The Law / Groovy Times / Gates Of The West / Capital Radio Two.

Meanwhile, in 1980 the 10" Black Market Clash (Epic 4E 36846) was released initially only for the US and Canadian markets, containing rarities and UK single B‑sides not issued elsewhere:
Capital Radio One / The Prisoner / Pressure Drop / Cheat / City Of The Dead / Time Is Tight / Bankrobber / Robber Dub / Armagideon Time / Justice Tonight / Kick It Over.