The London Calling Thread

[TomAz]

so yablo's post about London Calling in the Hi Greg thread stirred up memories of the first time I heard the album. Everyone else can share theirs too. If not about London Calling then about the one album that most influenced the way you hear music.




January 1980. I'm back in Texas after christmas break, freshman year. I'm there a few days early. I'm hanging out with my friend RB. RB was about 6'3 and probably weighed 125 lbs, most of which would have been nasal cartlige, as RB had the single largest nose I've ever seen on a human being. But I digress.

KTRU, the local campus radio station, had an advance copy of London Calling (it was out in the UK but not released in the US til mid-Jan) and they played the thing start to end, no interruptions. RB and I sat there and listened to it, drinking beer but hardly talking, just taking it all in. I knew a bit of the Clash's music but London Calling was a revelation. I was only 17, didn't know much, but I knew I had just heard something amazing. When it was done I told RB that the record was an instant classic and would be known as one of the greatest albums ever. (This is a true fact. It was the only instance of my being correct that entire year, however).

A couple weeks later the album came out, I bought it and played it incessantly. Friends thought I'd lost my mind. Some of my more musically conservative friends (the Lynyrd Skynyrd / Molly Hatchet folks) were unimpressed to say the least. Comments were made. Arguments were had. Friendships were damaged. Fuck 'em all if they couldn't see past their drum solos.

London Calling started me down the path that puts me on the Coachella message board. By August that year I had a weekly radio show on KTRU. I was exploring all sorts of new sounds and quickly discovered that the stuff I'd grown up with on mainstream radio really paled compared to what else was available out there. A few months later I held a sale and got rid of my old vinyl that I considered "dinosaurs".. out went the Zeppelin, the Floyd, the Black Sabbath records. (I was obsessive and used poor judgment. Fortunately I had the good sense to hold on to my Beatles, Dylan, and Who).

London Calling led me to discover the rest of the Clash's work, and then similar music, and then related music, so on and on. My love of punk rock comes from the Clash. Not just "punk rock" but really any kind of energetic, passionate, and intelligent music. But it wasn't just rock, either. I got into reggae because of the Clash, specifically "Police and Thieves" and "White Man in Hammersmith Palais". It may surprise you that my love of country music comes from the Clash too. (The Clash were playing gigs with Joe Ely, so my devoted fandom meant I had to check him out. Joe Ely led to Steve Earle led to Lucinda Williams. Also, Joe Ely led to Lone Justice led to Jason & the Scorchers led to Uncle Tupelo led to Wilco).

Much of what's on my iPod today ties in somehow to this journey, this process that started with London Calling. Certainly no other album has influenced my tastes the way it did. Part of it was the timing (it came out in my musically formative years) but most of it was just its awesome greatness. In 2002 I got to meet Joe Strummer, briefly, but I was too stupidly starstruck to do much more than shake his hand and say "I'm a big fan". Less than six months later he died.

[bballarl]

I love the way "Train In Vain" closes that album.

[full on idle]

Way to one-up Greg, boss.

Does make me want to listen to the whole thing to see wtf is the big deal.

[Yablonowitz]

Yep. I love that too. They could do anything - punk, pop, reggae, rockabilly and it all sounded natural and right.

[TomAz]

Way to one-up Greg, boss.

Does make me want to listen to the whole thing to see wtf is the big deal.

I wasn't one-upping him. I was taking what he did and running with it. sheesh.

[J~$$$]

Tom do you have a swimming pool?

[amyzzz]

I like the singles they used to play on the radio, like "Train in Vain," but I haven't listened to the whole album. "Train in Vain" is fucking awesome though.

[TomAz]

Tom do you have a swimming pool?

no but I have a refrigerator. full of beer.

[downingthief]

+40 for this thread, Tom...

Let's see...My story takes place a few years later, I would say about 1987. I was a sophmore in high school, and as yet, did not have my license. I needed rides to and from school. A friend who lived close by, Brad, was a year older, and drove the quintessential 80's car: the Toyota hatchback.

Brad's musical tastes were much more advanced than mine. I give Brad credit for introducing me to all the bands that I still love to this day: the Smiths, REM, the Cure, etc. But, most importantly, The Clash.

Now, I had heard of the Clash, mainly from MTV. And, I liked what I heard. Brad popped in the cassette of London Calling, and from the first moment I heard the driving guitar rhythm on the title track, I was hooked. I had found "my band". I proceeded to get everything I could related to the Clash, and rest is history. My favorite tracks of LC (although I like them all):

London Calling
Clampdown
Lost in the Supermarket
Wrong 'Em Boyo
Train in Vain

[J~$$$]

no but I have a refrigerator. full of beer.

A refridgerator dedicated solely to beer?

[TomAz]

A refridgerator dedicated solely to beer?

no. there is diet coke in there too.

[J~$$$]

weak sauce.

[semisonic]

I was in college, journalism school at the University of Washington, when the album came out. Several of us worked for the college newspaper. We got a review copy and a friend of mine who was one of the editors went completely berserk over it, immediately declaring it the greatest album of all time. I liked the Clash, but didn't go crazy over the album right then. Over the years, though, I have steadily grown to enjoy and appreciate it more. It has incredible variety of musical styles, as noted by others above.

[wmgaretjax]

My first memory of London Calling was one night my mom went out and it was just my brother, my dad and I (I was 4 or 5 I think... 1989...) and my dad played all of Revolver... and then followed it up with London Calling. I remember pulling the pillows out of our sofa and dancing around on top of them to "Lost in the Supermarket."

[J~$$$]

what kinds of beer do you have in your refridgerator?

[TomAz]

Guinness

[downingthief]

Guinness

Mmmmm...Guinness...havd some at home, as well.

[kreutz2112]

I have to go to the liquor store to get full strength guinness...sad...utah...

[J~$$$]

Do you have any suggestions on brewerys to visit while in Europe?

[downingthief]

I have to go to the liquor store to get full strength guinness...sad...utah...

I don't think I would be able to survive.

[sydaud]

The first Clash album to come into my house was "Combat Rock". My best guess is that we got it late in '82. Anyway, around '84, dad brought home a 45 of "London Calling". On the other side was "Armagideon (sp?) Time".

While me and my sister liked Combat Rock well enough (we even got to sing "Straight To Hell" without getting in trouble), we went apeshit over that "London Calling" 45. The funniest part (in retrospect) is when I finally bought London Calling on cassette in '85, I remember thinking that I also wanted to buy a Huey Lewis tape, ha ha ha...

Anyway, it's an album I take for granted. It's 18 songs of perfection, though I am partial to "Rudy" "Spanish Bombs" and "Death or Glory". Too many bands to count have tried to cop it's vibe, but no one ever comes close. I mean, the album is ALL over the place stylistically and everything works.


(As an aside--I am not one to create threads and the whatnot, but has anyone ever created something along the lines of a "Love Letter" to our favorite albums? Poster's would just pick one album and write about it, not in a critical sense---though that would be fine too---, but in a personal sense. If it's already been done, then forget it. If it hasn't been done, I think it could be some interesting reading?)

[J~$$$]

Please direct all questions to Tomaz or focus on London Calling....Thank you.

[bballarl]

TomAz: What are your thoughts on Barleywine?

[TomAz]

It's ok. but it's no Guinness.

[bballarl]

I liked it more than Guinness. I didn't think anything could top it. But I had some from a brewery in San Diego (I forget the name) and it was a delicious feast.

[TomAz]

You're underage.

[amyzzz]

You know who else is underage and drinks a lot?

[J~$$$]

You know who else is underage and drinks a lot?

Your kids?

[mountmccabe]

One of my friends once bought The Story of the Clash because he liked "Rock the Casbah" but didn't like any of the rest of it. I kinda wrote off the Clash as a result.

Then Tom gave away some records. I've never had a player but I've heard that some people like them so I drafted Give 'em Enough Rope and one disc of Combat Rock maybe and something else. It was a pretty shit list of records, honestly. And I haven't listened to 'em. The plan is to sell them later.

Then I saw a thread on a message board and they mentioned a song by the Strokes, "Clampdown." Turns out this band, the Clash, did the song too. And that they also did "Guns of Brixton" which was done by locals Tierra del Fuego. And it turns out both of these songs are on the same album there was a thread about so I downloaded it. I just unzipped it and the tags were all screwed up so I'm not sure which songs I'm listening to or if it's even the right thing but it's playing now and it sounds kinda cool. Not very punk, though. Dammit.

[amyzzz]

Your kids?

There's no alcohol in my house.