The Clash vs. The Police

[downingthief]

Any pseudo Clash fan needs to see this:

[TallGuyCM]

Is this a serious statement? You think that because the Clash wrote some political songs, then all of their songs have to be political? DumbGuyCM

Also, yeah, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" is Mick Jones singing, not Joe. Bad comparison.

Wasn't aware.

I guess the lesson learned here is that next time instead of bringing up real thoughts I have about bands, I'll just nod my head and like what everyone else likes and react exactly how everyone else reacts.

[liquidsnake28]

Or just stop making insanely stupid comparisons.

[TomAz]

Wasn't aware.

I guess the lesson learned here is that next time instead of bringing up real thoughts I have about bands, I'll just nod my head and like what everyone else likes and react exactly how everyone else reacts.

Getting the facts right is not the same as conforming with the crowd.

[TallGuyCM]

And holding onto a band for nostalgic reasons doesn't make them the greatest band ever.

[liquidsnake28]

Yeah, the Beatles suck when you actually sit down and think about it. DumbGuyCM is right!

[wstsidela]

I saw them both in their prime. No competition. The Clash tore that shit up.

[TomAz]

And holding onto a band for nostalgic reasons doesn't make them the greatest band ever.

Yeah, I haven't listened to any new music since 1985.

[downingthief]

How is liking The Clash nostalgic? They are as relevant today as ever.

[getbetter]

fuck springsteen he's going put out two we are going put out three!!!!!!

[TallGuyCM]

How is liking The Clash nostalgic? They are as relevant today as ever.

What I meant by that is that the most outspoken Clash devotees on this board (TomAZ, stuporfly, JustSteve) all seem to have grown up with the band. And let's face it, there's a band or two that each one of us put on too high of a pedestal that we love primarily because it's what influenced us at a young age.

And I get why the Clash are revered at the level that they are. I just don't have very much of a tie to them, that's all.

I'm kind of like the kid in high school these days who doesn't see why Nirvana was a big deal. To me, I can't imagine how anyone could think that. But it's because I grew up enduring hair metal and the other bullshit, and I witnessed firsthand Kurt and co. blowing all of that to hell.

[getbetter]

[liquidsnake28]

What I meant by that is that the most outspoken Clash devotees on this board (TomAZ, stuporfly, JustSteve) all seem to have grown up with the band. And let's face it, there's a band or two that each one of us put on too high of a pedestal that we love primarily because it's what influenced us at a young age.

And I get why the Clash are revered at the level that they are. I just don't have very much of a tie to them, that's all.

I'm kind of like the kid in high school these days who doesn't see why Nirvana was a big deal. To me, I can't imagine how anyone could think that. But it's because I grew up enduring hair metal and the other bullshit, and I witnessed firsthand Kurt and co. blowing all of that to hell.

Yeah, no. The Clash is one of my favorite bands and they broke up before I was born.

[TomAz]

What I meant by that is that the most outspoken Clash devotees on this board (TomAZ, stuporfly, JustSteve) all seem to have grown up with the band. And let's face it, there's a band or two that each one of us put on too high of a pedestal that we love primarily because it's what influenced us at a young age.

I think you're right and you're wrong here. No doubt people make intense emotional attachments with bands at a certain age (let's say, late teens) that stick with them for life. By that age, a person has (mostly, hopefully) outgrown the more childish tastes and has developed enough of an ear/mind for music that they can fully appreciate stuff that might have escaped them before. And so the first time you hear something that totally fulfills the potential of the genre, something that is a fully realized masterful work, it's gonna blow you away. The first few times you are fully engaged in something new and something great, it will have a profound affect that will color the way you view things the rest of your life.

And yes, this is how I view The Clash, Talking Heads, and Elvis Costello. Probably a few others. Through the lens of this sort of experience.

To dismiss that as mere nostalgia I think misses the point entirely. Nostalgia is something else altogether. Nostalgia implies a yearning for the past, a wish that things today were like they used to be. That's not me at all, and I don't think it's stuporfly or JustSteve either. I mean, yeah, 99.99% of my age cohort are that way, no doubt. Very few of us have tried to keep up. But I have, or at least I have tried, with mixed results I suppose. I don't wish it were 1982. I just like some of the music from then. I also like some of the music from 2010. Did you read my Titus Andronicus thread?

[TallGuyCM]

Yeah, nostalgia was prob the wrong word to use. But you get what I mean. Thanks for the explanation.

And yes, your Titus thread is solid. Coincidentally enough, that's another band that I like a good amount but am not head over heels for, haha.

[downingthief]

I think you're right and you're wrong here. No doubt people make intense emotional attachments with bands at a certain age (let's say, late teens) that stick with them for life. By that age, a person has (mostly, hopefully) outgrown the more childish tastes and has developed enough of an ear/mind for music that they can fully appreciate stuff that might have escaped them before. And so the first time you hear something that totally fulfills the potential of the genre, something that is a fully realized masterful work, it's gonna blow you away. The first few times you are fully engaged in something new and something great, it will have a profound affect that will color the way you view things the rest of your life.

And yes, this is how I view The Clash, Talking Heads, and Elvis Costello. Probably a few others. Through the lens of this sort of experience.

To dismiss that as mere nostalgia I think misses the point entirely. Nostalgia is something else altogether. Nostalgia implies a yearning for the past, a wish that things today were like they used to be. That's not me at all, and I don't think it's stuporfly or JustSteve either. I mean, yeah, 99.99% of my age cohort are that way, no doubt. Very few of us have tried to keep up. But I have, or at least I have tried, with mixed results I suppose. I don't wish it were 1982. I just like some of the music from then. I also like some of the music from 2010. Did you read my Titus Andronicus thread?

Well stated, Tom. Feel exactly the same way.

[getbetter]

another great song from the clash

[TomAz]

fuck springsteen he's going put out two we are going put out three!!!!!!

In 1981 I wrote a review of Sandinista! for the college rag, and I made pretty much exactly this precise point. I said that yeah there's a lot of filler on Sandinista! but there's a lot of good stuff too, and it costs $5 less than The River, and so even though The River may be more consistent throughout, doesn't the low price have to figure into the value equation somewhere? The review was not well received because people thought I should have talked about the actual music more.

[getbetter]

Tomaz i hope as a clash fan u have seen "The Future is Unwritten".It's one of the best films i've ever watch as a autobiographic film and it's about Joe Strummer.The crazy part they use this audio of joe strummer describing his life from that BBC radio thing he had going.

[xuclarockerx]

This is kind of a weird poll. The Clash have more critical respect but for me it's The Police. My drum instructor turned me onto Stewart Copeland as a teenager and there was no looking back. Saw them 4 times on their reunion tour including dress rehearsal and opening night in Vancouver. It was a dream come true, even if it was a cash grab...

[Miroir Noir]

In 1981 I wrote a review of Sandinista! for the college rag, and I made pretty much exactly this precise point. I said that yeah there's a lot of filler on Sandinista! but there's a lot of good stuff too, and it costs $5 less than The River, and so even though The River may be more consistent throughout, doesn't the low price have to figure into the value equation somewhere? The review was not well received because people thought I should have talked about the actual music more.

Responding to a message from a year and a half ago . . . doesn't Bruce get extra credit in retrospect for all of that incredible River-era material that ended up on disc two of Tracks? Seriously, this is the fucking music that didn't make The River:

[ectomort@mac.com]

great thread. apparently there's going to be a little festival this summer remembering the 10th anniversary of Joe's death (has it really been that long?)
Strummer of Love

also, ever since Coachella 2010 when the Gorillaz played (with Mick and Paul in the band) its been a personal fantasy for Coachella to host an "All-Star tribute to the Clash". It would be Mick, Paul and Topper joined by a set of all-star guest musicians belting out Clash songs for a couple of hours.

[TomAz]

great thread. apparently there's going to be a little festival this summer remembering the 10th anniversary of Joe's death (has it really been that long?)
Strummer of Love

Holy shit. I must go. Damn. I must go.

[santasutt]

"The Only Band That Matters" or Sting & Co.?

It was Stewart Copeland's band. Just ask him, he'll tell you.

I was a real Police nut and saw them a dozen times or so between 1980 and 1986 and I thought they made one album too many. But so did the Clash. (Awaiting TomAZ's bitter defense of "Cut the Crap." )

Clash live show (only got to see them 3 times) blows anything by the Police away. First three record from both bands could make my desert island box depending on my mood swings.

I voted Clash.

[TomAz]

Cut the Crap does not exist. Never heard of it. Nothing to see here, move along.