London Calling | Ian Burt | Flickr
Rock music in its various styles would in no way, shape, or form be what it is today without the influence of a certain British punk icon known as The Clash.
Even though the band lays claim to one of the shortest lifespans in my Retro Rewind reviews (being active for only a decade), they have had a massive amount of influence on the rock realm with their distinctly political lyrics and driving, guitar-centered instrumentals.
Their third record, by far their most popular, is the subject of my review today: the 1979 double album “London Calling,” which is viewed by many as a definitive album in the punk genre.
Released on Dec. 14, 1979, the record contains 19 songs of varying styles and was supported by three singles: the title track “London Calling,” “Clampdown,” and “Train in Vain (Stand by Me).” The themes delved into throughout the album include unemployment, the usage of drugs, paranoia, and depression.
The band
The Clash, a British rock band, was founded in London in 1976. At the time of this album’s release, the group comprised of singer/rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, singer/lead guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Topper Headon.
An extremely influential act in the British punk scene, The Clash released a total of six albums between 1977 and 1985 before disbanding a year later. A highly influential in the British punk scene, lyrics from the band were often charged with a radical political flair, describing subjects such as bleak city life, consumerism, and draft policies with a liberalistic attitude.
Rolling Stone magazine ranks The Clash at number 28 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
The tracklist
Opening the album is its title track, “London Calling” which was inspired by events such as the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, and painted a disastrous portrait of reality.
Strummer mentioned to the magazine Melody Maker in 1998 that he’d “read about 10 news reports in one day calling down all variety of plagues on us.”
“Brand New Cadillac” is a cover of a tune originally performed by Vince Taylor and His Playboys in 1959, and was the first song recorded for “London Calling.” “Jimmy Jazz” is a bluesy track that regales the listener with the story of the titular outlaw.
“Hateful” tells about the delights and consequences of drug use, while “Rudie Can’t Fail” applies its reggae roots to a tune about a Jamaican boy behaving irresponsibly in the eyes of his elders.
Side two starts with “Spanish Bombs,” which gained lyrical inspiration from news reports of terrorist bombings of hotels on the Spanish coast. “The Right Profile” opens with a light guitar and drum introduction before descending into a rousing rock track about troubled actor Montgomery Cliff. The track also features a heavy Irish horn section.
“Lost in the Supermarket” was originally written on the back of an Ernie Ball pack of guitar strings, and plays on consumerism. “Clampdown” began as an instrumental entitled “Working and Waiting” and encourages the youth to rebel against their oppressors. Paul Simonon’s composition “The Guns of Brixton” features an iconic bassline and became a fixture of the band’s live shows.
Side three commences with “Wrong ‘Em Boyo,” which was originally performed by The Rulers. “Death or Glory” features Strummer reflecting on his life and the difficulties of adulthood, while “Kola Kola” is an anti-corporate anthem riffing on the advertising of past and present.
“The Card Cheat” begins with a soft piano introduction into a slower melody. Interestingly, each instrumental and vocal part was recorded twice to produce “a sound as big as possible.”
Side four closes out the record. “Lover’s Rock” is a satire of reggae songs containing rather sexual lyrics, and deals with sex and the difference between having it for pleasure and having it for reproductive purposes.
“Four Horsemen” portrayed the band members as the titular apocalyptic figures with humorous lyrics. The tune was only played once live, at Finland’s Russrock Festival, due to the nature of said lyrics.
“I’m Not Down” was sung by Mick Jones and describes a narrator who has been bruised and beaten up by the trials he has faced, standing tall in defiance of these events. “Revolution Rock” is a reggae-infused cover of a Danny Ray song, and was going to be the closing track of “London Calling,” but the following track was chosen at the last minute while the album’s sleeve was being created.
The final song on the album, “Train in Vain,” appeared as a hidden track before its addition to the sleeve, and is a rather upbeat breakup song. It’s also the most-covered Clash track, with artists such as Third Eye Blind, Annie Lennox, and The Black Crowes creating their own versions.
The production
The band arrived at Vanilla Studios in London in May 1979 with no new material for their third studio album, as Jones and Strummer were both experiencing intense writer’s block. Holding private rehearsals at the studio over the next few months, the band mostly played covers while writing and recording demos for what would become “London Calling.”
Strummer created much of the lyrical content for the album, while Jones handled the musical arrangements. Simonon’s contribution, “The Guns of Brixton,” was his first song written for The Clash and his first lead vocal. He wasn’t too confident about the lyrics, but Strummer encouraged him to keep working on the track.
The Clash started recording songs for the record at London’s Wessex Studios in August 1979. Producer Guy Stevens was asked by the band to help create the album, but their label, CBS Records, wasn’t too keen on it. Still, Stevens’ unconventional methods helped enrich the atmosphere in the studio, and the group hit it off with Stevens easily.
The first song recorded for the album was “Brand New Cadillac,” a tune often used to warm the band up. Recording the entire album took five to six weeks of 18-hour workdays, and many of the songs were successfully recorded in a single take or two.
The iconic artwork of “London Calling” features Simonon smashing a Fender Precision Bass during a concert at the Palladium in New York City on Sep. 20, 1979. The image was captured by photographer Pennie Smith and Q magazine deemed it the greatest rock and roll photograph ever taken.
They commented that the photo “captures the ultimate rock’n’roll moment – total loss of control.” Smith didn’t want to use the photo originally because she figured it was too blurry, but Strummer and designer Ray Lowry thought that it’d make a stunning album cover.
The artwork, featuring the aforementioned photograph and the title in pink and green letters, was an homage to the cover of Elvis Presley’s eponymous debut album.
Simonon later explained that he regretted destroying the instrument because it was his best-sounding bass guitar and the one he used to record “London Calling.”
“The show had gone quite well, but for me, inside it just wasn’t working well, so I suppose I took it out on the bass,” Simonon said in interviews. “If I was smart, I would have got the spare bass and used that one, because it wasn’t as good as the one as I smashed up.” The broken bass guitar was briefly on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but is now back in Simonon’s possession.
What critics thought of “London Calling”
During its initial release as well as in more recent reviews, “London Calling” has been lauded as one of the best rock albums ever made. John Rockwell for the New York Times said in his 1980 review that “London Calling” “is an album that captures all the Clash’s primal energy, combines it with a brilliant production job by Guy Stevens and reveals depths of invention and creativity barely suggested by the band’s previous work.”
Michael Goldberg, writing for the magazine Down Beat, mentioned that it is “a classic rock album which, literally, defines the state of rock and roll and against which the very best of [the 1980s] will have to be judged.” Sounds writer Garry Bushell, however, explained that he believed that The Clash had reverted to using “tired rock cliches” with “London Calling.”
In a retrospective review, PopMatters writer Sal Ciolfi deemed the album a “big, loud, beautiful collection of hurt, anger, restless thought, and, above all, hope.” Music journalist Robert Christgau echoed this sentiment, saying that the album extended The Clash’s guitar-focused punk sound in a “warm, angry, and thoughtful, confident, melodic, and hard-rocking” manner.
NME has ranked “London Calling” at number six on their list of the greatest records of the 1970s. Rolling Stone, meanwhile, placed it as the eighth-best album ever made in a list of 500 candidates.
The record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007 and was included in the book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.”
What I think of the album
“London Calling” is one of the most masterfully produced albums I have ever heard, period. Guy Stevens did a top-notch job of bringing out the band’s talents as they experimented with a few different styles while still staying incredibly cohesive, making each instrumental pop.
The lyrics are far from pretentious and show a realistic portrayal of life in 1970s Britain and exploring the themes with enough substance that nothing really ever felt hollow, while excellent bass and guitar riffs are present throughout the album’s runtime.
“London Calling” also doesn’t shy away from displaying its influences, with a few of the tracks being covers of early rock and reggae tunes while many of the remaining tracks utilizing that influence to create a stellar product.
Nothing on this album feels recycled; it all feels fresh and holds up marvelously four decades after the original release. This is The Clash at the top of their game, and should be in every punk fan’s playlist.
