Track Listing

1. Janie Jones
2. Remote Control
3. I'm So Bored With The USA
4. White Riot
5. Hate And War
6. What's My Name
7. Deny
8. London's Burning
9. Career Opportunities
10. Cheat
11. Protex Blue
12. Police And Thieves
13. 48 Hours
14. Garage Land

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3845 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
It speaks volumes about the mid-1970s music scene that the Clash's explosive debut was viewed as too provincial and raw for U.S. consumption upon its original English release in 1977. (Wimps.) No matter--between Joe Strummer's marble-mouthed howls of righteous rage on songs like "Career Opportunities" ("The ones that never knock"), "I'm So Bored With the USA" ("Yankee dollars talk to the dictators of the world") and "White Riot" ("I wanna riot / A riot of my own"), and the furious instrumental assault led by guitarist Mick Jones, the Clash became a hot import in the States strictly on word of mouth (some of them must have taste)--and helped establish the band as one of leaders of rock's punk revolt. --Billy Altman

Customer Reviews

stands the test of time well
When it was released, it was a must buy for all punks, as was the Sex Pistols. Oh how much better this has lasted than the Pistols. I prefer the original UK version, probably because it's so familiar. I bought all the singles so I got all the A and B sides of the early stuff anyway. I still play this album now, as with nearly all albums not all the tracks are 100% fantastic. Even so, the not so hot, don't last long (most of songs except Police and Thieves) don't go on. I never felt the need to get up and move the stylus on my record player and "skip" tracks. All in all, with hindsight this one of 1977s best albums, from a creative duo of Strummer and Jones who showed some classic writing skills. A milestone for rock music and well worth adding to your collection if you like that sound.

Take your pick from two versions
The Clash were among the topmost important punk groups, having the power and the passion in spades, and a sincerely egalitarian ethos in the lyrics of Joe Strummer, who perhaps even more than John Lydon embodied the spirit of 1977. Their first album snarled into the shops in April 1977 in the UK and Canada, but was not available in America for over two years except on import, and was then released in a revised format, five tracks being replaced by various singles. For a while in the nineties, due to an oversight, only the US version was available on CD in the UK, but with the re-release of the original UK version in 1999, both versions have been in catalogue.

Called simply The Clash, the original album was produced by their regular sound man Mickey Foote and engineered by Simon Humphrey at CBS Studio 3 in Whitfield Street, London during February 1977. The regular Clash line-up of Joe Strummer (vocal, rhythm guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar, vocal) and Paul Simonon (bass guitar) was augmented by Terry Chimes, yet to become a full-time member at the time of recording, on drums.

There are some classic Clash songs that were to remain in their repertoire throughout, and that stand up today. Indeed live versions of London's Burning, What's My Name and Career opportunities appear on the live album From Here To Eternity, recorded between 1978 and 1982. The one cover version, added at the end of the sessions, was their tribute to Lee Perry, the Junior Murvin single Police And Thieves, to which they bring their own inimitable style very successfully. It led to Lee Perry producing the band and Bob Marley name-checking them on Punky Reggae Party. Other Clash favourites included Remote Control (later extracted as the second UK single), Janie Jones, I'm So Bored With The USA, Garage Land, and, of course, White Riot.

The version of White Riot heard on The Clash is not the version released as their first UK single and is the sole track on the album not to have been recorded at Whitfield Street. Inspired by the Notting Hill Riots of 1976, it had been in their repertoire since September 1976, usually played considerably faster than either of the recorded versions, and had been demoed for Polydor in November before they signed with CBS. The LP version predates the single and was recorded in Beaconsfield at the National Film and Television School using some freebie time they'd wangled via Julian Temple in January 1977, with Mickey Foote making his debut in the producer's chair.

Early copies of the album came with a sticker that, when combined with vouchers from the NME, allowed one to send off for an EP. This contained Capital Radio (recorded during sessions for the album), an interview with Tony Parsons and an instrumental called Listen that sampled bits of the interview. Capital Radio can be found on Clash On Broadway and an edit of Listen (without the samples) is on Super Black Market Clash. As the album is only 35.20 long it is a pity room was not found on it for the EP as well.

The tracks that were not on the US version are White Riot (the single version was substituted), Deny, Cheat, Protex Blue (one of two Mick Jones' lead vocals and all about a brand of condoms) and 48 Hours. If you own the 3CD Clash overview Clash On Broadway then you already own four of these, and almost might as well get the US version, but all future compilations seem to have preferred the single version of White Riot, replete with police siren, smashing glass and alarm effects, so it appears the Beaconsfield version is only to be found on this CD.

The UK and US versions serve slightly different purposes, the US version being a useful collection of tunes whilst the UK version, apart from being an authentic album, is a snapshot statement of the band at that moment in history. Take your pick.

Flawed but seminal
First, I confess that while I drank in a lot of what punk and the new wave had to offer when it happened, The Clash have never bowled me over. I was never convinced by Joe Strummer's 'dumb' vocal delivery. As in any genre, there was a lot of posturing going on at that time and, to me, that's how it comes across, however earnest he may have been. Even so, The Clash were in the front line of punk and their debut is one of 1977's defining releases. Their music was usually exciting and every song here has something provocative to say. With hindsight, much of it is naive, perhaps even hypocritical. With 'I'm So Bored With The USA' they make a rod for their own backs, particularly when they sing about a Cadillac on a later album. When the US tapped into them they were happy to embrace the culture. Similarly, 'Complete Control,' an incredibly exciting slice of rock by the way, provokes the question, 'Well, what did you expect from the record business?' This, though, is part of the process of development and 'The Clash' is one of the most exciting and edgy products of its time. The Buzzcocks and The Adverts, neither of whom broke as big, made better debut albums, but this is as good as The Clash got. It's far better than 'London Calling,' another example of how you have to compromise to survive and thrive. Whatever gripes I have, I still rate this as a classic.