Essential Songs Of The Clash

I came across The Clash in my freshman year in high school. I can't remember how exactly, except I had asked a classmate who sang these two songs; I'd have never guessed that the band behind "Rock The Casbah" was the same band that also did "Should I Stay Or Should I Go." I guess it must've blown my teenage mind that a band could have more than one singer! I just know I was instantly hooked! The bands I liked at the time were all current groups, like Metallica and Smashing Pumpkins, so this was my first time diving into music that was "before my time."

10.  "Complete Control" (7" single)
The Clash did things their own way, well, except the time their record label released a single from their debut album that they didn't approve. So they wrote an angry song about it!

Had I not decided to make The Clash my next band for a "top ten" list, I'd probably never considered this song at all for inclusion. I don't listen to the early "punk" Clash songs much anymore.

9. "The Leader" (Sandinista!)
Once I was hooked on The Clash, I seemed to only buy compilations- The Singles and the two-disc Story Of The Clash, while my parents surprised me with London Calling. My buddy Luke had been working at Co-Op Records at the start of our senior year and one day in class he told me that they got in a used copy of a three disc box set of The Clash. It was one of those 90's gimmicky "compilation sets" that were like a "best of" the albums, plus some unreleased live takes or demos. So I traded in some Clash for some Clash, and thought I was cool. I remember sitting around for hours looking at this thick book with liner notes and anecdotes on the songs, then looking through another booklet filled with lyrics and pictures. This box set was called Clash On Broadway, which was named after their string of sold-out shows in New York in the early 1980's. The Clash were cool, oozed attitude, and seemed larger than life and I loved reading about their songs and their history...and I still flip through that booklet from time to time.

As for "The Leader", it's taken from an album I've thought was weird, called Sandinista! The Clash had started as a punk band for their debut album, yet three albums later, Sandinista! was a triple-album with a wild assortment of songs. I hated it save for two or three songs; only about 5 or 6 of them actually made it onto the Clash On Broadway box set. I'm actually glad I rediscovered my love for The Clash because I realized several songs on Sandinista pack a punch! "The Leader" is too quick for my liking, but I love their tongue-in-cheek/ripped-from-the-headlines lyrical style.

8. "Guns On The Roof" (Give Em Enough Rope)
Since I traded in those few Clash CDs I had in high school for the 3-disc box set, I still don't actually physically own every song from every album. So over the years I actually forgot they had an album in between the debut and London Calling. Shame on me!!! Usually I just pop in the second disc which features the cuts from London Calling and the Cost of Living E.P. Thanks to Apple Music, I was able to listen to their second album, Give Em Enough Rope.

This album is much more straight-forward rock n roll than I realized, and serves to bridge the gap better between their early punk roots and later explorations of reggae and rap. If I had made this list a year ago or maybe even ten, I'd have included Give Em Enough Rope's track "Tommy Gun" with it's fiery drum intro. However now, I'd have to give the slot to "Guns On The Roof." I think I'll even have to track down a full copy of this album as it might even edge out London Calling as my favorite Clash album!

7. "Gates Of The West" (Cost Of Living E.P.)
This song was never on a full-length studio album by The Clash, though it has found it's way onto a handful of hits and collections over the years. I came across it on the now out-of-print, Clash On Broadway box set, though thankfully I believe it can still be found on a recent greatest hits collection. Mick Jones take the lead on this Clash song, which I assume is about the band venturing into America, which was the "west."

6. "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" (Combat Rock)
The Clash at their most accessible- this song still gets airplay to this day. It's unique because Mick Jones sings the verses and chorus, while Joe Strummer echoes the lyrics back in Spanish. I still recall seeing a live music video version filmed at Shea Stadium on this short-lived channel called MTV X that featured an assortment of rock and roll videos, so I included that over the studio track.

5. "The Card Cheat" (London Calling)
This could explain why I grew to like Billy Joel, as I feel like this song is totally in his style of mixing rock n roll with pianos and horns. This song has always felt "grand", and as the story goes they doubled up on every instrument, which backs up my feeling of its grandeur.

4. "Clampdown" (London Calling)
While The Clash explored different styles of music, they have always shared a common theme in their lyrics which was the average man, "the working stiff." A few examples are "Career Opportunities" on their debut album, "Clampdown" on London Calling, and later "The Magnificent Seven" on Sandinista! Working for the man sucks!

3. "Rock The Casbah" (Combat Rock)
When I was in high school, I took as many art classes as I could. One such class during senior year assigned a project where we had to take lyrics from either a song or poem, then draw pictures which corresponded with the words. I chose this song to be ridiculous, so I could draw guys in turbans, though I'd probably be expelled these days for stereo-typing or something like that.

2. "Train In Van" (London Calling)
Originally unlisted on early pressings of the album, "Train In Vain" was meant to be given away as a single packaged with a music magazine in the UK. When that fell through, the band released it on London Calling but the album sleeves had already went into production, resulting in it's absence on the track listing.

Another interesting trivia fact about "Train In Vain" is that 90's alternative rock band Garbage borrowed from this song and listed Mick Jones and Joe Strummer as co-writers. They looped the drums, centered a song around it, and turned it into their own hit smash, "Stupid Girl."

1. "The Magnificent Seven" (Sandinista!)
Growing up, I was never as into the lyrics of a song as much as I was with the music. If it made me want to bang my head or dance around, I was good. Just as long as the lyrics flowed with the music and made some sense, then that was ok, too. The Clash were the first band where I paid attention to the lyrics and this song especially stood out above the rest. It seemed rather silly to me then, with it's silly rhymes and even yelling "CHEESE-BOIGER!" These days it really hits me on rough days at work when the minutes drag and the hours jerk! This was The Clash attempt to mix rock with rapping lyrics, and I'd say it was a successful blending of styles which still holds up to this day.

Here's another rollickin' live version, this one from the Tom Snyder talk show: