Full Description
This volume brings together a range of writers from different academic disciplines and different locations to provide an engaging and accessible critical exploration of one of the most revered and reviled bands in the history of popular music. The essays collated here locate The Clash in their own explosive cultural moment of punk's year zero and examine how the group speaks from beyond the grave to the uncanny parallels of other moments of social and political crisis. In addition, the collection considers the impact of the band in a range of different geopolitical contexts, with various contributors exploring what the band meant in settings as diverse as Italy, England, Northern Ireland, Australia and the United States. The diverse essays gathered in Working for the clampdown cast a critical light on both the cultural legacy and contemporary resonance of one of the most influential bands ever to have graced a stage.
Contents
List of contributors
Working for the clampdown: an introduction Colin Coulter
PART I: No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones: The Clash, the politics of pop and the neoliberal conjuncture
1 The Clash, revolution and reverse Jason Toynbee
2 The Clash and musical artistry: against the corporate voice Caroline Coon
3 'Up in Heaven (not only here)': The Clash, left melancholia and the politics of redemption Colin Coulter
PART II: Back in the garage with my bullshit detector: The Clash and the Cultural Politics of Punk
4 'Are you going backwards, Or are you going forwards?' - England past and England future in 1970s punk Ruth Adams
5 Retrieving the messianic promise of punk: The Clash in 1977 Kieran Cashell
6 What if Keith Levene had never left The Clash? Punk and the politics of novelty Pete Dale
7 'The beautiful people are ugly too': The Clash as my 'true fiction' Martin James
PART III: 'It could be anywhere, Most likely could be any frontier, Any hemisphere': The Clash around the world
8 'Up and down the Westway' or 'live by the river'? Britishness, Englishness, London and The Clash Conrad Brunström
9 'Cashing in the bill of rights'? The Clash in New York, in myth and reality Harry Browne
10 The one struggle: The Clash, Gary Foley, Punk politics and Indigenous Australian activism Alessandro Moliterno
11 Brigade Rosse: The Clash, Bologna and Italian punx Giacomo Bottà and Ferruccio Quercetti
