Full Description
This revised edition adds previously unpublished material
from Joe Strummer's personal notebook and Ray Lowry's archive.
The Clash were an extraordinary band. Bursting out of the
punk explosion in 1977, they recorded their self-titled first album over three
weekends. It is now regarded as the quintessential punk record. Over the next
five years, they recorded another fourteen sides of long-playing vinyl,
including the platinum double LP London Calling,
which was voted the best album of the 1980s and the eighth-best album of all
time by Rolling Stone magazine.
Through the triple-LP Sandinista! to
their double-platinum Combat Rock plus
a whole bunch of stand-alone singles and EPs, The Clash mixed both street and
global politics with music spanning several genres, including rock, reggae,
jazz, rap, calypso and rockabilly.
It provides a concise
narrative of the rise and fall of The Clash, putting each song of their
prolific musical output into context, including a selection of bootlegs and
rarities. There is also advice about how to buy The Clash's music without
falling into the record company trap of repeatedly buying the same material
through different compilations, making this the most essential guide to the
music of this iconic band yet written.
This is the third edition of Nick's book. Neither a trained
writer nor a music critic, he is a lifelong Clash fan with a passion for their
music and the punk ethic of 'Do It Yourself '. He was born and grew up in inner
London and has spent his life taking the fight to the enemy. Nick is now a
family man who spends his time playing music and planting trees in the Forest
of Dean, UK.
