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Rock the Casbah

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"Rock the Casbah"
Song
B-side"Long Time Jerk"

"Rock the Casbah" is a song by The Clash, released on their 1982 album Combat Rock. It was later released as a single, and is their only song to become a Top 10 hit in the United States, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2]

Origins of the song

One theory is that the song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini.[2] The song gives a fabulist account of the ban being defied by the population, who proceed to "rock the casbah". The King orders jet fighters to bomb any people in violation of the ban. The pilots ignore the orders, and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios.

The song does not mention Iran or any other Islamic nation by name. The lyrics include a mixture of Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, and North African terms such as sharif, bedouin, sheikh, kosher, raga, muezzin, minaret, and casbah.[3][4]

According to the album notes on the box set The Clash on Broadway, "Rock the Casbah" originated when the band's manager Bernie Rhodes, after hearing them record an inordinately long track for the album, asked them facetiously "does everything have to be as long as this raga?" (referring to the Indian musical style known for its length and complexity). Joe Strummer later wrote the opening lines to the song: "The King told the boogie-men 'you have to let that raga drop'". The rest of the lyrics soon followed.[5]

The song is one of the few in which drummer Topper Headon played a substantial role in the writing of the music beyond the percussion tracks.[2] The instrumental opening was a tune he had written on the piano some time earlier, and had toyed with during rehearsals before being incorporated into the song. In the 2000 documentary Westway to the World Headon said he played drums, bass, and piano on the record for the song. Headon claims that, while he thought he was merely playing the song for the band, his performances were, unbeknownst to him, recorded. All that was left to record was the guitar parts and the vocals.[6]

Video

The Clash made low-budget music videos for several of their songs, and the one for "Rock the Casbah" may be their most memorable. Filmed in Austin, Texas, it depicts an Arab, played by Bernie Rhodes, and an Hasidic Jew, played by Mark "Frothler" Helfont, skanking together through the streets, often followed by an armadillo, interspersed with the band performing in front of an oil well. The humorous tone of the video fits the song, although it is easy to read the antics of the Arab and Jew as a desire for better relations between Israelis and Arabs.[2]

The video features their first drummer Terry Chimes, because, at the time of its release, Headon was out of the band due to his growing drug addiction.[2] Headon admitted that seeing the video with "someone else at my place, playing my song" was very painful for him and he spiraled deeper into depression and drug abuse.

Single

The US single version of the song features a mix different from the album version.[2] The single version has more pronounced bass. Also when Joe Strummer screams "The crowd caught a whiff / Of that crazy casbah jive" at the end of the third verse the word "jive" is sustained for several seconds with digital delay. The single version of the song is what is played in the music video.

"Mustapha Dance", that features in many releases of the single, is an instrumental remix of the song.

Single issues

The single has several issues, all with different cover, format and B-side (see the table below).[7]

Year B-side Format Label Country Note
1982 "Rock the Casbah" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Epic 34-03245 CAN/USA Promo
1982 "Mustapha Dance" 45 rpm 12" vinyl CBS/Sony Records Inc. 07.5P-191 JP —
1982 "Mustapha Dance" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Epic 49-03144 USA —
1982 "Mustapha Dance" 45 rpm 12" vinyl Epic 49-03144 CAN —
1982 "Mustapha Dance" 45 rpm 7" vinyl CBS A112479 UK Picture disc
1982 "Red Angel Dragnet" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Epic 34-03245 CAN —
1982 "Long Time Jerk" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Epic 34-03245 USA In blue Epic generic die cut sleeve
1982 "Mustapha Dance" 45 rpm 12" vinyl CBS A 13-2479 UK —
1982 "Long Time Jerk" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Epic 15-05540 USA —
1991 "Mustapha Dance" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Columbia 656814-7 UK Reissue
1991
  1. "Mustapha Dance"
  2. "The Magnificent Dance"
 45 rpm 12" vinyl Columbia 656814-6 UK —
1991
  1. "Mustapha Dance"
  2. "The Magnificent Dance"
 CD Columbia 656814-2 UK —

Music sample

The Clash - Rock the Casbah excerpt
An excerpt from "Rock the Casbah"
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Political impact

The song became an unofficial anthem for U.S. forces during the first Gulf War, largely on the basis of the line about dropping "bombs between the minarets".[2] It was the first song played by Armed Forces Radio at the start of the war. This is ironic given the band's well established left-wing stance. The song can also be understood as a message that western rock and roll will help defeat radical Islamist regimes by winning over the people of the Middle East, especially the young.

In 2006, the conservative National Review released their list of the top 50 "Conservative Rock Songs", with "Rock the Casbah" at #20, noting its frequent requests during the Iraq War.[8] Despite, or perhaps because of, its popularity with soldiers during the Gulf War, "Rock the Casbah" was one of the songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.[9].

In one of the campfire scenes late in the 2007 documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, a Granada friend states that Joe wept when he heard that the phrase "Rock the Casbah" was written on an American bomb that was to be detonated on Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. The friend avers that he heard Joe say, while crying, "Hey, man, I never could think that a song of mine could be written as a death symbol on a f---ing American bomb."

References in pop culture

  • The title of the song is used as a euphemism for sex in The Simpsons episode "Natural Born Kissers". Marge says "It is our anniversary night, I suppose we should... Rock the Casbah"; later on in the episode; Bart says "So did you guys... Rock the Casbah?" The song also plays over the credits.
  • In Camelot, a season 5 episode of The Sopranos, features the track during a prominent scene. When Tony Soprano attempts to collect a debt from future rival Phil Leotardo, the latter attempts to flee. A vehicle pursuit ensues, while Rock the Casbah plays loudly from Soprano's stereo. The song is largely used as a reference to Leotardo, who is often called "The Shah" by members of the DiMeo crime family.
  • The song "Beelzeboss" from the second album of popular rock band Tenacious D contains the line "...we rock the casbah...". The line appears in the band's movie "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny" as well.
  • American Dad! episode "Stan of Arabia": Part 1. Steve finally realises he is classed as a man in Saudi Arabia, he proceeds to buy a car and grenades to celebrate. The music is played during the part. He also later crashes into an oil well.
  • In one episode of King of the Hill (Nine Pretty Darn Angry MEn), in a lawnmower focus group, Kahn sings the song while spinning around in his chair before falling over, much to Cotton's humour.
  • In a television advertisement for Cingular Wireless, two people listening to the song cannot make out the lyrics. They think the chorus says both "lock the cashbox" and "stop the catbox".
  • It is also part of The Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack, used in a scene where Owen Wilson is celebrating.
  • The video game Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced features a level named "Rock the Casaba", a pun on the music's name.
  • The costume for several Resident Evil characters were based on the costumes for the band in the video. Brad Vickers' costume based on the lead singer, Forest Speyer on the bassist, and several prominent Russian characters on the guitarist.

Cover versions

Other versions of "Rock the Casbah" have been recorded by the Austin, Texas band One Bad Pig, on the 1992 album Blow the House Down; the Australian band Something for Kate; the band Solar Twins on the movie soundtrack for the 1999 film Brokedown Palace; the American band TRUST*CO; the Japanese duo Tica recorded a version in 2000 sampled by the English drum and bass, trip hop group from Bristol, Smith & Mighty;[10] the Asturian studio project Soncai System, who did an Asturian language version of the song on the album Clashturies (2007).

The Algerian rock singer Rachid Taha covered the song (in Arabic) on his 2004 album Tékitoi. On November 27, 2005 at the Astoria, London, during the Stop the War Coalition Benefit Concert, "...for the night's grandstanding conclusion, the Clash legend Mick Jones strides on in a skinny black suit and plays probably the most exciting guitar he has delivered in years. He and the band are brilliant on Taha's definitive take on "Rock the Casbah", for which the audience goes berserk."[11] They played again the Taha's version of the song, "Rock el Casbah", on February 2006, at the France 4 TV show Taratatà.[12] In 2007 at the Barbican, ".... The band were later joined by special guest Mick Jones from The Clash who performed on "Rock El Casbah" and then stayed on stage for the remainder of the show."[13][14]

Will Smith's song "Will 2K" of the Willennium album samples "Rock the Casbah" both instrumentally and in some of the lyrics. "It's Gonna Be Alright" by house act Pussy 2000 also samples the song. Richard Cheese recorded a lounge cover of the song on his 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin. U2 have also played a snippet of the song on their 2005-2006 Vertigo tour. After hearing the crowd singing the song as it was played over the loudspeaker before the start of the concert, Bono, the lead singer of U2 started singing "Rock the Casbah" in the middle of one of their songs during a concert in Melbourne. Green Day covered the song near the end of their AOL Sessions, and also have performed it live.

Howlin' Pelle Almqvist of The Hives covered the song with some members of another Swedish Band, Randy for a Joe Strummer Tribute concert at The Debaser in Stockholm.

The Hungarian singer Varga Zsuzsa covered this song on her album called "Szívadóvevő". It's mostly an energetic, electronic version.[15]

Cover version was also recorded by Ranking Roger and Pato Banton in 1999 for the Clash tribute album Burning London: The Clash Tribute.

Curiosities

  • Around two minutes from the start of the song, a sound like a cell phone's ring tone is heard. Both the single and the Combat Rock's track features that sound. The origin is unknown because cellphones weren't available at the moment of the release of the single.
  • The video shows The Clash members wearing military uniforms while playing the song, with Paul Simonon having a red berett (symbol of that corp of the British Army). As said, it shows an armadillo, but its meaning in the song it is unknown.

Charts

Chart Peak
position 		Date
UK Singles Chart 30 1982
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 8 1982
UK Singles Chart 15 1991
Irish Singles Chart 10 Apr 1991
Canadian Singles Chart 26 Feb 1983

Notes

  1. ^ Topper Headon is said to have written the main piano riff, but he as well as the rest of the band are credited
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Rock the Casbah by The Clash Songfacts" (PHP). Songfacts. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  3. ^ "Rock the Casbah". Combat Rock Lyrics. londonsburning.org. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  4. ^ "THE CLASH - ROCK THE CASBAH LYRICS" (NSF). sing365.com. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  5. ^ The Clash. Clash on Broadway (CD). New York, NY: Epic. OCLC 25248082. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |date2= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Letts Don; Rick Elgood, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Terry Chimes, The Clash. The Clash, Westway to the World (Documentary). New York, NY: Sony Music Entertainment; Dorismo; Uptown Films. ISBN 0738900826. OCLC 49798077. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "Rock the Casbah / Mustapha Dance by The Clash : Reviews and Ratings - Rate Your Music". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  8. ^ John J. Miller, John (2006-05-26). "John J. Miller on Music on National Review Online". Rockin' the Right – The 50 greatest conservative rock songs. National Review Online. Retrieved 2008-01-20. 20. "Rock the Casbah," by The Clash.
    After 9/11, American radio stations were urged not to play this 1982 song, one of the biggest hits by a seminal punk band, because it was seen as too provocative. Meanwhile, British Forces Broadcasting Service (the radio station for British troops serving in Iraq) has said that this is one of its most requested tunes.
  9. ^ "Songs with Questionable Lyrics". hitsdailydouble.com. Retrieved 2008-01-20. The Clash "Rock the Casbah"
  10. ^ "Tica – Rock the Casbah (Smith & Mighty Steppers mix) – Music at Last.fm". Last.fm. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  11. ^ Cumming, Tim (2005-11-29). "A riotous night for peace". Review: A riotous night for peace. The Independent, and Stop the War Coalition. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  12. ^ Videos: Rachid Taha & Mick Jones - Rock El Casbah and Rock El Casbah - Rachid Taha & Mick Jones - Taratata)
  13. ^ "BBC - Africa On Your Street - Features - Rachid Taha" (SHTML). AFRICA ON YOUR STREET Celebrating African Music in the UK. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-09-06. The band were later joined by special guest Mick Jones from The Clash who performed on 'Rock El Casbah' and then stayed on stage for the remainder of the show.
  14. ^ Video: Rock The Casbah,Rachid Taha,Barbican,2007,mick jones,guest
  15. ^ Video: Varga Zsuzsa - Rock the Casbah live at Zöld Pardon 2007.05.11.

References

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