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London Calling (song)

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"London Calling"
Song
B-side"Armagideon Time"

"London Calling" is a song by the British punk rock band The Clash. It was released as a single from the band's 1979 double album London Calling. This apocalyptic, politically charged rant features the band's famous combination of reggae basslines and punk electric guitar and vocals.[1][2][3]

Writing and recording

The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The title alludes to the BBC World Service's station identification: "This is London calling ...", which was used during World War II, often in broadcasts to occupied countries.[1][4][5]

The lyrics reflect the concern felt by Strummer about world events with the reference to "a nuclear error" to the incident at Three Mile Island, which occurred earlier in 1979. Joe Strummer has said: "We felt that we were struggling about to slip down a slope or something, grasping with our fingernails. And there was no one there to help us."[3][4]

The line "London is drowning / And I live by the river" comes from concerns that if the River Thames flooded, most of central London would drown, something that led to the construction of the Thames Barrier.[3][4] Strummer's concern for police brutality is evident through the lines "We ain't got no swing / Except for the ring of that truncheon thing" as the Metropolitan Police at the time had a truncheon as standard issued equipment. Social criticism also features through references to the effects of casual drug taking: "We ain't got no high / Except for that one with the yellowy eyes".

The lyrics also reflect desperation of the band's situation in 1979 struggling with high debt, without management and arguing with their record label over whether the London Calling album should be a single- or double-album. The lines referring to "Now don't look to us | Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust" reflects the concerns of the band over its situation after the punk rock boom in England had ended in 1977.

The Clash "London Calling" (1979)
30-second sample—with applied 3-second fadein and 3-second fadeout—of "London Calling" taken from London Calling.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Musically, the song is far removed from their earlier style of frenzied punk rock I-IV-V-I chord progressions, as best exemplified on songs like "Career Opportunities" and "I'm So Bored with the USA". The song is in a minor key — something The Clash had rarely used before — and the inherent dirge-like, apocalyptic feel is intensified by Topper Headon's martial drumming without backbeat, in synchrony with staccato guitar chords; Paul Simonon's haunting and pulsating bass line; the group's deliberate, mid-tempo pace; and Strummer's icy lyrics and baleful delivery. Strummer's howls during the instrumental break further fuel the atmosphere of paranoia.[original research?] Like many of the tracks on London Calling — including "The Card Cheat", "Revolution Rock", and "Jimmy Jazz" — the song doesn't end by resolving strongly to the tonic or fading out, as most rock and roll songs do. Instead, it breaks down eerily, with Joe Strummer's cryptic last words "I never felt so much a-like ..." echoing over Morse code feedback (the characters spelling out S-O-S).[3] In live versions of the song, Strummer sang a complete version of the final line, which is "I never felt so much a-like singing the blues".

"London Calling" was recorded at Wessex Studios located in a former church hall in Highbury in North London. This studio had already proved to be a popular location with The Sex Pistols, The Pretenders and the Tom Robinson band. The single was produced by Guy Stevens and engineered by Bill Price.[1][4]

Personnel

"London Calling"

"Armagideon Time"

Artwork

Continuing the theme of the retro Elvis Presley-inspired London Calling LP cover, the single sleeve (front and back) is based on old Columbia 78 rpm sleeve. The cover artwork was designed by Ray Lowry and is identical to the Columbia sleeve with the exception of changing the blank 78 covers that the young teenage cover models are listening to classic Rock and Punk LP sleeves. From left to right they are, The Beatles' debut Please Please Me, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones debut, The Clash debut, Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and finally the Elvis Presley debut LP.

Reissues

The single has several issues, all with different covers. Four are from 1979 (catalogue number: 8087; S CBS 8087; 128087; S CBS 8087). In 1988, a special limited edition boxed set was released, containing three tracks, "London Calling" on side one, "Brand New Cadillac" and "Rudie Can't Fail" on side two, a poster and two badges (catalogue number: CLASH B2). Two were released by CBS Records in 1991 (catalogue number: 656946; 31-656946-22) both with "Brand New Cadillac" on the B-side, the second one has an additional track on side two "Return to Brixton (Jeremy Healy 7" Remix)" (see the table below).

In 2012, on the occasion of the International Record Store Day, a limited edition 7" was released, with a new mix of the song by MIck Jones, and an instrumental version on the B-side. [6]

Year B-side Format Label Country Note
1979 "Armagideon Time" 45 rpm 7" vinyl CBS S CBS 8087 UK Released on 7 December 1979; No. 2 for 1979, No. 37 overall.
1979
  1. "Justice Tonight" (Version)
  2. "Kick It Over" (Version)
 45 rpm 12" vinyl CBS 128087 UK A-side:
  1. "London Calling"
  2. "Armagideon Time".
1979 "Armagideon Time" 45 rpm 7" vinyl CBS S CBS 8087 UK Alternate cover.
1979 "Armagideon Time" 45 rpm 7" vinyl CBS 8087 NL —
1980 "London Calling" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Epic 50851 USA A-side: "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)". Released on 12 February 1980.
1988
  1. "Brand New Cadillac"
  2. "Rudie Can't Fail"
 45 rpm 7" vinyl CBS CLASH 2 UK Boxed Set; Limited Edition
1991
  1. "Brand New Cadillac"
  2. "Return to Brixton" (Jeremy Healy 7" Remix)
 45 rpm 12" vinyl Columbia 31-656946-22 UK —
1991 "Brand New Cadillac" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Columbia 656946 UK —
2012 "London Calling (2012 instrumental)" 45 rpm 7" vinyl Columbia 88691959247 USA New 2012 mix by Mick Jones and Bill Price. Released 2012/04/21

Chart success and critical response

"London Calling" was released as the only single in the UK from the album and reached No. 11 in the charts in December 1979,[2] becoming at once the band's highest charting single until "Should I Stay or Should I Go" hit No. 1 ten years later. The song did not make the US charts, as "Train in Vain" was released as a single and broke the band in the US, reaching No. 23 on the pop charts.

BBC Radio One DJ Annie Nightingale made a bet with Strummer that London Calling would make the UK Top 10 without them appearing on Top of the Pops, the stake being a Cadillac. When the record peaked at number 11, Nightingale was saved by a listener who donated a Cadillac. The Cadillac was subsequently auctioned to raise funds for the recession hit steel town of Corby.[7]

"London Calling" was the first Clash song to chart elsewhere in the world, reaching the top 40 in Australia. The success of the single and album was greatly helped by the music video shot by Don Letts showing the band playing the song on a boat (Festival Pier), next to Albert Bridge on the south side of the Thames, Battersea Park in a cold and rainy night at the beginning of December 1979.[8][9]

The single fell off the charts after 10 weeks, but later re-entered the chart twice, spending a total of fifteen non-consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart.

Over the years, "London Calling" has become regarded by many critics as the band's finest. In 2004, Rolling Stone rated the song as No. 15 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[10][11] the highest position of the band and of any punk rock song. In 1989, the magazine also rated the album of the same name as the best album of the 1980s—although it was released in late 1979 in Britain, it came out in January 1980 in the USA.

"London Calling" was also ranked No. 42 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s". It was erroneously listed as being released in 1982, when it was fact released in 1979.[12] It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[13]

Notable appearances and covers

The Clash turned down a request from British Telecom to use the song for an advertising campaign in the early 1990s.[14] In 2002, the band incurred criticism when they sold the rights to Jaguar for a car advertisement. In an interview posted on his website, Strummer explained the reasons for the deal. "Yeah. I agreed to that. We get hundreds of requests for that and turn 'em all down. But I just thought Jaguar ... yeah. If you're in a group and you make it together, then everybody deserves something. Especially twenty-odd years after the fact."[15]

Bon Jovi played it to open their 1997 concert at Wembley Stadium in London.

A version of the song was used as part of the publicity in the lead up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. There was some commentary, given the song's dystopian lyrics, of its appropriateness.[5] The song was used during the Opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, in the Green and Pleasant Land filmed segment.

The song was used for a 2012 British Airways advert, picturing a jet aeroplane taxiing through the streets of London passing numerous landmarks and parking outside the Olympic Stadium.[16]

Joe Strummer later became a DJ for the BBC World Service, on a program called "Joe Strummer's London Calling".[17]

The song was performed live twice by Bob Dylan during his November 2005 residency at London's Brixton Academy - a venue also linked with many classic Clash and Joe Strummer concerts.[18][19][20][21]

Bruce Springsteen has performed the song several times, most notably at the 2003 Grammy Awards with Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, and Steven Van Zandt in a tribute to Strummer, who had died just two months earlier, and at the 2009 Hard Rock Calling Festival in London with the E Street Band. The latter performance was released on Springsteen's London Calling: Live in Hyde Park concert DVD.

The song was covered by Brent Smith and Zach Myers of American hard rock band Shinedown, as part of their (Acoustic Sessions) extended play released on 28 January 2014.

Charts

Rel. Year Chart Peak
Position
1st 1979 UK (Official Charts Company)[22] 11
1980 Irish Singles Chart[23] 16
1980 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[24] 23
1980 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 30
1980 Australia (ARIA)[25] 28
2nd 1988 UK (Official Charts Company)[22] 46
3rd 1991 Irish Singles Chart[23] 18
1991 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 30
1991 UK (Official Charts Company)[22] 64

See also

Sources

  • Gilbert, Pat (2005) [2004]. Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash (4th ed.). London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-84513-113-4. OCLC 61177239.
  • Green, Johnny, and Barker, Garry (2003) [1997]. A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with The Clash (3rd ed.). London: Orion. ISBN 0-7528-5843-2. OCLC 52990890.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Salewicz, Chris (15 May 2007). Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer (1st American ed.). New York: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-21178-X. OCLC 76794852.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Gilbert 2005, pp. 233, 235, 238, 257, 260, 267.
  2. ^ a b "BBC - Radio 2 - Sold On Song - Brits25 - London Calling" (SHTML). Radio 2, Sold On Song. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
    a) "Taken from the Clash's stunning 1979 double album London Calling, the single showcased the band's trademark fusion of reggae bass lines with punk guitar and vocals."
    b) "Reaching number eleven in December 1979, the song was the only track to be released as a single from their acclaimed London Calling album."
  3. ^ a b c d Guarisco, Donald A. "London Calling - The Clash - Song Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d "London Calling by The Clash Songfacts" (PHP). songfacts.com. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  5. ^ a b "'London Calling', Repurposed as a Tourism Jingle : The Record". NPR. 30 July 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  6. ^ "Albums by The Clash - Rate Your Music". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
  7. ^ Gray, Marcus. Route 19 Revisited: The Clash and the Making of London Calling. pp. 410–411. ISBN 978-0099524205.
  8. ^ Green 2003, pp. 15–17.
  9. ^ Salewicz 2007, p. 276.
  10. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone. 9 December 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2007. 15. London Calling, The Clash.
  11. ^ "London Calling The Clash". The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. RollingStone. 9 December 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2007..
  12. ^ "VH1'S '100 GREATEST SONGS OF THE '80S'" (JHTML). VH1. 24 October 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2007. 42 The Clash / 'London Calling' 1982. [dead link‍]
  13. ^ "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" (XHTML). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved 24 May 2009. The Clash - London Calling. [dead link‍]
  14. ^ "The Uncut Crap - Over 56 Things You Never Knew About The Clash". NME. 3. London: IPC Magazines. 16 March 1991. ISSN 0028-6362. OCLC 4213418. British Telecom wanted to use "London Calling" for their last advertising campaign. They were told to bog off
  15. ^ Walker, Rob (15 September 2002). "Brand new Jag". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 4 October 2002. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  16. ^ David Gianatasio (25 June 2012). "British Airways Doesn't Want Brits Flying". ADWEEK. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  17. ^ "The Sound of Strummer". Arts and Entertainment. BBC World Service.
  18. ^ Pagel, Bill. "Bob Dylan - Bob Links - London, England Set List - 11/21/05". Retrieved 13 February 2008. 16. London Calling (incomplete - 1 verse).
  19. ^ Pagel, Bill. "Bob Dylan - Bob Links - London, England Set List - 11/24/05". Retrieved 13 February 2008. 15. London Calling (incomplete).
  20. ^ Jarnow, Jesse (22 November 2005). "'london calling' - bob dylan". Jesse Jarnow's Frank and Earthy Blog. wunderkammern27.com. Retrieved 13 February 2008. Fly-by-night, lo-fi, punk-frickin'-rock recording of Dylan performing a solid minute of The Clash's 'London Calling' yesterday in London. [dead link‍]
  21. ^ Ketchell, James. "Rockbeatstone Magazine - Bob Dylan - Brixton Academy, London - Live Review" (PHP). Rockbeatstone Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2008. [dead link‍]
  22. ^ a b c "Clash". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  23. ^ a b "The Irish Charts". IRMA. Enter "London Calling" in Search by Song Title and click search.
  24. ^ "The Clash – London Calling". Top 40 Singles.
  25. ^ "The Clash – London Calling". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  26. ^ "The Clash – London Calling". Singles Top 100.

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