Why do the members of The Clash pretend like nothing happened after 1983?
06-12-03, 09:19 PM
#1
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Why do the members of The Clash pretend like nothing happened after 1983?
I just bought Westway To The World last week and just got a chance to watch it yesterday. What bugged me was when they reached 1983, all Paul and Joe said was that they told Mick to leave. No mention of Cut the Crap, Joe's solo effort or Big Audio Dynamite.
The same thing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, they just glaze over the falling out and touring as "The Clash" when they didn't have Mick anymore.
Why?
The same thing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, they just glaze over the falling out and touring as "The Clash" when they didn't have Mick anymore.
Why?
06-13-03, 07:11 AM
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Well, I think most people don't want to think of Cut the Crap being labled as a Clash recording because it's incredibly weak.
I was watching VH1-Classics yesterday and BAD's "Medicine Show" video came on. I was really surprised to see both Strummer and Simonon playing little acting roles in the video. I would have thought they wanted nothing to do with BAD (this video was before Strummer was involved with the 2nd recording).
I was watching VH1-Classics yesterday and BAD's "Medicine Show" video came on. I was really surprised to see both Strummer and Simonon playing little acting roles in the video. I would have thought they wanted nothing to do with BAD (this video was before Strummer was involved with the 2nd recording).
06-13-03, 07:15 AM
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That's what I heard atlantmoi, that by the time BAD's music videos started coming out Strummer and Jones started patching things up. Pretty weird that the band acts the way they do though about some of the things that happened.
06-13-03, 08:24 AM
#6
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The problem with ignring the existence of Cut the Crap is not only because it smacks of Stalinist revisionism, but it also means that we are denied hearing "This Is England", the last truly great Clash song, and IMHO, the equal of anything off Combat Rock. Well, maybe not "Straight To Hell"...
06-13-03, 09:54 AM
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"This is England" is on the new essential comp, right? Otherwise, "Cut the Crap" is to be avoided. It's not even a real Clash record. It's a Bernie Rhodes record.
I really like the early BAD stuff, and while Joe's first solo record wasn't great, I loooove the Mescaleroes albums. Paul's Havana 3am wasn't that bad either.
But really, I think that the answer is that the Clash truly died when Mick was fired. Strummer/Jones is a songwriting combo that deserves placement with Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards. They just weren't the same when seperated.
I really like the early BAD stuff, and while Joe's first solo record wasn't great, I loooove the Mescaleroes albums. Paul's Havana 3am wasn't that bad either.
But really, I think that the answer is that the Clash truly died when Mick was fired. Strummer/Jones is a songwriting combo that deserves placement with Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards. They just weren't the same when seperated.
06-13-03, 10:00 PM
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From what I heard Cut the Crap is not too bad. I mean it's no London Calling or Sandinista! but it is decent. I really like "This Is England" and "We Are The Clash."
06-14-03, 10:18 AM
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"Cut The Crap" isn't a horrible album, it's just not a Clash album. I enjoy most of the songs, but I never can think to myself "This is a good Clash record!" when I listen to it. Not to mention it sounds awfully dated, something the true Clash records have managed to transcend.
06-14-03, 12:24 PM
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The Clash have always, always perpetuated their own myths. They acknowledge life after The Clash, but I think they all agree to keep it completely separate from "The Clash".
06-17-03, 10:21 PM
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I thought the SONGS from Cut the Crap were actually quite good---This is England, Finger Poppin', Three Card Trick, Life is Wild---it was just the PRODUCTION that was so sub-par---cheesy Casio-type keyboard/techno sounds, over-distorted guitars, and what sounded like 20 people shouting every chorus. If there had been some subtlety and taste to the production, I think it would have been a great album.
BAD's first album was still the most distinctive and best, IMO---it really sounded like Mick was onto something new. I liked the second one a lot, too, and although he wrote a bunch of good songs on some of the later albums, they didn't grab me that much.
I can see why they gloss over the stuff after 83, though---the Clash was not the Clash without the Strummer/Jones combo.
BAD's first album was still the most distinctive and best, IMO---it really sounded like Mick was onto something new. I liked the second one a lot, too, and although he wrote a bunch of good songs on some of the later albums, they didn't grab me that much.
I can see why they gloss over the stuff after 83, though---the Clash was not the Clash without the Strummer/Jones combo.
06-17-03, 10:39 PM
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Originally posted by Ky-Fi
I thought the SONGS from Cut the Crap were actually quite good---This is England, Finger Poppin', Three Card Trick, Life is Wild---it was just the PRODUCTION that was so sub-par---cheesy Casio-type keyboard/techno sounds, over-distorted guitars, and what sounded like 20 people shouting every chorus. If there had been some subtlety and taste to the production, I think it would have been a great album.
BAD's first album was still the most distinctive and best, IMO---it really sounded like Mick was onto something new. I liked the second one a lot, too, and although he wrote a bunch of good songs on some of the later albums, they didn't grab me that much.
I can see why they gloss over the stuff after 83, though---the Clash was not the Clash without the Strummer/Jones combo.
I thought the SONGS from Cut the Crap were actually quite good---This is England, Finger Poppin', Three Card Trick, Life is Wild---it was just the PRODUCTION that was so sub-par---cheesy Casio-type keyboard/techno sounds, over-distorted guitars, and what sounded like 20 people shouting every chorus. If there had been some subtlety and taste to the production, I think it would have been a great album.
BAD's first album was still the most distinctive and best, IMO---it really sounded like Mick was onto something new. I liked the second one a lot, too, and although he wrote a bunch of good songs on some of the later albums, they didn't grab me that much.
I can see why they gloss over the stuff after 83, though---the Clash was not the Clash without the Strummer/Jones combo.
06-17-03, 11:18 PM
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The Globe is a classic in it's own right, the first two or three BAD albums are just, different. I lean heavily toward the early releases because they seem more innovative and groundbreaking, whereas on The Globe they seemed to be trying to refine and perfect a sound more than try new things. The early stuff was really revolutionary, I think. Maybe they just got to good for their own good. Two other bands come to mind like that; The Police and U2. I don;t care how technically euphoric they became, I like their early stuff much more than their later stuff.
