deadmandeadman
deadmandeadman
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ITS A STRANGE QUIRK, I KNOW, BUT WHEN SOMEONE TELLS ME THEY DON'T LIKE A SONG I THINK IS GREAT, I GOTTA TRY AN' CONVINCE THEM OTHERWISE

Posted about 4 years ago
Now, as I understand it, we all pride ourselves on our music collection/selections/confections, whatever. Well, I contend that if you have a collection of Rock Music and it does not contain **London Calling** ,Your collection is sadly incomplete.The Clash took on the world with this album, and pinned it to the mat. The boys display an affinity for, and impressive command of a wide range of pop/rock/world music, becoming itself the umbilicus tying it all together.With their admittedly naive swagger and the enthusiasm of pioneers they led millions of punks into the mainstream and gave the mainstream a new view of what rock was always supposed to be.
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Comments (20)

  1. scotfree
    scotfree says Ya. Some of the best guitar sonics since The Who's peak (title track), and the absolute in-your-face precognition to take the most radio friendly, obvious single material (Train In Vain) and hide it, unlabled, at the end of the disc. Every track a gem. You're preaching to the choir here.
    Permalink posted 01/24/2008
  2. hawaiianpunch
    hawaiianpunch says Who is this Clash that you speak of? Just kidding. I hope you don't lower me in your sights because it's not part of my MOG collection, but trust me when I say that it is part of my actual CD collection along with Sandinistas!. And, totally agree with everything you say. The Clash were one of a kind and consciously and unconsciously influenced so many artists that came after them.
    Permalink posted 01/24/2008
  3. dansemcabre
    dansemcabre says is there ever such a thing as a complete music collection? Does a collector ever say that's it that's all the music I'll ever need. Of course not! we will collect untill the day we die and we will die with our collections incomplete and out bucket list of music unfulfilled. Sad really
    Permalink posted 01/24/2008
  4. RSchaut
    RSchaut says I prefer to draw a distinction between liking a piece of music and the aesthetics of a piece of music. The former is entirely subjective and personal, often determined by individual moods and susceptibilities. There are times when I don't like a song that I loved last week. Whether or not I like a particular song or performance depends entirely on where I'm at in any given moment. Aesthetics, on the other hand, involves more objective factors of artistry, creativity, inventiveness and craft. At some point, we have to move beyond simply asking whether or not a song has a good beat and can we dance to it. Does an artist exhibit exceptional skill in his or her craft? Does a particular piece of music combine elements that, heretofore, have never been combined in quite the same way? Does a performance exhibit exceptional levels of virtuosity? I don't ask people to like the music that I like. I do, however, ask them to recognize true artistry when we find it, and I thoroughly enjoy even a heated discussion about the relative artistic merits and aesthetics of various works. At the same time, I expect our individual musical collections will reflect what we like as much as they reflect our own artistic sensibilities. My musical collection isn't a library meant to catalogue all artistic achievements, and neither is yours. Ideally, we should strive to build musical collections of things we like without compromising our artistic sensibilities. My collection might not contain everything that could be categorized as good art, but I hope that my collection does consist, almost entirely, of music that can be considered valuable art.
    Permalink posted 01/24/2008
  5. RSchaut
    RSchaut says By the way, were I to choose a Clash song that deserves to be in anyone's collection, I think I'd choose Rock the Casbah over London Calling. Rock the Casbah, with the driving, funkish baseline, the spare, almost punctuating guitar and the counter-culture lyrics strikes me as more representative of the punk ethos than London Calling even though London Calling has risen to anthemic status. There. Let the arguments begin!
    Permalink posted 01/24/2008
  6. dansemcabre
    dansemcabre says can't argue with that. Just kidding the clash always seemed to me to be a rather weak poppy punk band lacking a little in "punk ethos" as they were'nt as out of controll as many of the other punk rock greats. Punk to me is more about emotion than musicianship. I'm not saying the clash sucks or any such ignorant bullshit. I'm just saying they arent my favorite punk band. of course not many of the godfathers of punk make it into my top ten punk bands so maybe i'm too young to have fully grasped the origional punk concept. My own punk rock experience was a steady bout of nihlistic debachery, a sort of glorying in despair and disenfranchisement. A strange glorifying of the ugly and unacceptable. A tribe of the unloved clinging together and self destructing as fast as they could. No wonder most of my old friends are junkies now. flailing around in vomit and blood was really punk rock. I'm glad I made it out alive and relatively unscathed. now there is some punk ethos!
    Permalink posted 01/24/2008
  7. dermahrk
    dermahrk says Well, I'm ready to argue a bit. ??Rock The Casbah?? was one of the songs that turned me off to the Clash. This is better. But, DMDM, you can guess what I'm going to say next. Joe's inability to sing in tune is a big hindrance for me. When it comes to pitch, there's no "close enough for anti-government work" clause in my playbook )oh JEEZ did I just use a SPORTS metaphor? for shame!). The song has potential. Just replace the singer.
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  8. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Dansemcabre & RSchaut are correct, of course, there _are_ no complete collections of music. We all can agree on that I think. RS< YOU AS: **Does a particular piece of music combine elements that, heretofore, have never been combined in quite the same way? ** >>Well, yes. With **London Calling** (the album((cd) not the song) The Clash had used the flotsum & jetsons (hehe) of our culture, including popular music of every stripe, and synthesized a sprawling, glorious testament to a mad world spinning dizzily while we hang on for dear life. The joys & fears & worries & celebrations of emptiness are timeless expressions, universally specific & brutally cold.
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  9. scotfree
    scotfree says Joe can't sing? One of the most distinctive and powerful voices of our times. Granted, he employed many a vocal technique that pushed the envelope of what was acceptable, but I have never ever felt he lacked pitch. Fisticuffs or swords at dawn, your choice.
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  10. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Listen now, if you boys can't play together nicely..... I agree with you scottfree. Spanish Bombs. ~f2Slm3AIZBE.mp3~
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  11. TylerDurden
    TylerDurden says DMDM...a while ago when I first started posting music, you told me something..."You are chained down by your own perceptions" now you said this to my attempting to characterize my screenname with phony-banter from the movie fight club, as play-act the split personality, I've since given up thanks to you...but I have always wondered if you take that seriously in your own perceptions??? not in a mean spirited way of course, just a bit of mock sarcasm... great tune, I'll take 'London Calling' over 'Rock the Casbah' any day.
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  12. Jammy Jeff
    Jammy Jeff says OK here's my two penneth worth to stir up the hornets nest. "London Calling" IS THE greatest Rock album ever recorded...period. How many bands would introduce the listener to a mix of Rock, Punk, Jazz, Ska, Dub Reggae, Rock n' Roll, and ballads and still make a uniquely coherent piece of work ? It was, at the time a massive gamble by a band who had a lot to lose. Their cocksure bravado probably shielded them from seeing that taking on so many styles could have been a monumental mistake. But, every single moment is a triumph of skilful songwriting and natural performing ebullience. I love it so much I've bought it three times now. It's funny, but the songs I love most from the album now are the side 3 and 4 tracks like "Wrong 'em Boyo", "The Card Cheat", "I'm Not Down" and "Death Or Glory" "Well every cheap hood drives a bargain with the world, Ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl, Love and Hate tattooed across the knuckles of his hands, Hands that slap his kids around 'cos they don't understand how, Death or Glory, becomes just another story" RIP Joe
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  13. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Tyler my man, turning the microscope, very good indeed grasshopper. I applaud your audacity and cede your point. Touche. We are all bundles of foibles and flaws, diamonds, rocks, and stardust, and that crazy little thing called humor.
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  14. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Jammy Jeff, while your hyperbole may be a -wee bit- over the top, your assessment of this landmark is correct. It's importance cannot be over-stated.
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  15. Anna
    Anna says A hipster like Mark... ;P
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  16. Anna
    Anna says A hipster like Mark... ;P
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  17. Anna
    Anna says Who _doesn't_ think London Calling is great???
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  18. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says It wouldn't be fair to name dermahrk here so I won't. I don't know Anna, who could _not_ like L.C.?
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  19. deadmandeadman
    deadmandeadman says Anna, I heard you the first time.
    Permalink posted 01/25/2008
  20. TylerDurden
    TylerDurden says DMDM..."We are all bundles of foibles and flaws, diamonds, rocks, and stardust, and that crazy little thing called humor." you are a cool dude...but did you just call me a green bug??? I am only 24 but I do understand what you meant by that... I always feel intellectually inferior to everyone on mog due to their extensive vocabulary and seemingly easy banter or a PHD level...maybe I shoulda stayed in the school system, AAAHHHH oh well.
    Permalink posted 01/28/2008

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