With no shortage of irony, the most iconic sleeve of the 1970s was not a carefully conceived think piece from the studios of, but an instinctive moment of rock’n’roll attitude captured without thrills or forethought. Two people were responsible for the striking black and white image on ’s London Calling. The first was the band’s statuesque bass player, Paul Simonon, who is shown driving his bass guitar into the stage of the New York Palladium on September 21, 1979.
“The show had gone quite well,” he recalls, “but for me, inside, it just wasn’t working well, so I suppose I took it out on the bass. If I was smart, I would have got the spare bass and used that one, because it wasn’t as good as the one as I smashed up. When I look at it now, I wish I’d lifted my face up a bit more.”. The second person was British photographer Pennie Smith, who had made her name shooting for NME and was now accompanying The Clash on their US tour. Despite the accolades that have since been handed to her shot, Smith initially didn’t want it to be used due to it being slightly out of focus because she was backing away to avoid being hit by Simonon. Even now, she’s lukewarm about her best-known photograph. “It’s very pleasant to be praised, but I can’t see that picture now,” Smith said in 2003.
London Calling is the third studio album by English rock band The Clash.It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. The Clash’s third album, 1979’s London Calling, is where their brilliance comes together in a 19-track tour de force that uses the energy of their punk origins and employs it in a number of new stylistic directions.
“It’s been used in various forms so many times that it’s a bit like wallpaper. Of all the Clash photos I took, there are others that perhaps I prefer, for all sorts of reasons. Yes, I like that picture, but it’s so long ago now. I’ve seen it too many times to get the gut reaction I had at the time.
“Clash-wise, there are other, more snapshot-type things that still take me back to that gut feeling I had then; perhaps an odd backstage one, maybe one that’s never been seen before.” While it was probably an accident that the London Calling cover evoked the gear destruction of, there was a more deliberate rock pastiche in the font, colours and layout of the lettering – which was stolen wholesale from ’s self-titled 1956 debut. “When that Elvis record came out,” says Simonon, “rock’n’roll was pretty dangerous. And I suppose when we brought out our record, it was pretty dangerous stuff too.”.
Product Details Availability eBay.co.uk London Calling by Clash CD condition good Condition: Good Time left: 3h 35m 37s Ships to: Worldwide £2.61 eBay.co.uk THE CLASH LONDON CALLING CD CLASSIC ALBUM RUDIE BRIXTON TRAIN SPANISH BOMBS Condition: Good Time left: 5h 14m 2s Ships to: Worldwide £3.99 eBay.co.uk The Clash London Calling Limited Edition Japan Blu-Spec CD EICP-20007 New OBI Condition: New Time left: 5h 50m 7s Ships to: Worldwide £109.35 My favourite store: The Clash bestography London Calling is ranked as the best album. The Clash album bestography « Higher ranked This album (16th) Lower ranked (188th) » - London Calling. From 21:02 London Calling is, I think, one of the 10 most important rock albums in history. This record is alive and still so fantastic today. The sound of 'London Calling' is a perfect blend of punk power and pop sweetness.
The album opens on the very cult song, 'London Calling'. In this album there is no waste: all the songs are perfect in melody and the lyrics are exceptional. The album is really the synthesis of Rock'N'Roll: it mixes rockab ', punk songs that call for riot, reggae rock, pop. Although the Clash is not actually a punk/hardcore band, I consider them as one of the best punk rock bands in history. 10/10 Best track: 'London Calling'. From 15:18 I usually find double albums somewhat hard to get through cause of the length. Although looking at the length I guess it's not that long, but this album feels so quick cause of how good most of the songs are.
It feels like 'The Clash' hit perfection the entire way through, and even though I feel like nothing else they did even came close, their albums are usually great. 'London Calling', 'Rudie Can't Fail', Spanish Bombs', The Guns of Brixton', 'Lost in the Supermarket', 'Death or Glory', 'Train in Vain', ohhh my gosh there's too many good songs to name off. And it's all so concise and just screams 'classic'. This is among, if not my favorite post-punk/punk rock album I've ever listened to.