The Clash: The Clash

The Clash: The Clash (US Version)

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Clash City Rockers  2. I'm So Bored with the USA  3.  Remote Control  4. Complete Control  5. White Riot  6. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais  7. London's Burning  8. I Fought the Law  9. Janie Jones  10. Career Opportunities  11. What's My Name?  12. Hate & War  13. Police & Thieves  14. Jail Guitar Doors 15. Garageland


The freakin' debut album by the Clash...

There's two versions of this album, the gnarlier original UK version and the 1979 US version, which had an altered track listing more in line with American sensibilities (i.e. it's wimpier...)

I have the US version, which removes five tracks from the original ("Deny," "Cheat,""Protex Blue,""48 Hours," and the original version of "White Riot") and replaces them with a pile of the greatest singles ever recorded ("Clash City Rockers," "Complete Control," "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais," "I Fought the Law," "Jail Guitar Doors" and a later re-recording of "White Riot.") The UK version also has a slightly different cover...



There's been an ongoing debate between bespectacled record dorkuses of the world over which version is superior...Ideally, there would be a single release that combined both versions, but there isn't...So, gun to my head, I'm going to go with the US version, cos it has "White Man in Hammersmith Palais." I understand the UK version is the purer statement and has a punk energy the slicker US version can't match, but that doesn't sway me too much...Like I said, "White Man in Hammersmith Palais."




I remember at one point in time I owned three copies of the cassette..I asked my folks for it for Christmas after hearing a friend's copy of it, but simply couldn't wait the entire month, so I bought my own copy...

 Then, my family had a Christmas Eve party and imagine my surprise when i unwrapped a gift from my brother and it was another copy of the tape!

The next morning, I woke up at the standard 4 am to unwrap presents, and as always there was a big pile of festively wrapped cassettes, and one of them, was...you guessed it...

 A THIRD COPY OF THE CLASH CASSETTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I ended up keeping one for myself and gave away the other two, but remember shortly afterwords my only copy was eaten in my tapedeck, so I actually had to go out and buy a fourth copy...D'oh...

 God, this is a hard record to talk about, everybody on planet Earth is fully aware how great it is...To this day I've never heard a valid criticism of it, because let's face it...It's perfect...Joe Strummer was probably the most astute lyricists in the punk movement,  Mick Jones is a flat-out guitar genius, not to mention their always rock sold (and inventive) rhythm section (Paul Simonon and Terry Chimes/Topper Headon)...So I'm refusing to rehash all the usual accolades this album receives...

Instead I'm simply going to attempt to draw a horrible version of the cover using Microsoft Paint in under 5 minutes...Here we go...

Woah, I came in waaayyy under schedule...I know you won't be able to tell by the high artistic quality above, but this only took me three minutes!

And here's the US Version!! I tried to do it a little smoother so it would be more in line with American sensibilities (i.e. I spent four minutes on it...)

Orange you glad you took precious time out of your day to read about the greatest album ever made and instead looked at primitive drawings? I knew you would be...

Let's listen to "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" by the Clash...Enjoy...