“Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS.” This 1977 quote by Mark Perry is almost prophetic for describing that era of punk. Some dub it the end of the first wave of punk. Some put it as the definitive end of “true punk.” It doesn’t really matter to be honest, but over the years, the quote has stuck to the band and to the era. It’s not like it was unwarranted. The Clash were a punk band on the highest pedestal. They came on the scene with only a few shows here & there and just blew people away, some would say even matching the current kings of punk The Sex Pistols. They were good, scathing, raw, and pure. They were the punk band. But before the band made their true impact on the punk scene, they were snatched up to CBS. They signed the label with the “enemies” and “sold out.” It was a smack to the people who had supported them and the movement at the time and while The Clash would defend their decision, it would ultimately turn out to be a slap to their face as well. For starter’s, their contract was a joke and later used as an example on what not to sign for new bands. It left the young band with virtually all of the costs for tours, recordings, remixes, artwork; you know, pretty much most of the things that a band needs desperately? Of course, it didn’t stop there. Soon after that, they released their first album that was all that punk music wanted it to be, but CBS decided to cut that momentum down for the band. For their second single from the album, the band planned to release the now-classic “Janie Jones.” Well, some execs didn’t like that pick so they decided to go with the more commercially friendly “Remote Control,” which the band barely wanted on the album in the first place. This infuriated the band who then virtually disowned the song and gave Mark Perry the legitimacy he needed for his quote. The Clash could make the best music for the punk community & spread that ideology, but it didn’t matter. CBS was going to decide what music people would hear and when they would hear it. True to the punk philosophy, right? Don’t fret though. Mark Perry would ultimately eat those words and The Clash would get their revenge.

The band was obviously furious about this as well as the growing need for control over them. After a meeting with their manager Bernie Rhodes where he decided he needed “complete control” over the band, the quartet fell over laughing and they had their song. They paired up with famous reggae & ska producer Lee “Scratch” Perry (who fell in love with the band after their cover of “Police & Thieves“) to really capture that “root rocks rebel” for their new song. They didn’t need him though and ultimately didn’t use his mix for as soon as they plugged in and started recording, visceral rage started flowing out through their bodies onto tape. A fury of music spiraling out of control inside them over the record company, the managers, the corporate mindset, et cetera all made what is now heralded as one of punk’s greatest singles and the best anthem for punk music at least to this one fan. “Complete Control” was everything the band wanted to say and needed to say for the punk community. It was a giant middle finger to the executives over at CBS as well as anyone who thought they could take some control over the movement or band. You don’t even have to know the lyrics to be able to feel the unrefined anger & hatred in the song, but with lines like “They said release ‘Remote Control,’ but we didn’t want it on the label” and “They said we’d be artistically free when we signed that bit of paper,” the story’s made that much simpler for you. Running down everything wrong with punk music at the time before turning into a near protest on control at the end, the song is the true cry to define punk music. CBS may have gotten some punches in here and there, but The Clash went for the kill & one-upped the label. The song turned out to be a top 30 hit, their highest charting at the time, and would later be recognized as one of the best, most important, and most influential songs of all time. So did punk die the day The Clash signed to CBS? Maybe or maybe the surface of punk was finally being scratched.

But how does this relate to me and stress? Do I sign a label every once in a while and get jerked around? No! Hell, I’m not even one to fully align myself with the religion they make punk out to be. But we all have weeks where we feel like we’re being jerked around and controlled or where we feel like we just need to grab control back. Think about it though: do we ever really have control? The best line in the song that sums it up to me isn’t one of those iconic ones above. It’s the very simple line: “Complete control; yeah, that’s a laugh!” Isn’t that the truth? How will we ever have complete control? Something’s always going to come along to shove that control further away for us so why should we worry? It doesn’t exist so stop reaching for it at every bend. The cathartic guitar riffs and hard drum pounds only let the anger & stress flow out of you and by the time the protest chant against “C-O-N – CONTROL!” comes in at the end, your stress is gone and you’re rocking like we should have been doing in the first place.

This is the song, guys. It’s the most therapeutic song to vent all your frustrations out. Belt it out loud and scream that chant out at the end. If you’re not feeling better afterwards, maybe you need a shrink. Otherwise, check it out here. It’s “Complete Control” and while the concept is a laugh, the song itself is a pure classic gem.

Song: Complete Control
Artist: The Clash
Album: “Complete Control” Single
Year: 1977

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God, how I love The Clash. For starter’s, I enjoy my share of punk rock music as we have already covered here in this blog. Other than the big four of Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Stooges, I also enjoy The Germs, The Stranglers, The Jam, and others. However, The Clash reign supreme over all of these. Like any good band of any genre, they ultimately became the best by exploring other genres and bringing the same sense of style to that genre. Much like Little Richard & Ray Charles took gospel singing into a boogie-woogie setting, The Clash took the punk rock feeling, lyrically & musically, and placed it into all sorts of genres, most notably reggae, ska, and rockabilly. The Clash crossed genres while still maintaining punk, which is something I don’t think any other band could say with a straight face (say Green Day, I’ll stick you like a pig). Don’t forget they released “Rock The Casbah” in pure disco fashion while maintaining the basic punk feeling lyrically (come on, the banning of rock music) & musically (the harsh chords in the chorus). Looking elsewhere, Songs like “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” & “Brand New Cadillac” barely even scratch the surface of the musical depth the band had. Hell, The Clash are one of the only punk bands I can use the phrase “musical depth” in and not laugh inside. Even more, when just sticking to the punk genre which was known for its absence of musical depth, the band still shone brighter than their contempories as they moved away from just power chords and transferred them into power riffs with killer licks in between like “I’m So Bored With The U.S.A.”

Just look at London Calling. A fan of The Clash or not, this is one of the top ten albums that everyone needs to hear in their lifetime and it is certainly one of the best ever, if not the best punk album by far. The album is completely brilliant as the theme in every track is basically “punk rock does old rock one better.” Hell, they copied the Elvis Presley album cover except replaced a serenading guitar player with an out-of-control guitar-smashing punk. In the first three songs along, you go from reggae punk to rockabilly punk to I guess R&B punk. That’s just the first three songs of eighteen. It’s no wonder why the album was the only punk to crack Rolling Stone’s top 10 albums of all time and by far out-rank any other punk album as well as millions of others! I cannot stress the greatness of The Clash enough. Their musical talent that pushed the envelope as to not only how far punk rock could go but how far The Clash could go; their lyrics that covered everything from the betrayal of record companies to the utter destruction of London itself; and of course, they’re overall legacy in the music world as they proved that the term “genre” is ultimately a five-letter word made by record companies just to easily classify the music. Why couldn’t a punk rock band record a pop hit – it certainly would be better than most other pop hits and “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” certainly was.

With all this said, it’s hard to bring it all down to one Clash song. Pretty much everyone has heard “Rock The Casbah, London Calling, Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” & most of their other famous hits and I’m not even sure I could pinpoint my favorite song of theirs. However, there is one song that always stands out to me from London Calling even from the first listen. “The Card Cheat” is just a simple lyrical story of just that: a story of a card cheat and his misadventures, but the music behind it is so powerful (they recorded everything twice over to give it a grand-ballroom kind of sound) & Joe Strummer’s singing is oversaturated with the raw emotion that punk was known for. It might be a stretch to say it’s my favorite on the album, nay of their career, but “The Card Cheat” is definitely a song that I’ll always pick out to listen by them and one you probably wouldn’t have heard otherwise.

Song: The Card Cheat
Artist: The Clash
Album: London Calling
Year: 1979

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