London Calling

This article is about the album London Calling. For the song of the same name, see London Calling (song).

Untitled

London Calling is a double album released by The Clash in December, 1979, in the UK and the first week of January 1980 in the US, marked the band's critical and commercial breakthrough. Besides straightforward punk rock, it featured a much wider array of styles than the Clash's earlier albums, with sophisticated pop songwriting that incorporates elements of rockabilly, 1960s-style pop music, lounge jazz, R&B, ska, rocksteady, hard rock, and reggae in tracks such as "Train in Vain," "Clampdown," "Spanish Bombs" and the title track "London Calling."

Themes

Continuing Clash practice, the record is politically motivated. Lyrical themes include: punk rock faddishness, drug addiction, American folk legend Stagger Lee, young rebels growing up and getting old, the rise of far-right politics, the Spanish Civil War, troubled American method actor Montgomery Clift, the growing power of media advertising and corporations, and even the Pill.

Two for the price of one

The album was a double LP but sold for the price of a single one, which was the product of some record company duping by the band; they asked the record company if they could include a free 12" single with the album, and upon agreement from record executives, took it upon themselves to make the second disc a full length. This was one of the first showings of the band's anti-establishment/pro-listener diatribe, as their mission was not to make money or please executives, but to get as much music out to Clash fans as possible.

Addition of "Train in Vain"

"Train in Vain" was a last minute addition to the album, after the deal for The Clash to write a song for an NME flexi disc fell through, and as Mick Jones commented "This is a bit too good to give away on the NME". The result of its late addition was that it was the only song without lyrics printed on the insert, and was not listed as a track. This led to some confusion over the track's name, and it is often referred to as "Stand by Me" because of the song's refrain. However on every reissue since the original it has been listed as "Train in Vain".

Cover

The cover features a photograph by Pennie Smith of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar against the stage, at The Palladium in New York City - which was at the time the Mecca of punk and new wave music - on 21 September 1979. The picture is surrounded by typography similar to Elvis Presley's debut album. The picture was later voted the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine, although ironically at the time Smith did not want the picture used. She did not feel it was a technically good shot because the photograph is slightly out of focus (as she was backing away from Paul to avoid getting hit). However, Joe Strummer convinced her to use the shot.

Critics' praise

It was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted London Calling the 32nd greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 4 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2001, the TV network VH1 placed it at number 25 on its survey of the 100 greatest albums. In 1989, it was ranked #1 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s (although it was released in 1979 in the UK, its U.S. release was in 1980). Template:RS500 Pitchfork Media ranked it number two on their Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly named it the greatest rock album of all time. It is also the only album on Metacritic to get an average of 100 from various reviewing medias. In 2006, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation conducted a poll to determine its viewers' favourite album. "London Calling" was 26th on the list.

London Calling on the big and small screens

A number of songs from London Calling have been sold to various corporations for various commercial purposes. Examples include the use of the album's title track in the James Bond film Die Another Day, in the season finale of the fourth season of the hit TV show "Friends", in the motion picture Billy Elliot, in a Jaguar car commercial, and Australian shoe company, Globe Shoes, released a limited edition shoe with lyrics from the song printed on the side. Similarly, Rudy Giuliani used "Rudie Can't Fail" as his entrance music when he presented a statue at the 2002 MTV Music Video Awards. The use of these songs have annoyed many fans who consider the band's public persona to be representative of a left-wing, anti-establishment, and, by extension, anti-corporate worldview.

Reissues

In January 2000, London Calling, along with the rest of the Clash's catalog was remastered and re-released.

On September 21 2004, Epic/Legacy Records released a Legacy Edition of the album which included not only the original remastered album (first released in 2000) but also The Vanilla Tapes, long rumoured lost, which contained rough rehearsal sessions for the album named after the studio in London where the recordings took place and a DVD containing a documentary and promos about the making of the album.

Track listing

All songs written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer unless otherwise indicated.

Side one

1. "London Calling" – 3:20
2. "Brand New Cadillac" (Vince Taylor) – 2:08
3. "Jimmy Jazz" – 3:54
4. "Hateful" – 2:44
5. "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:29

Side two

1. "Spanish Bombs" – 3:18
2. "The Right Profile" – 3:54
3. "Lost in the Supermarket" – 3:47
4. "Clampdown" – 3:49
5. "The Guns of Brixton" (Paul Simonon)– 3:09

Side three

1. "Wrong 'Em Boyo" (Clive Alphonso; credited as "C. Alphanso") – 3:10
2. "Death or Glory" – 3:55
3. "Koka Kola" – 1:47
4. "The Card Cheat" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Topper Headon) – 3:49

Side four

1. "Lover's Rock" – 4:03
2. "Four Horsemen" – 2:55
3. "I'm Not Down" – 3:06
4. "Revolution Rock" (Jackie Edwards, Danny Ray) – 5:33
5. "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)" – 3:09

25th Anniversary Edition track listing

Disc two on the 25th Anniversary Edition of the album containing The Vanilla Tapes

1. "Hateful" – 3:23
2. "Rudie Can't Fail" – 3:08
3. "Paul's Tune" (Simonon) – 2:32
4. "I'm Not Down" – 3:34
5. "4 Horsemen" – 2:45
6. "Koka Kola, Advertising & Cocaine" – 1:57
7. "Death or Glory" – 3:47
8. "Lover's Rock" – 3:45
9. "Lonesome Me" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 2:09
10. "The Police Walked in 4 Jazz" – 2:19
11. "Lost in the Supermarket" – 3:52
12. "Up-Toon (Inst.)" – 1:57
13. "Walking The Sidewalk" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 2:34
14. "Where You Gonna Go (Soweto)" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 4:05
15. "The Man in Me" (Bob Dylan) – 3:57
16. "Remote Control" – 2:39
17. "Working and Waiting" – 4:11
18. "Heart & Mind" (Jones, Strummer, Simonon, Headon) – 4:27
19. "Brand New Cadillac" (Taylor) – 2:08
20. "London Calling" – 4:26
21. "Revolution Rock" (Edwards, Ray) – 3:51

Personnel

• Joe Strummer – vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
• Mick Jones – guitar, vocals, piano
• Paul Simonon – bass, vocals
• Topper Headon – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Mickey Gallagher – organ
• The Irish Horns – brass

Chart information

• In the United Kingdom the album charted at #9 and stayed on the British charts for 20 weeks.
• In the United States the album peaked at #27 spending 33 weeks on the chart and reaching Platinum status.

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1980	Billboard Pop albums	27

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1979	"London Calling"	UK Charts	11
1980	"London Calling"/"Train in Vain (Stand By Me)"	Billboard Club Play Singles	30
1980	"Train in Vain (Stand By Me)"	Billboard Pop Singles	23

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
BPI – UK	Gold	December 31 1979
RIAA – USA	Gold	December 4 1991
RIAA – USA	Platinum	February 14 1996

External links

• London Calling lyrics
• "It's just the beat of time, the beat that must go on" essay on "London Calling" at Complicated Fun