Kevin Cole

The song challenges a reality in which communities are under attack and react out of fear. Instead, presenting a rallying cry to unite and use our voices to be free.

The Clash covered British ska/reggae band The Rulers song.

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"Death or Glory" was written about the previous generation of rock stars who swore that they would die before growing old. "This song features the best and most satisfying chord progression and melody the Clash ever came up with" bit.ly

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A rallying cry for individualism, analytical thinking and questioning of societal norms. This song calls for listeners to think for themselves, outside of the mainstream messaging conveyed by other authoritarian figures. To think freely!

The fastest, punkiest tune on London Calling is all about coked-up advertising execs and the products they convince us we need. If Joe is sick of being force-fed Coca-Cola, he’s not angry. Gazing at the fat cats in their “snakeskin suits and their alligator boots,” he’s more amused than anything. “You won't need a launderette,” he jibes. “You can send them to the vet! bit.ly

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Clash guitarist Mick Jones had stepped into a producer role by the time the band recorded “The Card Cheat,” and aimed to recreate the “Wall of Sound” style made popular by American producer Phil Spector.

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Phil Spector had worked with American punk band The Ramones on their album End of the Century. It was challenging for all involved… According to Dee Dee, “[Spector] levelled his gun at my heart and then motioned for me and the rest of the band to get back in the piano room ... He only holstered his pistol when he felt secure that his bodyguards could take over. Then he sat down at his black concert piano and made us listen to him play and sing "Baby, I Love You" until well after 4:30 in the morning.”

The Ramones were a huge influence on The Clash. Although The Ramones were a little wary of The Clash, and any competition they posed, Johnny Ramone and Joe Strummer were life-long friends.

International Clash Day is truly a global holiday! A bilingual take on the London Calling classic.

This northern Italian band makes music much in the merciless punk rock style of The Clash!

Lovers Rock is a style of reggae noted for its romantic lyrical content. The Clash actually popularized the term when they included this song on London Calling!

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Lovers Rock was an empowering style for women, and specifically gave black British women a voice in the genre of reggae. With her breakthrough song “Silly Games,” Janet Kay became the first black British woman to achieve such phenomenal chart success.

Today, Big Joanie is another band that uses their work and music as a platform to empower women. Black feminism is at the heart of the band’s music and actions, and they aim to create a space where its three members can be completely themselves as black women, and discover their own power in creativity.

The “Four Horsemen” is The Clash’s attempt to lighten the tone from dark apocalyptic songs. The lyrics are in the style of Monty Python-esque parodies who are in the middle of a bit of a rubbish day.

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This song references from the start of the bible, Genesis 1:24. ‘Separation Sunday’ follows the interconnected stories of several fictional characters: Craig (the narrator), Holly (short for Halleluiah), a sometimes addict, sometimes prostitute, sometimes born again Christian/Catholic (and sometimes all three simultaneously); Charlemagne, a pimp; and Gideon, a skinhead, as they travel from city to city and party to party.

Members of The Clash were in attendance when Iggy & The Stooges played London in 1972. Many think of this particular show to be the birthplace of punk!

Jones offers not a positive fight-the-man political screed, but rather a song about personal betterment and soldiering through “that kind of day when none of your sorrows will go away.”

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The version of "Rise Above" on the album was recorded at an earlier session with Henry Rollins and was intended purely for a single release. Another version was recorded during the album sessions but the band abandoned it & decided to include the single version instead.

Songhoy Blues, from Timbuktu, Mali, plays their version of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?", featuring new lyrics "addressing the difficult decision confronting refugees around the world".

Much like Mick Jones’ semi-positive attitude on “I’m Not Down,” Tim Showalter opts to take on an optimistic tone on his forthcoming Strand of Oaks record: “When I was writing these songs, every day I would walk on the beach and I was completely alone and overwhelmed by fear … but then I realized how there really aren’t any rules for who you are, who you’ll become, or who you think you need to be. Eraserland is just that. It’s death to ego, and rebirth to anything or anyone you want to be.”

Joe Talbot from IDLES said his favorite track by The Clash is "Straight to Hell". Joe Strummer said about this song: "I'd written the lyric staying up all night at the Iroquois Hotel. I went down to Electric Lady and I just put the vocal down on tape, we finished about twenty to midnight. We took the E train from the Village up to Times Square. I'll never forget coming out of the subway exit, just before midnight, into a hundred billion people, and I knew we had just done something really great."

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M.I.A. and producer Diplo sampled The Clash's "Straight to Hell" on "Paper Planes." M.I.A. (Maya Arulpragasam) says "When I came here 10 years ago, the first thing Interscope did was offer me the chance to work with Timbaland and Missy, to cross me over. They still offer me that. But this is what I am. 'Paper Planes' was an accident. It wasn’t a song we made for the masses. It took two years to get popular, and there were many fights about censoring the gunshot sounds." bit.ly

Transglobal Underground collaborated with Afrikan Boy with a version of ‘London Calling.’

Joe Strummer changed several of the lyrics on this song, including the addition of a reference to Mack the Knife and the trend of smashing up seats at punk shows.

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Danny Ray, a Jamaican-born reggae singer, put out his version of "Revolution Rock" just before The Clash were recording ‘London Calling’.

The chorus -- “You didn’t stand by me / No way” -- makes it a fitting love song for the punk generation.

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American critic Eric Schafer said this of the song - "it is a magnificent, daring, challenging record that was years ahead of its time; one of the great rock records of the 1980s, it has never been given its just credit. Twenty-eight years after its debut, were it released today it would still burn up the radio."

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IDLES performing live at Studio 9294 in London. Stream via FB or Youtube! www.facebook.com or www.youtube.com

IDLES performing live at Studio 9294 in London. Stream via FB or Youtube! www.facebook.com or www.youtube.com

IDLES performing live at Studio 9294 in London. Stream via FB or Youtube! www.facebook.com or www.youtube.com

IDLES performing live at Studio 9294 in London. Stream via FB or Youtube! www.facebook.com or www.youtube.com

IDLES performing live at Studio 9294 in London. Stream via FB or Youtube! www.facebook.com or www.youtube.com

Heavy Lungs performing live at Studio 9294 in London. Stream via FB or Youtube! www.facebook.com or www.youtube.com

Heavy Lungs performing live at Studio 9294 in London. Stream via FB or Youtube! www.facebook.com or www.youtube.com

Thanks for tuning in to the special broadcast this week from London! Seattle friends, tonight in the Clash Cover Night at Washington Hall. www.kexp.org

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It's International Clash Day! The live broadcast from London is wrapped for the day, but stick with us for the rest of the afternoon for more Clash! You can also check out Clash Cover Night tonight at Washington Hall. Tickets will be available at the door!

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During recording of the album, Joe Strummer's trademark Telecaster guitar needed to be taken in for repairs, so he played a hired semi-hollow Gibson ES-345 for most of the sessions. Sandy Pearlman, who produced the original album, was not a big fan of Joe Strummer's voice, to the point that he ensured the drums were mixed louder than the lead singer's vocals on the entire album

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Joe Strummer stated in an Interview during the 90's that Rancid was one of his favorite bands. Rancid's popularity and catchy songs made them the subject of a major label bidding war (hence the title, ...And Out Come the Wolves taken from a poem in Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries) that ended with the band staying on Epitaph. With a sound heavily influenced by ska, which called to mind Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman's past in Operation Ivy, Rancid became one of the few bands of the mid-to late-1990s boom in punk rock to retain much of its original fanbase.

"Sandinista!" was the fourth album from THe Clash and was voted best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop critics poll in The Village Voice, and was ranked number 404 on the Rolling Stone list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003. Slant Magazine listed the album at number 85 on its "Best Albums of the 1980s" list in 2012.

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Toots & The Maytals were huge influences on The Clash. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. Frontman Toots Hibbert's soulful vocal style has been compared to Otis Redding, and led him to be named one of the 100 Greatest Singers by Rolling Stone.

The Good, The Bad and The Queen is a Supergroup consisting of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen and their debut album was produced by Danger Mouse. It is stated that the record is, in a sense, a concept album, as its songs are all themed around modern life in London. It was described by Albarn as "a song cycle that's also a mystery play about London" in an interview with Mojo.

Damon Albarn of Gorillaz requruited both Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash to contribute to this track from the Gorillaz album "Plastic Beach"

"Rock the Casbah" was musically written by the band's drummer Topper Headon, based on a piano part that he had been toying with. Finding himself in the studio without his three bandmates, Headon progressively taped the drum, piano and bass parts, recording the bulk of the song's musical instrumentation himself.

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'The Magnificent Seven' was inspired by old school hip hop acts from New York City, like the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Rap was still a new and emerging music genre at the time, and the band, especially Mick Jones, was very impressed with it, so much so that Jones took to carrying a boombox around and got the nickname "Whack Attack".

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The Damned was a 'Rival' band of The Clash both coming from London right around the same time. Both bands recorded at the Wessex Sound Studios in London. The building that would become Wessex Studios was built in 1881 as a church hall of St. Augustine's Church, located in Highbury, London. Like other buildings of the Victorian era, it featured Gothic design. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there besides The Clash and The Damned including Sex Pistols, King Crimson, Theatre of Hate, XTC, the Sinceros, Queen, Talk Talk, the Rolling Stones, and Pete Townshend.

Original drummer for The Clash, Terry Chimes, was the drummer on Generation X's final album: 1981's Kiss Me Deadly. He also co-wrote this song "Oh Mother".

"Cut the Crap" was recorded in Munich, Germany, after co-founder, lead guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon had been fired from the band. The band's manager Bernie Rhodes took over production and some song writing duties, and recruited then-unknown musicians Vince White (guitar), Nick Sheppard (guitar), and Pete Howard (drums) to replace Jones and Headon. Founding Clash member Paul Simonon does not appear on the album, while Howard was replaced by an electronic drum machine. The album title was chosen by Rhodes, and is taken from a line in the 1982 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max 2.

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The Mescaleros were the backing band for Joe Strummer who formed in 1999, they went on to make three albums prior to Strummer's death in 2002. Many of the band members were multi-instrumentalists. The original line up consisted of Strummer on vocals and guitar, Antony Genn on guitar, Scott Shields on bass, Martin Slattery on keyboards and guitar, as well as flute and saxophone on select songs, Pablo Cook on various percussion instruments and Steve Barnard on drums, using his stage moniker "Smiley". Richard Flack was also employed to use effects and instruments.

Joe Strummer stated in an interview this Donna Sumer hit was his favorite song to dance to!

In the UK, "Rush" was originally released as the B-side to the 1991 re-release of The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go". The A-side was immensely popular due to its inclusion in a Levi Strauss & Co. advert. This single reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. The sleeve art for the 7" and CD singles displayed the Clash on the front, and Big Audio Dynamite on the rear. The record label displays "Should I Stay or Should I Go" as side 'A', and "Rush" as side 'AA' making it effectively a 'double A-side' release.

'Lose This Skin' features lead vocals and fiddle playing from Tymon Dogg, a singer songwriter from England who has collaborated with many bands through out the years and was a member of Joe Strummer's last band, The Mescaleros

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"Super Black Market Clash" is a compilation album released by The Clash. It contains B-sides and rare tracks not available on the group's regular studio albums. The album is an expanded repackaging of the 1980 release "Black Market Clash", which was a 10-inch EP, containing 9 songs.

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Kurt Vile covering The Clash! If you want more Clash covers check out KEXP's Clash Cover Night tonight at Washington Hall! Tickets will be available at the door!

New York Dolls were a big influence for The Clash. Formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although their original line-up fell apart quickly, the band's first two albums "New York Dolls" and "Too Much Too Soon" became among the most popular cult records in rock.

The Vibrators were The Clash's contemporary. They emerged from London's Punk Rock movement at the same time as The Clash

The Adverts were another one of the bands in the beginings of the Punk movemoent in England at the same time as The Clash. Though the band was short lived, only active from 1976-1979 "The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music" described bassist Gaye Advert as the "first female punk star".

Joe Strummer said that he got the idea for 'Tommy Gun' when he was thinking about terrorists, and how they probably enjoy reading about their killings as much as movie stars like seeing their films reviewed. While Topper Headon mimics the sound of gangster movie shootings with quick snare hits and the guitars are full of distortion and feedback, Strummer's sarcastic lyrics (I'm cutting out your picture from page one/I'm gonna get a jacket just like yours/And give my false support to your cause/Whatever you want, you're gonna get it!) condemn rather than condone violence: at the end of the song he sings, "If death comes so cheap/Then the same goes for life!"

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The Equals formed in 1965 and were a huge influence on The Clash, they were noted as being "the first major interracial rock group in the UK" and "one of the few racially mixed bands of the era".

Ty Segall covering The Equals! For more awesome covers hit up The Clash Cover Night tonight at Washington Hall! Tickets will be available at the door!

This is the original version of Police & Thieves from 1976, famously covered by The Clash on their debut album in 1977.

New York based The Hold Steady mentions Joe Strummer in this song. Formed four years following the break-up of Finn and Kubler's former band, Lifter Puller, The Hold Steady released the debut album Almost Killed Me in 2004. They came to prominence with the release of their third studio album, Boys and Girls in America, in 2006.

Against Me! Performed this cover of The Clash's Janie Jones for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series in August 2011.

The Clash's Mick Jones Produced this debut album from English rockers The Libertines in 2002. The title "Up the Bracket" alludes to a phrase used by English comedian Tony Hancock, of whom the Libertines' Pete Doherty is an avid fan. In Hancock's Half Hour, "Up The Bracket" is a slang term meaning a punch in the throat.

Most of The Clash's self titled debut was conceived on the 18th floor of a council high rise on London's Harrow Road, in a flat that was rented by Mick Jones's grandmother, who frequently went to see their live concerts. The album was recorded over three weekend sessions at CBS Studio 3 in February 1977. By the third of these sessions, the album was recorded and mixed to completion, with the tapes being delivered to CBS at the start of March. It cost £4,000 to produce.

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St. Vincent covering London Calling on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show back in 2017

Sessions for t"Merrie Land" started in January 2017, when Albarn, Simonon and Tong spent time in Blackpool, which was originally going to be its main focus. However, Albarn expanded the focus of the album over the next two years while touring with Gorillaz for the albums "Humanz" and "The Now Now."

Big Audio Dynamite's one constant throughout frequent shifts in membership and musical direction is the vocals provided by Mick Jones. After releasing a number of well-received albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Big Audio Dynamite broke up in 1997. In 2011, the band embarked on a reunion tour.

Bo Diddley opened for The Clash on their first U.S. tour, which started in Seattle at The Paramount Theater in 1979!

Mick Jones played Piano on the studio version of this Elvis Costello track!

The structure of "Know your Rights" revolves around the rights held by the poor and disenfranchised, in which the speaker of the song, presumably a villainous civil servant (whose identity is assumed in the song by vocalist Joe Strummer), names the three actual rights. At the end, the notion that more rights should be granted is rebuffed by the speaker. The three are: "The right not to be killed. Murder is a crime, unless it is done by a policeman, or an aristocrat". "The right to food money, providing of course, you don't mind a little investigation, humiliation, and, if you cross your fingers, rehabilitation". "The right to free speech (as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it)".

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Guayaba will be playing TONIGHT as part of The Clash Cover Night at Washington Hall! Tickets will be available at the door and event starts at 7!

While there's no corporeal connection between this track from A Tribe Called Quest and The Clash, there is a deeper link in that the soul and theme of the songs are politicial protest songs, showing that the spirit of The Clash lives on to the modern era as there are always artists trying to fight for a change.

'The Sunny Side of the Street' was originally on The Pogues 1990 album "Hell's Ditch" which was Produced by Joe Strummer

As the title suggests, there are world music influences packed into "Global a Go-Go", mostly on the title track and "Bhindi Bhagee", a celebration of the "humble" but diverse and exciting ethnic and multi-cultural areas of London and other major cities. The album is heavy on acoustic instruments, especially in the instrumental "Minstrel Boy", a nearly 18-minute-long arrangement of a traditional Irish song. Other topics covered include Strummer's radio show, which was broadcast on the BBC World Service (Global a Go-Go) and left-wing political issues Strummer was well known for expounding as a member of The Clash.

General Public was a band formed by vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexys Midnight Runners (Mickey Billingham & Stoker), The Specials (Horace Panter) and The Clash (Mick Jones).

This album by Rituals was Produced by The Clash drummer Topper Headon.

Ramones were one of the leading figures in The U.S. Punk movement and provided inspiration for countless bands to come including The Clash a year later

"Pressure Drop" is a song recorded in 1969 by the Maytals for producer Leslie Kong. The song appears on their 1970 album Monkey Man and was famously covered by The Clash in 1979.

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When recording began in New York bass guitarist Paul Simonon was busy making a film called Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, and he was replaced briefly by Ian Dury and the Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy; this later caused some bad feeling when Watt-Roy and keyboard player Mickey Gallagher, a fellow Blockhead, claimed they were responsible for co-composing the song "The Magnificent Seven", as the song was based on a tune of theirs. Dread, too, was upset that he was not credited as the album's producer, although he was credited with "Version Mix". Other guests on the album include singer Ellen Foley (Jones' partner at the time), guitarist Ivan Julian formerly of the Voidoids, former Eddie and the Hot Rods member Lew Lewis, and Strummer's old friend and musical collaborator Tymon Dogg, who plays violin, sings on and wrote the track "Lose This Skin"; he later joined Strummer's band the Mescaleros. Gallagher's children also made appearances: his two sons, Luke and Ben, singing a version of "Career Opportunities" from the band's first album, and his daughter Maria singing a snippet of "The Guns of Brixton", from London Calling, at the end of the track "Broadway".

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That's a wrap for International Clash Day! Join us tonight at The Clash Cover Night at Washington Hall! Tickets available at the door, starts at 7!