Stay Free - Remasteredby The Clash

“Could you please dedicate Stay Free to my dear friend Alex Hayden? My dear friend Alex Hayden exemplified the spirit of "Give it all you got", giving it all to his loved ones and friends, his south Seattle community, and his work as a talented photographer. He inspired so many of us with his goodness, he was a true mensch and will forever be remembered and missed. Sadly, Alex was killed doing something he loved – riding his bike. It would mean a lot if you could play Stay Free for him today. He always said the Clash is the only band that matters.” -Betina

From their the second studio album. Clash guitarist Mick Jones wrote “Stay Free” for Robin Crocker, a boyhood chum who fell in with the wrong crowd and wound up serving time for robbery. - www.theclash.com

This song was inspired by a classmate of Mick Jones - a man named Robin Crocker. In an interview with The Guardian in 2008, Crocker explained: "Mick Jones and I sat together at Strand boys' grammar school [in south London]. We had a fight over who was better - I thought Chuck Berry and he thought Bo Diddley. It was a hugely disciplinarian school. The headmaster used to have a wooden leg, so he got the nickname Hobbler. We were marched down to Hobbler's office to explain ourselves and Mick said, 'We were arguing about rock'n'roll, sir.' Hobbler raged, 'Rock'n'roll is not on the curriculum in this establishment!' and was so furious that all this gob landed on his lapel. Me and Mick fell about laughing and that was it - firm friends and the end of any respect for authority for ever" -- bit.ly

The teacher says we're dumb / We're only having fun

Robin Crocker, the subject of this song, nearly ruined the recording of the entire Give 'Em Enough Rope album before it had even started. Noted producer Sandy Pearlman, who was to produce the album, came to visit the band before a show in late January 1978, not realizing that there was a strict rule on the band and management being the only ones allowed in the dressing room before shows. Crocker, at this point working as a roadie/hired hand for the band, didn't know who Pearlman was and denied him entry, which led to Crocker punching Pearlman in the face! Legend has it that The Clash themselves were unmoved by the incident and simply stepped over the fallen Pearlman as they headed onstage, with manager Bernie Rhodes left to clean up Pearlman's bloodied nose. Luckily, Pearlman wasn't too offended by this incident, and still went on to produce the album.

After school I was working as a journalist and got laid off. I fell in with a bunch of people and we decided to rob some banks. I ended up in the Old Bailey. It was like being back in Hobbler's office. I ended up in a maximum security jail on the Isle of Wight. By the time I got out Mick had formed the Clash. One evening he came over with an acoustic and played me 'Stay Free.' Somebody once said to me it's the most outstanding heterosexual male-on-male love song, and there is a lot of truth in that. It's a memento of a glorious band, a glorious time and a glorious friendship. Unfortunately, I didn't Stay Free. I did a wages snatch in Stockholm and got banged up again." https://bit.ly/2tDX84K

www.amazon.com/The-Clash/e/B000APF3RK

This song was inspired by a classmate of Clash guitarist Mick Jones - a man named Robin Crocker. In an interview with The Guardian in 2008, Crocker explained: "Mick Jones and I sat together at Strand boys' grammar school [in south London]. We had a fight over who was better - I thought Chuck Berry and he thought Bo Diddley. It was a hugely disciplinarian school. The headmaster used to have a wooden leg, so he got the nickname Hobbler. We were marched down to Hobbler's office to explain ourselves and Mick said, 'We were arguing about rock'n'roll, sir.' Hobbler raged, 'Rock'n'roll is not on the curriculum in this establishment!' and was so furious that all this gob landed on his lapel. Me and Mick fell about laughing and that was it - firm friends and the end of any respect for authority for ever. Mick had the longest hair and tightest trousers in school. I was a hooligan, basically, because I was bored.

After school I was working as a journalist and got laid off. I fell in with a bunch of people and we decided to rob some banks. I ended up in the Old Bailey. It was like being back in Hobbler's office. I ended up in a maximum security jail on the Isle of Wight. By the time I got out Mick had formed the Clash. One evening he came over with an acoustic and played me 'Stay Free.' Somebody once said to me it's the most outstanding heterosexual male-on-male love song, and there is a lot of truth in that. It's a memento of a glorious band, a glorious time and a glorious friendship. Unfortunately, I didn't Stay Free. I did a wages snatch in Stockholm and got banged up again." https://bit.ly/2tDX84K

www.amazon.com/The-Clash/e/B000APF3RK

As part of the 5th International Clash Day, we're continuing to honor the seminal punk rockers and political activists at KEXP.

Give 'Em Enough Rope is the second studio album released by the British band, The Clash. The album made it to number 2 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart.

Proclamations from King County and Bridgewater were made this year for International Clash Day! Read about the only day that matters at blog.kexp.org

Give 'Em Enough Rope was the Clash's second album. They worked with american hard rock producer Sandy Pearlmam who had worked with Blue Öyster Cult and the Dictators, among others.