1979: The Clash - London Calling

Here's an interesting thing about 'London Calling' - it was a 70s album in Britain and an 80s album in the USA, indeed it was Rolling Stone's Greatest Album of the 80s. There really can't have been many great American 80s albums, if their best album of the 80s was a British album of the 70s.

One thing it's not is a punk album, though The Clash were a punk band. The only punk song on it is 'Brand New Cadillac' which is a cover of an early rock'n'roll song.

It's a double album, maybe the very best double album, certainly better than 'Blonde on Blonde', better than 'The White Album' for me. It's more like the Clash's 'Revolver', the apotheosis of their talent, the point where the three strong talents/personalities within the band all had their moment, and the drummer did a decent job too!

Now, The Clash weren't the Beatles, despite certain similarities. Indeed, I think The Clash stand and fall by 'London Calling'. Without it, they're not a great band, with it, they are. This is their glory.

It's a great, great album, because it's an album you can listen to all the way through over and over again. It perhaps flags ever so slightly towards the end, but then comes up trumps with "hidden track" 'Train in Vain'. Like I said, it's anything but punk, it's rock, it's pop, it's reggae, it's comedy, it's Spector, it's powerpop, it's got great song after great song, great sound after great sound, idea after idea.

The Clash's legend has grown to the extent one can overstimate how successful they were. In their lifetime, there were no Top 10 singles, unlike the Jam's four Number 1s, and, yes, they kind of broke America, but not like, you know, Mumford and Sons or One Direction. They've sold a few million records.

Yet, they're utterly beloved, and they're such a good tale. Why are they so loved? Because they stood for something, last gang in town, yadeya, but it's because Strummer was so lovable, really. His voice is so warm and welcoming, sharing his  in-jokes with you, laughing his way through it, he was always like a fun uncle.

One of many reasons why the Libertines, despite doing their best to invite similarities, couldn't touch the Clash in a mllion years is that both their vocalists are weak and dull as dishwater. Strummer's voice was constantly alive, constantly making up for its technical shortcomings.

And it never had a finer vehicle than 'London Calling'. The Libertines tried to get a bit of Clash magic by using Mick Jones as producer - Jones shared production duties on 'London Calling' with a famous mod loon called Guy Stevens, and everyone involved in the album has always been unstinting in stating the importance of Stevens in the magic.

And you can hear it somehow, the glorious mayhem, the endless ideas sticking, the different personalities coming through. How wonderful is 'The Card Cheat', the 14th song on the album, where suddenly they sum up the best of Spector and Springsteen. Where did that come from?

Perhaps this album was The Clash's undoing, as it made them think they could do anything - 'Sandinista' was a triple to follow, and it was just a bit rubbish. Really, this album is a glorious happy accident.

It's sequenced superbly, it bounces off the walls, the six songs from 'Rudie Can't Fail' through 'Spanish Bombs' 'Right Profile' 'Lost in the Supermarket', Clampdown' and 'Guns of Brixton' it just doesn't get much better than that.

And not long till 'Death or Glory', one of their most quotable songs, but how many great Strummer quotes are there?

It's a funny, probably wrong-headed way to look at rock'n'roll but The Clash managed to create something of historical importance here, an artefact for its era to be proud of.

I happen to place it on a high pedestal above the rest of their stuff, so my Clash (et cetera) compilation is pretty dominated by it.

London Calling
I'm So Bored With the USA
I Fought the Law
White Riot
Spanish Bombs
Coma Girl (Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros)
Lost in the Supermarket
Tommy Gun
E=MC2 (Big Audio Dynamite)
The Card Cheat
Rudie Can't Fail
Train in Vain
Safe European Home
The Right Profile
Death or Glory
Redemption Song (Joe Strummer)