Hilarious review of Cut the Crap

[Heston]

Right, which IMCTer went back in time and wrote this....

crap1.jpg

From Sounds, November 85.

http://craighaggis.wordpress.com/2011/0 ... n-classic/

Are You Red…y despite its apocalyptic tones, is one the few standout tracks, pilfering from very early New York hip-hop and is another track that could have had its roots in Combat Rock with its captivating beats.

Nice to see I was right all along.

[Marky Dread]

Right, which IMCTer went back in time and wrote this....

crap1.jpg

From Sounds, November 85.

http://craighaggis.wordpress.com/2011/0 ... n-classic/

Are You Red…y despite its apocalyptic tones, is one the few standout tracks, pilfering from very early New York hip-hop and is another track that could have had its roots in Combat Rock with its captivating beats.

Nice to see I was right all along.

Along with TIE they are the album's saving graces.

[Heston]

[youtube][/youtube]

[Marky Dread]

Head rockers not hair droppers.

[Dirty Harry]

'Cut The Crap' - Cutting edge or just crap?

http://louderthanwar.com/the-clash-cut- ... just-crap/

[matedog]

'Cut The Crap' - Cutting edge or just crap?

http://louderthanwar.com/the-clash-cut- ... just-crap/

Typical toeing the party line about how great the songs were live and how bad they were on record. I'll give that to Three Card and Are You Ready, but nothing else. As I've stated before, Dictator was bad live and bad on record. The difference is that live, it was boring as hell, whereas the studio version is fascinatingly awful.

[Dr. Medulla]

'Cut The Crap' - Cutting edge or just crap?

http://louderthanwar.com/the-clash-cut- ... just-crap/

Typical toeing the party line about how great the songs were live and how bad they were on record. I'll give that to Three Card and Are You Ready, but nothing else. As I've stated before, Dictator was bad live and bad on record. The difference is that live, it was boring as hell, whereas the studio version is fascinatingly awful.

Which party line is this? We're being brainwashed by so many sinister figures (but why? why?) that I can't keep track of who's manipulating everything I know about the Clash. Also, I agree with you about "Dictator," live or CtC. I don't think much about any Clash II songs, actually, and not just because I'm in the pocket of Sony and Mick. CtC is laughably awful, but Bernie didn't draw a moustache on the Mona Lisa.

[Marky Dread]

'Cut The Crap' - Cutting edge or just crap?

http://louderthanwar.com/the-clash-cut- ... just-crap/

Typical toeing the party line about how great the songs were live and how bad they were on record. I'll give that to Three Card and Are You Ready, but nothing else. As I've stated before, Dictator was bad live and bad on record. The difference is that live, it was boring as hell, whereas the studio version is fascinatingly awful.

Which party line is this? We're being brainwashed by so many sinister figures (but why? why?) that I can't keep track of who's manipulating everything I know about the Clash. Also, I agree with you about "Dictator," live or CtC. I don't think much about any Clash II songs, actually, and not just because I'm in the pocket of Sony and Mick. CtC is laughably awful, but Bernie didn't draw a moustache on the Mona Lisa.

Shame he didn't it would've made a far better sleeve.

[IkarisOne]

'Cut The Crap' - Cutting edge or just crap?

http://louderthanwar.com/the-clash-cut- ... just-crap/

Typical toeing the party line about how great the songs were live and how bad they were on record. I'll give that to Three Card and Are You Ready, but nothing else. As I've stated before, Dictator was bad live and bad on record. The difference is that live, it was boring as hell, whereas the studio version is fascinatingly awful.

I think Dictator was like a few other Clash II songs- it just needed a good song-oriented producer to tweak it and hook it up a bit. It's 90% there. Cuts like RUR4W, 3CT, SMW & iTPPR are perfect as is, others needed work, like a lot of songs the first lineup played live before they recorded.

Of course, Joe and Bernie were never going to do the sane, normal thing and hire a competent producer. They were going to squat and do a GG Allin all over their music, their band, their fans and their career.

[Low Down Low]

Although not entirely the most noble of performances, I'm glad Joe acted the way he did towards the end. In the circumstances, I don't believe he could have acted differently. After the disastrous mistakes of 82 and 83, it was time to cut his losses, the damage had already being done. The only regret I'd have is that Pete and Nick had to suffer for a grotesquely fucked up situation, they didn't deserve that. Vince I'd care about less.

The end of 1985, chaos all around him, at the lowest ebb of his life, is when Joe Strummer starts to become a truly interesting human being in my book.

[IkarisOne]

Although not entirely the most noble of performances, I'm glad Joe acted the way he did towards the end. In the circumstances, I don't believe he could have acted differently. After the disastrous mistakes of 82 and 83, it was time to cut his losses, the damage had already being done. The only regret I'd have is that Pete and Nick had to suffer for a grotesquely fucked up situation, they didn't deserve that. Vince I'd care about less.

The end of 1985, chaos all around him, at the lowest ebb of his life, is when Joe Strummer starts to become a truly interesting human being in my book.

Bands change lineups. If Atom Tan, Death is a Star, First Night Back in London, Cool Confusion, Long Time Jerk etc etc etc proved anything, it proved that this was a band who were almost totally exhausted of viable musical ideas. Something had to be done because the songwriting machine was spraying oil and popping gaskets. You can practically feel the misery of those sessions, the desperation to recapture the old excitement yet coming up painfully short. Even the best tracks have no fire in their bellies. The Clash were over and they all knew it. They all admitted it.

If nothing else, Headon was a serious legal liability and no band of the Clash's stature would have kept him. Joe was typically disingenuous in claiming otherwise. It's no accident he was sacked after the Asia tour, where drug laws were no joke. Jones had become petulant and uncooperative and wanted to turn the Clash into a fluffy-bunny London disco band (a la TRAC) over Strummer and Simonon's pointed objections. He stopped coming to rehearsals, refused to tour, and pulled all kinds of nasty passive aggressive power trips.

You have to be REALLY invested in the mythology of The Clash, a mythology designed by a record company for the low information 14 year olds of 1978 (and rock critics), to not see how reasonable- if not rather drastic- Jones and Headon's firings were. A better situation would be some kind of intervention were compromises were made- Headon was given an ultimatum to get off the goofer dust, Jones was told to keep his Howard Jones/INXS/Thompson Twins inclinations to side projects. That would require this pack of megalomaniacs to admit they were not infallible, so throw that out the window.

The only way The Clash could have survived was to drop the risible cultural imperialism and go back to playing relatively straightforward rock music with the occasional dance or reggae track for leavening (ie., London Calling era Clash). It's what all of their contemporaries eventually found themselves having to do. The Clash would have had to do it with their sixth record, it's just the way it is. If Jones wasn't prepared to do that he was going to oversee the Clash's collapse in the marketplace. 1984 was a much different year than 1982- you had the rise of metal, the return of the classic rockers and the rise of the new rockers like Big Country and U2. Halfass flippity-flooflah was over.

TRAC-Clash would have died a death that made Cut the Crap look like a triumph. The knives were already out after Combat Rock- more of the same-old same-old would have been ugly indeed.

[Low Down Low]

Although not entirely the most noble of performances, I'm glad Joe acted the way he did towards the end. In the circumstances, I don't believe he could have acted differently. After the disastrous mistakes of 82 and 83, it was time to cut his losses, the damage had already being done. The only regret I'd have is that Pete and Nick had to suffer for a grotesquely fucked up situation, they didn't deserve that. Vince I'd care about less.

The end of 1985, chaos all around him, at the lowest ebb of his life, is when Joe Strummer starts to become a truly interesting human being in my book.

Bands change lineups. If Atom Tan, Death is a Star, First Night Back in London, Cool Confusion, Long Time Jerk etc etc etc proved anything, it proved that this was a band who were almost totally exhausted of viable musical ideas. Something had to be done because the songwriting machine was spraying oil and popping gaskets. You can practically feel the misery of those sessions, the desperation to recapture the old excitement yet coming up painfully short. Even the best tracks have no fire in their bellies. The Clash were over and they all knew it. They all admitted it.

If nothing else, Headon was a serious legal liability and no band of the Clash's stature would have kept him. Joe was typically disingenuous in claiming otherwise. It's no accident he was sacked after the Asia tour, where drug laws were no joke. Jones had become petulant and uncooperative and wanted to turn the Clash into a fluffy-bunny London disco band (a la TRAC) over Strummer and Simonon's pointed objections. He stopped coming to rehearsals, refused to tour, and pulled all kinds of nasty passive aggressive power trips.

You have to be REALLY invested in the mythology of The Clash, a mythology designed by a record company for the low information 14 year olds of 1978 (and rock critics), to not see how reasonable- if not rather drastic- Jones and Headon's firings were. A better situation would be some kind of intervention were compromises were made- Headon was given an ultimatum to get off the goofer dust, Jones was told to keep his Howard Jones/INXS/Thompson Twins inclinations to side projects. That would require this pack of megalomaniacs to admit they were not infallible, so throw that out the window.

The only way The Clash could have survived was to drop the risible cultural imperialism and go back to playing relatively straightforward rock music with the occasional dance or reggae track for leavening (ie., London Calling era Clash). It's what all of their contemporaries eventually found themselves having to do. The Clash would have had to do it with their sixth record, it's just the way it is. If Jones wasn't prepared to do that he was going to oversee the Clash's collapse in the marketplace. 1984 was a much different year than 1982- you had the rise of metal, the return of the classic rockers and the rise of the new rockers like Big Country and U2. Halfass flippity-flooflah was over.

TRAC-Clash would have died a death that made Cut the Crap look like a triumph. The knives were already out after Combat Rock- more of the same-old same-old would have been ugly indeed.

Very well put. Hardly surprising that exhaustion set in - the insanity of five albums (including a double and triple), the COL EP and BMC and enough miles of touring to have circumnavigated the globe two times packed into six crazy years. What rational band does that anymore? Franz Ferdinand (yeah they suck but they're just an example) have been 11 years on the go and are still on No.4. Burn-out and creative stasis were the only logical destination.

I've just one quibble. You say the knives were out post-CR, but how sharp were those blades? As I recall it, the Clash were, at least in theory, in an enviably strong position at the end of 1982. CR was a critical and commercial success. They'd broken America and apart from the positive album reviews, I also remember ecstatic reviews of the Who support shows. I still have my copy of the 82 Rock Yearbook in which the Clash are singled out as a band on the verge of greatness.

Of course none of that reflected the inner turmoil that was ongoing and slowly shutting down their vital organs like a deadly virus. I don't see the point of looking back on this period with what- or only-ifs. What happened, for various reasons, wasn't really avoidable. Maybe if they'd taken a long break, like lots of bands do, but then hadn't they had a break when Joe fucked off to Paris that time and what good did that do in the end?

[IkarisOne]

Although not entirely the most noble of performances, I'm glad Joe acted the way he did towards the end. In the circumstances, I don't believe he could have acted differently. After the disastrous mistakes of 82 and 83, it was time to cut his losses, the damage had already being done. The only regret I'd have is that Pete and Nick had to suffer for a grotesquely fucked up situation, they didn't deserve that. Vince I'd care about less.

The end of 1985, chaos all around him, at the lowest ebb of his life, is when Joe Strummer starts to become a truly interesting human being in my book.

Bands change lineups. If Atom Tan, Death is a Star, First Night Back in London, Cool Confusion, Long Time Jerk etc etc etc proved anything, it proved that this was a band who were almost totally exhausted of viable musical ideas. Something had to be done because the songwriting machine was spraying oil and popping gaskets. You can practically feel the misery of those sessions, the desperation to recapture the old excitement yet coming up painfully short. Even the best tracks have no fire in their bellies. The Clash were over and they all knew it. They all admitted it.

If nothing else, Headon was a serious legal liability and no band of the Clash's stature would have kept him. Joe was typically disingenuous in claiming otherwise. It's no accident he was sacked after the Asia tour, where drug laws were no joke. Jones had become petulant and uncooperative and wanted to turn the Clash into a fluffy-bunny London disco band (a la TRAC) over Strummer and Simonon's pointed objections. He stopped coming to rehearsals, refused to tour, and pulled all kinds of nasty passive aggressive power trips.

You have to be REALLY invested in the mythology of The Clash, a mythology designed by a record company for the low information 14 year olds of 1978 (and rock critics), to not see how reasonable- if not rather drastic- Jones and Headon's firings were. A better situation would be some kind of intervention were compromises were made- Headon was given an ultimatum to get off the goofer dust, Jones was told to keep his Howard Jones/INXS/Thompson Twins inclinations to side projects. That would require this pack of megalomaniacs to admit they were not infallible, so throw that out the window.

The only way The Clash could have survived was to drop the risible cultural imperialism and go back to playing relatively straightforward rock music with the occasional dance or reggae track for leavening (ie., London Calling era Clash). It's what all of their contemporaries eventually found themselves having to do. The Clash would have had to do it with their sixth record, it's just the way it is. If Jones wasn't prepared to do that he was going to oversee the Clash's collapse in the marketplace. 1984 was a much different year than 1982- you had the rise of metal, the return of the classic rockers and the rise of the new rockers like Big Country and U2. Halfass flippity-flooflah was over.

TRAC-Clash would have died a death that made Cut the Crap look like a triumph. The knives were already out after Combat Rock- more of the same-old same-old would have been ugly indeed.

Very well put. Hardly surprising that exhaustion set in - the insanity of five albums (including a double and triple), the COL EP and BMC and enough miles of touring to have circumnavigated the globe two times packed into six crazy years. What rational band does that anymore? Franz Ferdinand (yeah they suck but they're just an example) have been 11 years on the go and are still on No.4. Burn-out and creative stasis were the only logical destination.

I've just one quibble. You say the knives were out post-CR, but how sharp were those blades? As I recall it, the Clash were, at least in theory, in an enviably strong position at the end of 1982. CR was a critical and commercial success. They'd broken America and apart from the positive album reviews, I also remember ecstatic reviews of the Who support shows. I still have my copy of the 82 Rock Yearbook in which the Clash are singled out as a band on the verge of greatness.

Of course none of that reflected the inner turmoil that was ongoing and slowly shutting down their vital organs like a deadly virus. I don't see the point of looking back on this period with what- or only-ifs. What happened, for various reasons, wasn't really avoidable. Maybe if they'd taken a long break, like lots of bands do, but then hadn't they had a break when Joe fucked off to Paris that time and what good did that do in the end?

I really don't think the band's personal problems should be inflated too much- every band seems to have them. The difference is that The Clash never had to work for anything so they always took success for granted and were thus more willing to throw caution to the wind. They had an extremely indulgent record company who let them get away with murder, pulling moves no other artist could get away with- I mean a triple album in the middle of a recession? The Clash never struggled in obscurity, they were front page news almost from the minute they formed partly because of dumb luck but also because the record industry needed a safely liberal band to head off some of the nastier impulses brewing in the punk movement. They got signed way, way before they were ready but luckily had the material to make up for their lack of seasoning.

So they had no reason to think they couldn't do whatever they wanted to do and get away with it. I'm certain RPFFB as Mick planned it would have been a commercial disaster but Glyn Johns rescued the project with his professionalism and ear for hooks. But any other band would grin and bear it when it came to the aggro between the songwriters because any other band would have spent a few years struggling in the clubs and would have valued their position. There was definitely a backlash brewing- the Who tour really turned the press against them since it made no sense other than a cash-in and the excitement whipped up by Casbah died down and people got around to playing Red Angel Dragnet and Atom Tan.

Reality set in for Joe with Cut the Crap and for Mick with No 10, Upping St which died a death because Columbia had moved onto George Michael. BAD had got a huge push from Columbia and scored a couple big UK hits but they underperformed commercially in the US so they were relegated to the alt.market. They were dead in the UK after that first blush. Both Joe and Mick openly acknowledged how good they had it in The Clash and how much they took it all for granted.

[Marky Dread]

Although not entirely the most noble of performances, I'm glad Joe acted the way he did towards the end. In the circumstances, I don't believe he could have acted differently. After the disastrous mistakes of 82 and 83, it was time to cut his losses, the damage had already being done. The only regret I'd have is that Pete and Nick had to suffer for a grotesquely fucked up situation, they didn't deserve that. Vince I'd care about less.

The end of 1985, chaos all around him, at the lowest ebb of his life, is when Joe Strummer starts to become a truly interesting human being in my book.

Bands change lineups. If Atom Tan, Death is a Star, First Night Back in London, Cool Confusion, Long Time Jerk etc etc etc proved anything, it proved that this was a band who were almost totally exhausted of viable musical ideas. Something had to be done because the songwriting machine was spraying oil and popping gaskets. You can practically feel the misery of those sessions, the desperation to recapture the old excitement yet coming up painfully short. Even the best tracks have no fire in their bellies. The Clash were over and they all knew it. They all admitted it.

If nothing else, Headon was a serious legal liability and no band of the Clash's stature would have kept him. Joe was typically disingenuous in claiming otherwise. It's no accident he was sacked after the Asia tour, where drug laws were no joke. Jones had become petulant and uncooperative and wanted to turn the Clash into a fluffy-bunny London disco band (a la TRAC) over Strummer and Simonon's pointed objections. He stopped coming to rehearsals, refused to tour, and pulled all kinds of nasty passive aggressive power trips.

You have to be REALLY invested in the mythology of The Clash, a mythology designed by a record company for the low information 14 year olds of 1978 (and rock critics), to not see how reasonable- if not rather drastic- Jones and Headon's firings were. A better situation would be some kind of intervention were compromises were made- Headon was given an ultimatum to get off the goofer dust, Jones was told to keep his Howard Jones/INXS/Thompson Twins inclinations to side projects. That would require this pack of megalomaniacs to admit they were not infallible, so throw that out the window.

The only way The Clash could have survived was to drop the risible cultural imperialism and go back to playing relatively straightforward rock music with the occasional dance or reggae track for leavening (ie., London Calling era Clash). It's what all of their contemporaries eventually found themselves having to do. The Clash would have had to do it with their sixth record, it's just the way it is. If Jones wasn't prepared to do that he was going to oversee the Clash's collapse in the marketplace. 1984 was a much different year than 1982- you had the rise of metal, the return of the classic rockers and the rise of the new rockers like Big Country and U2. Halfass flippity-flooflah was over.

TRAC-Clash would have died a death that made Cut the Crap look like a triumph. The knives were already out after Combat Rock- more of the same-old same-old would have been ugly indeed.

Very well put. Hardly surprising that exhaustion set in - the insanity of five albums (including a double and triple), the COL EP and BMC and enough miles of touring to have circumnavigated the globe two times packed into six crazy years. What rational band does that anymore? Franz Ferdinand (yeah they suck but they're just an example) have been 11 years on the go and are still on No.4. Burn-out and creative stasis were the only logical destination.

I've just one quibble. You say the knives were out post-CR, but how sharp were those blades? As I recall it, the Clash were, at least in theory, in an enviably strong position at the end of 1982. CR was a critical and commercial success. They'd broken America and apart from the positive album reviews, I also remember ecstatic reviews of the Who support shows. I still have my copy of the 82 Rock Yearbook in which the Clash are singled out as a band on the verge of greatness.

Of course none of that reflected the inner turmoil that was ongoing and slowly shutting down their vital organs like a deadly virus. I don't see the point of looking back on this period with what- or only-ifs. What happened, for various reasons, wasn't really avoidable. Maybe if they'd taken a long break, like lots of bands do, but then hadn't they had a break when Joe fucked off to Paris that time and what good did that do in the end?

I really don't think the band's personal problems should be inflated too much- every band seems to have them. The difference is that The Clash never had to work for anything so they always took success for granted and were thus more willing to throw caution to the wind. They had an extremely indulgent record company who let them get away with murder, pulling moves no other artist could get away with- I mean a triple album in the middle of a recession? The Clash never struggled in obscurity, they were front page news almost from the minute they formed partly because of dumb luck but also because the record industry needed a safely liberal band to head off some of the nastier impulses brewing in the punk movement. They got signed way, way before they were ready but luckily had the material to make up for their lack of seasoning.

So they had no reason to think they couldn't do whatever they wanted to do and get away with it. I'm certain RPFFB as Mick planned it would have been a commercial disaster but Glyn Johns rescued the project with his professionalism and ear for hooks. But any other band would grin and bear it when it came to the aggro between the songwriters because any other band would have spent a few years struggling in the clubs and would have valued their position. There was definitely a backlash brewing- the Who tour really turned the press against them since it made no sense other than a cash-in and the excitement whipped up by Casbah died down and people got around to playing Red Angel Dragnet and Atom Tan.

Reality set in for Joe with Cut the Crap and for Mick with No 10, Upping St which died a death because Columbia had moved onto George Michael. BAD had got a huge push from Columbia and scored a couple big UK hits but they underperformed commercially in the US so they were relegated to the alt.market. They were dead in the UK after that first blush. Both Joe and Mick openly acknowledged how good they had it in The Clash and how much they took it all for granted.

Didn't The Clash have to agree to forgo so many royalties in order for CBS/Colombia to release S! at a cut price? Is it not the job of the record company to promote their artists after all they signed the band. As for CBS/Colombia being extremely indulgent surely if they didn't see the band as a viable project they would have turned down S! flat. The same way they refused to promote the Bank Robber 7'' thus ending the proposed monthly singles campaign.

[IkarisOne]

Although not entirely the most noble of performances, I'm glad Joe acted the way he did towards the end. In the circumstances, I don't believe he could have acted differently. After the disastrous mistakes of 82 and 83, it was time to cut his losses, the damage had already being done. The only regret I'd have is that Pete and Nick had to suffer for a grotesquely fucked up situation, they didn't deserve that. Vince I'd care about less.

The end of 1985, chaos all around him, at the lowest ebb of his life, is when Joe Strummer starts to become a truly interesting human being in my book.

Bands change lineups. If Atom Tan, Death is a Star, First Night Back in London, Cool Confusion, Long Time Jerk etc etc etc proved anything, it proved that this was a band who were almost totally exhausted of viable musical ideas. Something had to be done because the songwriting machine was spraying oil and popping gaskets. You can practically feel the misery of those sessions, the desperation to recapture the old excitement yet coming up painfully short. Even the best tracks have no fire in their bellies. The Clash were over and they all knew it. They all admitted it.

If nothing else, Headon was a serious legal liability and no band of the Clash's stature would have kept him. Joe was typically disingenuous in claiming otherwise. It's no accident he was sacked after the Asia tour, where drug laws were no joke. Jones had become petulant and uncooperative and wanted to turn the Clash into a fluffy-bunny London disco band (a la TRAC) over Strummer and Simonon's pointed objections. He stopped coming to rehearsals, refused to tour, and pulled all kinds of nasty passive aggressive power trips.

You have to be REALLY invested in the mythology of The Clash, a mythology designed by a record company for the low information 14 year olds of 1978 (and rock critics), to not see how reasonable- if not rather drastic- Jones and Headon's firings were. A better situation would be some kind of intervention were compromises were made- Headon was given an ultimatum to get off the goofer dust, Jones was told to keep his Howard Jones/INXS/Thompson Twins inclinations to side projects. That would require this pack of megalomaniacs to admit they were not infallible, so throw that out the window.

The only way The Clash could have survived was to drop the risible cultural imperialism and go back to playing relatively straightforward rock music with the occasional dance or reggae track for leavening (ie., London Calling era Clash). It's what all of their contemporaries eventually found themselves having to do. The Clash would have had to do it with their sixth record, it's just the way it is. If Jones wasn't prepared to do that he was going to oversee the Clash's collapse in the marketplace. 1984 was a much different year than 1982- you had the rise of metal, the return of the classic rockers and the rise of the new rockers like Big Country and U2. Halfass flippity-flooflah was over.

TRAC-Clash would have died a death that made Cut the Crap look like a triumph. The knives were already out after Combat Rock- more of the same-old same-old would have been ugly indeed.

Very well put. Hardly surprising that exhaustion set in - the insanity of five albums (including a double and triple), the COL EP and BMC and enough miles of touring to have circumnavigated the globe two times packed into six crazy years. What rational band does that anymore? Franz Ferdinand (yeah they suck but they're just an example) have been 11 years on the go and are still on No.4. Burn-out and creative stasis were the only logical destination.

I've just one quibble. You say the knives were out post-CR, but how sharp were those blades? As I recall it, the Clash were, at least in theory, in an enviably strong position at the end of 1982. CR was a critical and commercial success. They'd broken America and apart from the positive album reviews, I also remember ecstatic reviews of the Who support shows. I still have my copy of the 82 Rock Yearbook in which the Clash are singled out as a band on the verge of greatness.

Of course none of that reflected the inner turmoil that was ongoing and slowly shutting down their vital organs like a deadly virus. I don't see the point of looking back on this period with what- or only-ifs. What happened, for various reasons, wasn't really avoidable. Maybe if they'd taken a long break, like lots of bands do, but then hadn't they had a break when Joe fucked off to Paris that time and what good did that do in the end?

I really don't think the band's personal problems should be inflated too much- every band seems to have them. The difference is that The Clash never had to work for anything so they always took success for granted and were thus more willing to throw caution to the wind. They had an extremely indulgent record company who let them get away with murder, pulling moves no other artist could get away with- I mean a triple album in the middle of a recession? The Clash never struggled in obscurity, they were front page news almost from the minute they formed partly because of dumb luck but also because the record industry needed a safely liberal band to head off some of the nastier impulses brewing in the punk movement. They got signed way, way before they were ready but luckily had the material to make up for their lack of seasoning.

So they had no reason to think they couldn't do whatever they wanted to do and get away with it. I'm certain RPFFB as Mick planned it would have been a commercial disaster but Glyn Johns rescued the project with his professionalism and ear for hooks. But any other band would grin and bear it when it came to the aggro between the songwriters because any other band would have spent a few years struggling in the clubs and would have valued their position. There was definitely a backlash brewing- the Who tour really turned the press against them since it made no sense other than a cash-in and the excitement whipped up by Casbah died down and people got around to playing Red Angel Dragnet and Atom Tan.

Reality set in for Joe with Cut the Crap and for Mick with No 10, Upping St which died a death because Columbia had moved onto George Michael. BAD had got a huge push from Columbia and scored a couple big UK hits but they underperformed commercially in the US so they were relegated to the alt.market. They were dead in the UK after that first blush. Both Joe and Mick openly acknowledged how good they had it in The Clash and how much they took it all for granted.

Didn't The Clash have to agree to forgo so many royalties in order for CBS/Colombia to release S! at a cut price? Is it not the job of the record company to promote their artists after all they signed the band. As for CBS/Colombia being extremely indulgent surely if they didn't see the band as a viable project they would have turned down S! flat. The same way they refused to promote the Bank Robber 7'' thus ending the proposed monthly singles campaign.

Again, more of the mythology, the poor, put-upon Clash, all worked up in the offices of the CBS PR branch. They put the debt for Sandinista to rest not long after Bernie returned and got their books in order. The Singles Campaign was a bad idea; CBS knew the band's future was as an album act, and their future was definitely not in the UK. CBS actually provided the band cover from what would have been some serious cred-killing humiliation. As it was, people got caught up in the drama that no one noticed that TCU, HUK and M7 all bombed on both sides of the Atlantic. BR didn't get a US release and POMB tanked as a US single as well. So Singles Campaign? Not such a great move. Big drama over canceling it? A master stroke on CBS' PR office's part.