Clash single choices

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Marky Dread
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Re: Clash single choices

Post by Marky Dread »

101Walterton wrote:
30 Aug 2018, 9:50pm
Marky Dread wrote:
30 Aug 2018, 9:08pm
Heston wrote:
20 Aug 2018, 7:53pm
Following on from the other thread, if you were a corporate whore in charge of CBS and choosing the singles, which 3 would you go for from each album for maximum commercial impact? I need to mentally undo the crazy decisions like releasing English Civil war as a single, rather than Safe European Home.

White Riot
What's My Name
Janie Jones

Tommy Gun
Safe European Home
Stay Free

London Calling
Rudie Can't Fail
Train In Vain

Somebody Got Murdered
Police On My Back
Mag 7

SISOSIG
Rock the Casbah
Straight To Hell (shoulda been a stand-alone release)

Are You Red...y
Three Card Trick
This Is England
Hard to disagree with most of your choices. However I don't think Safe European Home would've made such a great single. It's a cracking song and a great album opener but I just don't hear it as a single. My choices from GEER would've been Tommy Gun, English Civil War and third choice should've been their cover of Pressure Drop.

Stay Free was really unlikely to get much radio play unless edited. "We're only having fun, We piss on everyone, In the classroom" "Go on a nicking spree, Hit the wrong guy, each of you get 3 years in Brixton" "When you lot get out, Were gonna hit the town, We'll burn it fuckin' down, To a cinder". Can't see the band wanting to edit it all out for radio play. Don't think it would've done their punk street cred any good at the time.

And I'm sure it won't be popular but a remixed edit of The Crooked Beat would've made a great single as reggae was always a big seller just look at UB40. It's quirky enough to have been a hit in 1980. But I doubt they would've wanted to follow up Bankrobber with another reggae tune.
Isn’t that the reason Rude wasn’t a single as they didn’t want to be seen to be jumping on the ska / 2 Tone bandwagon?
I'm not really sure. All I remember is Joe being a little annoyed when 2-Tone arrived with "Gangsters" in May '79 and the praise they got for the Ska/Punk crossover when as he pointed out that The Clash had recorded "Pressure Drop in late '77.
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