Sandinista! Which format?

[IkarisOne]

Unquestionably a single, with the cut material used for value for money B-sides (Clash singles were astonishing ripoffs after LC) or perhaps a bonus EP. A lucky 13, all very much in line with London Calling Clash music.

1. The Magnificent Seven
2.The Leader
3. Somebody Got Murdered
4. One More Time
5. Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)
6. Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)
7. Corner Soul
8. Police on my Back
9. The Call Up
10. Washington Bullets
11. Charlie don't Surf
12. Kingston Advice
13. The Street Parade

[Flex]

The head says a single LP - CK has the track listing about right - but the heart and the passage of time say "as is". The album has aged well and, outside of the most bitter sections of Clash fandom, is generally considered a positive part of their legacy now.

If I were going back in time and advising the band, sure, single LP. But, you know, it all basically worked out in the end anyways.

[muppet hi fi]

Oh jeez, not this shit again.

[Dr. Medulla]

If I were going back in time and advising the band, sure, single LP. But, you know, it all basically worked out in the end anyways.

[Heston]

Oh jeez, not this shit again.

[Wolter]

The head says a single LP - CK has the track listing about right - but the heart and the passage of time say "as is". The album has aged well and, outside of the most bitter sections of Clash fandom, is generally considered a positive part of their legacy now.

If I were going back in time and advising the band, sure, single LP. But, you know, it all basically worked out in the end anyways.

Flexter

[JoseUnidos]

Triple - I wouldn't change a single self-indulgent drug-addled note.

I bought the album shortly after I got into the Clash in the fall of 1982. I did winnow it down to a 90 min cassette tape so I could listen to it on the go, but at home I'd listen to the vinyl all the way through (time willing) - I used to put side 6 on when I was ready to go to bed & drift off to sleep.

[101Walterton]

Just get rid of the kids.
I prefer the 2 x CD on random for a lottery listen.

[Chairman Ralph]

Well, one of my memories of this whole episode is buying Sandinista! the same week as Some Time In New York City -- after hearing Yoko screaming in a bag, I'm not sure what the Clash could have done to shock me, but, anyway...

The head says a single LP - CK has the track listing about right - but the heart and the passage of time say "as is". The album has aged well and, outside of the most bitter sections of Clash fandom, is generally considered a positive part of their legacy now.

If I were going back in time and advising the band, sure, single LP. But, you know, it all basically worked out in the end anyways.

That's where I land on this one, too -- I laughed out loud at the sheer audacity of the whole thing, though I like CK's extractions as much as everyone else's, which says something about the everything-and-the-kitxhen-sink nature of the enterprise, I suppose.

Personally, I think it was a pretty workable double, so my tracklisting would look like this -- with some strategic alterations to the running order:

CD1 (or LP1+2)
The Magnificent Seven/Hitsville UK/The Leader/Something About England/Rebel Waltz/Somebody Got Murdered/The Crooked Beat/One More Time/Up In Heaven/Lightning Strikes!/If Music Could Talk

CD2 (or LP3+4)
Police On My Back/Let's Go Crazy/If Music Could Talk/Living In Fame/Sound Of The Sinners/The Midnight Log/Washington Bullets/Broadway/Charlie Don't Surf/Kingston Advice/The Street Parade

...though, in a pinch, if I'd been Jenner and King, and pressed to make further deletions, I could get rid of:

Lightning Strikes (essentially, the second cousin of Mag 7, just not quite as distinctive -- my joke always was that Joe had so many leftover lyrics from Mag 7, he shoved 'em into this one...otherwise the former song would have been 10 minutes long!)

--The Crooked Beat (like what it's about, though Paul's cigar Indian vocal style is less effective than on his signature tune, GOB -- but it does help set up One More Time).

--The Midnight Log (which I have a soft spot for, having played it live myself -- has some great lyrics, but could have used a MJ guitar solo to drive it home).

--Kingston Advice (great song, but muddily mixed, IMO).

--Living In Fame (though it was always fun to figure out what the hell Mr. Dread was saying -- but it's essentially the dubbier counterpart to IMCT, and that song wins, hands down).

As far as some of my other extractions go, I'd say:

--Junco Partner (worked better live).

--Ivan Meets GI Joe (great lyrics, but Topper's voice is too thin to get the job done, and all those background bloops and bleeps get a bit wearying to take in after awhile).

--Look Here and Version City (pleasant sounding, well played, but never made much impression on these ears).

--Lose This Skin (well performed, but it's really the Clash backing up a friend in the studio, more or less)

Like most everyone else, mot of my major deletions come from sides five and six (plus side four, to some extent). Ironically, for a group that explored reggae and dub so avidly, those efforts are some of their weakest here. But that's my take on the whole affair, at any rate.

[Dr. Medulla]

Well, one of my memories of this whole episode is buying Sandinista! the same week as Some Time In New York City -- after hearing Yoko screaming in a bag, I'm not sure what the Clash could have done to shock me, but, anyway...

Yoko would have made Side 6 seem like Pet Sounds.

[Chairman Ralph]

Chairman Ralph wrote:
Well, one of my memories of this whole episode is buying Sandinista! the same week as Some Time In New York City -- after hearing Yoko screaming in a bag, I'm not sure what the Clash could have done to shock me, but, anyway...


Yoko would have made Side 6 seem like Pet Sounds.

Oh, sure, but for me -- being a teenager, exploring ways to annoy the folks who came across to me as the Top 40 Booz-wah-zee -- Some Time's live LP definitely did the trick. Whether the parties involved could sing (quote-unquote) was beside the point.

[Chuck Mangione]

Observation: It's difficult to choose what do with Broadway.

[Heston]

Observation: It's difficult to choose what do with Broadway.

Ditch it. I always found it pretty boring.

[Chuck Mangione]

Observation: It's difficult to choose what do with Broadway.

Ditch it. I always found it pretty boring.

What about live? I can see where you're coming from.

[Toppers Boppers]

I bought it the day of release, from Woolworths for £3.99 (had a pound off in the first week). You need all 6 sides to appreciate it's ambition and reach - ludicrous, brave, indulgent, traditional, wordy, international, radical... a magnificent Kaleidescope of an album.

OK, I concede it could've come out as a double with free 12 track EP (dubs and versions)?