Many Clash purists feel that this period of the group's career should be, as Sheppard put it, "stricken from the record." Sheppard told Kingsmill that he was hired by The Clash to be "for all intents and purposes, a paid musician." Sheppard's final word during the interview concerned The Clash's last single "This is England", which he called "the last great clash single." Sheppard confessed that his "only big moan" was that the track was not included on the Clash collection THE SINGLES (1991).
Will The Clash's career after Mick Jones vanish into obscurity? Up until the late 90's it looked like it would. The group's label released collections that ommitted the post-Mick period entirely. The double-album STORY OF THE CLASH (1988), the boxed-set CLASH ON BROADWAY (1991) and THE SINGLES collection (1991) all left out this period of The Clash's career in terms of both liner notes and track selection. Even the official Clash documentary WESTWAY TO THE WORLD (2000) directed by reggae spinster and clash comrade Don Letts failed to treat this last movement of the group's career. But when The Clash's label remastered the group's back catalogue for release in January of 2000, CUT THE CRAP was included as one of the band's albums.
Now, a new Clash collection is awaiting release and, as usual, the story begins with "White Riot" but this time its chronologically ordered track listing is going to conclude not with "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" but with "This is England." It is THE ESSENTIAL CLASH, a new double compact disc collection that will feature 40 "essential songs", photographs and liner notes spanning the band's legendary career. The release will likely be the first-stop purchase for future generations of listeners discovering the group. If ESSENTIAL CLASH finds its way into the record collections of young Clash listeners, this controversial tail-end of the band's story has little chance of vanishing into obscurity. Clash revisionists should be delighted.
Complete track listing of the digitally-remastered "The Essential Clash" is available at their label's website.
February 16, 2003 (revised: November 10, 2005)