You Say It's Your Birthday: The Clash's Paul Simonon
Today is
the 42nd birthday of Paul Simonon, bassist for legendary British
punk-rockers the Clash. Formed in 1976, the Clash is best known
for such songs as "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and
"Rock The Casbah." They were unlike their English
punk-peers in that they were rebels with a cause - a cause that,
by the band's demise in the mid-1980s, had become a total
political and aesthetic agenda. They were also one of the first
popular rock acts toexperiment with funk, reggae and the emerging
hip-hop scene. The Clash's first two albums, 1977's self-titled
debut and 1978's Give 'Em Enough Rope, were both solid
rock 'n' roll albums but failed to burn up the charts outside of
the U.K. From there, though, the Clash's music grew by leaps and
bounds. 1979's London Calling and the sprawling triple
album that was 1980's Sandinista! solidified the group as
a tight but experimental rock group with leftist political
leanings.
By the time the Clash broke in America with 1982's Combat
Rock, the band was essentially a force of the past. In the
Reagan/Thatcher '80s, it was hard to find an audience that wanted
to listen to triple albums that supported leftist rebels in
Central America. 1985 brought their disappointing swan song, Cut
The Crap. While fellow Clash-ers Mick Jones and Joe Strummer
went on to relatively successful solo careers, birthday boy
Simonon went on to form Havana 3 A.M. in 1991. A roots-rock group
playing in the face of the grunge explosion, Havana 3 A.M.
release done album and then quietly disbanded. In 1991, the
Clash's "Should I Stay orShould I Go" finally hit #1 on
the U.K. charts after being used in a Levi's commercial.
-- Randy Reiss
Copyright © 1997
Addicted To Noise. All rights reserved.
Please do not reprint entire Addicted To Noise news stories
without written permission from Addicted To Noise. If you
excerpt, rewrite, or in some way make use of portions of our
news, attribute to: Addicted To Noise, the on-line rock &
roll magazine - http://www.addict.com/
Articles Page
| London's
Burning! Home Page
Send questions and comments to: jendave@yahoo.com