‘War is declared. . .’
THE CLASH
London Calling 25th nniversary special
March, 1979. The Clash are up against it, and they know it. Their career appears to be going nowhere, they are at loggerheads with their record company and the audience that had embraced their first album as a defining moment in the history of punk have been less than enthusiastic about its successor, Give ‘Em Enough Rope, which has had a critical mauling.
By their own admission, they were at their lowest ebb. By now, most of their punk contemporaries had crashed and burned and it looked to the world like The Clash would be the next of the original punk luminaries to go up in flames.
The Clash were in a position where they really had nothing to lose, so in a mood of wilful defiance they threw themselves into the sessions for the new album, which turned out to be their masterpiece, London Calling.
On the 25th anniversary of the release of this late punk classic, Uncut talks exclusively to surviving Clash members Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Topper Headon, while the other key players recall the manic drama and bloody battles behind the making of this legendary album.
Elsewhere in a typically bustling issue, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe talks about his band’s keenly-awaited new album Around The Sun, Neil Young gives us the lowdown on his new Greendale DVD and his other adventures as a film-maker, Beach Boys legend tells us about the new version of lost BB classic album Smile and Motown genius Smokey Robinson recalls the highs and lows of a remarkable career All this, plus a look at John Lennon’s solo movie debut in Hard Day’s Night and Help! director Richard Lester’s How I Won The War and a close up on new TV sensation, Deadwood.
And to complete a package you’d be rash to miss, our monthly free CD features 15 great new and classic tracks including the original Clash demo of “Rudie Can’t Fail”, plus exclusive previews from new albums by The Blue Nile, Steve Earle and former Replacements frontman, Paul Westerberg.
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