London Calling

London Calling, a double album released by The Clash in December, 1979, marked the band's critical and commercial breakthrough. Besides straightforward punk rock, it featured a much wider array of styles than the Clash's earlier albums, including American-style rockabilly, Phil Spector-style pop, and reggae works that resonated with the Ska movement in Britain (see 1979 in music). The album is considered a landmark by many, and tracks such as "Train in Vain", "Clampdown", and "London Calling" show up with regularity on rock stations to this day.

Related Topics:
Double album - The Clash - December - 1979 - Commercial - Punk rock - Style - American - Rockabilly - Phil Spector - Reggae - Ska - Britain - 1979 in music - London Calling

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The title track alludes to the BBC World Service's station identification: "This is London calling...", that was used during World War II. The album's lyrics deal with a variety of themes: punk rock faddishness, drug addiction, American folk legend Stagger Lee, young rebels growing up and getting old, the rise of far-right politics under British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Spanish Civil War, race riots in England, troubled American Method actor Montgomery Clift, the growing power of media advertising and corporations, and even the Pill.

Related Topics:
BBC World Service - Station identification - World War II - Stagger Lee - Margaret Thatcher - Spanish Civil War - Method - Montgomery Clift

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The cover features a photograph by Pennie Smith of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar, surrounded by typography that imitates Elvis Presley's debut album, Elvis Presley. The picture was later voted the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine, although ironically at the time Smith did not want the picture used as she did not feel it was technically a very good shot: the picture is slightly out of focus, because she was backing away from Paul to avoid getting hit with the guitar.

Related Topics:
Pennie Smith - Paul Simonon - Bass guitar - Typography - Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley - Q magazine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Notable commercial — and controversial among fans — use of the album includes the use of the title track in the James Bond film Die Another Day in one segment of the film, and in a commercial for Jaguar.

Related Topics:
James Bond - Film - Die Another Day - Jaguar

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In January, 2000 this album along with the rest of the Clash's catalog was remastered and re-released.

Related Topics:
January - 2000 - Album - Clash's

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In September, 2004, Epic/Legacy Records released a Legacy Edition of the album which included not only the original remastered album (first released in 2000) but also The Vanilla Tapes, long rumoured lost, which contained rough rehearsal sessions for the album named after the studio in London where the recordings took place and a DVD containing a documentary and promos about the making of the album.

Related Topics:
September - 2004 - Epic/Legacy Records - Album - 2000 - The Vanilla Tapes - London - DVD

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted London Calling the 32nd greatest album of all time; Rolling Stone named it the best album of the 1980s (although it was released in 1979 in the UK, its U.S. release was in 1980) in 2000, and in 2003 named it number 8 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time"; also in 2003, the TV network VH1 placed it at number 25.

Related Topics:
The Village Voice - Pazz & Jop - 1998 - ''Q'' magazine - Rolling Stone - "The 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time" - 2003 - TV network - VH1

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~