The Clash (1977) is another of the all-time great debut recordings. But before I go further, I have to be clear that I'm referring to the real debut album - not the 1979 U.S. release that dropped "Deny", "Protex Blue", "48 Hours", and "Cheat" in favour of later singles-based releases like "Clash City Rockers", "Complete Control" and others. With the changes, the album sounds more like a compilation than a cohesive statement, which is too bad, because it was one of the most powerful statements of its kind in rock history. It brought a very important concept to the world of rock and roll: the idea that the way you think and act are important. It could be argued that the Pistols were more pyromaniacal in their approach to social issues (although I'd argue that it was necessary at the time), and that the Clash offered a way forward. For me, and many others that I knew at the time, and others I've met since, it was tremendously exciting and liberating. Rock badly needed to re-integrate the do-it-yourself ethos. Don't forget that this was the time when rock musicians used to wear capes, bat-wings and so forth onto smoke-machined stages that contained banks of synthesizers, where they'd play the scales and arpeggios that they had learned in piano lessons. Yipes. For a teenager who wanted to participate, there didn't seem to be a point of entry. Until the Pistols, the Ramones, and these guys, that is. As a matter of fact, this may be the album that I've listened to the most times - due to endless plays through headphones during my high school days. Time well spent.

The Clash was probably the most articulate and idealistic of all punk bands, and very likely the most influential. Virtually every artist that tries to make their work move toward improvement and equity in the world is indebted to them. Also, the idea that punk should be inclusive in terms of musical style and cultural input mostly came from them as well. They were one of the first punk bands to cross-pollinate their music with reggae, and certainly the most successful. I'll dedicate another post soon to their awesome fourth album Sandinista! from 1980, which took this aspect of their work to its furthest point. In the meantime, listen to this album in its original form if you possibly can, and see the film that does justice to Joe Strummer's great legacy: Julien Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007). Here are links for two of the album's greatest tracks: "Janie Jones" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyoW0tf6N-Q&feature=related and "Police and Thieves" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6FZwVvS8_8 .