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The Clash are often claimed to be one of the greatest rock/punk bands of all time. They formed in 1976, after Joe Strummer left the R&Bpub-rock
band the 101'ers to join Mick Jones, formerly of the proto-punk band London SS with Paul Simonon. The band originally had guitarist Keith
Levine, but he soon left (He would go onto play with John Lydon in PiL). They then recruited drummer Terry Chimes, who left the bandduring the
recording of their first full length LP, "The Clash", released only in the UK. Topper Headon, often called "The Human DrumMachine," was recruited
to drum permanently.
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The Clash are often claimed to be one of the greatest rock/punk bands of all time. They formed in 1976, after Joe Strummer left the R&Bpub-rock
band the 101'ers to join Mick Jones, formerly of the proto-punk band London SS with Paul Simonon. The band originally had guitarist Keith
Levine, but he soon left (He would go onto play with John Lydon in PiL). They then recruited drummer Terry Chimes, who left the bandduring the
recording of their first full length LP, "The Clash", released only in the UK. Topper Headon, often called "The Human DrumMachine," was recruited
to drum permanently.
The Clash went on to produce "Give 'Em Enough Rope" is 1978, and showed the group's growth and contained some Clash classics such asTommy
Gun and Safe European Home. The important factor with the album though, was that The Clash had broken onto the American Market,even
though some old fans criticized the band for this decision. The band then started to tour in the United States for the first time as well,with little
help from their label, CBS. In 1979, after re-releasing their self titled debut with some changes,their testament to rock for all time,"London
Calling" was released. The album was a mixture of many styles,and showed growth in the band's sound and lyrics. The album wasvoted the best
of the 80s by Rolling Stone,and the 8th greatest album of all time. The album has sold in excess of 3 million units, proving tobe their most
successful and influential record to this day.
The Clash soon went on to produced the 3 LP, sprawling and messy "Sandinista!," and the commercially accessible, but still rather good"Combat
Rock" featuring their first Top 10 U.S. Single "Should I Stay or Should I Go". Afterwards, Topper Headon was kicked out of the bandfor frequent
drug problems, and later Mick Jones was kicked out, citing his problematic behaviours for cause. Former drummer Terry Chimesfilled
intemporarily, but never did any new recording, just played the support tour but again left soon afterwards, not being able to deal withthe
growing tension between the band.
Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon went on, hiring drummer Pete Howard and a few other younger musicians.They recorded the meandering,and
dismissed "Cut the Crap", released in 1985, the same year Mick's new band Big Audio Dynamite, released their debut album. Most fansdon't even
recognize Cut The Crap as an album by the Clash, and the band officially broke up in 1986, although fans realized the band wasdone before then.
Many members of The Clash moved onto different projects, including Mick with his new band Big Audio Dynamite (BAD), Paul started a shortlived
reggae/rock band called Havana 3am, and Joe would appear in movies, recording music for soundtracks, and released a solo album in1989 titled
"Earthquake Weather". Strummer made his real comback in the late nineties with his new band The Mescaleros, which would becut short by Joe's
tragic and untimely death in December of 2002. The Clash's legacy carries on as bringing integrity to punk, as well as beingone of few bands from
the 70's British punk explosion to move beyond the slums of London to become a respected band world-wide.
The Clash were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March of 2003, just months after Strummer's death. Today, Mick Jones has acurrent
band called Carbon/Silicon with Tony James, while Paul is a painter and is part of Damon Albarn's latest band The Good, The Bad &The Queen
playing bass. « hide |
Similar Bands: The Jam, Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros, Big Audio Dynamite, Los Prisioneros, Ramones Contributors: brochenski, MrSirLordGentleman, BMDrummer, ccullity11, Minushuman24, clercqie, rockandmetaljunkie, TheRamblingElf, Willie, flex1, pulseczar, Alex101, morrissey, JohnXDoesn't, tom79, DesolationRow, Killtacular, ogan, beefshoes, NordicMindset, rockandmetaljunkie, BMDrummer, Insurrection, PunchforPunch, KILL, Satellite, Iai,
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