#407 - The Clash - Sandinista! (1980)

MUSIC HISTORY WRITTEN BY HEAD WRITER DJ MORTY COYLE:

Released on December 12th of 1980 on CBS and Epic Records this is the mostly self-produced fourth album by the British Punk Rock band.

In London in 1975 guitarist/singer/songwriter Mick Jones was in a Pub Rock band called London SS that made a demo but never played live.

London SS manager Bernie Rhodes was an associate of Malcolm McLaren and helped him assemble the Sex Pistols.

After London SS broke up Bernie was putting together his own Punk Rock group around Mick Jones. They told Paul Simonon, a friend who auditioned for vocalist of London SS, to learn bass so he could join, and added guitarist Keith Levene.

They couldn’t get a permanent drummer but they knew who they wanted as a lead singer.

John “Woody” Mellor was the singer and guitarist in the successful local Pub Rock band The 101ers. When the Sex Pistols opened for them he knew the future was Punk Rock.

He changed his name to Joe Strummer.

Bernie asked Strummer to play with this new band and a day later he left The 101ers.

Then they finally got Terry Chimes, another unsuccessful London SS auditioner, on drums.

Paul Simonon was a novice bass player but he was also an artist and came up with The Clash name and logo and designed their paint-spattered clothes and stage backdrops.

After their sloppy debut opening for the Sex Pistols on the 4th of July in 1976 Bernie had the band locked away in rehearsals to tighten up for five weeks and told them to only write about issues that affected them and not love songs.

After a couple more shows Levene was fired and they became a four piece. A few years later he formed Public Image Limited with former Sex Pistol Johnny “Rotten” Lydon.

By early 1977 the music industry began to notice the undeniable Punk phenomenon and The Clash got signed to a huge deal with CBS Records which had a lot of their scene accuse them of selling out.

Even on their first album they were already exploring other forms of music such as Reggae and Joe Strummer loudly and proudly proclaimed his Left-Wing political ideologies.

Shortly after recording Terry Chimes quit and Nicky “Topper” Headon who had played with London SS for a week became their drummer.

Their follow up album did great in the UK but it was their third release, 1979’s double album, “London Calling” that really broke them in America.

On it they explored many different styles of music including Reggae, R&B, Rockabilly, and Ska.

They became known as, “The Only Band That Matters” and that success gave the band the nerve to inform their record company that they wanted to release one single every month. They were denied so they followed up a double album with a triple album and added even more styles and experimentation including something new called Rap.

Recorded during most of 1980 in New York, Jamaica, London, and Manchester, “Sandinista!” was named for the Left-Wing Nicaraguan rebels who had recently overthrown their country’s dictator.

Even though it was mostly critically acclaimed and did pretty well including selling better in the U.S. than in the U.K. it was often considered too ambitious and their weakest release by comparison.

However since then it’s been heralded as ahead of its time due in large part to The Clash’s introduction to various World Beat styles.

They followed this up with their most popular album, 1982’s “Combat Rock” which made them international superstars.

However they started disintegrating and soon they kicked out “Topper” Headon due to his substance abuse issues and then founder Mick Jones due to creative differences.

The band limped on for another poorly received album before breaking up.

Over the years some of the members had other successes with other projects and a few of them would play together here and there but that was it.

In November of 2002 when it was announced that The Clash would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 everybody really thought there could finally be a complete reunion at the ceremony.

Tragically Joe Strummer died of a congenital heart defect a month later and with him the promise of a return of The Only Band That Matters.