When you've committed to trying anything, it sure helps to have a drummer who can play ANYTHING! Topper, man!

You are correct to call out Topper Headon on drums. One of the best drummers of all time. For "Rock the Casbah" Topper wrote it, played all the instruments, put the ball in the net.

I love the way Joe and Mick take turns singing and sing some parts together. It feels really clever the way both of their voices are used. I especially like how Mick sings the verses, he's got great energy.

Around the time this came out, The Specials were opening for The Clash and had the same manager, and The Specials were at the spearhead of 2nd Wave ska. This was really where punk and ska were starting to converge.

Rudie= Rude Boy, Jamaican slang for gangsta, bad boy UK Punk and Reggae were always quite closely intertwined, at the early Punk gigs there wasn’t enough punk music around to play in between bands so was mixed in with Reggae and Ska, Also Rock Against Racism was a big movement around at the time with both Punk and Reggae bands coming together on the same bill, The Clash were a West London band which had a big Afro Caribbean population so it’s natural that they were influenced by the sound systems around them

A "Rudie" is a "Rude Boy", English born Jamaican immigrants. The Clash and many other English punk bands were fans of reggae and Jamaican culture.

This one, and "Guns of Brixton" were the lullabies I sang to my daughters when they were tiny things. They both turned out A-OK. BTW - Justin, you'll LOVE Black Market Clash as it's very ska/reggae/dub driven.

The 19 bus ran from Battersea to Finsbury park where Wessex Recording studio was located. Born For A Purpose and Chicken Skin Suit are reggae songs by Dr Alimantado.

This is among my many favorite Clash songs. The pork pie hat was a short flat topped had with a wide brim that was comparable to a pie tin, favored by the ska and punk crowds. The Clash had a great ear for everything in the mix around them, and pulled it all into their music.

Their third album and songs like this prove they were well on their way to moving past their "Punk" origins. There were plenty of "Punk" songs on the album, but songs like this too. They were a very creative band. I've always thought of them as The Beatles of Punk.

"Know Your Rights" is like ska and rockabilly had a baby.

Early ska actually dates back to the 1960s; In the late 70s/early 80s there was a huge ska movement in the UK (The Specials, The Beat, Madness...), influential to this day, in this is reflected also in the music The Clash wouldbe listening to at that time.

Brew isn’t beer, it’s Irn Bru. The market is probably Nags Head on Seven Sisters.

RUDIE is a reference to the clash film Rude Boy

Loving your work young man having recently discovered your channel. With the Clash, think you need to do a reaction vid to 'White man in Hammersmith Palais', their classic punk/reggae crossover.

One of my favorite songs off this album..

SKA. The Specials were being played in Rock/Punk Clubs in NYC/NJ in 1979/80,,,,,

The Clash was seriously reggae and funk and rock and punk. I grew up with them! Brilliant!

I love SKA too. I wouldn't have ever heard the genre if I hadn't been 12-13 years old in 1982/83 and exposed to bands on MTV along with British shows like The Young Ones (whose musical guests often included bands like Madness, Amazulu, etc. Jones and Strummer also did music for the soundtrack to Sid and Nancy in 1986. That film gives you a good sense of what the punk scene was like then - you see these groups of kids developing street fashion (almost like gangs) around that music. Funny story -- John (Rotten) Lydon was at a theater in NYC in 2017 doing a Q&A for the documentary "The Public Image is Rotten." and someone outside the theater tried to get him to sign the Sid and Nancy Soundtrack album. He was pissed, and rightly so, because he famously didn't like the film ( it's a great film, he just doesn't like how it portrays Sid Vicious.) AND he has nothing to do with the music of the film which, as said, was primarily done by Strummer and Jones of The Clash. The soundtrack album doesn't contain any Sex Pistols songs except for My Way as performed by Vicious himself as a solo artist. Lydon refused to sign it and pointed out he's not even on this album. LOL

Justin, 1979 was the peak year for the new wave of British ska. The Specials, The Beat, Madness, The Selecter. We're talking mainstream chart success. Since I'm here, I'd like to suggest Mirror In The Bathroom by The Beat (or English Beat as you Muricans called them). It's a glistening, slippery wonder of a tune.

Out here in Berkeley there’s a diner called Rudie’s Can’t Fail Cafe.

Can't wait for you to hear the rest of this awesome album Justin!!!!😀

I remember my first “rudie can’t fail.” For anyone attempting not to move while listening good luck to ya! Best not to drive or operate heavy machinery while listening because of all the dancing that will ensue!

WOW. Joe Strummer left us 20 years ago in December.

It’s the greatest album of all time. If I had to pick only one, this lp gives me the most joy :)

About five years ago there was a charming little coming-of-age flick about a teenaged English boy who befriends Joe Strummer just as The Clash become recognised as "the only band that matters". I love this movie and highly recommend it to you. It makes one glad to be a human being. Rhys-Meyers is electrifying as Strummer.

Rudie means a "rude boy" which was a term for hip young guys in Jamaica and England. Something like that. So I think the Clash relates themselves and their fans and peers to Rudie.

London has always had a large population of immigrants from the Caribbean and their influence has been a secret undercurrent in British music since the 20s. Ska and reggae were popular with young kids in the 60s in England when The Clash were growing up so they would've been influenced by it. Their first album was produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry and they covered Junior Murvin's reggae classic Police and Thieves on it. Also when he sings "speckless," he means perfectly clean, spotless. It has nothing to do with glasses.

Rudy, Tootie, fresh and groovy! Have a brew, and get all loosey-goosey. Clash with authority, there is no choosing. Have another brew, pick a fight or two. It's everyday news, that's the 'Clash' thing! Peace mon.

It's Saturday and The Clash have made me ready for anything!

The Specials - "Message to You, Rudie." (A rudie is a "rude boy", petty gangster.

The Clash "Train In Vain" & "Lost In The Supermarket"...Nuff Said.

I love this album 🙂

love it

Great tune. They were big reggae fans, and dabbled with it several times. And did it well. Though known as a 'punk band' it's only their debut that's really punk, they had many more strings to their bow. Well that's side 1 done, onto side 2 next, always my fave. *Speaking of punk, don't forget CRASS JP, now you've dipped your toe in the water. Bloody Revolutions, well worth a listen. They'd evolved by this, were more sophisticated. Also, you'll be glad to know, NO swearing, it'll spare your blushes.

The band That matters

I can fail but I'm getting good at it.

My favourite band of all time and my favourite song of all time is COMPLETE CONTROL

I love the crafty bass line.

On the route of the 19 bus! One of the best songs on the album.

There's a lot of crossover between punk and ska. Ska had a big revival in the late 1970s, at the height of the punk scene, and the two styles worked very well together. Another great band to mix ska and punk is The Specials - their first album is very much worth a listen (especially the songs "Gangsters" and "Message to you Rudy" - as other said, a rude-boy or rudie was originally a Jamaican youth in the UK and after that any fan of ska).

You think London Calling is diverse; wait til you get to Sandinista!

‘Feckless’ is not a curse word but it is only ever applied to poor people. So, yes, it is a harsh word. The feckless poor. It reinforces the status quo - rich people are rich because they’re clever and work hard but you’re poor because you’re stupid, lazy, and idle. It’s a loaded word in English.

I’ve still got the London calling cassette I bought back in 82 as a teenage punk. I’ve been a rudeboy ever since and I’ve still got a pair of ten hole Doc martens and go to ska gigs

Great album , every track

I replayed that beginning part about 7 times.

10/10 on the Porkpie Hat scale.

Check out Bob Marley calling out the Clash and other Punk bands on his song Punky Reggae Party, he was acknowledging the Punk Rock movement and the intersection of the music with Jamaican music..

This double album doesn't have a weak track on it. Having said that, it's the intangibles that make it a landmark album; the loosey, goosey delivery in the lyrics to this song you can't put on paper. Great upload and comments.

RUDE BOY!

The Clash supremacy!

Rudie Can't Fail" praises the rude boys of Jamaica in the 1960s who challenged their elders' status quo. The song is about a fun-loving young man who is criticised by his elders for not acting as a responsible adult, drinking beer at breakfast,[3] and describe him as being "so crude and feckless", to which he responds "I know that my life make you nervous, but I tell you I can't live in service."[2] The song's title derives from Desmond Dekker's 1967 song "007 (Shanty Town)", and is in homage to Ray Gange, who had portrayed a roadie who quits his job to follow the Clash around in the 1980 film Rude Boy.[4] Rudie Can't Fail was the working title of a planned second movie for which The Clash would provide the soundtrack.[5] Reference is made also to Dr Alimantado, in the line "Like the doctor who was born for a purpose".[6] The line "You're looking pretty smart in your chicken skin suit", may refer to Alimantado's debut album, Best Dressed Chicken in Town.

SUCH a great album, I’ll say it again: it ought to have been your 25K target, not Tommy!

London Calling and Sandinista (mostly) are fire! 🔥

I always thought feckless meant the person didn't have a feck to give. Great song, great album...etc.

Ska is from the 50's

Check out Hateful.,. similar vibe.

Great song great in concert at shea station we now that I show live they ska music they were part of the the 1979 are of groups like bad manners and English beat and special

I appreciated hearing this as it confirmed my reticence at the time was not due to superfluous circumstances of fashion victimisation. Try “Misty in Roots live in 1979” or Doll by Doll’s “Remember”. Commercially they failed. Sonically they triumphed. JP has flown the nest. We can write anyffink we wanna🦆🥟Cornish Pasties are Yummy

Don't know if you've had the pleasure yet, but listen to their album Sandanista. I love London Calling but unfortunately, in my opinion, Sandanista's greatness and the fact it's a triple album are overshadowed by LC.

It has a '60's sound to it. :)

I never really got into The Clash, being put off by Strummer's singing voice, but there's no denying that this is a quality album.

Best rock album of all time. Such a great fusion of musical styles. Great reaction, JP! Love this channel...

Important to remember that ska actually predates reggae.

I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer, then, I put it back… sorry Jim.

London's calling strangely voted best Rock Album of the 80's in the USA............have to agree...maybe this album was released in the states early 1980, but they know their stuff....this album is eclectic and ground breaking and diverse...no pigeon hole for the Clash.

This song was mocking the ska music revival, which was prevalent in the UK in 1979. People don't look cool in a pork pie hat. Spot on, Joe !

_Absolutely_ ska.

Sorry, but one of my lovely Clashs.

Isn't this rocksteady? I'm pretty sure ska is quite faster than the rhythm this song has. Reggae is the slowest, ska is the fastest and rocksteady is somewhere in-between. Anyway, great track from a great album!

Dude, *speckless* means extremely clean, sharp and well-presented - ie there's not so much as a speck of dust.

Worst song on the album?

punk reggae ska the clash R.I.P Joe Strummer