THE CLASH - NORTH AND SOUTH

NORTH AND SOUTH

THE CLASH

SONGWRITERS: BERNARD RHODES & JOE STUMMER

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: CUT THE CRAP

LABEL: EPIC RECORDS

GENRE: PUNK

YEAR: 1985

 

       The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that emerged in the wake of punk and employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon.

       Headon left the group in 1982 due to internal friction surrounding his increasing heroin addiction. Further internal friction led to Jones' departure the following year. The group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986. The Clash achieved critical and commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their self-titled debut album, The Clash(1977) and their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope(1978). Their experimental third album, London Calling, released in the UK in December 1979, earned them popularity in the United States when it was released there the following month. A decade later, Rolling Stone named it the best album of the 1980s. Following continued musical experimentation on their fourth album, Sandinista!(1980), the band reached new heights of success with the release of Combat Rock(1982), which spawned the US top 10 hit "Rock the Casbah", helping the album to achieve a 2× Platinum certification there. A final album, Cut the Crap, was released in 1985 with a new lineup, and a few weeks later, the band broke up.

       In January 2003, shortly after the death of Joe Strummer, the band—including original drummer Terry Chimes—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Clash number 28 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

         Cut the Crap is the sixth and final studio album by the English punk band the Clash, released on 4 November 1985 by CBS Records. It was recorded in early 1985 at Weryton Studios, Munich, following a turbulent period: co-founder, lead guitarist and co-principal songwriter Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon had been dismissed by lead vocalist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon. Jones and Headon were replaced by three unknowns: guitarists Vince White and Nick Sheppard and drummer Pete Howard. During the tense recording sessions, Clash manager Bernie Rhodes and Strummer fought each other for control over the band's songwriting and musical direction.

       Strummer and Rhodes co-wrote most of the songs. During production, Rhodes took charge of the arrangements, track sequencing and the final mix. His production choices, which rely heavily on Strummer's preference for synthetic drum sounds and Rhodes' own inclusion of sampling, were widely derided. One writer described the album's sound as brash and seemingly "designed to sound hip and modern—'80s style!". Rhodes chose the album title, taken from a line in the 1981 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max 2. On release, Cut the Crap was maligned in the UK music press as "one of the most disastrous [albums] ever released by a major artist". Strummer disowned the album and dissolved the Clash within weeks of its release.

     The recording process and tension between Rhodes and Strummer left other band members disillusioned. White's and Sheppard's contributions are almost entirely absent in the final mix, and Howard was replaced by an electronic drum machine. Epic Records hoped the album would advance the Clash's success in the United States, and planned an expensive video for a lead single.

        The album was poorly received upon release, and is still generally regarded as the band's worst album; Strummer performed only one song from the album live during his solo career, and the album has been excluded altogether from most of the Clash's compilations and box sets. Some retrospective assessments have been more sympathetic; a number of critics and writers have praised Strummer's songwriting and vocal performance, especially on the tracks "This Is England", "Dirty Punk" and "Three Card Trick".

And so we say

We ain't got life

Don't want a cardboard cut-out

Don't want a plastic knife

 

Now I know, time can march

With it's chargin' feet

Now I know, words are only cheap

It's gonna be a burn out

All around this town

The South is up

But the North is down

 

There's gonna be a killin'

Of a woman and a man

Trying to feed that child

Without a coin in their hand

 

And so we say

Have you no use

For eight million hands

And the power of youth

 

Now I know, time can march

With it's chargin' feet

Now I know, words are only cheap

It's gonna be a burn out

All around this town

The South is up

But the North is down

 

There's gonna be a killin'

Of a woman and a man

Trying to feed that child

Without a coin in their hand

 

It's gonna be a burn out!

 

And so we say

We ain't diggin' no graves

We're diggin' a foundation

For a future to be made

 

Now I know, time can march

With it's chargin' feet

Now I know, words are only cheap

It's gonna be a burn out

All around this town

The South is up

But the North is down

 

There's gonna be a killin'

Of a woman and a man

Trying to feed that child

Without a coin in their hand

 

It's gonna be a burn out!