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!
Postagens
