The Clash

The Clash were an English punk band formed in London in 1976, whose classic lineup consisted of Joe Strummer (born John Mellor) on vocals and rhythm guitar, Mick Jones on guitar, Paul Simonon on bass and Topper Headon (born Nicholas Headon) on drums, who at their peak were dubbed "The Only Band That Matters".
==Career==
===Formation===
The Clash formed in early 1976, initially inspired after Mick Jones had seen The Sex Pistols in concert, and immediately began looking to form a band. The first members who were recruited were bassist Paul Simonon, who Jones suggested he learn an instrument having previously known Simonon after he auditioned to be vocalist for Jones' previous band London SS but failed to make the cut, Keith Levine on guitar, and after a period of using whoever was available on drums they brought in Terry Chimes - who promptly quit the band anyway. However, what the band needed was a frontman, and at the encouragement of Levene, they approached Joe Strummer and invited him to join them from rehearsals, and afterwards was given 48 hours to decide if he wanted to join by the band's manager Bernard Rhodes. Within 24 hours, Strummer was on board.
On 26th August 1976 The Clash took part in what is now seen as a pivotal moment in the growing punk scene, a triple bill at Islington's The Screen on the Green headlined by The Sex Pistols with The Clash and Buzzcocks as the opening acts . However, during this time the band's lineup started to change, with guitarist Levene losing interest in the band and ultimately being fired by Strummer, while Chimes left the band and was replaced on drums by Rob Harper - only for Harper to leave and Chimes to be drafted back in for the recording of their debut album.
===Rise in Popularity===
The Clash wrote and recorded their self-titled debut album over the course of three weeks in February 1977 and reached No.12 in the UK album charts, being swiftly followed by their first single White Riot which reached No.23 in the UK singles chart. During the recording of the album, however, Terry Chimes left the band again and was replaced by Topper Headon, who Jones previously knew as Headon had been drummer of London SS for about a week before quitting, which explains both why the photo of the band used as the album artwork only features Strummer, Jones and Simonon as well as why Chimes was credited as "Tory Crimes" in the album's liner notes.
Having toured extensively, the band were soon back in the studio to record their follow up album Give 'Em Enough Rope which reached No.2 in the UK album charts afters its release in November 1978. In the wake of the album's release, however, Bernard Rhodes parted company with the band, feeling they were drifting away from their punk roots.
===Changing the Band's Style===
With the punk scene imploding, The Clash responded with the release of their seminal double album London Calling. Whereas their previous albums stuck very much with the punk aesthetic, London Calling saw the band draw on their wider array of influences, varying from rock n roll and rockabilly to rhythm and blues and reggae, which alleviated the writer's block that both Strummer and Jones had been suffering from in the wake of recording Give 'Em Enough Rope.
Initially the band was pitched as a double album, however label CBS refused - although they relented somewhat, allowing the band to include a free 12" single with the album which happened to be played at 33rpm, the rotation speed of a vinyl LP. The band, however, just recorded the second eight-track LP they always intended to on the assumption that CBS wouldn't find out. Soon the second LP was increased to nine tracks after a deal with British music publication NME to release the song Train in Vain as a free flexi disc fell through so they simply added the song to the end of the master tape, albeit being added to the album late so it wasn't included on the album track listing as the cover art had already been sent to the printers. Any worries the label may have had were soon allayed as the album was a critical and commercial success, reaching No.9 in the UK album charts and No.27 on the Billboard 200, being certified platinum by the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) and gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and was voted Album of the Year by Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll, while in an ironic twist Train in Vain became the band's first single to break the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States when it reached No.23 in the chart. In the wake of London Calling's success, the band started to be called "The Only Band That Matters" by the music press.
Having released a critically and commercially successful double album in 1979, the band returned in 1980 with the triple album Sandinista!, which was Strummer's way of getting back at CBS for getting cold feet at the thought of releasing a double album of London Calling yet having no qualms about releasing Bob Dylan's double album The River less than a year later, although because the band had a policy of releasing albums at a set price they did have to forgo royalties in order for the album to be released as intended. While not reaching the success of London Calling at home, reaching No.19 in the UK album charts and being classified silver by the BPI, in the United States Sandinista! reached No.24 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold.
Having toured extensively, the band released Combat Rock in 1982, which reached No.2 in the UK album charts and No.7 on the Billboard 200 and also led to two of the band's most iconic singles, Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go?, the former reaching No.6 on the Mainstream Rock charts and the latter becoming the band's only UK No.1 single in 1991 after it was used in a Levi's commercial, although this did lead to accusations of the band "selling out" in some corners of the press at the time. Ultimately, Combat Rock was the final album featuring the band's classic lineup, as Topper Headon was fired at the start of the subsequent tour due to his heroin addiction, with Terry Chimes returning to the fold for a third time for the tour.
===Disintegration, Disbandment, and Death of Joe Strummer===
By the end of the Combat Rock tour tensions within the band had grown to a head with Strummer and Jones butting heads, with Jones' lack of punctuality being a constant point of irritation for Strummer, while Chimes quit yet again due to the infighting. This was soon followed by an appearance at the Us Festival in San Bernardino, California, where the band butted heads with the festival's promoters and threatened to pull out of the show unless the promoters made a donation to local charities. Soon afterwards, Jones was fired by Strummer. Soon afterwards, Jones attempted to take ownership of the band's name.
Returning to the studio with the intention of recording a back-to-basics punk album, Strummer recruited Nick Sheppard and Vince White (born Greg White, who changed his name as Simonon said he didn't want to be in a band with somebody named "Greg") who had been dubbed "The Clash Mark II" in the music press and, in spite of the lineup changes, there was optimism for the upcoming album as the new lineup had proven themselves as a live band and debuted some of the new material at concerts. That optimism was dashed by the release of Cut the Crap to muted reviews and lackluster sales, with the album only reaching No.16 in the UK albums chart and No.88 on the Billboard 200. 
Production for the album was fraught from the beginning, with Strummer later admitting that it was recorded in part in an attempt to prove that Jones wasn't the only songwriter, with him making the fatal assumption that as long as he wrote the words anyone could write the music and assumed that new recruits would be up to the task. The project was further undermined by the production of Jose Unidos (really Bernard Rhodes under a pseudonym) who also made recording an unpleasant experience for the band, and further exacerbated problems by mixing the album without the band's input or consent and even going so far to exclude most of the band from the final recordings, most notably Simonon doesn't feature on the album at all with the basslines recorded by an uncredited Norman Watt-Roy.
Following the response to the album, and realising that the band could never be what they once were, Strummer decided to disband The Clash in October of 1986.
In spite of rumours of a potential reunion in the years that followed, especially after the 2002 announcement that The Clash would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, any chance of the band reforming were ended by Strummer's death on 22nd December 2002 of a congenital heart defect.
==Band Members==
*Joe Strummer - vocals, rhythm guitar (1976-86)
*Mick Jones - guitar, backing vocals (1976-83)
*Paul Simonon - bass (1976-86)
*Topper Headon - drums (1977-82)
*Terry Chimes - drums (1976, 1977, 1982-3)
*Nick Shepard - guitar (1983-6)
*Vince White - guitar (1983-6)
*Rob Harper - drums (1976-7)
*Keith Levene - guitar (1976)
==Discography==
The_Clash_self_titled.jpg|The Clash (1977)
Give_Em_Enough_Rope.jpg|Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978)
London_Calling.jpg|London Calling (1979)
Sandinista.jpg|Sandinista! (1980)
Combat_Rock.jpg|Combat Rock (1982)
Cut_the_Crap.jpg|Cut the Crap (1985)
==Trivia==
*Strummer, Jones and Simonon have small cameos in Martin Scorsese's 1983 film The King of Comedy.
*Having never appeared on long running British music show Top of the Pops during The Clash's career, Strummer finally appeared on the show in 1996, performing with Black Grape on their single England's Irie.
Category:English YouTubers
Category:Music YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2005
Category:American YouTubers