296 Hello The Clash - White Riot

First  charted : 2  April  1977

Chart  peak : 38

Number  of  hits : 18

I  have  to  say  I've  never  been  entirely  convinced  by  the  claims  for  this  band's  greatness  but here  goes....

The  Clash  came  together  in    early  1976  after  the  dissolution  of  a  band  called  The  London  SS. Mick  Jones  a  Londoner  born  in  1955  was  their  guitarist  having  started  out  in  a  glam  rock  band  called  The  Delinquents. They  were  managed  by  a  friend  of  Malcolm  McLaren  called  Bernie  Rhodes  and  spent  most  of  their  short  existence  auditioning  for  new  members. Most  of  the  future  Clash  members  went  through  this  process  without  being  recruited. Jones  and  Rhodes  started  putting  a  new  band  together  after  seeing  The  Sex  Pistols  in  February  and  recruited  Paul  Simonon   ( born  1955 )  even  though  he  couldn't  play  anything  at  that  point. Another  guitarist  Keith  Levene  was  recruited  and  drummer  Terry  Chimes  ( born  1956 )  began  his  on/off  relationship  with  the  band. Paul  came  up  with  the  name.

They  were  still  looking  for  a  lead  singer  and  hatched  a  plan  to  lure  away  Joe  Strummer  from  a  pub  rock  outfit  The  101ers . Joe  Strummer  was  born  John  Mellor  in  1952 the  son  of  a  high  ranking  civil  servant  in  the  Foreign  Office, He  was  educated  at  a  public  school  and  after  a  spell  at  art  college  became  part  of  a  squatting  scene  in  West  London. The  101ers  were  formed  out  of  this  in  1974  and  became  a  tight  respected  R &  B  outfit  on  the  pub  rock  scene. Though  they  played  many  covers  Joe began  to  write  songs  including  the  only  single  released  in  their  lifetime  "Keys  To  Your  Heart "  a  fast, jangly  number  that's  closer  to  early  Police  than  Dr  Feelgood.

By  the  time  Chiswick  released  it  the  band  was  already  dead. Joe  was  approached   by  Mick  and  Bernie   after  a  gig  in  April  1976   where  the  Pistols  had  been  the  support  act. This  influenced  Joe's  decision  to  jump  ship. They  played  their  first  gig  supporting  the  Pistols  in  Sheffield, largely  to  pre-empt  rivals  The  Damned, and  were  shambolic  with  Paul's  bass-playing  still  at  a  rudimentary  stage. Bernie  told  them  they  had  to  get  tighter  before  performing  again. In  August  Joe  and  Paul  attended  the  Notting  Hill  Carnival  and  observed  the  violent  clashes  between  black  youths  and  the  police, an  event  that  directly  influenced  the  lyrics  to  "White  Riot".

Shortly  afterwards  Keith  was  fired  allegedly  because  he  was  over-using  speed  but  with  Joe  also  wanting  to  play  guitar  and  Keith  not  contributing  to  the  songwriting  he  was  the  obvious  one  to  be  offloaded. In  November  Terry  who  didn't  share  Joe's  neo-Marxist  worldview  left  of  his  own  accord. The  following  month  the  punk  scene  went  overground  with  the  Grundy  incident  and  the  new  bands  were  courted  by  the  major  labels.

The  Clash  signed  with  CBS  in  February  1977  , an  event  much  criticised  by  punk  purists  such  as  Mark  Perry  of  Sniffin  Glue . Although  he  hadn't  signed  the  contract  Terry  was  drafted  back  in  to  drum  on  their  first  recordings.

"White  Riot"  was  their  first  single. I'd  be  the  first  to  admit  that  I  have  little  time  for  the  public  school  left  of  which  Mr  Strummer  was  a  shining  example  and  a  song  which  patronisingly  praises  blacks  for  throwing  bricks  and  bemoans  the  lack  of  appetite  among  white  youths  for  doing  the  same  doesn't  float  my  boat .  "Nobody  wants  to  go  to  jail"  apparently ; I wonder  why  that  might  be ? Perhaps  if  you  don't  have  any  expectation  of  a  comfortable  inheritance  from  your  parents  you'd  be  a   bit  concerned  about  your  future  job  prospects ? Musically  it's  as  basic  as  they  come,  a  sub-two  minute  Ramones  thrash  that    later  so  embarrassed  Mick  that   he  insisted  they  drop  it  from  the  set. With  its  barked  moronic  chorus  it  unwittingly  put  down  the  template  for  a  whole  slew  of  under-talented  "punk"  acts  over  the  next  few  years  from  The  UK  Subs   with  their  geriatric  lead  singer  Charlie  Harper  to  the  reviled  Oi  bands  of  the  early  eighties. The  Clash  would  of  course   go  on  to  make  much  better  records  than  this.