Originally released in May 1982, ‘Combat Rock’ is the final album from
The Clash of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. Featuring
two of the band’s most well-known songs, ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’
and ‘Rock The Casbah’, plus favourites ‘Straight To Hell’ and ‘Know
Your Rights’, it is both their biggest selling album and highest charting set
in both the UK and US.
Now comes a special edition of the album, titled ‘Combat Rock/The
People’s Hall’, which will be released on May 20th. It couples the album
with an additional 12-tracks compiled by The Clash.
Having returned to London following their pivotal 17-show residency at New
York’s Bond’s Casino in 1981, the band rehearsed and recorded at The
People’s Hall in the squatted Republic of Frestonia near Latimer Road in
London and from there they embarked on a tour of the East and South East Asia,
during which the album sleeve image was captured by Pennie Smith in
Thailand.
The tracks on ‘The People’s Hall’ chart the period from what was their
last single Radio Clash right up to the release of Combat Rock, including
unheard, rare and early versions of tracks.
The disc highlights a new version of ‘Know Your Rights’ which was recorded
at The People’s Hall on the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, and the previously
unreleased instrumental ‘He Who Dares Or Is Tired’. Other notable tracks
include ‘Futura 2000’, an unreleased original mix of ‘The Escapades of
Futura 2000’, Mikey Dread’s ‘Radio One’, and the outtakes ‘The Fulham
Connection’, previously known as ‘The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too’ as
well as ‘Idle in Kangaroo Court’.
‘Combat Rock’ is indicative of The Clash’s constant evolution and was
influenced in part by the relatively recent end of the Vietnam War, particularly
on ‘Sean Flynn’, inspired by the disappearance of the photojournalist and
film star’s son. The band’s curiosity and range is illustrated by the many
styles and voices here, notably poet Allen Ginsberg’s apocalyptic spoken
word on ‘Ghetto Defendant’ and graffiti artist Futura’s rap on
‘Overpowered By Funk’.
The Clash’s influence on punk, post-punk and indie rock is well documented
and ‘Combat Rock’ specifically continues to inspire waves of rediscovery
from new audiences, most notably with the use of ‘Should I Stay Or Should
I Go’ as a prominent plot device in the first season of the Netflix smash
‘Stranger Things’. Meanwhile, ‘Straight To Hell’ remains instantly
recognizable having been used in ‘Paper Planes’ by M.I.A.