The aim of this site is first and foremost to provide a kind of compressed history lesson about modern rock. By choosing only one song from an artist on this site I am saying one of two things (or in some cases, both)—1) “This song best defines this band, which is important because this band was seminal to the history of rock” or 2) “This song actually transcends the artists who made it; the song is so great or influential that the band becomes secondary.” The second point is usually the domain of the dreaded “one-hit wonder” whereas the first point is typically the domain of the established Icons.
I bring this up as a sort of preface—not only for this individual post but for the site as a whole—because The Clash represents my first real conundrum to the question of which single song best encompasses their importance to modern rock.[1]
If you were to play a band-song association game in which someone names a band and you have to say the first song that comes to your mind, The Clash would most likely generate “Train In Vain,” “London Calling,” “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” “Rock The Casbah,” or “I Fought The Law.” And any of those would be fine answers. Truth be told, this post was originally supposed to be about “London Calling” before I changed my mind to “Train In Vain.” Then I changed my mind one last time to “(White Man In) Hammersmith Palais.” Here is why I ultimately picked this song for this site.
“(White Man In) Hammersmith Palais” is one of the best displays of how eclectic The Clash could be. As I wrote a couple years ago when reviewing The Clash’s debut album, this song “effortlessly shifts from rock to ska and back again and even includes a harmonica solo, all while never losing its punk aesthetic.” And nearly two and a half years later I cannot summarize this song any better than that. It is a perfect microcosm for how talented The Clash truly were. It can act as a song that connects the dots between The Clash, Give ‘Em Enough Rope, London Calling, and Sandanista!.
Whereas The Ramones emphasized the “rock” part and The Sex Pistols emphasized the “punk” part of punk rock The Clash seemed to revel in deconstructing both. And they were able to do this because they were not a true-to-form punk band: they were masters of punk elements but they were not an all-out punk band, despite what their most ardent fans believe. This is important to keep in mind because The Clash feel so much like a true-to-form punk band. And therein lies the rub.
Real punk bands do not produce songs like “(White Man In) Hammersmith Palais” or albums like London Calling. Real punk bands have a limited shelf life and rely too much on transient crowds of disaffected youth. Real punk music is extremely cliquish, just like its offspring gangsta rap. What The Clash did was expand the boundaries of punk by infusing ska, rockabilly, and, sometimes, pianos and harmonicas.[2] And in the process they created for us an image of what “real” punk rock should sound like.
Because most of us as we grow older can see right through the all-angry-all-the-time transparency of real punk rock, we are taken back by things like the harmonica solo in “(White Man In) Hammersmith Palais.” It adds a dimension to the song that we non-punkers can look at and marvel at its placement.
While no one can diminish the significance of The Ramones or The Sex Pistols (or even The Replacements) to the punk rock genre The Clash exist on their own plane when it comes to the history of the genre. And just as anyone can make a solid counter-argument that “London Calling” or “I Fought The Law” should belong here on this list, I feel that “(White Man In) Hammersmith Palais” does the best job of succinctly displaying the genius (and musical range) of The Clash as both a band and as an idea.
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[1] And I say that this acts as a preface for the site as a whole because I will being facing future conundrums when it comes time to pick one song that best encompasses The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, etc.
[2] This is not to say that The Clash did these things first, they just did them better than anyone else. In many respects The Clash really are The Beatles of punk music—namely, that they are progenitors of countless adoring artists who want to sound like them, and that they are technically mislabeled. Just as The Clash is not a true-to-form punk band The Beatles are not a true-to-form rock band (if anything, they are really more of a pop-rock band). But because they embody everything we identify with as being a punk band or a rock band, they are automatically cast as such.
