The Clash

Probably like most teen-agers of the early 1980s I became aware, and then hooked on, The Clash. I'm thinking about this as I bought their October 12, '82 Shea Stadium Live album - the band broke up two weeks later. Mick Jones, pictured with Sienna Miller, brought together the force of The Who and the humor of the New York Dolls - they played together that night in front of 50,000 fans who arrived early for the opening act. The Clash did not disappoint wearing army fatigues and playing their best: "Should I Stay Or Should I Go," "Rock The Casbah" and the song that put the capital forward: "London Calling" which begged for its relevancy during the malaise of the Cold War and nuclear over-hang. I remember a sunny April morning in '82 listening to "Straight To Hell, Boy" on the radio, jumping out of morning swim-practice then biking to school. My friend Aaron had listened to the same song post Crew and we discussed it during biology. The Clash played well at parties and perhaps the most famous that year was at the Elks Club in Berkeley where entrepreneurial hoodie Miles charged $7 for the kids to dance and booze. There were many Freshman first time drunks and we sweated our asses to Mick Jones and Joe Strummer. Magic.

Photo from metro.co.uk