December 14, 1979 - The Clash and London Calling

Two weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when The Clash released their third album "London Calling" on December 14, 1979. I have only the title track off this album but it was a very successful single. But who are The Clash? They were a 4-piece punk rock band from London, England consisting of Topper Headon (drums, percussion), Paul Simonon (bass), Joe Strummer (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Mick Jones (lead guitar, vocals), not to be confused with Foreigner's guitarist Mick Jones. I am not a fan of The Clash really but as I like to say, this song is a good one. "London Calling" is driven by a simple but effective guitar riff by Jones while Simonon plays a pretty groovy bass line. Strummer and Jones sing the name of the song together and Strummer sings the verse by himself. He sounds very British and has a decent voice as he sings along. In the chorus we hear him say "I have no fear 'cause London is drowning and I live by the river". It's a nice bouncing beat that's very catchy and it's not surprising that this would become a big hit in the U.K. After another chorus Strummer let's out some high-pitched "oh oh oh!"s and Jones goes off for a short guitar solo that fits the mood nicely. They play out one final verse and at the end of the song we hear Jones play Morse code for SOS on his guitar as it fades out. An odd ending to a bit of an odd but pretty cool song. It's also the end of the decade as this is my last release this year and so begins the year-end wrap-up! A huge nose dive from recent years, I have only 5 full albums that came out this year. Good music is certainly declining as this decade has been progressing but 5 seems like a very small number. There was still some great stuff though!

Favourite song of the year: With much fewer releases this year, the choice becomes easier as I think "Comfortably Numb" was the best song this year. It sounds so epic and David Gilmour's guitar solos are amazing.

Top 3 Albums of the year

1. The Wall by Pink Floyd
2. In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin
3. Stormwatch by Jethro Tull

With 5 albums or less, a top 3 certainly seems more fitting and "The Wall" was easily the best album. Will there be more top 3's in the future? Tune in next decade to find out as we finally reach the dreaded 1980s!

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