Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Clash clash clash. ¡VIVAN LOS NORTEAMERICANOS DEL IMCT Y LAS BRIGADAS DEL CADILLAC NUEVO!

What is the worst Clash song?

Lover's Rock
3
7%
Junkie Slip
4
9%
Stop the World
4
9%
Look Here
4
9%
First Night Back In London
6
13%
Cool Confusion
8
18%
Hitsville UK
8
18%
Ivan Meets GI Joe
2
4%
Crooked Beat
2
4%
Other (please state)
4
9%
 
Total votes: 45

Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Kory »

FNBIL benefits greatly by being an album track on Rat Patrol, although I already liked it anyway.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Jimmy Jazz
User avatar
Graffiti Bandit Pioneer
Posts: 1552
Joined: 16 Jun 2008, 6:40pm

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Jimmy Jazz »

The Crooked Beat and Look Here are really the only two Clash songs I always skip. And since Look Here is a cover and doesn’t have dreadful vocals, I voted for that crooked, crooked.. BEAT! 🤮

JennyB
User avatar
Mossad Van Driver
Posts: 22257
Joined: 16 Jun 2008, 1:13pm
Location: Moranjortsville

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by JennyB »

I like Hitsville. Shrug.
Got a Rake? Sure!

IMCT: Inane Middle-Class Twats - Dr. M

" *sigh* it's right when they throw the penis pump out the window." -Hoy

Flex
User avatar
Mechano-Man of the Future
Posts: 35802
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:50pm
Location: The Information Superhighway!

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Flex »

i like all these songs now, i think. i'm getting soft.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

matedog
User avatar
Purveyor of Hoyistic Thought
Posts: 25804
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: 1995

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by matedog »

Kory wrote:
09 Aug 2021, 3:07pm
FNBIL benefits greatly by being an album track on Rat Patrol, although I already liked it anyway.
There's a bunch of shit on Combat Rock that is elevated by the weirdness of it that the b-sides miss out on, so I can def see your point.
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

matedog
User avatar
Purveyor of Hoyistic Thought
Posts: 25804
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: 1995

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by matedog »

JennyB wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 12:40pm
I like Hitsville. Shrug.
The first ten seconds or so are great, but the rest of the song always seemed like they were reaching a little beyond their songwriting/arranging skillset. There's a basis for a great song, but the execution falls short and the lack of...arrangement? really brings the song down for me. Once it gets going, it just never really develops.
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115989
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Dr. Medulla »

matedog wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 1:42pm
JennyB wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 12:40pm
I like Hitsville. Shrug.
The first ten seconds or so are great, but the rest of the song always seemed like they were reaching a little beyond their songwriting/arranging skillset. There's a basis for a great song, but the execution falls short and the lack of...arrangement? really brings the song down for me. Once it gets going, it just never really develops.
I don't dislike it by any means, but for something namechecking Motown, it lacks any of Motown's spirit. Not unlike Phil Collins' abusive cover.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Kory
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 17319
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 1:42pm
Location: In the Discosphere

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Kory »

matedog wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 1:42pm
JennyB wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 12:40pm
I like Hitsville. Shrug.
The first ten seconds or so are great, but the rest of the song always seemed like they were reaching a little beyond their songwriting/arranging skillset. There's a basis for a great song, but the execution falls short and the lack of...arrangement? really brings the song down for me. Once it gets going, it just never really develops.
It would be infinitely better without the glock playing the melody in unison with Mick and Ellen. It makes it sound like a kid's song. They should have kept that instrument to the instrumental hook section like in "It's the Same Old Song" by Four Tops. And louder guitar stabs.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Heston
User avatar
God of Thunder...and Rock 'n Roll
Posts: 38356
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: North of Watford Junction

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Heston »

Kory wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 3:21pm
matedog wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 1:42pm
JennyB wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 12:40pm
I like Hitsville. Shrug.
The first ten seconds or so are great, but the rest of the song always seemed like they were reaching a little beyond their songwriting/arranging skillset. There's a basis for a great song, but the execution falls short and the lack of...arrangement? really brings the song down for me. Once it gets going, it just never really develops.
It would be infinitely better without the glock playing the melody in unison with Mick and Ellen. It makes it sound like a kid's song. They should have kept that instrument to the instrumental hook section like in "It's the Same Old Song" by Four Tops. And louder guitar stabs.
Agreed. Also Mick's vocal is pretty superfluous. Maybe a better arranged harmony part would have been better
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Marky Dread
User avatar
Messiah of the Milk Bar
Posts: 58886
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 11:26am

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Marky Dread »

Heston wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 3:49pm
Kory wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 3:21pm
matedog wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 1:42pm
JennyB wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 12:40pm
I like Hitsville. Shrug.
The first ten seconds or so are great, but the rest of the song always seemed like they were reaching a little beyond their songwriting/arranging skillset. There's a basis for a great song, but the execution falls short and the lack of...arrangement? really brings the song down for me. Once it gets going, it just never really develops.
It would be infinitely better without the glock playing the melody in unison with Mick and Ellen. It makes it sound like a kid's song. They should have kept that instrument to the instrumental hook section like in "It's the Same Old Song" by Four Tops. And louder guitar stabs.
Agreed. Also Mick's vocal is pretty superfluous. Maybe a better arranged harmony part would have been better
Could've been so much better without Ellen. That's not a put down of Ellen's vocal but it's just not needed here as it sounds too sweet. A double tracked Mick or even Joe's gruff vocal recorded behind Mick in the mix would've given the track so much more edge. That glock is mixed way too high.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

laxman
User avatar
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 3737
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 6:05pm

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by laxman »

I think I have posted this before but Danny Boyle likes it;

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... 04-130119/

Heston
User avatar
God of Thunder...and Rock 'n Roll
Posts: 38356
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: North of Watford Junction

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Heston »

Marky Dread wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 4:11pm
Heston wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 3:49pm
Kory wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 3:21pm
matedog wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 1:42pm
JennyB wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 12:40pm
I like Hitsville. Shrug.
The first ten seconds or so are great, but the rest of the song always seemed like they were reaching a little beyond their songwriting/arranging skillset. There's a basis for a great song, but the execution falls short and the lack of...arrangement? really brings the song down for me. Once it gets going, it just never really develops.
It would be infinitely better without the glock playing the melody in unison with Mick and Ellen. It makes it sound like a kid's song. They should have kept that instrument to the instrumental hook section like in "It's the Same Old Song" by Four Tops. And louder guitar stabs.
Agreed. Also Mick's vocal is pretty superfluous. Maybe a better arranged harmony part would have been better
Could've been so much better without Ellen. That's not a put down of Ellen's vocal but it's just not needed here as it sounds too sweet. A double tracked Mick or even Joe's gruff vocal recorded behind Mick in the mix would've given the track so much more edge. That glock is mixed way too high.
Totally agree Joe and/or Mick in a proper arrangement and a different key would have been better. The recorded version has been arranged to suit Ellen's voice and it's just not the kind of key Mick usually sings in. He's singing it too low making it sound superfluous, almost like a guide vocal that leaked through.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

matedog
User avatar
Purveyor of Hoyistic Thought
Posts: 25804
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: 1995

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by matedog »

Heston wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 4:24pm
Marky Dread wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 4:11pm
Heston wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 3:49pm
Kory wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 3:21pm
matedog wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 1:42pm


The first ten seconds or so are great, but the rest of the song always seemed like they were reaching a little beyond their songwriting/arranging skillset. There's a basis for a great song, but the execution falls short and the lack of...arrangement? really brings the song down for me. Once it gets going, it just never really develops.
It would be infinitely better without the glock playing the melody in unison with Mick and Ellen. It makes it sound like a kid's song. They should have kept that instrument to the instrumental hook section like in "It's the Same Old Song" by Four Tops. And louder guitar stabs.
Agreed. Also Mick's vocal is pretty superfluous. Maybe a better arranged harmony part would have been better
Could've been so much better without Ellen. That's not a put down of Ellen's vocal but it's just not needed here as it sounds too sweet. A double tracked Mick or even Joe's gruff vocal recorded behind Mick in the mix would've given the track so much more edge. That glock is mixed way too high.
Totally agree Joe and/or Mick in a proper arrangement and a different key would have been better. The recorded version has been arranged to suit Ellen's voice and it's just not the kind of key Mick usually sings in. He's singing it too low making it sound superfluous, almost like a guide vocal that leaked through.
He just does an octave harmony right? A more interesting harmony would have been better. I like Kory's suggestion on the glock melody too.

A lot of S! suffers from being undercooked from the arrangements to the structures to Topper's drumming. I love the album, but it had more potential than its exectuion.
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

Heston
User avatar
God of Thunder...and Rock 'n Roll
Posts: 38356
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: North of Watford Junction

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Heston »

matedog wrote:
11 Aug 2021, 4:59pm
He just does an octave harmony right? A more interesting harmony would have been better.
Yeah and it adds nothing. There is a close vocal harmony on there but Ellen does it. A better arrangement would have seen Mick and Ellen harmonising instead.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Heston
User avatar
God of Thunder...and Rock 'n Roll
Posts: 38356
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: North of Watford Junction

Re: Friday Poll Thread #3 - Worst Clash Song

Post by Heston »

One thing that's always bugged me about Hitsville. On the lyric sheet it says "it's fast rough factory trade", but it sounds nothing like "trade" on the recording. Sounds more like "time" to me. Which doesn't really make any sense.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Post Reply