Let us reflect: Listening to The Clash

[Vimmattu]

My first exposure to the Clash that I am aware of, is hearing This Is England on radio in a bus on a sunny and warm autumn day. That must be September / October 85 right around the time of the single release date. I was a kid then, the song didn't make any impression what so ever and I didn't know shit about the band. I also probably confused them with Cure (the letter C).

B.A.D. and TIBAD I remember emerging. They got some press and TV coverage up here in the summer of 86. I think I was somehow interested in the concept of mixing rock and dance music. I also remember the colourful look of the promo shots.

Later on a mate had a vinyl copy of Combat Rock. It sounded weird. I remember liking a song or two, Rock The Casbah probably being one.

Sometime early 1990s I remember hearing London Calling.

1996 I bought a tape of Combat Rock when travelling in Indonesia. The music and cover suited the scenery quite nicely.

By coincidence on my next trip to South East Asia, to the Philippines in 1999, I listened to London Calling a lot. It sounded fresh and made perfect sense then. I bought the CD (the original CD master, not the 99 remaster) after returning home. BTW I still love LC.

2001 I was completely hooked to the band after seeing The Westway To The World. I started buying the records and reading the books etc. Last Gang In Town I think was the first piece I read that summer. After first reading it was actually more confusing than revealing.

Early spring 2007 I found the Satch's Forum. Inder had just uploaded the Nov. 83 demos.

[Mattzzini]

My first clash-experience was hearing SISOSIG but when i discovered them it was because i listened to the swedish band called Ebba Gron and they were called "Swedens The Clash" therefore i bought London Calling in about 2006 (13 years old) and i discovered the best band in the world

[qmdono]

The first time I listened to the clash would be in December of 2006 I was on pandora and the live version of complete control from here to eternity came on. I was blown away by it and couldn't believe this was the same band who made rock the casbah. I was sixteen at the time and had only heard their songs on the radio , I bought London calling first then eventually bought their whole discography except cut the crap in early 2007. later in October of 2007 I found this forum by typing Clash bootlegs in google.

[JoseUnidos]

My first listening experience was hearing the promo for London Calling on the local rock station, then SISOSIG on top 40.

[Kory]

For me it was 1996 and US S/T. I had previously been into SoCal skate punk like NOFX and Pennywise (hey, I was 13), and wanted to check out what many thought of as the original stuff. Right from Mick's "whoa"s in CCR, I was on board.

[tepista]

My first exposure was sometime in 78/79 (can't remember exactly) when my oldest brother started bringing punk music into the house on these skinny round black things called record albums. I kept hearing this awesome sound coming out of the long rectangular high-tech record player that doubled as a piece of furniture. After much investigating and long hours spent memorizing the inner sleeve, I was hooked. Complete Control got my attention; White Man got me hooked...forever.

My story is similar to that with 2 exceptions. One, it was a bit later with London Calling as my sibs weren't so cool that they bought imports, and two, we had an 8 track player. Of course with the instant love of LC, we quickly bought Rope, and I'm pretty sure s/t never had an 8 track release, I think we had to wait til the turntable got repaired.

[7inchatlanta]

I heard Combat Rock first and thought "Straight to Hell" was amazing. This was when I was about 15. I went from a surburban kid loving Lynyrd Skynyrd to a punk enthusiast within a few months.

[msza]

My junior year of high school, 2002, a friend and I went to visit his girlfriend at college. On the drive up, we smoked some weed he had bought from a crack house earlier that day. After smoking, we realized the weed had crack in it -- I guess we shouldnt have been too shocked. We got to his girlfriends, high on weed and crack, then drank a shitload of vodka. We went to some dance party, at which point I wandered off, blacked out, and woke up in some random dorm laundry room with a bunch of stolen CDs in my pocket, including the Gorillaz, Nelly Furtado, and Combat Rock by the Clash, among a couple others. I then proceeded to fall in love with Know Your Rights.

Yes, this is a true story.

[Heston]

My junior year of high school, 2002, a friend and I went to visit his girlfriend at college. On the drive up, we smoked some weed he had bought from a crack house earlier that day. After smoking, we realized the weed had crack in it -- I guess we shouldnt have been too shocked. We got to his girlfriends, high on weed and crack, then drank a shitload of vodka. We went to some dance party, at which point I wandered off, blacked out, and woke up in some random dorm laundry room with a bunch of stolen CDs in my pocket, including the Gorillaz, Nelly Furtado, and Combat Rock by the Clash, among a couple others. I then proceeded to fall in love with Know Your Rights.

Yes, this is a true story.

That's the kinda story I like!

That's a pretty good introduction to the Clash...

[eumaas]

My junior year of high school, 2002, a friend and I went to visit his girlfriend at college. On the drive up, we smoked some weed he had bought from a crack house earlier that day. After smoking, we realized the weed had crack in it -- I guess we shouldnt have been too shocked. We got to his girlfriends, high on weed and crack, then drank a shitload of vodka. We went to some dance party, at which point I wandered off, blacked out, and woke up in some random dorm laundry room with a bunch of stolen CDs in my pocket, including the Gorillaz, Nelly Furtado, and Combat Rock by the Clash, among a couple others. I then proceeded to fall in love with Know Your Rights.

Yes, this is a true story.

That's the kinda story I like!

That's a pretty good introduction to the Clash...

Are you condoning drug use? Naughty!

[Heston]

My junior year of high school, 2002, a friend and I went to visit his girlfriend at college. On the drive up, we smoked some weed he had bought from a crack house earlier that day. After smoking, we realized the weed had crack in it -- I guess we shouldnt have been too shocked. We got to his girlfriends, high on weed and crack, then drank a shitload of vodka. We went to some dance party, at which point I wandered off, blacked out, and woke up in some random dorm laundry room with a bunch of stolen CDs in my pocket, including the Gorillaz, Nelly Furtado, and Combat Rock by the Clash, among a couple others. I then proceeded to fall in love with Know Your Rights.

Yes, this is a true story.

That's the kinda story I like!

That's a pretty good introduction to the Clash...

Are you condoning drug use? Naughty!

It was the bit about waking up in a laundry hamper that tickled me.

[eumaas]

My junior year of high school, 2002, a friend and I went to visit his girlfriend at college. On the drive up, we smoked some weed he had bought from a crack house earlier that day. After smoking, we realized the weed had crack in it -- I guess we shouldnt have been too shocked. We got to his girlfriends, high on weed and crack, then drank a shitload of vodka. We went to some dance party, at which point I wandered off, blacked out, and woke up in some random dorm laundry room with a bunch of stolen CDs in my pocket, including the Gorillaz, Nelly Furtado, and Combat Rock by the Clash, among a couple others. I then proceeded to fall in love with Know Your Rights.

Yes, this is a true story.

That's the kinda story I like!

That's a pretty good introduction to the Clash...

Are you condoning drug use? Naughty!

It was the bit about waking up in a laundry hamper that tickled me.

It sounded like a Dylan Christmas Party.
http://clashcity.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4703

[Dr. Medulla]

My junior year of high school, 2002, a friend and I went to visit his girlfriend at college. On the drive up, we smoked some weed he had bought from a crack house earlier that day. After smoking, we realized the weed had crack in it -- I guess we shouldnt have been too shocked. We got to his girlfriends, high on weed and crack, then drank a shitload of vodka. We went to some dance party, at which point I wandered off, blacked out, and woke up in some random dorm laundry room with a bunch of stolen CDs in my pocket, including the Gorillaz, Nelly Furtado, and Combat Rock by the Clash, among a couple others. I then proceeded to fall in love with Know Your Rights.

Yes, this is a true story.

That's the kinda story I like!

That's a pretty good introduction to the Clash...

Are you condoning drug use? Naughty!

It was the bit about waking up in a laundry hamper that tickled me.

That's a mighty big picnic fantasy, Limey …

[gkbill]

Hello,

Damn, I'm old. My first Clash experience was when the S/T came out - all my friends were "I fought the law" while I was "Complete Control". "I fought the law" was too easy to get behind - too much sloganeering (new word) - I liked that "Complete Control" took some effort to support - although not much effort on my part.

I'm trying to understand people who learned to like the Clash post 1981.

[101Walterton]

Hello,

Damn, I'm old. My first Clash experience was when the S/T came out - all my friends were "I fought the law" while I was "Complete Control". "I fought the law" was too easy to get behind - too much sloganeering (new word) - I liked that "Complete Control" took some effort to support - although not much effort on my part.

I'm trying to understand people who learned to like the Clash post 1981.

Damn I'm old. My first Clash experience was when the S/T came out without I Fought The Law