Profligate Vinyl: London Calling

Welcome to the second edition of Profligate Vinyl; you can find the first one here.

In the last post, we went deep on the White Album, partly because it existed as a vast fog in my head, and I really had to go track by track to get a handle on it. In the end, we addressed (but did not answer) a few questions: was the White Album self-indulgent? Clearly yes; it perhaps stands as the monument to pop music indulgence. Would it have been better as a single album? Well, yes and no: a 45 minute edit of the album is definitely tighter, and (to my mind at least) an absolutely superb album. BUT: there is a certain charm to the loose indulgence of the whole thing, and while a single album would be better in most respects, the shaggy dog double has a flair that goes beyond the hits.

So, I suppose you could say that is was a split decision on the White Album. Today, we will have no such split decision: London Calling is tight as a drum to the very end, and any cut will be to meat, not fat. Unlike the White Album, I can sing (sort of?) London Calling in order from the beginning to the end. Part of that is due to the fact that I have listened to it so often, but beyond that, the whole album rolls with a certain tension and inexorable logic all the way through. It is The Clash at the height of their powers.

London Calling is a legendary record, certainly in the class of the White Album. It is a major transformation for The Clash, who move from being a straight up punk band to being a pretty versatile rock band, from being a sloppier left-wing version of the Buzzcocks to being a younger, more politically astute version of the Rolling Stones (but with decent lyrics, which the Stones only sporadically indulged). Like any career transformation, London Calling left some of The Clash's older, more purist punk fans behind; but the record is probably more remarkable for how many punks actually followed them through the transition. Those who wanted their punk rage more left-wing, noisy, and pure moved on to bands like Crass and The Ex, but even those who followed a less commercial route often still had a soft spot for The Clash.

Without further ado, here's the 45 minute edit:

Let's start of with a list of the songs left off of the edit:

• Brand New Cadillac
• Jimmy Jazz
• The Right Profile
• Lost in the Supermarket
• Wrong 'Em Boyo
• Train in Vain

Can you quibble with this list? HELL YES you can, and I almost want to reconsider it myself, except that I know it would be an endless process. "Train in Vain" was the only easy decision, and it is a fine song, but a bit of a throwaway, which gets it cut. Other than that, we loose two of the three covers (including a blistering version of "Brand New Cadillac"), "Lost in the Supermarket", which is one of the most famous songs on the record, "The Right Profile", which I wanna put back on the list right now! . . . and, well, you get the idea. This is one goddamn lean record as is, and any cuts are to the detriment of the whole.

Verdict: NOT indulgent, EDITS BAD!

Now, Sandinista, on the other hand . . .