Singing London: 'London Calling', The Clash, Joe Strummer

Singing London

'LONDON CALLING'

‘The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in

Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin’

Song: ‘London Calling’

Performers: The Clash

Songwriters: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon

Lyrics: © Universal Music Publishing Group

Recorded in 1979 at Wessex Sound studios in a former Highbury New Park church hall – and released from an iconic album of the same name – ‘London Calling’ reflects lead vocalist Joe Strummer’s dystopian anxieties about the miserable state of the world, police brutality, and London's river defences.

Reggae, as well as rock, heavily influenced The Clash. Along with the Sex Pistols, the band helped to define London’s punk boom. Unlike the Pistols, however, The Clash survived and rocked well into the post-punk period.

http://www.theclash.com/

 

Singing London

© London Intelligence, 2014