Description
“Combat Rock” was originally released in May 1982 and is the last joint album recorded by The Clash in their most famous line-up (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon). The LP advanced to become the band’s best-selling album and also provided the best chart positions in the U.S. and the U.K. that The Clash could achieve in their career. In May 2022, a special edition of the classic will be released under the title “Combat Rock / The People’s Hall”, which supplements the original album with 12 additional tracks compiled by The Clash When The Clash returned to London in 1981 after 17 gigs at New York’s Bond’s Casino, the band rehearsed at The People’s Hall in the activist-founded Republic of Frestonia near Latimer Road. From there they set out on a tour that took them to Southeast Asia. Among other places, they made a stop in Thailand, where the cover motif of the longplayer, photographed by Pennie Smith, was created. The songs on “The People’s Hall” – including previously unheard tracks and rare early versions – document the period between the release of the single ‘Radio Clash’ and the release of “Combat Rock” These tracks include a new version of “Know Your Rights,” recorded in the Rolling Stones’ mobile recording studio at The People’s Hall, and the previously unreleased instrumental “He Who Dares Or Is Tired.” Other treats include “Futura 2000,” an unreleased original mix of “The Escapades of Futura 2000,” “Radio One” with a feature by Mikey Dread, and the outtakes “The Fulham Connection” (formerly: “The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too”) and “Idle in Kangaroo Court.” ‘Combat Rock’ was influenced by the Vietnam War, which had ended only a few years before the LP was released. For example, the track ‘Sean Flynn’ focuses on the story of photojournalist and son of Hollywood legend Errol Flynn, who disappeared in the chaos of war and is still considered missing today The LP shows the constant musical development of the band, which experiments here with different styles and voices and lets the beat poet Allen Ginsberg have his say (‘Ghetto Defendant’) as well as the graffiti artist Futura, who contributes a rap interlude to ‘Overpowered By Funk’.
