Heralded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and certainly one of the greatest political statement records of all time, it’s amazing that I’ve never owned a copy of Sandinista! by the Clash or even heard it in its entirety until now. As the story goes, this triple album was released as even a protest against their label at the time (CBS) when they weren’t allowed to release London Calling as a double album but CBS released a double Bruce Springsteen record the same year. The Clash even took less royalties from Sandinista! so they could release it at an affordable price to fans. They decided to explore their love of reggae, dub, gospel, rap (which was still new at the time), and dancehall, and they pay full homage to those genres on Sandinista!.
Opening with the (as Joe Strummer puts it) “fucking long” hit “The Magnificent Seven” (which is fewer than six minutes), the Clash let everyone know right away that Sandinista! wasn’t a typical Clash record. The opening track is a rap about being a working stiff (“Working for a rise, better my station, take my baby to sophistication. She’s seen the ads, she thinks it’s nice. Better work hard, I’ve seen the price.”) with hip hop and dub beats. “Hitsville U.K.” slaps down the U.K. music industry and Clash fans’ expectations with a pop beat and Mick Jones‘ girlfriend at the time, Ellen Foley, sharing lead vocals with him. “Junco Partner” is a dub cover of a classic James Waynes blues cut.
“Ivan Meets G.I. Joe,” a song about the U.S.-Soviet conflicts of the time, brings in a bit of disco (along with what sounds like vintage video game sound bytes) and lead vocals by drummer Topper Headon. “The Leader” takes a swing at the cult of personality and appeasement of the masses (“The people must have something good to read on a Sunday.”). “Something About England” has weird jazz piano licks as Mick Jones and Joe Strummer takedown people who remember the past through rose-colored glasses. “Rebel Waltz” follows a similar theme and “Look Here” is jazz written by the legendary Mose Allison no less. Bassist Paul Simonon sings lead on “The Crooked Beat,” and it’s no surprise is has heavy dub undertones. Simonon learned a lot of his bass licks by listening to dub and reggae records. “Somebody Got Murdered” is about Mick Jones learning of a murder that resulted from a robbery not far from where he lived. “One More Time” has Jones sharing vocals with another legend – reggae / dub musician and producer Mikey Dred. The song’s about the struggles As if it weren’t dub enough, the following instrumental track is “One More Dub.”
“Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)” is a reprise of “The Magnificent Seven,” but with different lyrics, a fat bass by Simonon, and even better rapping by Strummer. “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)” is Jones’ smackdown on the proliferation of cheaply constructed, crime-ridden towers of London flats (“Fear is just another commodity here. They sell us peeping holes to peek when we hear a bang on the door resoundingly clear. Who would really want to move in here?”). “Corner Soul” blends gospel and reggae, while “Let’s Go Crazy” blends calypso and reggae (and sounds like the beginnings of Jones’ future band Big Audio Dynamite). “If Music Could Talk” splits the vocals between left and right channels while mixing lounge jazz with reggae beats. It’s weird, and it works. They bring back the gospel on “The Sound of Sinners,” with Strummer singing, “After all this time to believe in Jesus, after all those drugs I thought I was him. After all my lying and a-crying and my suffering, I ain’t good enough, I ain’t clean enough to be him.” at one point.
Their cover of the Equals‘ “Police on My Back” reminds you that, despite all the dub, reggae, and gospel that’s come before it, the Clash were still a punk rock band. “Midnight Log” is about temptation and the Devil (both literal and metaphorical), and “The Equaliser” is a trippy bit of dub calling for economic equality. The draft wasn’t around in 1980, but Selective Service was just initiated and that might’ve been the inspiration for “The Call Up” – a strong denouncement of both. The wicked “Washington Bullets” (one of the Clash’s greatest songs) exposes American and British-funded combat missions in China, Afghanistan, and Chile. “Broadway” blends dub with smoky dive bar music.
“Lose This Skin,” with vocals and violin by Tymon Dogg (who would later go on to join Joe Strummer’s Mescaleros), seems to be about racial disparity. “Charlie Don’t Surf” sums up the band’s belief that the U.S. military loves to turn other countries into little Americas at the expense of their native cultures. After the instrumental “Mensforth Hill,” we get to the trippy track “Junkie Slip.” Strummer’s vocals are hardly discernible. The beats take precedence instead. “Kingston Advice” blends heavy dub (Strummer’s vocals echo all over the place) and punk guitars. It blends well into “The Street Parade.” They almost feel like one long track.
“Version City” brings back disco bass and jazz piano and adds blues harmonica as Strummer and Jones sing about their love of classic blues (“Is that the train that you speak of, the one I heard in my younger days? All the great bluesmen have rode her. I’m jumping up, gonna ride that train.”). The album just gets weirder from here. “Living in Fame” is psychedelic dub, “Silicone on Sapphire” is a dub remix / re-edit / reboot of “Washington Bullets,” “Version Pardner” is a dub remix of “Version Partner,” “Career Opportunities” is a version of the Clash’s classic hit sung by children, and “Shepherds Delight” is an instrumental mind trip.
Sandinista! isn’t a typical Clash record, but that was the point. They were already atypical and became even more so after this release. They had drawn lines in the political sand before, but on Sandinista! they draw those lines with a bulldozer instead of a bayonet.
Keep your mind open.
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