Clash vintage shirt Sex Pistols Black Flag Ramones Big Audio Dynamite Mescaleros

Description: Let's dispense up front with one myth about this album. The song "Train in Vain" was not intended as a "hidden track," nor was it purposely left off the sleeve because band members were embarassed about its perceived poppiness. The final track on the album, "Train in Vain," was added late in the process, and thus the record sleeve had already gone to press (one of those "occam's razor" things: the actual explanation is often the most prosaic). The quirkiest thing about this album, though, isn't the way it was made, but the way it was marketed. Rivaling contemporaries Gang of Four for the British band with the most integrity, The Clash wanted London Calling to be a double album that sold for the price of a single album. Obvioulsy the band's label, CBS, objected, but the band suggested a compromise: they would agree to release a single album with a "bonus" seven-inch single, similar to what they had done with the American pressing of their debut album. After CBS agreed to this, the Clash then pushed for their "bonus single" to be a 12-inch featuring eight additional tracks, plus the last-minute inclusion of "Train in Vain," bringing the "bonus track" count to a grand total of nine songs--the biggest loophole in music business history--and so what they ended up with, in practical terms, was a double album that sold at the single album price point. And this is why we love The Clash--not only because they were one of the greatest bands in the history of music writ large, but because they flat-out refused to compromise creatively, and even when they did so from a business standpoint, they ended up, through the employment of some semantic chicanery, with exactly what they wanted. And thus London Calling stands as one of those rare examples of an album that achieved not only commerical and critical success, but did so without any sort of pretense or pandering to any particular audience, their fanbase, or their critics. They did exactly what they wanted, gifting their fans a free album's worth of material and giving the suits the finger in the process. And then everyone fell in love with them all over again. F*cking brilliant. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention at least one detail about the shirt itself: it's incredibly soft. Like baby's butt soft. London calling at the top of the dial, and after all this, won't you give me a smile...

Price: 69 USD

Location: Westwood, Massachusetts

End Time: 2024-12-31T03:25:24.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD