London Calling

Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Give 'Em Enough Rope1978Sandinista!1980studioLondon CallingTheClashLondonCallingalbumcover.jpgthe Clash14 December 1979August–November 1979Wessex, London* Punk rock

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London Calling is the third studio album by the English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records.

The Clash recorded the album with producer Guy Stevens at Wessex Sound Studios in London over a five- to six-week period starting in August 1979, following a change in management and a period of writer's block for songwriters Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. Bridging a traditional punk rock sound and a new wave aesthetic, London Calling reflects the band's growing interest in styles beyond their punk roots, including reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock. Lyrical themes include social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood.

The album was a top ten chart success in the UK, and its lead single "London Calling" was a top 20 single. The album has sold over five million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the US for sales of one million. It was also met with widespread critical acclaim and has retrospectively been named one of the greatest albums of all time.<ref name="capitol">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On Rolling StoneTemplate:'s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, London Calling was ranked number 8 in the 2003 and 2012 editions, and number 16 in the 2020 edition. In 2010, it was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a UK postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Background

On their second album Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978), the Clash had started to depart from the punk rock sound.<ref name="Sargeant"/> While touring the United States in 1979, they chose supporting acts such as rhythm and blues artists Bo Diddley, Sam & Dave, Lee Dorsey, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, as well as neotraditional country artist Joe Ely and punk rockabilly band the Cramps. The Clash's growing fascination with rock and roll inspired their direction for London Calling.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

After recording Give 'Em Enough Rope, the Clash separated from their manager Bernard Rhodes.<ref name="Gilbert212-213">Gilbert 2005, pp. 212–213.</ref> This meant they had to leave their rehearsal studio in Camden Town. Tour manager Johnny Green and drum roadie Baker found a new place to rehearse, Vanilla Studios, in the back of a garage in Pimlico.<ref>Green 2003, p. 156.</ref><ref name="uncut58">Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". Uncut. October 2004. p. 58.</ref><ref>Gray 2010, p. 88.</ref>

The Clash arrived at Vanilla in May 1979 with no new songs prepared for their third album.<ref>Gray 2010, pp. 89, 91.</ref> Main songwriters Mick Jones and Joe Strummer had experienced a period of writer's block and had not written a new song in over a year; their recently released Cost of Living EP featured a cover song and three other songs that had all been written over a year earlier.<ref>Gray 2010, p. 91.</ref>

Rehearsals and The Vanilla Tapes

Rehearsal were held in Vanilla Studios over mid-1979. The Clash began playing covers from genres including rockabilly, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and reggae.<ref name="ew">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Gray 2010, pp. 93–97.</ref> In contrast to previous rehearsal sessions, the band kept these rehearsals private, and did not allow hangers-on to attend.<ref>Gray 2010, p. 90.</ref> This seclusion allowed the band to rebuild their confidence without worrying about the reaction from outsiders, who were familiar with the band's punk rock style.<ref>Gray 2010, p. 97.</ref>

The band developed an "extremely disciplined" daily routine of afternoon rehearsals, broken by a late-afternoon social football game, which fostered a friendly bond between the band members. The football was followed by drinks at a local pub, followed by a second rehearsal in the evening.<ref>Gray 2010, pp. 98–100.</ref>

The band gradually rebuilt their confidence, with the styles of the session's early cover songs setting the template for the diverse material that would be written for London Calling.<ref>Gray 2010, p. 98.</ref> The band were also encouraged by a growing recognition of drummer Topper Headon's skills, which they realised could be used to perform music in a wide array of genres and styles beyond punk rock.<ref>Gray 2010, p. 95.</ref>

During these rehearsals in the early summer of 1979, a series of demos dubbed The Vanilla Tapes (after the name of the rehearsal studio) were made on a TEAC 4-track recorder. These tapes contain early versions of 15 of the 19 songs that would eventually appear on London Calling, sometimes in very rudimentary forms (several lack the lyrics, musical structure, or titles of their final versions -- the instrumental track titled Paul's Tune would eventually be recorded for London Calling under the title The Guns of Brixton, while the instrumental tracked titled Up-Toon would ultimately be released as The Right Profile, for example).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They also include covers that did not make the final album, including Sonny Okosun's Where You Gonna Go (Soweto) and a reggae version of Bob Dylan's The Man in Me (possibly influenced by London-based reggae band Matumbi's 1976 version), as well as never-officially-released Clash tunes like Heart and Mind (described by rock journalist Pat Gilbert as "a rocker"), and the country-inflected Lonesome Me. Notably, they do not include the London Calling tracks Spanish Bombs, Wrong ‘Em Boyo, The Card Cheat, or Train in Vain, suggesting that these tracks were written (or, in Wrong 'Em Boyo's case, selected) later, possibly during the actual album sessions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These tapes, believed lost in 1979 (roadie Johnny Green claimed in his 1999 autobiography A Riot Of Our Own that he had lost them on the London Underground prior to the album's recording), were rediscovered by Mick Jones while he was moving in 2004, and 21 were curated for release on the 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition of London Calling.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Writing and recording

Template:Multiple image The Clash wrote and recorded demos at Vanilla Studios, with Mick Jones composing and arranging much of the music and Joe Strummer writing most of the lyrics.<ref name="ew" /><ref>Gray 2010, pp. 100–103.</ref> Strummer wrote "Lost in the Supermarket" after imagining Jones' childhood growing up in a basement with his mother and grandmother.<ref name=dvd>London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition. "The Last Testament – The Making of London Calling". Information about the recording of London Calling. Retrieved 18 February 2008.</ref> "The Guns of Brixton" was the first of bassist Paul Simonon's compositions the band would record for an album, and the first to have him sing lead. Simonon was originally doubtful about its lyrics, which discuss an individual's paranoid outlook on life, but was encouraged by Strummer to continue working on it.<ref name="uncut67" />

In August 1979, the band entered Wessex Studios to begin recording London Calling. The Clash asked Guy Stevens to produce the album, much to the dismay of CBS Records.<ref name="Gilbert235">Gilbert 2005, p. 235.</ref> Stevens had alcohol and drug problems and his production methods were unconventional.<ref name="ew" /> During a recording session he swung a ladder and upturned chairs – apparently to create a rock & roll atmosphere.<ref name="ew" /> During another session, Stevens poured a bottle of wine over a piano that Strummer was playing to either to make it sound better or to simply make him stop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Clash, especially Simonon, got along well with Stevens, and found Stevens' work to be very helpful and productive to both Simonon's playing and their recording as a band. The album was recorded during a five- to six-week period involving 18-hour days,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with many songs recorded in one or two takes.<ref name="ew" />

The first track recorded for London Calling was "Brand New Cadillac", which the Clash had originally used as a warm-up song before recording.<ref name="uncut65">Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". Uncut. October 2004. p. 65.</ref><ref name="Gilbert237">Gilbert 2005, p. 237.</ref> "Clampdown" began as an instrumental track called "Working and Waiting".<ref name="uncut67">Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". Uncut. October 2004. p. 67.</ref> While working on "The Card Cheat", the band recorded each part twice to create a "sound as big as possible".<ref name="uncut68">Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". Uncut. October 2004. p. 68.</ref>

Musical style

London Calling is regarded by music critic Mark Kidel as the first post-punk double album, as it exhibits a broader range of musical styles than the Clash's previous records.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the album appropriated the "punk aesthetic into rock & roll mythology and roots music", while incorporating a wider range of styles such as punk, reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock.<ref name=Allmusic/> "Brand New Cadillac", the album's second track, was written and originally recorded by Vince Taylor and was cited by the Clash as "one of the first British rock'n'roll records".<ref name="uncut65"/><ref name="Gilbert237"/> The fifth song, "Rudie Can't Fail" features a horn section and mixes elements of pop, soul, and reggae music together.<ref name="rudie"/>

The Clash's embrace of specific musical traditions for London Calling deviated from what Greg Kot viewed as punk's iconoclastic sensibilities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Speaking on the album, Jack Sargeant remarked that "whether the Clash completely abandoned their punk roots or pushed punk's musical eclecticism and diversity into new terrain remains a controversial issue."<ref name="Sargeant">Template:Cite book</ref> According to rock historian Charles T. Brown, the album led to the band's association with new wave music,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> while music academic James E. Perone considers the album "new wave rock".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Themes

The album's songs are generally about London, with narratives featuring both fictional and life-based characters, such as an underworld criminal named Jimmy Jazz and a gun-toting Jimmy Cliff aspirant living in Brixton ("Guns of Brixton").<ref name="Taylor"/> In the opinion of PopMatters journalist Sal Ciolfi, the songs encompass an arrangement of urban narratives and characters, and touch on themes such as sex, depression and identity crisis.<ref name=PopMatters>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Rudie Can't Fail" chronicles the life of a fun-loving young man who is criticised for his inability to act like a responsible adult.<ref name="rudie">Guarisco, Donald A. [{{#ifeq: yes | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/song/t3298492{{

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}} "Rudie Can't Fail Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 18 February 2008.</ref> "Clampdown" comments on people who forsake the open-minded idealism of youth and urges young people to fight the status quo.<ref>Guarisco, Donald A. [{{#ifeq: yes | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/song/t3298496{{

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}} "Clampdown Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 18 February 2008.</ref> "The Guns of Brixton" explores an individual's paranoid outlook on life,<ref name="uncut67" /> while on "Death or Glory", Strummer examines his life in retrospect and acknowledges the complications and responsibilities of adulthood.<ref name="Gilbert259">Gilbert 2005, p. 259.</ref> "Lover's Rock" advocates safe sex and planning.<ref name="Spicer 1999">Template:Cite book</ref>

Some songs have more widely contextualised narratives, including references to the "evil presidentes" working for the "clampdown", the lingering effects of the Spanish Civil War ("Spanish Bombs"), and how constant consumerism had led to unavoidable political apathy ("Lost in the Supermarket").<ref name="Taylor">Template:Cite book</ref> "London Calling", the album's title track and opener, was partially influenced by the March 1979 accident at a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. It also discusses the problems of rising unemployment, racial conflict and drug use in Great Britain.<ref>"The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: The Clash London Calling" Template:Webarchive. Rolling Stone. 9 December 2004. Retrieved 18 February 2008.</ref> According to music critic Tom Carson, "while the album draws on the entirety of rock and roll's past for its sound, the concepts and lyrical themes are drawn from the history, politics and myths associated with the genre".<ref name=RSreview/>

Artwork

File:LondonCallingLogotype.png

The logotype for the album was modeled after that for Elvis Presley.

The album's front cover features a photograph of bassist Paul Simonon smashing his Fender Precision Bass (now on display at the Museum of London,<ref>"https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/whats-on/exhibitions/clash-simonon-bass-guitar-display "The Clash: Paul Simonon's bass guitar" Retrieved 7 July 2021. Template:Webarchive</ref> formerly Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)<ref>"Exhibit and Information Guide." p. 5. Retrieved 17 May 2009. Template:Webarchive</ref> against the stage at the Palladium in New York City on 20 September 1979.<ref>Green 2003, pp. 195–196.</ref><ref name="uncut70">Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". Uncut. October 2004. p. 70.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Simonon explained in a 2011 interview with Fender that he smashed the bass out of frustration when he learned that the bouncers at the concert would not allow the audience members to stand up out of their seats; "I wasn't taking it out on the bass guitar, cos there ain't anything wrong with it", Simonon said.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Pennie Smith, who photographed the band for the album, originally did not want the photograph to be used. She thought that it was too out of focus, but Strummer and graphic designer Ray Lowry thought it would make a good album cover.<ref name="uncut70" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2002, Smith's photograph was named the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine, commenting that "it captures the ultimate rock'n'roll moment – total loss of control".<ref>Judd, Terri. "One hundred timeless rock'n'roll moments, and the photographers who ..." Template:Webarchive. The Independent. 24 January 2002. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref>

File:Paul Simonon london calling Fender Precision Bass.JPG

The Fender Precision Bass featured on the cover

The cover artwork was designed by Lowry and was an homage to the design of Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album, with pink letters down the left side and green text across the bottom.<ref>Green 2003, p. 194.</ref><ref>Tryangiel, Josh. "The All-TIME 100 Albums: London Calling" Template:Webarchive. Time. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref> The cover was named the ninth best album cover of all time by Q magazine in 2001.<ref>O'Connor, Mickey. "London's Q magazine picked these; what are yours?" . Entertainment Weekly. 14 March 2001. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref> In 1995, Big Audio Dynamite (a band fronted by former Clash member Mick Jones) used the same scheme for their F-Punk album. The album cover for London Calling was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The cover art was later parodied for the soundtrack to Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.<ref name=IGN>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Release and promotion

The album was released in the United Kingdom on vinyl on 14 December 1979, and in the United States on vinyl and 8-track tape two weeks later in January 1980.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A gatefold cover design of the LP was only released in Japan. Though London Calling was released as a double album it was only sold for about the price of a single album. The Clash's record label, CBS, at first denied the band's request for the album to be released as a double. In return CBS gave permission for the band to include a free 12-inch single that played at 33⅓ rpm. Ultimately, the planned 12-inch record became a second nine-track LP.<ref name="uncut58" /> The final track, "Train in Vain", was originally excluded from the back cover's track listing.<ref name="Green 2003 218">Green 2003, p. 218.</ref> It was intended to be given away through a promotion with NME, but was added to the album at the last minute after the deal fell through.<ref name="Back 2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Upon its release, London Calling sold approximately two million copies.<ref name="500greatest" /> The album peaked at number nine in the United Kingdom<ref name="everyhit">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was certified gold in December 1979.<ref>"British gold certification for London Calling Template:Webarchive. British Phonographic Industry. 31 December 1979. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref> The album performed strongly outside the United Kingdom. It reached number two in Sweden<ref name="sweden">"Discography The Clash" Template:Webarchive. SwedishCharts.com. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref> and number four in Norway.<ref name=norway>"Discography The Clash" Template:Webarchive. NorwegianCharts.com. Retrieved 26 October 2008.</ref> In the United States, London Calling peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart<ref name="USCharts">[{{#ifeq: yes | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3913/charts-awards{{

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}} "The Clash > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 26 October 2008.</ref> and was certified platinum in February 1996.<ref name="riaa">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The album produced two of the band's most successful singles. "London Calling" preceded the album with a 7 December 1979 release. It peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="everyhit" /> The song's music video, directed by Letts, featured the band performing the song on a boat in the pouring rain with the River Thames behind them.<ref name="uncut69">Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". Uncut. October 2004. p. 69.</ref> In the United States, "Train in Vain", backed with "London Calling", was released as a single in February 1980. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and "London Calling"/"Train in Vain" peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Disco Top 100 chart.<ref name="USSingleCharts">[{{#ifeq: yes | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3913/charts-awards/billboard-singles{{

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}} "The Clash > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2008.</ref>

Critical reception

London Calling was met with widespread critical acclaim.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Reviewing the album for The New York Times in 1980, John Rockwell said it finally validates the acclaim received by the Clash up to that point because of how their serious political themes and vital playing were retained in innovative music with a broad appeal. "This is an album that captures all the Clash's primal energy, combines it with a brilliant production job by Guy Stevens and reveals depths of invention and creativity barely suggested by the band's previous work", Rockwell said.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref> Charles Shaar Murray wrote in NME that it was the first record to be on-par with the band's hype, while Melody Maker critic James Truman said the Clash had "discovered themselves" by embracing American music styles.<ref name="Gray 2010, p. 412">Gray 2010, p. 412.</ref> Rolling Stone magazine's Tom Carson claimed the music celebrates "the romance of rock & roll rebellion", adding that it is vast, engaging, and enduring enough to leave listeners "not just exhilarated but exalted and triumphantly alive".<ref name=RSreview>Template:Cite news</ref> In a five-star review, Down Beat journalist Michael Goldberg said the Clash had produced "a classic rock album which, literally, defines the state of rock and roll and against which the very best of [the 1980s] will have to be judged."<ref name="Goldberg">Template:Cite journal</ref> Some reviewers expressed reservations, including DJ and critic Charlie Gillett, who believed some of the songs sounded like poor imitations of Bob Dylan backed by a horn section. Garry Bushell was more critical in his review for Sounds, giving the record two out of five stars while claiming the Clash had "retrogressed" to Rolling Stones-style "outlaw imagery" and "tired old rock clichés".<ref name="Gray 2010, p. 412"/>

At the end of 1980, London Calling was voted the best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice.<ref name=PazzJop>Template:Cite news</ref> Robert Christgau, the poll's creator and supervisor, also named it 1980's best record in an accompanying essay and said, "it generated an urgency and vitality and ambition (that Elvis P. cover!) which overwhelmed the pessimism of its leftist world-view."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Reappraisal and legacy

Template:Album ratings London Calling has since been considered by many critics to be one of the greatest rock albums of all time,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> including AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who said that it sounded more purposeful than "most albums, let alone double albums".<ref name="Allmusic"/> "This epic double album, from its iconic sleeve to its wildly eclectic mash-up of styles, is surely the quintessential rock album", wrote BBC Music journalist Mark Sutherland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), Christgau called it the best double album since the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. (1972) and said it expanded upon, rather than compromised, the Clash's driving guitar sound in a "warm, angry, and thoughtful, confident, melodic, and hard-rocking" showcase of their musical abilities.<ref name="CG80s"/> According to the English music writer Dave Thompson, London Calling established the Clash as more than "a simple punk band" with a "potent" album of neurotic post-punk, despite its amalgam of disparate and occasionally disjointed musical influences.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Don McLeese from the Chicago Sun-Times regarded it as their best album and "punk's finest hour", as it found the band broadening their artistry without compromising their original vigor and immediacy.<ref name="McLeese"/> PopMatters critic Sal Ciolfi called it a "big, loud, beautiful collection of hurt, anger, restless thought, and above all hope" that still sounds "relevant and vibrant".<ref name=PopMatters/> In a review of its 25th anniversary reissue, Uncut wrote that the songs and characters in the lyrics cross-referenced each other because of the album's exceptional sequencing, adding that "The Vanilla Tapes" bonus disc enhanced what was already a "masterpiece".<ref name="Uncut">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 1987, Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times named it the fourth-best album of the previous 10 years and said, while the Clash's debut was a punk masterpiece, London Calling marked the genre's "coming of age" as the band led the way into "fertile post-punk territory".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1989, Rolling Stone ranked the 1980 American release as the best album of the 1980s.<ref name=RS1989>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In the 1994 All Time Top 1000 Albums, Colin Larkin named it the second-greatest punk album;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> it was also voted number 37 in Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1999, Q magazine named London Calling the fourth-greatest British album of all time,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and wrote that it is "the best Clash album and therefore among the very best albums ever recorded".<ref name="Qmag"/> The magazine later ranked it 20th on its list of the 100 Greatest Albums Ever.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It has also been ranked as the sixth-greatest album of the 1970s by NME,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and the second-best in a similar list by Pitchfork,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> whose reviewer Amanda Petrusich said that it was the Clash's "creative apex" as a "rock band" rather than as a punk band.<ref name=Pitchfork>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it eighth on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,<ref name="500greatest">Template:Cite book</ref> maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The rating dropped to 16 in Rolling StoneTemplate:'s revised list in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Entertainment WeeklyTemplate:'s Tom Sinclair declared it the "Best Album of All Time" in his headline for a 2004 article on the album.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2007, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a collection of recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2009, the album was profiled in the BBC Radio 1 Masterpieces series, denoting it as one of the most influential albums of all time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

25th anniversary edition

In 2004, a 25th-anniversary "Legacy Edition" was released with a bonus CD and DVD in digipack packaging. The bonus CD features The Vanilla Tapes, missing recordings made by the band in mid-1979.<ref>Gilbert, Pat. "The 'Vanilla Tapes'". London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition (CD liner notes). September 2004.</ref> The DVD includes The Last Testament – The Making of London Calling, a film by Don Letts, as well as previously unseen video footage and music videos. A limited-edition picture disc LP was released in 2010.

The edition was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, it has an average score of 100 out of 100, based on 12 reviews. PopMatters hailed it as "easily one of the best classic re-releases yet", while Paste said "Epic/Legacy has outdone itself." However, Blender recommended consumers opt for the original edition instead, claiming "the demo versions ... sound like an incompetent Clash cover band rehearsing in a sock".<ref name=Metacritic/>

Track listing

All lead vocals by Joe Strummer, except where noted. Template:Track listing

• On the original version of the album, "Train in Vain" was not listed on the sleeve, nor the label on the record itself, but a sticker indicating the track was affixed to the outer cellophane wrapper. It was also scratched into the vinyl in the run-off area on the fourth side of the album. Later editions included the song in the track listing.

Personnel

The Clash

• Joe Strummer – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
• Mick Jones – lead guitar, backing and lead vocals, piano, harmonica
• Paul Simonon – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on "The Guns of Brixton"
• Topper Headon – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Mickey Gallagher – organ

The Irish Horns

• Ray Bevis – tenor saxophone
• John Earle – tenor and baritone saxophone
• Chris Gower – trombone
• Dick Hanson – trumpet, flugelhorn

Production

• Guy Stevens – producer
• Bill Price – engineer
• Jerry Green – additional engineer
• Ray Lowry – design
• Pennie Smith – photography

Charts

Original edition

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1979–1980 chart performance

Chart (1979–1980)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref>	16
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)<ref name=FINI>Template:Cite book</ref>	8

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2003 chart performance

Chart (2003)	Peak position

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2009 chart performance

Chart (2009)	Peak position

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2011–2012 chart performance

Chart (2011–2012)	Peak position
Polish Albums (OLiS)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	38

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2015–2016 chart performance

Chart (2015–2016)	Peak position

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2022–2024 chart performance

Chart (2022–2024)	Peak position
Greek Albums (IFPI)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

25th anniversary edition

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2003–2004 chart performance

Chart (2003–2004)	Peak position

See also

• Album era

Bibliography

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Further reading

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• "London Calling" By The Clash Mix Magazine, 2000 – Very detailed article with recording setup details from the album's engineer, Bill Price.

External links

• Template:Official website
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• Template:MusicBrainz release group
• Wrong 'Em Boyo at The Stagger Lee Project