If The Sex Pistols were the face of UK punk, The Clash were the soul. The band was formed in the summer of 1976 by guitarist Mick Jones (born Michael Geoffrey Jones, 26 June 1955) and bassist Paul Simonon (born 15 December 1955) after their proto-punk band, London SS, broke up. They Fought The Law They recruited ...
authority, middle-class values and, just for the hell of it, one another. Drawing on often limited musical talents, outfits such as The Sex Pistols and The Clash channelled their anger and their energy into some blistering songs that once again helped to express the frustration and disenchantement of disaffected youth. The music was simply structured rock, ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1984–95) Mick Jones followed his stint as a founder member of The Clash with the genre-hopping BAD. He enlisted filmmaker Don Letts on ‘effects’ and adventurously married punk, hip hop and electronica on 1985’s This Is BAD. The album’s single, ‘E=MC2’ scored highly in the UK. Jones recruited old chum Joe Strummer for the similar No. ...
of the 1960s British rhythm and blues movement. Artists as diverse as George Michael and Guns N’ Roses have used the Bo Diddley beat as a basis for songs. The Clash invited him to open for them on their 1979 American tour. He was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and The Rockabilly Hall Of Fame in 1987 ...
(1970), but change of musical direction ensured the band played on with many a personnel change into the new millennium. Styles & Forms | Seventies | Rock Personalities | The Clash | Seventies | Rock ...
of classic pop/rock material by The Beatles, Van Morrison/Them, Elvis, The Everly Brothers, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and even ‘Train In Vain’ by The Clash, without disturbing his country roots. This resulted in the 1997 album Under The Covers. After a long and successful run with Warner/Reprise, which began in 1985 when they ...
A situation in which composer and librettist ‘thought big’ was essential in grand opéra for which Scribe drew his plots from history at its most dramatic: he specialized in the clash of religions, as in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, or in political and national rivalries in which real life was entwined with the fate of characters caught up in epoch-making ...
changed the number of beats every bar; listeners are aware of powerful rhythm, but cannot tap their feet to it. Most music before The Rite used dissonance (notes that clash when played together) only as expressive ‘seasoning’; in The Rite dissonance becomes the norm. Before The Rite, most music used recurring themes and ordered contrast of key to give ...
and Russian composers of the time, he scored one of the greatest successes of his career with Krol Roger (‘King Roger’, 1924), a full-length opera that centres around the clash between a church and a young shepherd’s paganism. Greatly influenced by Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe (1912), Szymanowski ensured that, from the opening of Krol Roger to the many contemplative ...
Veteran Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards (b. 1943) was born in Dartford, Kent. After being expelled from technical school in 1958, Richards attended Sidcup Art College. The art-school environment was crucial to Richards’ development, as it was for many of his generation. Here he was able to nurture his passion for rhythm and blues, finding many fellow ...
hits were not coming he would return to his bodyshop business. A comeback album in 1977 reminded a new generation of his sound, and in 1980 he supported The Clash on tour. Styles & Forms | Sixties | Rock Personalities | Dr. John | Sixties | Rock ...
Panthers. Riddled with slogan-ridden social comment, rude words and raw musical attack, their three albums may be seen to have pre-empted the more dogmatic punk groups like The Clash and Crass, as well as later acts such as Killing Joke and The Levellers. Styles & Forms | Sixties | Rock Personalities | Joni Mitchell | Sixties | Rock ...
, 1978–83, 1987–present) The Belfast outfit, comprising Jake Burns (guitar, vocals), Henry Clunie (guitar), Ali McMordie (bass) and Brian Falloon (drums) converted to punk on seeing The Clash in 1977. With lyrics by journalist Gordon Oglivie, Fingers’ early material, particularly the debut album Inflammable Material (1979), expressed anger at the troubles in Northern Ireland. Characterized by ...
only on eight-track tape and then splintered into solo careers. Ely had the most success by pursuing a muscular country-rock that worked equally well as the opening act for The Clash (documented on Live Shots) and in a Texas dancehall. Gilmore had the purest voice, a high tenor in the style of his namesake, Jimmie Rodgers. Hancock was the ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 2001–04) The Libertines – Pete Doherty (vocals, guitar), Carl Barat (vocals, guitar), John Hassall (bass) and Gary Powell (drums) – hailed from the east end of London. Across their short lifespan they made two albums (Up The Bracket, 2002 and The Libertines, 2004) of exceptionally idiosyncratic indie, with The Clash’s Mick Jones at ...
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