Part of an irregular series of bite-sized posts about 7″ singles I own – shameless nostalgia from the days of vinyl. (Search ‘Backtracking’ to collect the set!)
THE CLASH – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais b/w The Prisoner (CBS, 1978)
The mainstream hegemony is highly efficient and resistant to threats. It is hard to believe that less than two years before the release of this single, the folk devils were pounding on the door getting the establishment in a sweat.
Punk Rock was accused of demonizing the youth and the treasured social order was seen as being at risk. The tabloids railed against the filth and the fury on prime time TV. Where would all end? The Sex Pistols were the main whipping boys but they were seen as just the tip of a dangerous iceberg.
Too cool to be forgoten
But it takes more than the F-word and a rousing tune against HRH to bring down a regime. And let’s face it, that was never really a serious aim anyway (was it??!!).
Reassurances followed that these were just a few frustrated kids letting off steam and just trying to shock the nation. Normal order was quickly resumed as the anti-fashion statement became a pointer to a range of Top Shop fashions.
The Clash were signed to CBS so what harm could they possibly do?
Song writers Joe Strummer and Mick Jones knew that their deal with a major label smacked of compromise but if any band was going to change the system from within it was them.
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais showed the intelligence and maturity of a band who were interested in more than churning out three chord riffs and ‘I’m bored’ slogans. It didn’t set the charts alight but it is one of their best singles and far superior to any track on the lacklustre sophomore release ‘Give ’em Enough Rope’. The weak B-side, The Prisoner, is more on a par with the tracks on that album.
For this track, Strummer sings of disillusionment of a reggae/rock steady gig at the Palais in North London where despite a promising line up of Dillinger, Leroy Smart and Delroy Wilson he found the show to be too slick and choreographed : “Onstage they ain’t got no roots rock rebel”.
This is seen as indicative of the general malaise that was already setting in with the supposed punk rock rebels in the UK.
The best verse of is an unambiguous attack on other bands who were content to go through the motions:
“The new groups are not concerned with what there is to be learned
They got Burton suits, ha!, you think it’s funny
Turning rebellion into money”.
The reference to Burton suits ( a lyric that I always hear as “they got problems”) is a culturally bound one that I’m sure US audiences didn’t get immediately. Burton’s in a British institution symbolising conventional suits for businessmen on a budget. It’s also where I was dragged to get my school uniform so this lyric had added significance for me.
Despite this cynicism, The Clash had plenty of venom left to vent as they proved with the albums London Calling and Sandinista.
The Clash weren’t content with gesture politics; they didn’t change the world but their music still stands as a prime example of rebel rock at its finest.
