Was thinking back to the early days of the blog and how so many folk have to be thanked for giving me the inspiration for keeping it going. One such bloke is Dirk whose own blog is SexyLoser.
Dirk is from a small village in Germany and I always got a kick when he would leave comments on various postings as I was genuinely thrilled that something being typed up in Glasgow was having some meaning for someone all those miles away. Through e-mail correspondence I've got to know a little bit about Dirk. His exposure to the sort of music that I love was through John Peel and broadcasts the great man would do for Armed Services Radio. So much so that Dirk did visit the UK and seek out and meet the legendary and much-missed DJ.
I also know that Dirk has a huge soft-spot for The Clash which is why these are for him:-
mp3 : The Clash - Complete Control
mp3 : The Clash - City Of The Dead
A punk song that featured a guitar solo....shock, horror!! It's also the song that features the lyric 'you're my guitar hero' and so you could say Joe Strummer is the one who came up with the title of the popular video game.....
I'm sure most of you know the song was written in a fit of anger. The band were of the belief that the contract they had signed with CBS Records allowed them to decide what they recorded, with whom they recorded it, when it would be released and how it would look in terms of a sleeve. They were horrified that after the relative success of White Riot (which reached #38 in the UK singles charts) CBS had put out Remote Control a couple of months later - a song the band didn't want as a single and in a sleeve that they had no input to. The band's reaction was to write and record this new piece of material and insist it be the next single....and in September 1977 it reached #28 in the UK charts.
Thought by many fans to be one of the best things they ever did, Complete Control kept everyone happy. The band felt they'd gained a victory over the label, the fans got a great new song and the record label, as is their wont, made money.
Happy Listening
7 comments:
Thanks very much, mate, for the kind words … you see, TVV always was – and still is, in fact – a neat source for something I hadn’t heard of before and I still visit the site each and every morning. Of course I don’t like everything you post, but by and large it’s high quality stuff and that’s why I always return … which is the way it should be, I suppose. Exactly the same was true for Peel’s programmes on BFBS, so, in a way, at least for me, you’re the new Peel … if such a creature shall at all exist.
Also thanks for the neat tunes and yes, The Clash always were my favorite band and although I regard Complete Control as one of their finest moments, I could never really believe the sheer stupidity of theirs in signing to a major record label and complaining about it at once as though they’d assumed that the major record label was some kind of charitable trust who was going to provide them with limitless funds to do everything that they wanted to do and demand nothing in return …. I mean: come on …. even Little Loser, now aged four, has a better grasp for reality than The Clash apparently had!
Apologies by the way for the fact that my blog, Sexyloser, currently is very quiet indeed, if not anabiotic: I simply don’t find the time/energy to post something at least halfway interesting, but please believe me that I really do feel ashamed that that’s the way it is these days. I’m confident though that this condition will improve before very much longer …
Thanks again, your pal:
Dirk/Sexyloser
Shucks.......
All the best to you, Mrs L and Little L. Four years old?? Time really does fly......
The defining moment of my teenage years, the most played song, that guitar solo (of all things), in fact just the incredible sound that The Clash and Lee Perry came up with will always make it my number one. Thanks.
I can still recall my excitement the day this arrived in the post...a hell of a long time ago!
Joe actually says @ 1:08;
"No more guitar heroes!"
Brian
Have to disagree Brian.....
Lyric was one of Mick's and it's been well acknowledged since that Joe ad-libbed the 'you're my guitar hero'
From a 2006 intervew with Mr Jones:-
Q : You wrote most of the music and Joe wrote most of the lyrics, except on "Complete Control," where you wrote both. What was the revelation when he sang your words?
A : He'd give us a little overwork, after we'd done whatever it was. He's always add some extra stuff to it. But it was his resonance that was actually the thing that helped carry the tune. He's like the captain of the ship, and so when he sings, it's like the captain of the ship is singing, and the music is the sea.
Q : I would guess you didn't write "You're my guitar hero" in the lyrics.
A : He added something there.
JC
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