Sandinista!

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Sandinista!
Studio album by The Clash

Publication
(s)

December 12, 1980

Label (s) CBS (Europe), Epic

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

Post-punk , new wave

Title (number)

36

running time

2 h 24 min 28 s

occupation

production

The Clash, Mikey Dread

Studio (s)

Pluto Studios ( Manchester ), The Power Station ( New York City ), Electric Lady Studios (NYC), Channel One Studios ( Kingston ), Wessex Studios ( London )

chronology
London Calling
(1979) 		Sandinista! Combat Rock
(1982)

Sandinista! is the fourth music album by The Clash . It was released in December 1980 as a triple album with a total of 36 songs, six on each side of the record.

Emergence

Most of the album was recorded in 1980 in London, Manchester, New York and Jamaica. Production was done by the band ( Mick Jones and Joe Strummer to be precise ) with the support of Bill Price and Jeremy Green . Dub versions of some of the songs and the toasting were created by Mikey Dread , who first worked with the band on the single "Bankrobber" in 1980. The album shows clear reggae influences, which was mainly due to co-producer Mikey Dread.

While recording in New York, bassist Paul Simonon made a film and was briefly represented by Norman Watt-Roy , bassist for Ian Dury and the Blockheads . This led to Watt-Roy and the blockheads keyboardist, Mickey Gallagher , claiming to have composed parts of the song "The Magnificent Seven". Mikey Dread was also disappointed that he was not listed among the contributors to the album. Other guest musicians are the actor Tim Curry (voice of a priest in the song "The Sound of Sinners"), the singer Ellen Foley (Mick Jones' partner at the time), the Richard Hell guitarist Ivan Julian and Tymon Dogg (violin, vocals and lyrics of the song "Lose This Skin"), a friend of Strummer from common street music times, he later joined Strummer's band The Mescaleros . Mickey Gallagher's children also performed: his two sons sing a version of the song “Career Opportunities” from the band's debut album, while his daughter Maria sings a fragment from the song “The Guns of Brixton” from the album London Calling at the end of the song “Broadway” .

For the first time, Jones and Strummer were not named as authors of the songs, but the common name "The Clash". Furthermore, it is the only The Clash album on which each of the four band members takes on the lead vocals once.

From the Sandinista! Recorded four singles released in the UK: "Bankrobber" (did not appear on the album), "The Call Up", "Hitsville UK" and "The Magnificent Seven". The latter is considered the first British rap single and was the first rap single by a white band.

The triple LP, like London Calling, was only possible through minor scams by the band towards the record company. There were two conflicting calculations for the album that obscured the real scope of the project. The story can be found several times that The Clash asked to be allowed to add a 12 "single as a bonus to their double album and without further ado sent three records of normal length to the pressing plant before those responsible got wind of the matter. Another story tells, that the band put all of their pay for the album into it in order to be able to release the triple LP.

The single LP Sandinista Now! was sent to the press and radio. Page one featured “Police on My Back”, “Somebody Got Murdered”, “The Call Up”, “Washington Bullets”, “Ivan Meets GI Joe” and “Hitsville UK”. Page two contained "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)," "The Magnificent Seven," "The Leader," "Junco Partner," "One More Time," and "The Sound of Sinners."

The title refers to the left guerrilla movement in Nicaragua, the Sandinistas , which had overthrown the dictator Anastasio Somoza the year before . The catalog name “FSLN1” is another allusion to the Sandinistas, who officially call themselves “Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional”.

The song "Washington Bullets" is a criticism of the US policy on South America, which Strummer perceived as imperialist. Chile, Nicaragua and Cuba are given as examples. In the last third of the song, the conflicts in Afghanistan and Tibet are mentioned in return, in order to denounce the imperialism of the Soviet Union and communist China. "Washington Bullets" is still considered the most violent political expression of Joe Strummer in the song lyrics. In the review of Rolling Stone , "Washington Bullets", along with "The Equalizer" and "The Call Up", is one of the heart pieces of the album.

In January 2000 the record was re-mixed together with the rest of the The Clash catalog in a new edition.

A tribute to this album was released in 2007 under the title The Sandinista! Project. Contributions include The Blizzards of 78 with Mikey Dread , Camper Van Beethoven , Katrina Leskanich , Mekons members Jon Langford and Sally Timms, Ruby on the Vine , The Smithereens , Wreckless Eric and Steve Wynn .

reception

New Musical Express (Great Britain): “'Sandinista!' would be a difficult record just because of the sheer amount of material to listen to. But even after you've listened to it, the record only irritates and depresses you in the end. "

Melody Maker (UK): “There is only one thing better than a double clash album and that is a triple clash album, right? Not correct! [...] What makes this package so disappointing is that the raw, urgent energy of The Clash has been neutered and the confusing aimlessness indicates that the band is stumbling and unsure where to go. The sheer amount of material that is available here in one fell swoop cannot outweigh the many weaknesses. "

Rolling Stone (USA): “Everywhere you look, 'Sandinista!' is a guerrilla attack out of vision and the joy of playing. [...] Without macho like in 'London Calling' is 'Sandinista!' ambitious and goes even further. If 'London Calling' was still a muscle game that was supposed to show that you can get away with anything in clash style, says 'Sandinista!' to hell with the clash style what is the cost of the world? With peculiar instrumentation (violins, steel drums, bagpipes), different production methods in different studios and with guest musicians, 'Sandinista!' the confusing impression that you don't necessarily hear the band you expected when you bought the album. "

Trouser Press (USA): “Someone, probably to underline the band's generosity and annoy the record company, has gone a little too far here. That would have been a class and a half album. [...] Epic Records will probably have quite a problem getting this album to the man, if only because it is not particularly accessible, let alone easily digestible. [...] But like a difficult book, 'Sandinista!' for those who take the trouble. "

New York Times (USA): "Artistic is 'Sandinista!' nevertheless almost a complete success. The initially frightening length of 2 hours turns out to be pleasurable and purposefully structured, skilfully clocked in order to provide breathing pauses, humor, moments of reflection and high-energy barrages as in a live performance. [...] A lot on 'Sandinista!' is reggae influenced, but The Clash also experiment with a whole range of other (mostly black) styles - soul, calypso, gospel, blues. Each of them integrated into the hoarse-rough rock of the band instead of imitated flatly, and each time connected to a suitable social topic. "

The Village Voice (USA): "If you assume that this is their worst - which I think it is - then they must be, uh, the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world."

Musikexpress (Germany): “Listening to all six pages is a musical rollercoaster like one can hardly imagine. It gets even more annoying that some songs are really only very mediocre. Most of all, however, I was concerned with the question of why the Clash lost themselves in this musical lack of direction after their excellent ' London Calling ' album. Did you really want to prove that you can do everything, did you just enjoy working in the studio and wanted to see out of curiosity how far you can go, or have you really lost your bearings? "

Sounds (Germany): “(...) Instrumentation, arrangement and sound are sacrificed to a mess, any hodgepodge of styles, instrumental and effect uses that (...) gently bubble away. (...) for the sake of fairness: musically a lot (...) is quite successful. "

Flea , the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers , describes the album as his favorite album and as the best punk album of all time: “Sandinista! marked the ultimate triumph of free spirit after London Calling , and nothing else should be about punk. "

Chart placements

US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart placement
week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th 18th 19th 20th
Chart placement 99 46 29 26th 24 24 39 47 66 66 69 77 95 124 153 151 172 192 191 199
UK albums chart placement
week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
Chart placement 19th 25th 25th 27 25th 30th 35 41 50

List of titles

  • Unless otherwise noted, all songs are from The Clash .

Page one

  1. "The Magnificent Seven" - 5:28
  2. "Hitsville UK" - 4:20 [vocals: Ellen Foley ]
  3. "Junco Partner" ( James Wayne ; mentioned in the booklet as AT PRESENT, UNKNOWN ) - 4:53
  4. "Ivan Meets GI Joe" - 3:05 [vocals: Topper Headon ]
  5. "The Leader" - 1:41
  6. "Something About England" - 3:42

Side two

  1. "Rebel Waltz" - 3:25
  2. "Look Here" ( Moses Allison ) - 2:44
  3. "The Crooked Beat" - 5:29 [vocals: Paul Simonon ]
  4. "Somebody Got Murdered" - 3:34
  5. "One More Time" - 3:32 ( The Clash / Mikey Dread )
  6. "One More Dub" - 3:34 [ Dub version of One More Time ( The Clash / Mikey Dread )

Page three

  1. "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)" - 4:51
  2. "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" - 4:31
  3. "Corner Soul" - 2:43
  4. "Let's Go Crazy" - 4:25
  5. "If Music Could Talk" ( The Clash / Mikey Dread ) - 4:36
  6. "The Sound of Sinners" - 4:00

Page four

  1. "Police on My Back" ( Eddy Grant ) - 3:15
  2. "Midnight Log" - 2:11
  3. "The Equalizer" - 5:47
  4. "The Call Up" - 5:25
  5. "Washington Bullets" - 3:51
  6. "Broadway" - 5:45 [With an epilogue by Maria Gallagher singing a fragment from "Guns of Brixton"]

Page five

  1. "Lose This Skin" ( Tymon Dogg ) - 5:07 [vocals: Tymon Dogg]
  2. "Charlie Don't Surf" - 4:55
  3. "Mensforth Hill" - 3:42 [contains parts of "Something About England"]
  4. "Junkie Slip" - 2:48
  5. "Kingston Advice" - 2:36
  6. "The Street Parade" - 3:26

Page Six

  1. "Version City" - 4:23
  2. "Living in Fame" ( The Clash / Mikey Dread ) - 4:36 [modification of "If Music Could Talk", vocals: Mikey Dread]
  3. "Silicone on Sapphire" - 4:32 [modification of "Washington Bullets"]
  4. "Version Pardner" - 5:22 [modification of "Junco Partner"]
  5. "Career Opportunities" - 2:30 [New version sung by Luke and Ben Gallagher]
  6. "Shepherds Delight" ( The Clash / Mikey Dread ) - 3:25

When released as a double CD, the first CD contains the first three sides of the LPs, the second CD the last three.

Reviews

Some critics complained that the album would have gotten better as a less ambitious, smaller project. Others saw it as a breakthrough comparable to the White Album of Beatles . Sandinista! was voted album of the year by The Village Voice magazine .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ release date
  2. ↑ Nick Kent, New Musical Express Magazine (December 13, 1980)
  3. ↑ Patrick Humphries, Melody Maker Magazine (December 13, 1980)
  4. ↑ [1] John Piccarella, Rolling Stone Magazine (March 5, 1981)
  5. ↑ Ira Robbins, Trouser Press magazine (April 1980)
  6. ↑ Debra Rae Cohen, New York Times Daily (May 24, 1981)
  7. ^ [2] Robert Christgau, The Village Voice magazine (March 2, 1981)
  8. ↑ Thomas Rückerl, Musikexpress magazine (February 1981)
  9. ↑ Diedrich Diederichsen , Sounds magazine (2/1981)
  10. ↑ Visions 250 p. 88