The Clash - "Do Not Cross"

Happy 2020. 

Not long after taking a break a few months ago because I'd run out of ideas, I suddenly had a brainstorm and whipped together 11 new ideas. My plan is to post one on the first Sunday of each month. Here's the first....

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What could have/would have been had The Clash not split into different camps in 1983? The world will never know.

Troubles seem to have begun with the group during the recording of Combat Rock. Originally it was mixed by singer/guitarist Mick Jones as a double album titled Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg. However, others in the band weren't happy with the mix and weren't convinced they should issue another multi-disc album following the double London Calling and triple Sandinista!

Veteran rock music producer Glyn Johns was brought in to remix the album, something Jones wasn't completely happy about. Then while on tour, drummer Topper Headon was sacked from the group due to his drug addiction. And then disagreements about rehearsing, use of synthesizers, management and just about everything else tore the group apart. Jones was fired by Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon. Jones eventually formed a new group called Big Audio Dynamite. And Simonen ended up having little input on the next Clash album, Cut the Crap, making it essentially a Strummer solo album.

I wanted to look at Cut the Crap and the debut Big Audio Dynamite album and see if I could use tracks from both to create a theoretical Clash album.

SIDE A

1. Cool Under Heat 

2. Medicine Show

3. E=MC²

4. The Bottom Line

5. Sex Mad Roar

SIDE B

1. This is England

2. Sudden Impact!

3. Three Card Trick

4. Electric Vandal

5. North and South

6. Life is Wild

In creating this album, I ended up with four tracks from This is Big Audio Dynamite and five songs from Cut the Crap, plus one non-album track from each.

The tracks I took from Cut the Crap seem to be the ones least hated from that album. And the ones I took from This is Big Audio Dynamite appear to be the best ones by consensus. Your results may differ.

Interestingly, the best B.A.D. tracks seem to be on the first side of that album, and the best of the Cut the Crap tracks appear to be on the second side of that disk. I was tempted to simply put one group on one side and the other on the second side. But I felt it would be better to integrate the songs at least to some degree.

At first, I decided to try placing most of the songs where they appear on their respective original albums. However, my first attempt at creating Side A didn't work. I began with "Medicine Show," followed by "Sex Mad Roar," "E=MC2," "The Bottom Line" and "Cool Under Heat." But this arrangement didn't flow well at all. So, I rearranged it a little, with much better results, I think.

The album kicks off with The Clash's "Cool Under Heat." It features a roaring guitar riff and chanting chorus so I thought it was a good way to start off. The next track from This is Big Audio Dynamite, "Medicine Show," is followed by what is probably B.A.D.'s best-known song, "E=MC²." Closing out the first side are B.A.D.'s "The Bottom Line" and the non-album Clash song "Sex Mad Roar."

The second side kicks off with what many call "the last great Clash song": "This is England." Then we alternate, B.A.D.'s "Sudden Impact!," Clash's "Three Card Trick" and then "B.A.D.'s "Electric Vandal" (a non-album track). Two Clash songs, "North and South" and "Life is Wild," close out the album as they do on Cut the Crap.

Overall, I think this is an interesting mix. It won't satisfy purists, but I think it gives a glimpse into what a Clash album could have been had Strummer and Jones managed to compromise.

I put together the album cover design using clip art of caution tape I found online and used the words on the caution tape for the album title, Do Not Cross.

While The Clash was no more after Cut the Crap (and many would argue the band ended with Combat Rock), Strummer and Jones did eventually reconcile. The second Bad Audio Dynamite album, No. 10 Upping St., was produced by Strummer and he also co-wrote seven tunes (including bonus cuts) with Jones and others. So in some ways, No. 10 Upping St. could even be considered the final Clash album.

Check out a YouTube playlist of Do Not Cross.