Black Market Clash–Cover Songs by the Only Band That Matters

The Clash were wildly inventive and original. But they were never as wantonly destructive as their U.K. punk counterparts. The Sex Pistols saw it as their mission to dismantle and bury everything that came before them.

By contrast, the Clash showed an appreciation–if not quite a reverence–for history. In later years, the members of The Clash would acknowledge that they weren’t as politically informed as their image suggested back in the late ‘70s.

But they did make revolutionary music. And much of it still bleeds with urgency and immediacy. However, the Clash also paid tribute to their influences–not just those that shaped their music, but also those that informed their political disenchantment.

Here are the songs that the Clash covered and the originals that informed them.

1. Police & Thieves

Jamaican-born Junior Murvin began his career as a bit of a reggae journeyman. He bounced between various working-class ensembles including the Hippy Boys, the Mighty Falcons, and the Tornadoes, playing on the tourism and hotel circuit for the better part of the ‘70s.

He even auditioned for, and was rejected by, legendary dub producer Lee “Scratch” Perry in 1972.

Junior Murvin (1976)

Undeterred, Junior returned to Perry in 1976 with a new composition about police brutality and gang violence in Jamaica. This time, Perry agreed to record him, and they collaborated on what would become a signature recording for both artists.

“Police and Thieves” became a hit in Jamaica. But it also sold well in U.K. record stores. In fact, it sold well enough to become an anthem when riots erupted during the 1976 Notting Hill Carnival.

Some quick background on the Notting Hill Carnival. This annual event celebrating British Caribbean culture has been celebrated on the streets of Notting Hill and Kensington in London since 1966. However, owing to the absence of proper permits, the perception of disorder, and the fact that Carnival attendees were primarily Black, the 1976 celebration saw a particularly large police presence and a heavy-handed use of force. It’s said that the resulting melee helped to popularize Junior Murvin’s tune.

The Clash (1977)

It’s also said that two impressionable youths named Joe Strummer and Paul Simonen were on hand for said melee. So it was only natural that they began performing their take of “Police and Thieves” during studio breaks while recording their self-titled debut.

Though “Police and Thieves” was not originally intended for inclusion on The Clash, the band ended up spontaneously recording a version that they decided was worthy or release.

Junior Murvin and Lee Perry disagreed. Both were critical of the Clash’s stab at “punk reggae”.

But as compliments go, the highest of all comes from Bob Marley, who was reportedly inspired to write “Punky Reggae Party” after hearing The Clash’s recording of “Police and Thieves”.

2. English Civil War (a.k.a When Johnnie Comes Marching Home)

Louis Lambert nee Patrick Gilmore (1863)

“When Johnnie Comes Marching Home” is a U.S. Civil War-era tune that was originally composed by a Massachusetts-born Union military bandmaster named Patrick Gilmore (and copyrighted under the pseudonym Louis Lambert).

The Clash (1978)

Joe Strummer learned the song while in grade school. He saw a parallel to Britain’s struggle against a rising far-right political front in its ominous tone and militant drumbeat. He suggested it as a single off of the band’s second record, Give ‘Em Enough Rope. Remarkably, this dusty American battle song reached #25 on the U.K. singles chart.

3. Pressure Drop (1979)

The B-side to “English Civil War” was another shot at “punk reggae”, this time with a cover of a tune by the great Toots & The Maytals.

Toots & The Maytals (1970)

In fact, “Pressure Drop” helped to put future reggae legend Toots Hibbert on the map. Though it wasn’t a hit, it was included on the soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film The Harder They Come.

The soundtrack was a landmark collection of Jamaican tunes that helped to introduce reggae to the wider world. It was likely the first real glimpse of reggae for many young British and American musicians.

The Clash (1979)

The Clash pay tribute here with a version that is fairly faithful to the original, and like its inspiration, was not a hit.

In fact, the only actual charting version of “Pressure Drop” is, somehow, this buzzy cut by former Guns ‘N Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin and his Ju Ju Hounds. Their 1992 take reached #45 on the U.K. singles charts (along with charting slots in Australia and Sweden).

4. Brand New Cadillac

Strummer once referred to this as “one of the first British rock'n'roll records,” which is a defensible claim.

Vince Taylor and his Playboys (1959)

Vince Taylor was British-born, but spent some of his teen years living in New Jersey and California. This gave him a better vantage for the rise of Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent. He carried those influences back to England where, in the late ‘50s, he formed the Playboys.

They recorded a clutch of rockabilly singles in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, including a B-side cut of “Brand New Cadillac”.

It was never a hit for Taylor, who was known both for his dynamic onstage persona and his difficult offstage personality. He butted heads with his bandmates, indulged in drug and alcohol use, and ultimately left music to join some sort of religious group in the mid-60s. (It’s also said that Vince was the inspiration for the titular character of David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.)

While Taylor’s career was spiraling (and largely unbeknownst to him), “Brand New Cadillac” was emerging as a major trans-European hit. Between 1965 and 1966, three different groups took Taylor’s song to the top of the charts in three different countries.

The Renegades took it to #1 in Finland:

The Hep Stars took reach #1 in Sweden;

And the Shamrocks topped the charts in France.

The Clash (1979)

Like “Police and Thieves”, “Brand New Cadillac” was a song that the Clash generally used to warm up during studio rehearsal time. But it actually became the first recording waxed for their third release–the epic double-LP London Calling.

As for Vince Taylor, he spent some portion of his later years performing across Europe while also working as an airplane mechanic before passing away from lung cancer in 1991. In 1997, Clash singer Joe Strummer portrayed Taylor in a film called Doctor Chance.

5. Armagideon Time

Still performing and recording today, Willie Williams pressed the song for which he is best known alongside a collection of reggae icons in 1977.

Willie Williams (1978)

Produced by Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, with keys from Jackie Mittoo, and eventually released as a single through the highly influential Studio One in 1978, “Armagideon Time” is a classic example of the “Real Rock” riddim.

“Real Rock” was originally a 1967 release by the Sound Dimension. The Sound Dimension was the ace in-house band for Dodd’s Studio One (and included Mittoo among other luminaries). “Real Rock” would serve as the primary sonic building block for thousands of reggae tunes thereafter, including “Armagideon Time”.

The Clash (1979)

The Clash paid tribute by including their version as a B-Side to the single for “London Calling”. While the Williams cover was never a hit, it sold well as “London Calling” reached #11 on the UK Official Charts Company Weekly Charts (whatever that is) and #30 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play (which seems like an odd place for that tune to chart, but whatever).

6. I Fought the Law

The Crickets (1959)

Sonny Curtis wrote “I Fought the Law” in 1958, and recorded it with the Crickets in 1959, just after he joined the band as the replacement for the recently deceased Buddy Holly.

But the famous version of this tune—the one that the Clash actually heard firsthand—is by the Bobby Fuller Four.

Bobby Fuller Four (1965)

The El Paso, Texas band released their version in 1965 and reached #9 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Tragically, 6 months later, Fuller was found dead in his car under mysterious circumstances. (Read the whole story here.)

The Clash (1979)

As it happens, the Clash only discovered the song some 13 years later while producing their second record. They came across the Bobby Fuller 45 on a jukebox while recording at the Automatt Studio in San Francisco. They added it to their repertoire, released their version on a 1979 EP called Cost of Living, and received their first bit of minor airplay in the U.S.

7. Revolution Rock

Danny Ray (1979)

Like Willie Williams, Danny Ray is a first-generation reggae icon who is still with us. And like Williams, he was a contemporary who provided the Clash with immediate inspiration. As Paul Simonen remembers it, the band was in the midst of recording London Calling when Ray released his version of “Revolution Rock”.

Ray’s tune borrows liberally from a 1976 cut by fellow Jamaican Jackie Edwards called “Get Up”, which earned the latter a partial songwriting credit on “Revolution Rock”.

The Clash (1979)

The Clash version became a staple of live shows.

8. Wrong ‘Em Boyo

The original version of “Wrong ‘Em Boyo” was recorded by an early ska group from Jamaica called the Rulers.

The Rulers (1967)

The song’s authorship is credited to Clive Alphonso. The original also include snippets of the American roots standard “Stagger Lee”. The true authorship of “Stagger Lee” is unknown, but the first official recording is this decidedly sanitized 1923 cut from Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians.

Anyway, not much is known about The Rulers or Clive Alphonso. It appears that the entirety of their catalogue was released through a series of Jamaican 45s between 1966 and 1969.

The Clash (1979)

But the Clash did help to press one of their tunes into immortality by including it on the groundbreaking London Calling.

9. Time is Tight

Booker T. & the M.G.’s were the legendary house band for the singular Stax Records in Memphis. An interracial quartet of crack musicians, you’ve heard them on milestone recordings by Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and much much more.

Booker T. & the M.G.’s (1969)

They also had their own highly successful run at the charts with a series of instrumental hits. “Time is Tight” was one of their biggest hits, a #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, a #2 on the U.K. Singles Chart, and #1 on South Africa’s Springbok Radio charts.

The Clash (1980)

The Clash regularly used “Time is Tight” as a warmup during live performances before including it on their 1980 EP, Black Market Clash.

10. Police On My Back

The Equals formed in the mid-60s and rose to fame as the first notable interracial British rock group. They even reached #1 on the U.K. charts in 1966 with a song called “Baby, Come Back” (not to be confused with the 1977 Lite-FM hit of the same name for a band from L.A. called Player).

Their big hit was written by co-founder, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Eddy Grant. He was also responsible for writing a 1967 protest against state-sponsored oppression called “Police on My Back”.

The Equals (1967)

Unfortunately, a 1969 car accident on a Germany highway resulted in injuries for all five members of the band. In a band of equals, Eddy Grant’s injuries were worst of all. The group disbanded as Grant nursed a collapsed lung and heart infection. Eventually making a full recovery, Grant embarked on a solo career in the mid-70s.

The Clash (1980)

In the meantime, though “Police on My Back” wasn’t a hit for the Equals, it was included on the Clash’s sprawling (some might say quixotic) 1980 triple-LP, Sandanista!

As for Grant, today, he is best known for yet another song decrying violence between U.K. police and mostly black revelers. The 1981 Brixton Riot was a series of clashes (no pun intended) that erupted over stop-and-frisk police tactics in the largely African-Caribbean South London community.

Eddy Grant captured the tension in his 1982 release “Electric Avenue”. It became a massive hit the following year, reaching #2 on both the U.K. Singles Chart and U.S. Billboard Hot 100.