by an obsession with punk and hardcore, for a long time, I sort of ignored The Clash. Of course, I knew them, and their singles, and saw that their were often cited as an influence of tons of other bands that I liked but for me they weren't ever fast enough. Fortunately, I was able to grow beyond that bias, and have since realized why they're such an oft cited band, and have grown to love their music. The band was formed in 1976 in London, England, with the line-up consisting of Joe Strummer (guitar, vocals), Mick Jones (guitar, vocals), Paul Simonon (bass), and Topper Headon (drums) for most of the band's career. They were a part of the first wave of UK punk bands, though by their second and third albums, were moving beyond that single genre, and incorporating ideas from all over the musical spectrum, including from reggae, rockabilly, world music, and even jazz and the blues. Technically the group existed until 1986, though the original line-up had been broken apart in 1982 when Headon left the band, and Jones went on to a new band Big Audio Dynamite. Strummer went on to a successful solo career, moving much more in the folk/world music direction. Today's song is from the band's 1982 album Combat Rock which, overall, isn't my favorite album, however this song is definitely one of my favorites that the band ever released. You may recognize it from other tunes, as it has been sampled a number of times before, probably most recently by M.I.A. in her song 'Paper Planes', though I am still much more partial to the original version.