‘We Are The Clash’: The Clash’s desperate attempt to be a band on a single song
When it comes to embarrassing falls from grace, there aren’t many worse than The Clash’s 1985 farewell album, Cut the Crap. A pitiful attempt at keeping the band’s punk spirit alive despite the genre’s fade in popularity and also in the face of inner turmoil within the group, it sees the band dish out one last serving of their work, but it’s far from the high note any of them could have wished to go out on.
That is, except for Mick Jones and Topper Headon, of course. Having both been fired from the band sometime following the release of their previous album, Combat Rock, they were probably rolling around with glee to see former bandmates Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon end the band in such abject fashion. Their acrimonious split from the group couldn’t have been better timed for them if this were to be the direction they’d have taken together.
It’s arguable, however, that the sound of Cut the Crap is largely due to the lack of songwriting influence from Jones, who had partnered with frontman Strummer throughout the majority of the band’s catalogue to write most of their material. Without Jones being there to direct him and, rather ironically, cut the crap, the band were perhaps always destined to be less of a force than they had been on their previous acclaimed records.
You could also argue that given that, the Clash were already over by the time Cut the Crap was released, and that the lineup that had been present from 1977 to 1982 was the only true incarnation of the group. Instead choosing to replace the departed members with two guitarists and a new drummer, Strummer and Simonon’s new-look Clash were nothing but a hollow attempt to keep the name going, especially since Jones and Headon had other ideas.
Following their departure, they were threatening to start a new project and continue using the Clash as their name. This insenced Strummer to no end, and in a snark-filled retaliation, he opted to record the song ‘We Are the Clash’, as if to prove to the others and the band’s fanbase that there was only one real version of the band. While Jones would instead form Big Audio Dynamite with filmmaker Don Letts, one thing was absolutely clear; this was no longer the Clash, but a diluted imitation of what they once were.
In an effort to get the new recruits up to speed, the band were performing live frequently, and ‘We Are the Clash’ was a mainstay of the set. Things got to a point where the new band were looking competent as replacements in this capacity, but their efforts on the record couldn’t have been further from that. With tame synthetic drum machines and questionable use of sampling coming courtesy of the newly formed songwriting and production partnership between Strummer and the band’s manager, Bernie Rhodes, things were very obviously heading south.
‘We Are the Clash’ is remarkably far from the worst offence that The Clash put on Cut the Crap, but it is a horrific and spiteful song that lashes out at the once core members of the group, without whom the band were evidently immeasurably weakened. It’s hardly surprising that after the widespread panning it received after its release, the remaining original members called time on operations before they ended up disgracing the name any more than they already had done.
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