The Clash: The Clash (neon pink vinyl) [COLUMBIA]

Why you'll love it

This pressing on neon pink vinyl keeps the original UK tracklist, with "Deny," "Cheat," "Protex Blue" and "48 Hours," and prints the lyrics on the inner sleeve. The album reached No. 12 in the UK, and Mojo ranked it second among the greatest punk albums.

This edition

• Neon pink vinyl
• Original UK tracklist
• Lyrics printed on inner sleeve

About the album

Three long weekends in February 1977 at CBS Studio 3 in London, about four thousand pounds, and one of the great debut albums was done. Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon cut it with Terry Chimes on drums and their live sound engineer Mickey Foote producing, and you can hear the urgency of a band that had something to say and no time to waste.

"Janie Jones" counts it in, "White Riot" and "London's Burning" became instant punk standards, and "I'm So Bored with the U.S.A." and "Career Opportunities" turn a sneer into a singalong. Their take on Junior Murvin's "Police & Thieves" stretches out to six minutes and points the way to the reggae and dub they'd explore later, and "Garage Land" signs off with a wink at the critics.

The American label held off for two years, so the UK import sold over 100,000 copies on its own before an American version arrived. Chimes was credited on the sleeve as Tory Crimes, which is the most polite act of punk rebellion we know of.

Also at Kops: more The Clash on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On CBS / Columbia (cat# 19658737741), a reissue of the 1977 album.