HANG HIGH
Record Collector 71 Everyone knows that the vital album for THE CLASH was London Calling and that their debut LP hailed a new rock’n’roll. But what about the album in between, Give ’Em Enough Rope? It’s reputedly an anomaly, during which The Clash lost Complete Control. But without this LP, cut as the band came under fire from supporters and enemies alike, facing riots, a power struggle and even the terrorism squad, they would never have hit their highest highs. Clash insider Kris Needs recalls a time of forment
The phrase “Give him enough rope, and he’ll hang himself” is defined in several idioms dictionaries as “giving a bad person enough time and freedom to do as he pleases, and he may make a bad mistake and get into trouble”.
The Clash picked a perfect title for their second album, maybe taking it from Episode 2 of the 60s US TV series The Green Hornet (which co-starred Bruce Lee). It niftily pre-empted the derision they expected to receive from press and diehards who would doubtless find it inconceivable to see life beyond three chords and a white riot. But legendary Clash road manager Johnny Green now cites 1978 as the group’s pivotal year.
While this century has seen The Clash increasingly deified, especially after Strummer’s passing in December 2002, they were relentlessly pilloried from the moment they signed to CBS. It is hard to believe now, with guitarist Mick Jones playing the old songs to rapt houses in aid of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, but in 1978 The Clash faced barbed criticism at every release or mischievous antic. Strummer was even forced by gossip column sniping to downgrade his living quarters from a poky attic room in Sebastian Conran’s so-called White Mansion to a pokier Marylebone squat.
Most common taunts were aimed at the group supposedly selling out the punk ideal, though they …
by Kris Needs
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