First Night Back In London - The Clash

From The Clash´s Super Black Market Clash.
Originally planned to appear on Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg, but cut from the final version, Combat Rock.
It did appear on the B-side of Know Your Rights less then a month before the release of Combat Rock, so the decision to cut it must have been a late one. Personally I´d have put Ghetto Defendant on the B-side, but that´s not important right now.

Personally I really like this song, some real nice drums and bass, with Joe´s voice melting nicely into it all.
Once again though, I´m uncertain what genre of music this is. Not that it really matters.

Lyrics:

The mini cab
The driver is black
This time of night
You better sit in the back

Got a few smokes
Under your hat
The cops are lookin' out
For the petrol on the black

This time I think
So what the hell
There's that female
I know too well

Why should I lean
Get out my mind again
I ridin' in the back alone
The stranger rides again

To see my lovely town
That always brings you down
Where every drifter drifts
For many miles around

We take a casual drive
For two miles up the road
The cops pull us over
And search right through our clothes

They give him hell
They check him on the air
I sit there with the drugs in my hair

As soon as I get home
I call Heathrow
Want a standby fare to Borneo

RIP Joe

Category:

Music

Tags:

• The
• Clash
• Super
• Black
• Market
• B-Side
• Know
• Your
• Rights
• Joe
• Strummer
• Paul
• Simonon
• Mick
• Jones
• Topper
• Headon
• 1981

[thepersonofme]

I love and respect how clash change there musical paths, however there first album is by far my favorite

[dunning1977]

These piss all over The Sex Pistols IMO

[dunning1977]

@thepersonofme All amazing albums mate - apart from the last one - why Joe kicked out Mick Jones I will never know and recorded Cut The Crap but hey... to me, THE MOST INFLUENTIAL band ever AND THE COOLEST - however, still not my favourite though. I just love listening to later Talk Talk stuff and David Sylvian stuff too .

[RacingTopsy2]

@MorphineStockbroker share it with us!

[MorphineStockbroker]

I bought a CD of Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg (under the name Another Combat Rock) a few years ago in a record shop although I'm sure it's not an official release. Keep your eyes peeled on ebay I suppose. Combat Rock is probably my favourite Clash album but I like the original version better if anything. I think Beautiful People is great . They claimed a few years ago there was nothing else left "in the vaults" by The Clash to put out. Complete bollocks. Still that's what bootleggers are for.

[degree7]

@vth42

Yeah, what the hell happened to those mixes, why doesn't Mick or Paul get up off their arses and put those out for the fans.

Although maybe the record companies have the right to them or some bs like that.

[thrillhouse222]

lol, this song is about weed

[hockeyrocks5757]

The drum fills in this remind of the Rick Roll song XD

[Alexm799]

what a mad tune,good stuff though

[vth42]

One of their best songs, I think. Wish they had continued, in this direction- don't like any of their post-Clash music at all.  And I wish they'd officially release the rest of the Rat Patrol sessions. I like Mick's mixes on a lot of that stuff, the Combat Rock mixes are too 80's arena rock, even though some of their best tunes are on there - "Straight to Hell", "Car Jamming", "Ghetto Defendant", etc.