 This video is brought to you by CuriosityStream. If you sign up to CuriosityStream with the link in the description, you'll get free access to Nebula, where you can watch my working titles episode on The Man in the High Castle. Punk Rock is a genre with a rich history of iconic album covers. From the loud collage style typography of Nevermind the Bullocks, to the shattered glass of Black Flag's debut, Punk Rock's rage and descent have always been easy to represent visually. But of all the great punk artworks, I don't think any have captured the spirit of the genre quite like the clashes London calling. The image of Paul Simon and Trashing his base seems to perfectly embody all that the genre represents. In this video we're gonna find out how such an iconic cover came to be. Welcome to cover stories. In the mid-1970s Punk Rock was exploding in the UK. Groups like the Sex Pistols, The Damned, and Buzzcocks were enrapturing a new generation of youth and the clash were some of the leaders of that movement. There are many that will tell you that the Clash's 1977 debut album remains the greatest punk album ever recorded to this day. But the clash had a vision beyond simply ruling a scene. They wanted to spread their messages of political dissidents and activism to a global audience. Naturally, this meant turning their eyes to the United States. On February 7th 1979 the only band that matters performed their first American gig. They would do two North American tours that year returning home to record London calling in between. But the clash found the experience of performing in America to be different than they were used to. In London the clash would play raucous punk bars and dance halls full of standing room crowds. In the US they often found themselves playing in theaters with fixed seating like New York's Palladium. In the Palladium bouncers would hold crowds back make sure they stayed stapled to their seats. For a punk band this was a real problem. Punk Rock is music built for pubs. It thrives on the energy of a rowdy drunken crowd who are willing to throw down on the dance floor. This issue came to a boiling point on the evening of September 20th 1979 when a Palladium crowd were kept particularly demure by the bouncers. This frustrated bassist Paul Simonin so much that he decided to take it out on his poor Fender Precision bass. Simonin explained to Fender that the bass was actually a favorite of his for its versatility and tone. Unfortunately, you always sort of tend to destroy the things you love, said Simonin. But in destroying his beloved P-Bass, Paul Simonin was unwittingly making music history. And that's because the legendary music photographer Penny Smith was standing just off stage. Smith had followed the clash for that American tour though she was used to standing on the other side of the stage closer to guitarist Mick Jones. On the evening of September 20th however, Smith decided to switch it up and when she saw Simonin's rage brewing she was ready with a camera. She told the Guardian it wasn't a choice to take the shot my finger just went off. The result was immediately iconic. It seemed to embody the angst and rage of Punk Rock, the same rage that the clash were trying to inspire in their audience. Like the music of Punk Rock, the photo itself was full of imperfections. In fact, it was so out of focus that Smith didn't want the band to use it as their album cover. But when Joe Strummer got a look at the picture, he knew its power and insisted on using it as the album artwork. It would have been hard to go wrong with such an iconic photo, but the clash finished off the album artwork with a perfect choice of typography. The typography idea came courtesy of illustrator Ray Lowry who was a long time friend of the band. Lowry created a logo type that paid homage to the typography of Elvis Presley's debut album. The font perfectly framed Penny Smith's photo and it called back to the roots of Punk Rock. In a lot of ways, Punk Rock was born out of the 1950s rockabilly tradition, simple songs in a basic structure driven by pure emotion. The clash would even cover Rockabilly star Vince Taylor's brand new Cadillac on London Calling. But it was more than just the musical commonalities. Punk and rock and roll held the same cultural significance. They were both raw musics built on channeling the rebellious nature of youth and the desire of a new generation to find something for themselves. When the clash released London Calling in 1979, the comparison to Elvis may have seemed audacious, but four decades later there are few who would deny the clash's place in rock and roll history. And to this day, the most enduring image of the clash's illustrious career is still the album artwork to London Calling. Music photography is a topic that I've always found really fascinating, whether it's capturing the rage of punk, the rebellion of rock, or the unmatched style of jazz, there's something about a good music photographer that can really put you into a historic moment. And that's why I loved the jazz loft on CuriosityStream. That documentary uses archival footage to give you a fly on the wall look at the incredible jazz scene in 1950s New York. If you want to check that out, you can head on over to curiositystream.com to get started today. Not only will following that link get you access to thousands of great documentaries, it'll also give you access to Nebula, the streaming service created by and for creators like myself. I upload every video, as well as my podcast Ghost Notes, early and ad-free on Nebula. On top of that, I've got a number of videos that are exclusive to Nebula, including my latest episode of Working Titles, where I analyze the opening title sequence of Man in the High Castle. If you want to check any of this out and also want to support independent creators like myself, clicking the link in the description is the best way to do it. Following that link will get you 26% off. That means less than $15 for a year of both CuriosityStream and Nebula. Thank you all so much for watching.