Sandinista!
Encyclopedia
Sandinista! is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock
band the Clash
. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. Anticipating the "world music
" trend of the 1980s, it features reggae
, jazz
, mock gospel
, rockabilly
, folk
, dub
, rhythm and blues
, calypso
, and rap
.Related news articles:
For the first time, the band's traditional songwriting credits of Strummer and Jones were replaced by a generic credit to the Clash, and the band cut the album royalties, in order to release the 3-LP at a low price.Related news articles: The title comes from the Nicaragua
n socialist political party, the Sandinistas, and its catalogue number, 'FSLN1', refers to the acronym for Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional
.
Sandinista! was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice
' s Pazz & Jop
critics poll, and it was ranked number 404 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
in 2003.
, Jamaica
and New York. It was produced by the band (which essentially meant Mick Jones
and Joe Strummer
), recorded and mixed by Bill Price
, and engineered by Jeremy "Jerry" Green (Wessex Sound Studios
), J. P. Nicholson (Electric Lady Studios
), Lancelot "Maxie" McKenzie (Channel One Studios
), and Bill Price
(Pluto + Power Station Studios). Dub
versions for some of the songs and toasting was done by Mikey Dread
, who had first worked with the band for their 1980 single "Bankrobber
". With Sandinista! the band reached beyond punk
and reggae
into dub, rhythm and blues
, calypso
, gospel
and other genres. The album clearly displays the influence of reggae
and in particular producer Lee "Scratch" Perry (who had worked with the band on their 1977 single "Complete Control
" and who had opened some of the band's shows during its stand at Bond's in New York in 1980), with a dense, echo-filled sound on even the straight rock songs.
When recording began in New York bass guitarist Paul Simonon
was busy making a film, and he was replaced briefly by Ian Dury and the Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy
; this later caused some bad feeling when Watt-Roy and keyboard player Mickey Gallagher
, a fellow Blockhead, claimed they were responsible for co-composing the song "The Magnificent Seven
", as the song was based on a tune of theirs. Dread, too, was upset that he was not credited as the album's producer, although he was credited with "Version Mix". Other guests on the album include actor Tim Curry
(providing the voice of a priest on "The Sound of Sinners"), singer Ellen Foley
(Jones' partner at the time), former Voidoids
guitarist Ivan Julian
, former Eddie and the Hot Rods member Lew Lewis
, and Strummer's old friend and musical collaborator Tymon Dogg
, who plays violin, sings on and wrote the track "Lose This Skin"; he later joined Strummer's band The Mescaleros
. Mickey Gallagher's children also made appearances: his two sons, Luke and Ben, singing a version of "Career Opportunities" from the band's first album
, and his daughter Maria singing a snippet of "The Guns of Brixton", from London Calling
, at the end of the track "Broadway".
This is also the only Clash album on which all four members have a lead vocal. Drummer Topper Headon made a unique lead vocal contribution on the disco song "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe", and bassist Paul Simonon sings lead on "The Crooked Beat".
Four singles were released from the Sandinista! sessions in the UK: "Bankrobber
" (which did not appear on the album), "The Call Up", "Hitsville UK", and "The Magnificent Seven". The last deserves mention as possibly the first-ever British rap
single and as one of the first rap singles by a white band.
The triple-LP set was, like London Calling
, a subject of trickery towards the record company from the band. Two contradictory accounts of the release of the album exist. Some say that the Clash pulled the same trick a second time by saying they wanted to include a 12" single with their double album, and then getting 3 full-length discs pressed before executives became wise. Another belief is that The Clash surrendered all of their album royalties for the first 200,000 copies sold in order to make the 3-LP set a reality. Joe Strummer said in an interview by Judy McGuire for Punk Magazine: "Well, now you're talking to a man who forwent the royalties on Sandinista!" Regardless of which of these is true, either situation paints the band in a good light, putting their fans before and above any other involved entity.
A one-LP distillation of the album, called Sandinista Now!, was sent to press and radio. The side one track listing was "Police on My Back", "Somebody Got Murdered", "The Call Up", "Washington Bullets", "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" and "Hitsville U.K.". The side two track listing was "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)", "The Magnificent Seven", "The Leader", "Junco Partner", "One More Time" and "The Sound of Sinners".
The song "Washington Bullets
" was Clash lyric-writer Joe Strummer's most extensive—and most specific—political statement to date. In it, Strummer name checks conflicts or controversies from around the world; namely in Chile
, Nicaragua
, Cuba
, Afghanistan
and Tibet
. (In reference to the first three, Strummer seems to side with what he sees as popular leftist movements or governments, while in the latter two, he sharply criticizes the policy of Moscow's and Beijing's communist governments for what he sees as their imperialist actions). The original Rolling Stone review of Sandinista! calls "Washington Bullets", along with "The Equaliser" and "The Call Up", "the heart of the album".
The original, 3-disc vinyl release of "Sandinista" included a tri-fold lyric sheet cleverly titled The Armagideon Times, no. 3 (a play on "Armagideon Time", the b-side from the single London Calling
.) Armagideon Times, nos. 1 and 2 were Clash fanzines. The lyric sheet featured cartoons credited to Steve Bell
, as well as hand-written (but still legible) lyrics of all songs. The 2-CD release contains a facsimile of the lyric sheet considerably reduced in size.
Joe Strummer once told Rolling Stone magazine that the concept for a triple-LP (a rarity in the rock music world) came from friendly competition with American artist Bruce Springsteen
. When their earlier LP London Calling
was released in 1980, critics said that Springsteen's upcoming double-disc album The River would outsell the Clash effort and wipe away any impact. Strummer's response was: "Right Bruce. Suck on this". The band then expanded Sandinista into a triple album.
" trend of the late '80s and early '90s. Reggae
, jazz
, mock gospel
, rockabilly
, folk
, dub
, Rhythm and blues
, calypso
, Clash-style rock
and other musical genres appear on Sandinista! The album included two rap
songs at a time when rap was new even among its core black audience.
The rock music world hailed Sandinista! as a masterpiece. John Piccarella, in a review headlined "The Clash Drop The Big One" and giving the album the highest possible rating of five stars, argues that in effect, the band said "to hell with Clash style, there's a world out there." Some critics have argued that the album would have worked better as a less-ambitious, smaller project, while Piccarella (in his Rolling Stone review) and others think of the album as a breakthrough that deserves comparison to the Beatles'
White Album
. Robert Christgau said "if this is their worst--which it is, I think--they must be, er, the world's greatest rock and roll band" and graded the album A-.
The triple album won several "best of the year" critics polls in 1981. It was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice
' s Pazz & Jop
critics poll. Dave Marsh
noted that it was a record whose topic was as many years ahead of its time as its sound. Alternative Press
magazine included Sandinista! on its 2000 list of the "10 Essential Political-Revolution Albums" In 2003, the album was ranked number 404 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The College Music Journal
ranked Sandinista! number two on its 2004 list of the "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1981".
The Sandinista! Project, a tribute to the album featuring The Smithereens
, Camper Van Beethoven
, Jon Langford
(Mekons) and Sally Timms
, Amy Rigby
, Katrina Leskanich
(of Katrina and the Waves
), Wreckless Eric
, Willie Nile
, Matthew Ryan, Stew, Sex Clark Five, Sid Griffin & Coal Porters, Haale
, The Blizzard of 78
featuring Mikey Dread
, Ruby on the Vine, and many others, was released on 15 May 2007, on the 00:02:59 Records (a label named after a lyric from the Sandinista! song "Hitsville U.K."). The album also features a collaboration by Soul Food and Mickey Gallagher on "Midnight Log".
release has the first three sides on the first CD and the latter three sides on the second CD.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band the Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. Anticipating the "world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
" trend of the 1980s, it features reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, mock gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, folk
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, and rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.Related news articles:
For the first time, the band's traditional songwriting credits of Strummer and Jones were replaced by a generic credit to the Clash, and the band cut the album royalties, in order to release the 3-LP at a low price.Related news articles: The title comes from the Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n socialist political party, the Sandinistas, and its catalogue number, 'FSLN1', refers to the acronym for Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...
.
Sandinista! was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics poll, and it was ranked number 404 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
in 2003.
Background and recording
The album was recorded over most of 1980, in London, ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and New York. It was produced by the band (which essentially meant Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
and Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
), recorded and mixed by Bill Price
Bill Price (record producer)
Bill Price is a producer and engineer famed for his work with The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Guns N' Roses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Nymphs and The Waterboys....
, and engineered by Jeremy "Jerry" Green (Wessex Sound Studios
Wessex Sound Studios
Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located in Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including The Sex Pistols, King Crimson, The Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, The Sinceros, Queen, Talk Talk and The Rolling Stones...
), J. P. Nicholson (Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
), Lancelot "Maxie" McKenzie (Channel One Studios
Channel One Studios
Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica. The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and has had a profound influence on the development of reggae music....
), and Bill Price
Bill Price (record producer)
Bill Price is a producer and engineer famed for his work with The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Guns N' Roses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Nymphs and The Waterboys....
(Pluto + Power Station Studios). Dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
versions for some of the songs and toasting was done by Mikey Dread
Mikey Dread
Michael George Campbell , better known as Mikey Dread, was a Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music...
, who had first worked with the band for their 1980 single "Bankrobber
Bankrobber
"Bankrobber" is a song, and single by The Clash. The song was not released on any of their studio albums, instead appearing on their compilation Black Market Clash...
". With Sandinista! the band reached beyond punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
into dub, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and other genres. The album clearly displays the influence of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and in particular producer Lee "Scratch" Perry (who had worked with the band on their 1977 single "Complete Control
Complete Control
"Complete Control" is a song by The Clash, released as a 7" single and featured on the U.S. release of their debut album.The song is often cited as one of punk's greatest singles, and is a fiery polemic on record companies, managers and the state of punk music itself, the motivation for the song...
" and who had opened some of the band's shows during its stand at Bond's in New York in 1980), with a dense, echo-filled sound on even the straight rock songs.
When recording began in New York bass guitarist Paul Simonon
Paul Simonon
Paul Gustave Simonon is an English musician and artist best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. Recent work includes his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007...
was busy making a film, and he was replaced briefly by Ian Dury and the Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy
Norman Watt-Roy
Norman Watt-Roy is the bassist for The Blockheads, previously known as Ian Dury & the Blockheads.In November 1954 the Watt-Roy family, including Norman, his older brother Garth and his sister, moved to England...
; this later caused some bad feeling when Watt-Roy and keyboard player Mickey Gallagher
Mickey Gallagher
Michael William Gallagher also known as Mick Gallagher and Mickey Gallagher is a British Hammond organ player and best known as a member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and for his contributions to albums by the Clash...
, a fellow Blockhead, claimed they were responsible for co-composing the song "The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven (song)
"The Magnificent Seven" is a song and single by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was the third single from their fourth album Sandinista!. It reached number 34 on the UK Singles Chart....
", as the song was based on a tune of theirs. Dread, too, was upset that he was not credited as the album's producer, although he was credited with "Version Mix". Other guests on the album include actor Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
(providing the voice of a priest on "The Sound of Sinners"), singer Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley
Ellen Foley is an American singer and actress, who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom Night Court. In music, she has released three solo albums but is best known for her collaborations with the singer Meat Loaf.- Early life and career :Foley was born in St....
(Jones' partner at the time), former Voidoids
The Voidoids
The Voidoids, also known as Richard Hell & The Voidoids, were an American rock band from the first wave of punk rock, fronted by Richard Hell, a former member of the Neon Boys, Television and the Heartbreakers...
guitarist Ivan Julian
Ivan Julian
Ivan Julian is a guitarist and bassist, founding member of the seminal Punk/New Wave group Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Outsets and Lovelies.He has performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, and Shriekback....
, former Eddie and the Hot Rods member Lew Lewis
Lew Lewis
Lew Lewis is a "Little Walter-influenced" harmonica player and vocalist who was a member of Eddie and the Hot Rods before forming his own bands, and guesting on albums by The Stranglers, The Clash and others.-Career:...
, and Strummer's old friend and musical collaborator Tymon Dogg
Tymon Dogg
Tymon Dogg is a highly idiosyncratic English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, violin, guitar, oud and a harp of his own invention...
, who plays violin, sings on and wrote the track "Lose This Skin"; he later joined Strummer's band The Mescaleros
The Mescaleros
The Mescaleros were the backing band for Joe Strummer, formed in 1999, which went on to make three albums prior to Strummer's death in 2002. Many of the band members were gifted multi-instrumentalists...
. Mickey Gallagher's children also made appearances: his two sons, Luke and Ben, singing a version of "Career Opportunities" from the band's first album
The Clash (album)
The album received positive reviews from critics and peaked at number 12 in the UK charts. In December 1979, critic Robert Christgau named it his favorite album of the 1970s....
, and his daughter Maria singing a snippet of "The Guns of Brixton", from London Calling
London Calling
London Calling is the third studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 through CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 through Epic Records...
, at the end of the track "Broadway".
This is also the only Clash album on which all four members have a lead vocal. Drummer Topper Headon made a unique lead vocal contribution on the disco song "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe", and bassist Paul Simonon sings lead on "The Crooked Beat".
Four singles were released from the Sandinista! sessions in the UK: "Bankrobber
Bankrobber
"Bankrobber" is a song, and single by The Clash. The song was not released on any of their studio albums, instead appearing on their compilation Black Market Clash...
" (which did not appear on the album), "The Call Up", "Hitsville UK", and "The Magnificent Seven". The last deserves mention as possibly the first-ever British rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
single and as one of the first rap singles by a white band.
The triple-LP set was, like London Calling
London Calling
London Calling is the third studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 through CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 through Epic Records...
, a subject of trickery towards the record company from the band. Two contradictory accounts of the release of the album exist. Some say that the Clash pulled the same trick a second time by saying they wanted to include a 12" single with their double album, and then getting 3 full-length discs pressed before executives became wise. Another belief is that The Clash surrendered all of their album royalties for the first 200,000 copies sold in order to make the 3-LP set a reality. Joe Strummer said in an interview by Judy McGuire for Punk Magazine: "Well, now you're talking to a man who forwent the royalties on Sandinista!" Regardless of which of these is true, either situation paints the band in a good light, putting their fans before and above any other involved entity.
A one-LP distillation of the album, called Sandinista Now!, was sent to press and radio. The side one track listing was "Police on My Back", "Somebody Got Murdered", "The Call Up", "Washington Bullets", "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" and "Hitsville U.K.". The side two track listing was "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)", "The Magnificent Seven", "The Leader", "Junco Partner", "One More Time" and "The Sound of Sinners".
The song "Washington Bullets
Washington Bullets (song)
"Washington Bullets" is a song from The Clash's 1980 album Sandinista!. A politically charged song, it is a simplified version of Latin American history from the 1959 Cuban Revolution to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas of the 1980s, with mention of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Soviet-Afghan War, the...
" was Clash lyric-writer Joe Strummer's most extensive—and most specific—political statement to date. In it, Strummer name checks conflicts or controversies from around the world; namely in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
. (In reference to the first three, Strummer seems to side with what he sees as popular leftist movements or governments, while in the latter two, he sharply criticizes the policy of Moscow's and Beijing's communist governments for what he sees as their imperialist actions). The original Rolling Stone review of Sandinista! calls "Washington Bullets", along with "The Equaliser" and "The Call Up", "the heart of the album".
The original, 3-disc vinyl release of "Sandinista" included a tri-fold lyric sheet cleverly titled The Armagideon Times, no. 3 (a play on "Armagideon Time", the b-side from the single London Calling
London Calling (song)
"London Calling" is a song by the British punk rock band The Clash. It was released as a single from the band's 1979 double album London Calling...
.) Armagideon Times, nos. 1 and 2 were Clash fanzines. The lyric sheet featured cartoons credited to Steve Bell
Steve Bell (cartoonist)
Steve Bell is an English political cartoonist, whose work appears in The Guardian and other publications. He is known for his left-wing views and distinctive caricatures.-Early life:...
, as well as hand-written (but still legible) lyrics of all songs. The 2-CD release contains a facsimile of the lyric sheet considerably reduced in size.
Joe Strummer once told Rolling Stone magazine that the concept for a triple-LP (a rarity in the rock music world) came from friendly competition with American artist Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. When their earlier LP London Calling
London Calling
London Calling is the third studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 through CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 through Epic Records...
was released in 1980, critics said that Springsteen's upcoming double-disc album The River would outsell the Clash effort and wipe away any impact. Strummer's response was: "Right Bruce. Suck on this". The band then expanded Sandinista into a triple album.
Reception
Sandinista! is a stylistic and topical potpourri that anticipates the "world musicWorld music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
" trend of the late '80s and early '90s. Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, mock gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, folk
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, Clash-style rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and other musical genres appear on Sandinista! The album included two rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
songs at a time when rap was new even among its core black audience.
The rock music world hailed Sandinista! as a masterpiece. John Piccarella, in a review headlined "The Clash Drop The Big One" and giving the album the highest possible rating of five stars, argues that in effect, the band said "to hell with Clash style, there's a world out there." Some critics have argued that the album would have worked better as a less-ambitious, smaller project, while Piccarella (in his Rolling Stone review) and others think of the album as a breakthrough that deserves comparison to the Beatles'
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
. Robert Christgau said "if this is their worst--which it is, I think--they must be, er, the world's greatest rock and roll band" and graded the album A-.
The triple album won several "best of the year" critics polls in 1981. It was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics poll. Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
noted that it was a record whose topic was as many years ahead of its time as its sound. Alternative Press
Alternative Press (music magazine)
Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president....
magazine included Sandinista! on its 2000 list of the "10 Essential Political-Revolution Albums" In 2003, the album was ranked number 404 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The College Music Journal
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
ranked Sandinista! number two on its 2004 list of the "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1981".
The Sandinista! Project, a tribute to the album featuring The Smithereens
The Smithereens
The Smithereens are a rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio , Jim Babjak , Mike Mesaros , and Dennis Diken...
, Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven is an American alternative rock group formed in Redlands, California in 1983.An eclectic band, Camper Van Beethoven mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk and alternative country, as well as various types of world music. Their aggressive musical pluralism created a...
, Jon Langford
Jon Langford
Jon Langford born October 11, 1957, Newport, Monmouthshire is a Welsh-born musician and artist who is presently based in Chicago. He is the younger brother of science-fiction author and critic David Langford...
(Mekons) and Sally Timms
Sally Timms
Sally Timms is an English singer and songwriter. Timms is best known for her long involvement with the Mekons whom she joined in 1985....
, Amy Rigby
Amy Rigby
Amy Rigby is an American singer-songwriter. After playing with several New York bands she began a solo career, recording several albums which had only modest sales despite enthusiastic reviews. She settled into a career of touring small venues and private parties while raising a daughter, then...
, Katrina Leskanich
Katrina Leskanich
Katrina Leskanich is an American singer and musician, long time resident of the United Kingdom. She is best known for being the lead singer and namesake of the pop band Katrina and the Waves.-Early life:...
(of Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves was an English pop rock band, best known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine" and their 1997 Eurovision Song Contest victory with the song "Love Shine a Light".-Pre-history: The Waves and Mama's Cookin' :...
), Wreckless Eric
Wreckless Eric
Wreckless Eric is an English rock and roll/new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single " Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in Mojo magazine’s list of the best punk rock singles of all time...
, Willie Nile
Willie Nile
Willie Nile is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980 Nile released his self-titled debut album which according to one critic remains “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”...
, Matthew Ryan, Stew, Sex Clark Five, Sid Griffin & Coal Porters, Haale
Haale
Haale Gafori is a singer, composer, and poet living in New York City. She was born in the Bronx, to Persian parents.Haale released two five-song EP recordings, Morning and Paratrooper, on January 3, 2007, on the Darya Records imprint, produced by Dougie Bowne. She released the full-length album,...
, The Blizzard of 78
The Blizzard of 78
The Blizzard of 78 is a Boston/Providence based five-piece rock band. Consisting of ex-Delta Clutch members, they currently have two albums to their credit, the first being the critically acclaimed Where All Life Hangs. Tanya Donelly contributed a guest vocal to the album, and it won several Motif...
featuring Mikey Dread
Mikey Dread
Michael George Campbell , better known as Mikey Dread, was a Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music...
, Ruby on the Vine, and many others, was released on 15 May 2007, on the 00:02:59 Records (a label named after a lyric from the Sandinista! song "Hitsville U.K."). The album also features a collaboration by Soul Food and Mickey Gallagher on "Midnight Log".
Track listing
The compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
release has the first three sides on the first CD and the latter three sides on the second CD.
Personnel
- Joe StrummerJoe StrummerJohn Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Mick JonesMick Jones (The Clash)Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
– guitars, vocals - Paul SimononPaul SimononPaul Gustave Simonon is an English musician and artist best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. Recent work includes his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Topper HeadonTopper HeadonHeadon was extensively interviewed for the Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten documentary film about the late Clash frontman. He related his experiences during this period, how he became addicted to heroin and how there were problems before his dismissal...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocals
Production
- The Clash – producersRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Bill PriceBill Price (record producer)Bill Price is a producer and engineer famed for his work with The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Guns N' Roses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Nymphs and The Waterboys....
– chief engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - Jerry Green – engineer
- J. P. Nicholson – engineer
- Lancelot "Maxie" McKenzie – engineer
- Mikey Dread – version mix
- Pennie SmithPennie SmithPennie Smith is an English photographer, known for having photographed several rock musicians. She specialises in black-and-white photography.Smith attended Twickenham Art school in the late 1960s, studying graphics and fine art...
– photographer - Steve BellSteve Bell (cartoonist)Steve Bell is an English political cartoonist, whose work appears in The Guardian and other publications. He is known for his left-wing views and distinctive caricatures.-Early life:...
– cartoonistCartoonistA cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | UK Album Chart | 19 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart. | 8 | |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 9 | |
| 1981 | Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Pop albums |
24 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "The Call Up" | UK Charts | 40 |
| 1981 | "Hitsville U.K." | 56 | |
| U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks | 53 | ||
| "The Magnificent Seven" | UK Charts | 34 | |
| 1982 | Billboard Club Play Singles | 21 |
Certifications
| Certifier | Date | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... (U.S.) |
20 April 1999 | Gold | 500,000 |