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<i>Combat Rock + The People’s Hall</i>: The Clash Cash In

Posted on by John Atkinson
By 1981, The Clash was in shambles. Seeking more direction following their 1980 triple album Sandinista!, co-frontman Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon rehired the band’s notoriously difficult original manager, Bernie Rhodes, to the dismay of other co-frontman Mick Jones. Jones sought to continue the band’s expansive forays into dub, reggae, and hip-hop, while Strummer wanted something more streamlined.
Primary Category: 
Album Reviews
Category: 
Album Reviews
Artist: 
The Clash
Album: 
<I>Combat Rock + The People's Hall</I>
Cred Label: 
Epic/Legacy/Sony UK 19439955131 180gm 3LP (US pressing)/Sony Japan SIJP 1046 clear vinyl LP (Japanese pressing)
Cred Prod: 
The Clash and Glyn Johns
Cred Eng: 
Jerry Green and Joe Blaney (main album)
Cred Mix: 
Glyn Johns (main album) and Declan Gaffney
Cred Mast: 
Tim Young and The Clash at Metropolis
Malachi Lui
By 1981, The Clash was in shambles. Seeking more direction following their 1980 triple album Sandinista!, co-frontman Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon rehired the band’s notoriously difficult original manager, Bernie Rhodes, to the dismay of other co-frontman Mick Jones. Jones sought to continue the band’s expansive forays into dub, reggae, and hip-hop, while Strummer wanted something more streamlined. Yet despite all of that, plus drummer Topper Headon’s spiraling heroin and cocaine addiction, The Clash toured and managed to record new material at The People’s Hall in the Republic of Frestonia (a small area in West London populated by squatters hoping to secede from the UK) as well as Electric Lady Studios in New York City.