Song City

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London Calling

‘The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in

Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin’

Song: ‘London Calling’

Performers: The Clash

Songwriters: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon

Recorded in 1979 at Wessex Sound studios in a former Highbury New Park church hall – and released from an iconic album of the same name – ‘London Calling’ reflects lead vocalist Joe Strummer’s dystopian anxieties about the miserable state of the world, London’s river defences, and police brutality.

Reggae, as well as rock, heavily influenced The Clash. Along with the Sex Pistols, the band helped to define London’s punk boom. Unlike the Pistols, however, The Clash survived and rocked well into the post-punk period.