Remote Control (The Clash song)
"Remote Control" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by The Clash | ||||
from the album The Clash | ||||
B-side | "London's Burning" (live) | |||
Released | 13 May 1977 (UK) | |||
Recorded | 1977 | |||
Genre | Punk rock | |||
Length | 3:00 | |||
Label | CBS | |||
Songwriter(s) | Joe Strummer, Mick Jones | |||
Producer(s) | Mickey Foote, The Clash and Bill Price | |||
The Clash singles chronology | ||||
|
"Remote Control" is a song by The Clash, featured on their debut album, and is written against oppression and conformity.
Background
The song was written by Mick Jones after the disastrous Anarchy Tour[1] and contains pointed observations about the civic hall bureaucrats who had cancelled concerts, the police, big business and especially record companies. The song mentions a 'meeting in Mayfair' which is thought to refer to the EMI shareholders' meeting held on 7 December 1976, which effectively withdrew all support for the Anarchy Tour.[2] Also alluded to in the song are the 'old-boy' peerage networks and hapless politicians.
Writing for the A.V. Club, Jason Heller said that the song "imagines a deliberately, dramatically exaggerated England circa 1977, one where urban claustrophobia, totalitarian authority, and a robotic kind of daily routine".[3]
Single release
The band virtually disowned the song, following their record label CBS's decision to release the song as a single without consulting the band. The band had already told Melody Maker magazine that their next single would be "Janie Jones", and were irate that CBS had undermined them and made a decision to release "Remote Control" instead without the band's permission. To the band, the song became a symbol of everything they were fighting against.[4] The incident was referred to in the first lines of a later song, "Complete Control", which is on the 1979 US release of the album:
- They said, 'Release "Remote Control", but we didn't want it on the label...[5]
The B-side is a mono live version of "London's Burning".[6]
The band re-recorded the song in early summer 1979 during rehearsals for London Calling, at Vanilla Studios in Vauxhall. This version was eventually released in 2004, on the second disc of the London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition, known as The Vanilla Tapes. In the liner notes, Mick Jones is quoted as saying:
- I think Joe [Strummer] disliked it on a symbolic level, because of what happened with the release. But we always liked the tune.[7]
Track listing
All tracks written by Joe Strummer/Mick Jones.
- 7" vinyl (UK)
- "Remote Control" – 3:02
- "London's Burning (Live at Dunstable)" – 2:12
- 7" vinyl (Netherlands)
- "Remote Control" – 3:02
- "London's Burning" – 2:10
Personnel
- Joe Strummer – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Mick Jones – lead vocals, lead guitar and rhythm guitar
- Paul Simonon – bass guitar, backing vocal
- Terry Chimes – drums
References
- ^ Wawzenek, Bryan (7 April 2017). "40 Years Ago: The Clash Unleash a Punk Classic With Their Self-Titled Debut". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ Pithers, Malcolm (8 December 1976). "EMI may drop the Sex Pistols". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ Heller, Jason (27 January 2016). "David Bowie gave the punk movement both fuel and fire". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ Lucas, John (4 January 2019). "Five Songs About: the music industry". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "Readers' Poll: The Best Clash Songs". Rolling Stone. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ The Clash – Remote Control (single sleeve). CBS Records International. 1977. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition (album sleeve). Epic Records. 2004. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- v
- t
- e
- From Here to Eternity: Live
- Live at Shea Stadium
- Black Market Clash
- The Story of the Clash, Volume 1
- 1977 Revisited
- Clash on Broadway
- The Singles (1991)
- Super Black Market Clash
- The Essential Clash
- Singles Box
- The Singles (2007)
- Sound System
- The Clash Hits Back
- 5 Album Studio Set
- Capital Radio
- The Cost of Living
- "White Riot"
- "Remote Control"
- "Complete Control"
- "Clash City Rockers"
- "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais"
- "Tommy Gun"
- "English Civil War"
- "I Fought the Law"
- "Groovy Times"
- "London Calling"
- "Clampdown"
- "Train in Vain"
- "Bankrobber"
- "The Call Up"
- "Hitsville U.K."
- "The Magnificent Seven"
- "This Is Radio Clash"
- "Know Your Rights"
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
- "Rock the Casbah"
- "Straight to Hell"
- "This Is England"
- "Return to Brixton"
- "Career Opportunities"
- "Capital Radio One"
- "Garageland"
- "I'm So Bored with the USA"
- "Janie Jones"
- "London's Burning"
- "Police and Thieves"
- "Jail Guitar Doors"
- "Brand New Cadillac"
- "Death or Glory"
- "Lost in the Supermarket"
- "Revolution Rock"
- "Rudie Can't Fail"
- "Spanish Bombs"
- "Junco Partner"
- "Washington Bullets"
- "Overpowered by Funk"
- Rude Boy
- Concert for Kampuchea
- Westway to the World
- Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
- London Town
- Discography
- Songs
- Band members
- The 101ers
- London SS
- Public Image Ltd
- Big Audio Dynamite
- Havana 3am
- The Latino Rockabilly War
- The Pogues
- The Mescaleros
- Carbon/Silicon
- The Good, the Bad & the Queen
- Gorillaz
- Spirit of St. Louis
- Rock Against Racism
- The Joe Strummer Foundation
- Bernard Rhodes
- Don Letts
- Alex Michon
- Caroline Coon
- Sandy Pearlman
- Guy Stevens
- Kosmo Vinyl
- Mick Gallagher
- Norman Watt-Roy
- Tymon Dogg
- Mikey Dread
- Ellen Foley
- Futura 2000
Category
![]() | This 1970s single–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e