80's Flashback

The Clash, The Magnificent Seven, 1981. The third single from the band's epic 1980 triple album Sandinista!, this was one of the Clash's least commercially successful releases, reaching only #34 on the UK pop chart and failing to chart in the U.S. at all, other than reaching #21 on dance. But aside from being my second-favorite Clash track ever (after Hitsville UK), The Magnificent Seven is worthy of noting for being the first ever original rap single by a major white act. Lyrically, the track is a condemnation of consumerism and wage slavery, familiar territory perhaps, but damn if that baseline doesn't still get me out of my chair almost 30 years later. I've always regretted never getting to see The Clash in concert. The closest I ever came was running into Joe Strummer on the beach in Daytona sometime in the early 80s. "Wassup, mate?" JMG: (Awed silence.) The end.