40 yrs ago: What do we got for entertainment?

Cops kicking gypsys on the pavement.

This album was tough to digest when it first came out with all the genres that The Clash visited. it featured funk, reggae, jazz, gospel, rockabilly, folk, dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, disco, and rap wrapped in a punk wrapper. Pretty much a map of were poplular music would go in the 1980's before it went there. Few bands would follow up a douible album, London Calling, with a triple album of such diverse influences but The Clash weren't like most bands. Come to think of it, they were the only band that regularly pushed the limits on record and stage. 

Quite a piece of work and a big part of my musical history. 

Slight side bar story: As is often the case with younger siblings, my younger brother's musical tastes mirrored mine...the guy who ingested music from all corners in copious amounts. Soon after he moved to Florida, he called me up and told me about this extremely pretty Latin woman that he was trying to get to go out with him. Finally she said yes and after a nice dinner my brother took her back to his condo. He knew that she was Nicaraguan so the music he put on was this album. He figured he was in.

Wrong.

Later that night he called me to tell me that although she was not familiar with the music, once she saw the cover she became loud and violent to the point of hitting my brother multiple times and not in a erotic way. Seems that two of her uncles were executed by the Sandanistas. Ooops. Great music doen't always win the day.