Clash Takes on the World

Samuel Cohen is Associate Professor of English at the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA.James Peacock is Senior Lecturer in English and American Literatures at Keele University, UK.

• Foreword by Don Letts1. Introduction: The Transnational ClashSamuel Cohen (University of Missouri, USA) and James Peacock (Keele University, UK)2. An Analysis of The Clash in Concert: 1977-1982Peter Smith (University of Sunderland, UK)3. Politics, Pastiche, Parody, and Polemics: The DIY Educational Inspiration of The Clash Andy Zieleniec (Keele University, UK)4. Turning Rebellion into Money: The Roots of The Clash Isaac Vayo (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, USA)5. The Clash Sell Out: Negotiating Space in the Ideological SuperstructureNathalie Prévot and Graham Sinclair6. The Clash: Sociological Imagination and Critical PhilosophyDiana Cedeno7. Righteous Minstrels: The Clash, Race, and the Rock WriterJack Hamilton (University of Virginia, USA)8. Washington Bullets: The Clash and VietnamSamuel Cohen (University of Missouri, USA)9. Spouting Slogans for the Sandinistas? The Clash and International SolidarityJeremy Tranmer (University of Lorraine, France)10. Punk Politics, Blackness, and Indigenous Protest: The Clash’s Australian Tour, 1982Gabriel Solis (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagn, USA)11. From a Long Way Away: New York and London in The Clash’s “Red Angel Dragnet”James Peacock (Keele University, UK)12. The Last Gang in Town: The Clash Portrayed in New York and ParisJustin Wadlow (Université de Picardie Jules Verne, France)13. Mick Went Disco and Joe Sang Campfire Songs: Punk Afterparties and the Politics of Forking PathsMichael J. Salvo (Purdue University, USA)14. Conclusion: The Only Band that MattersSamuel Cohen (University of Missouri, USA) and James Peacock (Keele University, UK)

A world of “takes” on The Clash awaits the reader of The Clash Takes on the World. Not satisfied with the the facile dismissal of The Clash’s real political commitments that permeates so much of the criticism, these writers take seriously the band’s engagement on the transnational stage, and do so from an impressive array of disciplinary positions. The best of the essays combine meticulous close analysis with ambitious theoretical bravado to produce a collection both admirably deep and dazzlingly wide. What’s more, The Clash is always a band in these analyses, not merely odd jobbers propping up charismatic frontman Joe Strummer. The Clash Takes on the World remaps our understanding of “the only band that matters” in productive, exciting, and often surprising ways. An American reader, at least, must put down the volume in a mood of real desperation: “Where are they now when we need them most?”