"Armagideon Time" (spelt as "Armigedeon Time" in some versions) is a song by Jamaican reggae musician Willie Williams. It was produced by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, who used the "

Real Rock "Real Rock" is an instrumental reggae song by the Jamaican band Sound Dimension. It was recorded in 1967 at Jamaica Recording Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and released as a single in 1968 by Studio One. The song was produced by Clement "Coxsone" ...

" riddim. It was first recorded in 1977 at Jamaica Recording Studio in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, and released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1979 via

Studio One Studio One or Studio 1 may refer to: * Studio One (software), digital audio workstation software, developed by PreSonus * ''Studio One'' (American TV series), a 1948–1958 American television anthology series * ''Studio One'' (Emirati TV progra ...

. The single was re-released in 1980 and 1982 through Coxsone Records as a title track to Williams' second studio album of the same name. The song was covered by English rock band The Clash in 1979 and released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to their single " London Calling".

In popular culture

The song was featured in the 1999

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

's film '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'', and appeared in the 2004 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' on the fictional reggae radio station K-JAH Radio West (but wasn't included on the soundtrack album). The song was sampled by

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

on the track "Black Cop" from his 1993 album '' Return of the Boom Bap'', and by Fugees on the track "Zealots" from their 1996 album '' The Score''.

The Clash version

British band The Clash released a cover of "Armagideon Time" as the

for their " London Calling" single in 1979. Prior to recording the song, the members of the Clash had been speaking to their associate

Kosmo Vinyl Kosmo Vinyl (born Mark C. Dunk, 9 February 1957, England) is a former longtime associate and sometime manager for The Clash, as well as being associated with Ian Dury & the Blockheads and The Jam, three seminal English bands of the 1970s and 1980 ...

, who believed that the ideal length for a single was two minutes and 58 seconds. Clash vocalist Joe Strummer asked Vinyl to stop the recording at that point in the song - something that Vinyl did by announcing the time to the band through the studio intercom: ''"All right, time's up! Let's have you out of there!"''. However, Strummer felt the band was on fire with this take and spat his retort of ''"Ok, ok! Don't push us when we're hot!"'' in time to the rhythm. The band continued playing, with a take of three minutes and 50 seconds. Vinyl was worried that the band would be upset about him interrupting their perfect take, but the pre-planned interruption ended up adding to the charm of the recording. Strummer later recorded overdubs for the vocals that follow Vinyl's interruption, and Mick Jones overdubbed an electric sitar onto the track. The Clash frequently performed the song in concert for the rest of their career; a live recording appears on the '' Concerts for the People of Kampuchea'' charity album.

Track listing

Note: B-side track "Armagedeon Version" titled as "Armagedeon Style" on some versions

References

External links

{{authority control 1977 songs 1979 singles Reggae songs Songs written by Coxsone Dodd