"Garageland" is a song by English
punk rock band
The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
featured as the final track for their 1977 debut album ''
The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
''.
The song was written by
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
as a response to music journalist
Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the '' New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...
, who, after a gig in 1976, wrote a review saying that they were "the kind of garage band who should be returned to the garage immediately". It also served as a declaration to their fans – and their new record company, with which they had signed a contract for £100,000 on 25 January 1977, – that they would still remain the same as they were before the signing.
Writing and recording
Upon
The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
's early appearance at the
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
Screen on the Green concert,
Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the '' New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...
, an ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' critic, produced a damning review of the band:
:The Clash are the kind of garage band who should be returned to the garage immediately, preferably with the engine running, which would undoubtedly be more of a loss to their friends and families than to either rock or roll.
:Followed by:
:Their guitarist on the extreme left, allegedly known as
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
, has good moves but he and the band are a little shaky on ground that involves starting, stopping and changing chords at approximately the same time.
The Clash reacted immediately by writing the song "Garageland", whose opening verses are: "''Back in the garage with my bullshit detector'' / ''
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
making sure it's effective''", followed by the chorus: "''We're a garage band'' / ''We come from garageland''", and concluding with "''Back in the garage''".
Another theme in the song is about the band signing to
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company
* CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990
* CBS Records (2006), founde ...
on 25 January 1977 for £100,000. The music press and fans criticized The Clash for having "sold out" to the establishment.
Mark Perry, founder of the leading London punk periodical, ''
Sniffin' Glue
''Sniffin' Glue and Other Rock 'N' Roll Habits...'', widely known as simply ''Sniffin' Glue'', was a monthly punk zine started by Mark Perry in July 1976 and released for about a year. The name is derived from a Ramones song " Now I Wanna Sniff ...
'', let loose with what he would later call his "big quote": "Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS." This was evidenced in the verses: "''Meanwhile things are hotting up in the West End alright'' / ''Contracts in the offices and groups in the night'' / ''My bumming slumming friends have all got new boots'' / ''And someone just asked me if the group would wear suits''", and, after the chorus, with the following lines: "''I don't want to hear about what the rich are doing'' / ''I don't want to go to where the rich are going'' / ''They think they're so clever, they think they're so right'' / ''But the truth is only known by gutter snipes''".
"Garageland", as well as the majority of the band's
debut studio album, was conceived on the 18th floor of a
council high rise on London's
Harrow Road
The Harrow Road is an ancient route in North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queens Park and Kensal Green, straddling the NW10 ...
, in a flat that was rented by
Jones
Jones may refer to:
People
*Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname
*List of people with surname Jones
* Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter
Arts and entertainment
* Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...
' grandmother, who frequently went to see the band rehearsing. The song was recorded at
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
Whitfield Street Studio No. 3 on 27 February 1977. The tapes for the entire album were delivered to CBS at the start of March and the recording was released in the United Kingdom through
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company
* CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990
* CBS Records (2006), founde ...
on 8 April 1977. The album was engineered by CBS staff engineer Simon Humphrey and produced by Clash live
soundman Mickey Foote.
Personnel
*
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
–
lead vocal
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
,
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
*
Mick Jones –
backing vocal
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...
,
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
,
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...
,
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
*
Paul Simonon
Paul Gustave Simonon (; born 15 December 1955) is an English musician and artist best known as the bassist for the Clash. More recent work includes his involvement in the supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen and playing on the Gorillaz alb ...
–
backing vocal
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...
,
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
*
Terry Chimes
Terence Chimes (born 5 July 1956, Stepney, London, England) is an English musician, best known as the original drummer of punk rock group The Clash. He played with them from July 1976 to November 1976, January 1977 to April 1977, and again fro ...
–
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
Appearances
The song made its live debut on 10–11 March 1977, on the first and second night of an early gig at The Coliseum in
Harlesden
Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London.
Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towards ...
, London, where the band was supported by
Subway Sect
Subway Sect were one of the first British punk bands. Although their commercial success was limited by the small amount of recorded material they released, they have been credited as highly influential on the Postcard Records scene and the indi ...
,
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...
, and
The Slits
The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...
. From that moment to 1985, the song has become a stable part of the setlists of their future tours and concerts, and has graced stages all over the world. Among the most important venues, concert halls and arenas there were:
*
De Montfort Hall
De Montfort Hall is the largest music and performance venue in Leicester, England. It is situated adjacent to Victoria Park and is named after the "Father of Parliament", Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester.
History
The hall was built by the ...
in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
(1977),
* the
Lyceum Theatre, London
The Lyceum Theatre ( ) is a West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed by Samuel Arnold ...
(1978),
* the
Agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
(1979),
* the
New York Palladium (1979),
* the
Capitol Theatre in
Passaic, New Jersey
Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...
(1980),
* the
Orpheum Theatre in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
(1980),
* the
Hammersmith Palais
The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. It was the first ''palais de danse'' to be ...
in London (1980),
* the
Théâtre Mogador
Théâtre Mogador, founded in 1913 with design by Bertie Crewe, is a Parisian music hall theatre located at 25, rue de Mogador in the 9th district. It seats 1,800 people on three tiers.
In 1913 financier Sir Alfred Butt rented an area in Paris. ...
in Paris (1981),
* the
Brixton Academy
Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...
in London (1982 & 1985),
* the
Saint Paul Civic Center Arena in
St Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...
(1982),
* the
Johanneshovs Isstadion in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
(1984),
* the
Éspace Ballard in Paris (1984),
* the Orange arena at the
Roskilde Festival
The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...
of 1985 in Denmark.
"Garageland" was first featured as the last track of the band's debut album as well as in its 1979 U.S. release. It also is featured in many unofficial and semi-official bootlegs such as the 1992 release of ''U.S.A. 1979''. It was featured in the 1980 film release ''
Rude Boy
Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi, and rudy are slang terms that originated in 1960s Jamaican street culture, and that are still used today. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other ...
'', where it was performed live at Rehearsal Rehearsals, but the audio was re-recorded at
Wessex Studios
Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located at 106a Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including Sex Pistols, King Crimson, the Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, the Sinceros, Queen, Talk Tal ...
, and on ''
The Punk Rock Movie
''The Punk Rock Movie'' (also known as ''The Punk Rock Movie from England'') is a British 1978 film that was assembled from Super 8 camera footage shot by Don Letts, the disc jockey at The Roxy club during the early days of the UK punk rock ...
'', directed and filmed by
Don Letts
Donovan "Don" Letts (born 10 January 1956) is a British film director, disc jockey (DJ) and musician. Letts first came to prominence as the videographer for the Clash, directing several of their music videos. In 1984, Letts co-founded the band B ...
mainly at
The Roxy
Roxy, Roxey, and Roxie may refer to:
People
* Roxy (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Places in the United States
* Roxie, Mississippi, a town
* Roxie, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Music
* Roxy ...
club in
Super 8 in the autumn of 1977 during The Clash's ''White Riot'' tour, and published in DVD format in 1992. "Garageland" is also featured on some live and compilation albums, most notably on ''
Clash on Broadway
''Clash on Broadway'' is a box set compilation album by the English punk rock band the Clash, released on Legacy Records in 1991. It comprises 64 tracks on three compact discs, spanning the time period from their 1977 debut single, "White Rio ...
'' and ''
The Essential Clash
''The Essential Clash'' is a career-spanning greatest hits compilation album, album by The Clash first released in 2003. It is part of the ongoing 'The Essential' Sony BMG compilation series. The album is dedicated to Joe Strummer, who died durin ...
'', both released in 2003, ''Rarities'' released in 2003, and ''Pearl Harbour '79'' released in 1979 in Japan and in 2004 worldwide.
Reception
Ironically, only two years after the 1976 review that inspired the band to write "Garageland", in ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' Murray called The Clash "the greatest rock band in the world".
Tributes
"Garageland" is also featured on
tribute album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
s such as ''
City Rockers: A Tribute To The Clash'', released on 6 July 1999 by various artists throughout Chord Records where the song was performed by
The Sick. ''White Riot: A Tribute To The Clash (Vol. Two)'' released in 2003 by various artists and performed by
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...
with Wiggy,
The Neurotics, and
Attila & The Stockbroker, ''Charlie Does Surf: A Tribute To The Clash'' released in 2004 by various artists where the song was performed by The Glasgow Tiki Shakers with Bill McGlynnon guitar, Joyce Seko on bass, and Bruce Graham on drums, and ''Revolution Rock: Joe Strummer Memorial Night At Klubi, Tampere Finland'' released in December 2006 by various artists throughout LampLite Ltd. and performed by The Control with ex-
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving acciden ...
' Stefan Piesnack and Tumppi Varonen on vocals.
The New Zealand
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band
Garageland
Garageland are a New Zealand indie rock band on the Flying Nun record label formed in Auckland in 1992. Influenced by Pixies, Pavement, The Clean and The Velvet Underground, they were critically acclaimed in the UK and United States for their ...
,
[As stated in ]Garageland
Garageland are a New Zealand indie rock band on the Flying Nun record label formed in Auckland in 1992. Influenced by Pixies, Pavement, The Clean and The Velvet Underground, they were critically acclaimed in the UK and United States for their ...
. as well as a UK magazine published by Transition Edition, (and a tribute band from Dublin Ireland) are named after this song.
Covers
"Garageland" has been performed by a number of bands, including :
* Welsh band
The Oppressed
The Oppressed are a Welsh Oi! band that formed in 1981 in Cardiff, Wales. Most of the musicians in the band's various lineups have been skinheads. Throughout the band's career, the members (especially vocalist Roddy Moreno) openly expressed opp ...
(
Oi!
Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was ...
)
* English band
The Housemartins
The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...
(
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
)
* British band
Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...
(punk rock,
world
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
,
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
). Chumbawamba guitarist
Boff Whalley
Allan Mark "Boff" Whalley (born 1 January 1961) is an English musician and writer. Formerly the lead guitarist for the anarcho-punk and folk band Chumbawamba, he is now a playwright and the founder of Commoners Choir who released their first a ...
('Boffo') also performs an ironic solo version of the song on the
Crass Records
Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist Punk rock, punk band Crass.
Overview and history
Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own D ...
released ''
Bullshit Detector
''Bullshit Detector'' was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their Crass Records label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordin ...
2'' compilation album (released 1982)
* New York band
Urban Blight
Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...
(
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
,
new jack swing
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...
)
* Californian band
Manic Hispanic
Manic Hispanic is an American Chicano punk rock band from Orange County and Los Angeles, California, United States. They are a comedy act that plays cover versions of punk rock "standards" by slightly renaming songs and adjusting lyrics with humo ...
(punk rock,
chicano rock
Chicano rock is rock music performed by Mexican American (Chicano) groups or music with themes derived from Chicano culture. Chicano Rock, to a great extent, does not refer to any single style or approach. Some of these groups do not sing in Span ...
)
* Finnish musician
Pelle Miljoona
Pelle Miljoona (Literally “Clown Million”), real name Petri Samuli Tiili (born 10 February 1955 in Hamina, Finland) is a Finnish punk rock musician, who assembled his first band in 1977. His first single was ''Olen työtön'' (English: ''I ...
(punk rock)
* Italian band
Gang
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
(acoustic version)
* Italian band
Linea
''Linea'' is a genus of foraminifera belonging to the subfamily Rhabdammininae. It is a monotypic genus containing the sole species ''Linea simplex''.
Morphology
''Linea simplex'' has an overall string-like appearance, with a thin unbranching ...
References
Sources
;Books
*
*
*
*
''Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer'' (pages 162 and 182)on
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
)
;Journals and magazines
*
*
*
;Films and documentaries
*
*
*
;Records
*
**
**
*
**
**
*
**
**
*
**
**
*
**
*
**
**
;Web
*
*
*
*
External links
*
AllMusic rating
{{Authority control
1977 songs
The Clash songs
Songs written by Mick Jones (The Clash)
Songs written by Joe Strummer