"Remote Control" is a song by

The Clash The Clash were an English rock music, 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 music, new wave moveme ...

, featured on their debut album, and is written against oppression and conformity.

Background

The song was written by Mick Jones after the disastrous Anarchy Tour and contains pointed observations about the civic hall bureaucrats who had cancelled concerts, the police,

big business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

and especially record companies. The song mentions a 'meeting in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

' which is thought to refer to the

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, ...

shareholders' meeting held on 7 December 1976, which effectively withdrew all support for the Anarchy Tour. Also alluded to in the song are the 'old-boy' peerage networks and hapless politicians. Writing for ''

the A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...

'', Jason Heller said that the song "imagines a deliberately, dramatically exaggerated England circa 1977, one where urban claustrophobia, totalitarian authority, and a robotic kind of daily routine".

Single release

The band virtually disowned the song, following their record label CBS's decision to release the song as a single without consulting the band. The band had already told ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' magazine that their next single would be " Janie Jones", and were irate that CBS had undermined them and made a decision to release "Remote Control" instead without the band's permission. To the band, the song became a symbol of everything they were fighting against. The incident was referred to in the first lines of a later song, "

Complete Control "Complete Control" is a song by The Clash, released as a 7" single and featured on the U.S. release of their debut album. Background The song is often cited as one of punk's greatest singles and is a fiery polemic on record companies, manage ...

", which is on the 1979 US release of the album: : ''They said, 'Release "Remote Control", but we didn't want it on the label...'' The B-side is a mono live version of " London's Burning". The band re-recorded the song in early summer 1979 during rehearsals for ''

London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. Th ...

'', at Vanilla Studios in Vauxhall. This version was eventually released in 2004, on the second disc of the ''London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition'', known as ''The Vanilla Tapes''. In the liner notes, Mick Jones is quoted as saying: :''I think Joe

trummer Trummer is an uninhabited island in the River Fergus in County Clare located between Deer Island and Coney Island, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlanti ...

disliked it on a symbolic level, because of what happened with the release. But we always liked the tune.''

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 vocals, rhythm guitar * Mick Jones – lead vocals, lead guitar and rhythm guitar *

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 al ...

– bass guitar, backing vocal *

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

References

1977 singles The Clash songs Songs written by Mick Jones (The Clash) Songs written by Joe Strummer 1977 songs CBS Records singles {{1970s-single-stub