On Tue, 13 Apr 1999, BARNARD wrote:
> I'm not so hard on Sandanista as Don (even though, as a rule, I
> do generally do prefer alcohol records to reefer records...<g>).
I think it had to be something stronger than reefer that convinced
Strummer that he could rap. He could very well be the least funky white
guy to ever attempt to perform contemporary black music -- he makes Pat
Boone look like Soul Brother Number One in comparison. I heard one of my
DJs play "The Magnificent Seven" the other day, and I was horrified. I
thought I knew that stuff hadn't aged well, but I had no idea. Not only
were the lyrics awkward as hell, but Strummer's clueless rapping was an
embarassment. I doubt a more inept rap song was ever perpetrated by
anyone, black or white or whatever. Listening to that lame shit could
almost make one appreciate Vanilla Ice.<g> And sure a number of their
reggae experiments were better, but I don't think they were nearly as good
as some folks will tell you. Junior Murvin kicked their ass on "Police
and Thieves."
I definitely prefer the early stuff, but even their best albums (the first
one and London Calling) are occasionally marred by Strummer's lyrical
clumsiness. I think all of their albums have dated to one degree or
another -- the earlier ones less so (since they at least more or less
stuck to music they could convincingly play), but still too much for me to
get much use out of 'em in 1999.--don
n.p. King Tubby on KCMU
