London Calling to be Used in 2012 Olympics Ad

Ronald Regan used Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen in his election campaign, Tony Blair decided to use Things Can Only Get Better by D-Ream in his and then proceeded to send the country into mental wars and generally go on a mission with George Bush to kill people in the Middle East, now it seems London 2012's advertising team are using a song which really doesn't befit the event.


Surely bass-smashing won't become an event...

Yes, we know that advertising is a ridiculous trade, constantly mediating the public and making them believe they actually need the junk companies are plugging. This lot, however, have chosen a song about the possible effect of Cold War nuclear apocalypse to plug the biggest sporting event in the world (apparently an event which will bring joy, carnival spirit and glitzy entertainment to London, not Armageddon as far as I'm aware).

I cannot even begin to stress the stupidity and lack of understanding of a song lyric at play here so I will just sigh, laugh at the irony and sit in dismay when I see the advert. The wheat really is growing thin.


London Calling

Cowboy Mouth - Joe Strummer

3/5 - Based on the fact that the tune is a 1 and lyrics/theme are a 5.

Right let's get this straight. If somebody were to dump their girlfriend for a menial reason such as "she didn't like Man Utd." or "She had a weird big toe", I would think that rather pathetic. Cowboy Mouth however are just merely arguing that "she had to go because she didn't know who Joe Strummer was". Fair enough I say.

Cowboy Mouth

This track was released in 2006, but I myself didn't stumble across it until 2008 sometime when I typed "Joe Strummer" into Spotify, trying to listen to some Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros tunes. I've got to say, the tune itself is pretty poor. Well, no, lyrically it's hilarious. The chunky, yet well produced guitar chords are reminiscent of early Green Day (or middle or late Green Day now I think about it, they don't change all that much do they?) and the vocals are very Billie Joe Armstrong.

Don't be put off by that though. Lines such as "she looked like she slept with Guns'n'Roses / but I busted her singing all the boyband songs" give this track a humorous edge. Not to mention the very theme of the song. Imagine sitting their thinking "what's the worst thing your missus could do? Answer: Not know who Joe Strummer was!"
Joe Strummer

All in all, this track with any other theme or lyrics = dire. The humour of the track however makes it great!

Listen to the track!

Joe Strummer Part 1 - Birth to The Clash

His voiced touched millions the world over and his influence can be felt in many places within popular music; from James Dean Bradfield to Bono to Pete Doherty.

Born John Graham Mellor in Ankara, Turkey in 1952, Joe Strummer, as he would become known, was the son of a British diplomat and his family moved around the world until he was nine, when they settled on a life in Surrey, England. Joe attended the City of London Freemasons School as a boarder and described his time as "bully, or be bullied. I chose bullying."

In his late teens and early twenties Joe became a squatter and squatted mainly in London. He was known as "Woody" for a few years, his own personal homage to Woody Guthrie, before finally settling on being called Joe Strummer as he could only play all six strings or none at all on a guitar.

He became part of a pub rock band called the 101ers and eventually became their frontman. One night in 1976, the Sex Pistols supported the 101ers and Joe saw the new groove. He joined Mick Jones and Paul Simonon on the advice of Bernie Rhodes and formed The Clash. In 1977, a drummer named "Topper" Headon would complete the line-up.

Under Rhodes' management The Clash released their first two albums: "The Clash" and "Give 'em Enough Rope". Both were big UK hits in 1977 and 78 respectively. In '79, The Clash got rid of Rhodes as manager and began recording the album that would become their magnum-opus...

London Calling transformed the group from Ladbroke Grove punks, big in the U.K. into bona-fide rock stars. The album was to be voted the best album of the '80s by Rolling Stone magazine and won plaudits everywhere. The mixture of reggae, jazz, balladry, punk and rockabilly proved to be a successful one and the band released the double album at the price of a single album, much to CBS's despair.

Now big on both sides of the pond, The Clash decided to go one better than London Calling and make Sandinista in 1981, a treble album. Mixed reviews followed but nobody denied that the eclecticism and boldness of the album was both admirable and was taking rock music to a new level.

The fifth studio album, 1982's "Combat Rock" was a single album and sold extremely well worldwide, bolstered by having the popular singles "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Rock the Casbah" on it. Also, crucially, Bernie Rhodes was re-appointed managerin this year. Topper Headon's heroin addiction became too much for the band in '82 and Strummer sacked him and then sacked Mick Jones in '83. Two decisions he would go on to regret...

Click the link below (labelled "posted by Luke Cloherty") to download Keys to Your Heart by The 101ers: