Top Inspirational Artists - Number 3

/3. The Clash - Rock the Casbah

The Clash did not invent the punk sound but they more than any other punk artist helped to broaden its sound and appeal to the wider music world. Though an endless debate could take place over who the greatest punk band ever are it surely can not be argued about which punk band were the most important. With a stunning debut album, The Clash could have quite easliy released more of the same to satisfy their growing audience but instead they decided to broaden their horizons and created a vastly, dynamic sound that became the inspiration for the new punk movement of the modern era. 'London Calling' marked the first signs of change, a classic collection that marked a delightful new sound to its listeners. This was punks's foray into different genres, with succesful attempts at both jazz (Rudie can't fail), rock n roll (Brand New Cadilac) and intelligent pop music ('Train in Vain)' - the lyrics and the vocals were still pure punk but the music had varied and with it had succesfully conveyed a range of emotions within a range of different sounds.
'Rock the Casbah' from the album 'Combat Rock' is essentially a punk song played over a disco tune and yet it loses none of its cool punk sound, if anyhting making the sound more exciting and versatile. The Clash showed that punk music could become more accesible and interesting when combined with different genres and their original music and sound became the inspiration for a number of artists who also tried both with and without success to combine certain genres to create a new and important sound. And as much as people might detest the sound of new punk with bands like Greenday, NOFX, Rancid amongst many other less talented outfits, they can not deny that the sound has been kept alive because it has been kept fresh and altered its pure sound. As talented as the sex pistols and the Ramones might have been, they seemed content to stick to the original punk sound where as The Clash made the genre more meaningful and fresh.