The Clash: Kill Your Idols [Paperback]

David Quantick (Author), John Aizlewood (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Kill Your Idols | Publication Date: August 2000

For seven years The Clash conducted a barely contained experiment in popular music, dragging in styles as far-flung from their council flat beginnings as rap, reggae, drum and bass, rockabilly and their own concoction of amphetamine (and cocaine) fuelled rock and roll. The Clash made only five records and never had a number one hit but Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon represented one of the last, great, quixotic attempts to wrest transcendence from rock and roll. " The idea of the band was to play it maximum," said Joe Strummer, and that's exactly what they did. The entire Clash back catalog has been re-mastered and re-released to coincide with the October 1999 release of From Here to Eternity, the first ever live Clash album. A complete discography of Clash albums and singles, and band members' post-Clash careers are included.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Because the subjects of the publisher's "Kill Your Idols" series are "unafraid of experimentation," "hold nothing sacred," and "inspire skepticism of idol-making in their listeners" (for the most part), they are perhaps more magnetic than popular music's traditional gods and goddesses. These anti-idols may not have directly sprung from the pelvis of Elvis, but they are related to the Velvet One. Here, original research is not the point (rabid fans have frayed these musicians' yarns anyway); the authors relied on each performer's standard biography, documentaries, liner notes, and other sources to relate a condensed chronology of career and personal highs and lows. Rather, this is a chance for a "professional" fan (read: a music critic) to express his opinions on the roles that pompousness, vision, and circumstance played in his band's life. Each profile is under 150 pages and consists of three sections: "The Story," "The Music," and (often the most compelling section) "The Legacy." Quoth Quantick in his insightful closing: "People were inspired by The Clash not for what they actually achieved, but for what The Clash thought they might achieve." Much like Cliff Notes for frustrating music careers, these pocket-sized biographies contain indexes but no bibliographies. That absence, along with the personalized tone, recommends the series to comprehensive music collections. Johnny Green's A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with the Clash (LJ 1/99) and Ira B. Nadel's Various Positions: A Life of Leonard Cohen (LJ 11/1/96) will well serve library patrons. [The standard Neil Young biography may end up being Shakey: The Biography of Neil Young by Jimmy McDonough, who spent eight years writing the tome. Right now, however, McDonough is suing Young for $1.8 million for prohibiting its publication after Young signed an agreement to cooperate with McDonough. Ed.] Heather McCormack, "Library Journal.
- Heather McCormack, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Quantick's wit and irreverence suit the Clash's leader-of-the-punk status. He first recounts the group's formation, its rapid rise to being known as "The Only Band That Matters," and the inevitable internecine conflicts that led to its demise. Then comes critical evaluation of each Clash album. Quantick notes that the group broke new ground by absorbing the then-outre reggae and rap styles, and managed to succeed in America without compromising its decidedly British approach. The Clash remains popular 15 years after its last record, as the recent release of vintage live recordings verifies, and its influence is likely to continue. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560252693
• ISBN-13: 978-1560252696
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,967,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Could have been much better, June 20, 2001

By 

W. K. Miller "kenmiller32" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Clash: Kill Your Idols (Paperback)

The Clash, shortlived though they were, was one of the great rock bands of all time.

David Quantick's book here, The Clash, from the Kill Your Idols series, is a thin little book heavy on the author's opinion (I do realize it's supposed to be a CRITICAL biography, but more on this is below), and light on wisdom.

First, the positive elements of Quantick's book:

1) a great grasp of the discography. He reviews practically every Clash record: LPs, singles, B-sides, and CDs, not to mention CD tributes by other bands.

2) some insidery gossip on the clash, including stories about how the songs came about. This background is great, as it tends to make the band seem like ordinary guys, and they seem a lot more fun once you've read these anecdotes.

3) the longish essay at the back of the book is very good, and I read it with relish even after the book had annoyed me to that point. This essay is very well written.

now here are the rubs:

1) the author's catty and immature tone: he calls "guns on the roof" SILLY, the u.s. version of their debut album "mangled, bizarre" (despite the fact that only four tracks are different from the U.K. version), and the book is full of insults and condemnations of anything else the author cares to take a potshot at, like U.K. radio, U.S.A. radio, EMI (USA), and Rolling Stone magazine.

2) Often the author just doesn't know what he's talking about.

He can't be more in the dark about The Clash when he writes this about Death or Glory-- "The Clash's self-obsession is never funnier than on Death or Glory. They were a band, not a cavalry regiment, for goodness sake." For crying out loud, it's a song making fun of that VERY attitude.

Check this out about The Clash and Sting: "They may have not been very good at reggae when they started but they invented a musical form that allowed Sting to become rich."

What? The Police worked out their reggaeish sound before The Clash did. Does he mean Sting's solo records, which are jazz-inflected pop? Geez, I hope not. But it seems you just can't tell, with this author.

3) He's repetitive.

Quantick calls Hitsville U.K. (I admit, it's not a good song) an "all-time artistic low." Fair enough. But then later in the book he calls the same song "insanely bad." Gotcha, Dave. A few pages later, Quantick must have had the urge to use the same modifier again, so he calls the same song "insanely dreadful." Please.

If you have to own everything Clash, you'll get this book no matter what I say, I suppose.

If you don't, and you'd like something more substantial than Quantick's book, I recommend Marcus Gray's book called LAST GANG IN TOWN: STORY AND MYTH OF THE CLASH.

ken32

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where's the Clash?, February 12, 2008

By 

ManicPanic (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Clash: Kill Your Idols (Paperback)

While the 12 pages of the book that actually contain info on the Clash are cleverly written (if you like British humor), there is far too little of it. I guess seeing the cover - a great pic of Strummer, with the promise that the author will "kill my idol" - got my expectations up too high. This book is basically a few pages of quick chronology/bio/the clash ripped everyhting off from the Sex Pistols then took off for the U.S., followed by about 50 pages of discography. What the ??

Let's hear more about each member, let's have interviews, let's have talk about politics, specific lyrics, influence, etc. While brevity is key to punk itself, it kinda sucks in a book about an awesome band that lasted over a decade and had a huge impact on modern music.

And what makes Quantick qualified to declare humself a Clash authority is never explained - but I think that's the least of this books shortcomings.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Quantick is a hack., June 28, 2006

By 

Mati "Mati" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Clash: Kill Your Idols (Paperback)

One of the sad bits about Rock Journalism is the absence of journalism. Quantick can't help himself as he interjects glib opinions and drops pop-culture references that are as irrelevant as they are dated. The book is, in itself, a fair, brief chronological history of the band. What is missing is any real words from the members of the band themselves; instead we get Quantick writing about what others have written about the band and his opinions and judgements over the band in a redundantly formatted opinion piece. He belies his subject by interjecting himself into the material. There's nothing here that can't be gleamed from other sources (fansites, etc) and no original insights. The Clash were a significant collective of artists producing relevant materials. Quantick is hack who makes the material unenjoyable.