| "Tommy Gun" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Clash | ||||
| from the album Give 'Em Enough Rope | ||||
| B-side | "1–2 Crush on You" | |||
| Released | 24 November 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:13 | |||
| Label | CBS S CBS 6788 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Joe Strummer and Mick Jones | |||
| Producer(s) | Sandy Pearlman | |||
| The Clash singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Tommy Gun" (Official Video) on YouTube | ||||
"Tommy Gun" is a song by the British punk rock band The Clash, released as the first single from their second album Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978).
Joe Strummer said that he got the idea for the song when he was thinking about terrorists, and how they probably enjoy reading about their killings as much as movie stars like seeing their films reviewed. [3] While Topper Headon mimics the sound of gangster movie shootings with quick snare hits and the guitars are full of distortion and feedback, Strummer's sarcastic lyrics (I'm cutting out your picture from page one/I'm gonna get a jacket just like yours/And give my false support to your cause/Whatever you want, you're gonna get it!) condemn rather than condone violence: at the end of the song he sings, If death comes so cheap/Then the same goes for life!
In the liner notes of the Singles Box , Carl Barat (former frontman of Dirty Pretty Things and The Libertines), says that "Tommy Gun" was important for music at the time because it let people know what was going on in the world—it talked about real issues. He says,
It's ["Tommy Gun"] a product of the volatile climate of the late seventies – all those references to terrorist organizations like Baader-Meinhof and The Red Brigades. It's like a punk rock adaptation of The Beatles' "Revolution". [1]
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The Clash were an English 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 post-punk and new wave movements that emerged in the wake of punk and employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon.
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Nicholas Bowen "Topper" Headon is an English drummer, best known as the drummer of punk rock band the Clash. Known for his instrumental contributions to the drumming world, Headon was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of The Clash in 2003.
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"(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a 7-inch single, with the b-side "The Prisoner", on 16 June 1978 through CBS Records.
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"English Civil War" is a song by English punk rock band the Clash, featured on their second album Give 'Em Enough Rope, and released as a single on 23 February 1979. It reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart and number 29 in the Irish Singles Chart.
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"Lost in the Supermarket" is a 1979 song by the Clash. Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones and produced by Guy Stevens, it is credited to the Strummer/Jones songwriting partnership. It was released on their third studio album London Calling. It is the eighth song on the track listing. Although it features Jones on lead vocals, the song was written by Strummer. The supermarket in question was the International, located at 471–473 Kings Road, beneath the World's End Estate. Strummer lived at 31 Whistler Walk at the time with his girlfriend Gaby Salter, her two younger brothers and her mother. The song appears in the Apple TV+ show Loot.
"I'm So Bored with the U.S.A." is a song by British punk rock band the Clash, featured on their critically acclaimed 1977 debut album, which was released in the United States in July 1979 as their second album after Give 'Em Enough Rope. It was the album's third track in the original version and second in the US version.
"Clash City Rockers" is a song by English rock band the Clash. It was first released in February 1978 as a single with the B-side "Jail Guitar Doors", the latter a re-worked version of a song from Joe Strummer's pub rock days. "Clash City Rockers" was the second of three non-album singles released between the group's eponymous first album in 1977 and their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978). It was later included as the opening track of the belated US version of the band's debut album.
"This Is Radio Clash" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released as a single in 1981 on various formats. The song was performed months before its release, beginning with the Impossible Mission Tour of April and May 1981. A live performance was televised on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show on 5 June 1981.
Capital Radio is a song and an extended play by the English punk rock band the Clash. The original song has been included as "Capital Radio" or "Capital Radio One" on the Capital Radio EP (1977), Black Market Clash (1980), The Story of the Clash, Volume 1 (1988), Clash on Broadway (1991), From Here to Eternity: Live (1999), The Essential Clash (2003), and Singles Box (2006).
"Death or Glory" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash featured on their 1979 album London Calling. The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones and features Strummer on lead vocals. The song was written about the previous generation of rock stars who swore that they would die before growing old. French rock critic Philippe Manoeuvre called it a "parody of Thin Lizzy".
"Janie Jones" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash. It is the opening track on their debut album, The Clash (1977). The song is named after Janie Jones, a cabaret singer who organised sex parties at her Kensington home.
"Groovy Times" is a song by the Clash, featured on their The Cost of Living EP, and released as a promotional single in 1979 in Australia by Epic Records, and also included with initial pressings of the US release of the band's debut album. It was originally recorded as "Groovy Times Are Here Again" during the recording sessions for Give 'Em Enough Rope, however this demo has never been officially released, but can be found on many Clash bootlegs. It was never performed live.
The Clash were an English rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk rock. Along with punk rock, they experimented with reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap and rockabilly. For most of their recording career, The Clash consisted of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon, with Terry Chimes or Nicky "Topper" Headon on drums and percussion. The band features in several documentaries and other films.
An interesting early pop-punk artifact however. Put out for some reason as the B-side of the "Tommy Gun" single in 1978, and later collected on Super Black Market Clash.
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