12 December 2020 will mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the now classic ‘Sandinista’ triple album by The Clash.
‘Sandinista’ was an incredible piece of work spaced across six album sides. It featured three singles ‘The Call Up’, ‘Hitsville UK’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’.
‘Sandinista’ was a much-anticipated album coming off the back the 1979’s double album ‘London Calling’. The band recorded ‘Sandinista’ across most of 1980 in London, New York, Jamaica and Manchester. The album extended the punk origins of The Clash into the world of Dub and R&B.
‘Sandinista’ featured a fill-in Norman Watt-Roy from The Blockheads for a bit while Paul Simonon was making the movie ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains’. That led to controversy when Watt-Roy and fellow Blockhead Mickey Gallagher claimed credit for ‘The Magnificent Seven’. Ellen Foley, who was Mick Jones girlfriend at the time, sang with Jones on ‘The Magnificent Seven’.
‘Sandinista’ only reached no 36 in Australia, no 24 in the USA and no 19 in the UK. As a triple album (and later double CD) it was a lot to listen to.
The previous album ‘London Calling’ reached n0 16 in Australia, no 9 in the UK and no 27 in the USA.
The next album ‘Combat Rock’ went to no 32 in Australia, no 2 in the UK and no 7 in the USA off the back of the singles ‘Rock The Casbah’ and ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’.
