National Album Day, the first Clash LP, Career Opportunities
The first Clash record, named simply The Clash, was released on 8th April 1977.
The track listing (etc) for the record is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash_(album)
I was bought the record on release (one of those shiny vinyl things) and the short sharp songs, musically and lyrically, fitted the mood of those days.
There was a Labour Government but one that had embarked on an IMF inspired programme of austerity cuts. One result was rising unemployment. Another was the rise of the fascist National Front.
Just two weeks after The Clash was released, the NF tried a high profile march in North London that became known as the Battle of Wood Green:
The Clash however were not of course fascists but precisely the reverse. The record was about resisting and fighting back against a system that was a dead end for so many, particularly for young people (I was a 19 year old student at the time). The Clash went on to become one of the headliners at the first Anti Nazi League/Rock Against Racism Carnival in Victoria Park the following year.
The record is now part of social history, but history relevant to now 40 years on.
I enjoyed ‘National Album Day’!