The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
This is probably my favourite The Clash song. I copied this from the All Music Guide entry for the song, because I like it:
“Certainly before there was the British wave of ska in the late ’70s/early ’80s, the Clash had already experimented with the thick bass line and choppy guitar configuration that define punky reggae. “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” may have actually been the first song to merge punk and reggae. The guitar comes in stinging, but soon it moves over to place Joe Strummer’s vocal front and center (maybe that wasn’t intentional, as the Clash sessions from which this song and others from the early period came were famous for being poorly recorded) alongside Paul Simonon’s loping bass. The lyric was inspired by Strummer’s visit to a reggae “All Niter” at the famous London venue Hammersmith Palais. He was disappointed with a Dilinger and Leroy Smart performance, so he took the opportunity to review it in a song. He also took the opportunity to dis his fellows in punk rock (“turning rebellion into money”), and of course his government and its people. But he never missed an opportunity to poke fun at himself, the white man in the Palais. Self-deprecation is a Clash song quality which was often overlooked, but ultimately won them many fans; misinterpreters thought the band took themselves “too seriously.” “
