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The Clash did the Wildstyle soundtrack??

spcspc 534 Posts
edited December 2007 in Strut Central
A friend told me yesterday that The Clash was the band that recorded the Wildstyle soundtrack. He said Fab5 knew them and they recorded it in a few days.Does anybody know anything about this?

  Comments

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    First time I've heard that, and I consider myself a certified Clash nut. I know that their legendary Bonds season sort of coincided with some of hip-hop's first moves downtown, and they also backed up Futura on a 12" he did for Celluloid (I think), but that and records like "Magnificent Seven" I always understood to have been the full extent of their dabblings in hip-hop. As far as I was aware, the musicians on the Wildstyle soundtrack were a scratch band put together by Chris Stein, and would more likely have included a bunch of NY No-Wave types rather than the Clash, although stranger things have happened.
  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    im also a big clash nut and i agree with above - the timing etc makes it possible, but it would be extraordinary if all this time had gone by and no one had talked about it before now, epecially with the deluxe dvd and the book that came out. Im sure at least Mick Jones would have been thrilled to help Stein out on the downlow if asked.
  • djsheepdjsheep 3,620 Posts
    A friend told me yesterday that The Clash was the band that recorded the Wildstyle soundtrack. He said Fab5 knew them and they recorded it in a few days.
    Does anybody know anything about this?

    I read something similar in a magazine in the 80s... can't remember tho...

    it was them who did the Futura 2000 single tho right??

    peace.
  • facesdfacesd 236 Posts
    Hey spc,

    If you watch the Wildstyle DVD with directors commentary, I believe Freddy and Charlie address this. If I am not mistaken, Freddy discusses how the band was put together and who comprised the group...

    You should def check out the director commentary regardless...its got some great insight.
  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    A friend told me yesterday that The Clash was the band that recorded the Wildstyle soundtrack. He said Fab5 knew them and they recorded it in a few days.
    Does anybody know anything about this?

    I read something similar in a magazine in the 80s... can't remember tho...

    it was them who did the Futura 2000 single tho right??

    peace.

    yes, and he did them a 'favor' back by rapping on their "overpowered by funk" song on 'combat rock'.
  • soupsoup 69 Posts
    http://www.jayquan.com/charliea.htm

    When it was time to do the soundtrack I told Freddy I was scared to let these Emcees rap over the records that the DJs were playing because I would have to get clearance for all this music , and I didn't want Emcees vocals held hostage by record companies. So I said lets produce the music ourselves , and give it out to the DJs , I don???t think that anyone has tried to do that since !! The DJs weren???t happy about it but they all seemed to like the one track (Down By Law) unfortunately because it makes it somewhat monotonous. Charlie Chase was more innovative and played other beats and slowed down the tempo. Chris Stein went into a studio with Lenny Fararri , who was the drummer , and Dave Harper who played the bass tracks. They created the groove for the whole album & Freddy was kinda directing them. Fred got together with Grand Wizard Theodore to get musical ideas. Chris Stein came in the 2nd day and all the tracks were done in one 4 hour session. I brought in all kind of sound effect records and cartoons for the DJs to Scratch.
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    http://www.jayquan.com/charliea.htm

    When it was time to do the soundtrack I told Freddy I was scared to let these Emcees rap over the records that the DJs were playing because I would have to get clearance for all this music , and I didn't want Emcees vocals held hostage by record companies. So I said lets produce the music ourselves , and give it out to the DJs , I don???t think that anyone has tried to do that since !! The DJs weren???t happy about it but they all seemed to like the one track (Down By Law) unfortunately because it makes it somewhat monotonous. Charlie Chase was more innovative and played other beats and slowed down the tempo. Chris Stein went into a studio with Lenny Fararri , who was the drummer , and Dave Harper who played the bass tracks. They created the groove for the whole album & Freddy was kinda directing them. Fred got together with Grand Wizard Theodore to get musical ideas. Chris Stein came in the 2nd day and all the tracks were done in one 4 hour session. I brought in all kind of sound effect records and cartoons for the DJs to Scratch.


    awesome.
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    im also a big clash nut and i agree with above - the timing etc makes it possible, but it would be extraordinary if all this time had gone by and no one had talked about it before now, epecially with the deluxe dvd and the book that came out. Im sure at least Mick Jones would have been thrilled to help Stein out on the downlow if asked.

    Speaking of Rap and the Clash, does anyone know the story behind the making of "This Is Radio Clash"? Did they do it themselves or with hip-hop dudes help, in the states or at home? I always loved the jam and wondered about it.
  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    im also a big clash nut and i agree with above - the timing etc makes it possible, but it would be extraordinary if all this time had gone by and no one had talked about it before now, epecially with the deluxe dvd and the book that came out. Im sure at least Mick Jones would have been thrilled to help Stein out on the downlow if asked.

    Speaking of Rap and the Clash, does anyone know the story behind the making of "This Is Radio Clash"? Did they do it themselves or with hip-hop dudes help, in the states or at home? I always loved the jam and wondered about it.

    theres much more detail but in a nutshell:

    they all are enamored w/USA after 1979/1980 tour there (first time over), and NYC in particular (the 16 bonds intl casino shows with grandmaster flash opening etc). they see the hip hop going on and want to progress not stay stuck in the punk. Mick Jones (later of BAD) was totally into it and was the one who made friends with futura etc. They did radio clash in NYC, and shot footage for a film "clash on Broadway", most of the footage is later lost but the video for radio clash (1981) is cut from it.

    no hip hop dudes directly helped, but they were totally directly influenced, going right in from hip art/music parties etc in SoHo to their studio work throughout 1980-1981. probably some hip hop luminaries visited them while they worked, but i dont know of any uncredited production/rapping/whatever.

    other hip hop influenced stuff from the same era are "the magnificent seven" and "lightning strikes" on sandinista (1980), partly recorded in NYC, and then "overpowered by funk" feat. futura on 1982's combat rock, also recorded mostly in NYC in 1981.

    a bit jumbled but its 4 am and im rushing, but thats the basics.
  • BsidesBsides 4,244 Posts
    i wish i had been in new york in the early 80s. Sounds like so much rad stuff at once.
  • CraigCraig 269 Posts
    It was Chris Stein of Blondie who did a lot of the music and not the clash if i remember correctly.
  • twoplytwoply Only Built 4 Manzanita Links 2,915 Posts
    Years ago I had the Wildstyle instrumentals LP, but I think I sold it. Any chance someone has those on mp3?
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    "the magnificent seven"

    The Magnificent Dance is one my favourite 12"s ever.
  • twoplytwoply Only Built 4 Manzanita Links 2,915 Posts
    Years ago I had the Wildstyle instrumentals LP, but I think I sold it. Any chance someone has those on mp3?


    Nevermind. I should just google before asking, right?
  • TheMackTheMack 3,414 Posts
    i think the Tom Tom Club did the sountrack actually
  • spcspc 534 Posts
    After asking my friend again about the info with The Clash doing the Wildstyle soundtrack he wasn't so sure, saying something like it makes no different if the Blondie guys or The Clash did it, it was a white punk band.
    So I think the The Clash/Wildstyle-urban legend is dead. Thanks for all the infos.
  • djsabordjsabor 12 Posts
    I was at Schoolkids in Athens, GA about two weeks ago and had re-release Wildstyle soundtrack CD in my hands. It came with a bonus second disc of all the instrumentals.
  • djsabordjsabor 12 Posts
    im also a big clash nut and i agree with above - the timing etc makes it possible, but it would be extraordinary if all this time had gone by and no one had talked about it before now, epecially with the deluxe dvd and the book that came out. Im sure at least Mick Jones would have been thrilled to help Stein out on the downlow if asked.

    Speaking of Rap and the Clash, does anyone know the story behind the making of "This Is Radio Clash"? Did they do it themselves or with hip-hop dudes help, in the states or at home? I always loved the jam and wondered about it.

    theres much more detail but in a nutshell:

    they all are enamored w/USA after 1979/1980 tour there (first time over), and NYC in particular (the 16 bonds intl casino shows with grandmaster flash opening etc). they see the hip hop going on and want to progress not stay stuck in the punk. Mick Jones (later of BAD) was totally into it and was the one who made friends with futura etc. They did radio clash in NYC, and shot footage for a film "clash on Broadway", most of the footage is later lost but the video for radio clash (1981) is cut from it.

    no hip hop dudes directly helped, but they were totally directly influenced, going right in from hip art/music parties etc in SoHo to their studio work throughout 1980-1981. probably some hip hop luminaries visited them while they worked, but i dont know of any uncredited production/rapping/whatever.

    other hip hop influenced stuff from the same era are "the magnificent seven" and "lightning strikes" on sandinista (1980), partly recorded in NYC, and then "overpowered by funk" feat. futura on 1982's combat rock, also recorded mostly in NYC in 1981.

    a bit jumbled but its 4 am and im rushing, but thats the basics.

    This is addressed in some detail in Can't Stop Won't Stop (Chang 2005), which covers the meeting of the downtown New Wave/No Wave and art scenes of the late 70s/early 80s with the burgeoning hip-hop/graf/b-boy scene from uptown.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    im also a big clash nut and i agree with above - the timing etc makes it possible, but it would be extraordinary if all this time had gone by and no one had talked about it before now, epecially with the deluxe dvd and the book that came out. Im sure at least Mick Jones would have been thrilled to help Stein out on the downlow if asked.

    Speaking of Rap and the Clash, does anyone know the story behind the making of "This Is Radio Clash"? Did they do it themselves or with hip-hop dudes help, in the states or at home? I always loved the jam and wondered about it.

    As far as I'm aware, it's more or less their own work. Despite the widely-held belief at the time that most punk bands couldn't play that well, Topper Headon was actually a pretty skilled multi-instrumentalist as well as a drummer (he wrote all the music for, and played most of the instruments on, "Rock The Casbah", for instance), and he'd played funk and jazz with a bunch of London circuit bands before joining the Clash. I know that Norman Watt-Roy of Ian Dury's Blockheads played bass on "Magnificent Seven" and a bunch of other "Sandinista" cuts, and the Blockheads' Mickey Gallagher played keyboards for them on several tours and in the studio from "London Calling" onwards, but on the whole, most of what you hear on the records after the first album is the Strummer/Jones/Simonon/Headon configuration.
  • upskibooupskiboo 2,396 Posts
    does anyone have that orig instrumental label scan, i recall seeing it in a hip hop documentary book, cannot remember the name of it though... so all i have is this blurry pic from the cover of the wild style ost..
    that wildstyle inst haas to be one of the holyest of the holy grails, btw does biz own a copy of this too???

  • SnappingSnapping 995 Posts
    im also a big clash nut and i agree with above - the timing etc makes it possible, but it would be extraordinary if all this time had gone by and no one had talked about it before now, epecially with the deluxe dvd and the book that came out. Im sure at least Mick Jones would have been thrilled to help Stein out on the downlow if asked.

    Speaking of Rap and the Clash, does anyone know the story behind the making of "This Is Radio Clash"? Did they do it themselves or with hip-hop dudes help, in the states or at home? I always loved the jam and wondered about it.

    As far as I'm aware, it's more or less their own work. Despite the widely-held belief at the time that most punk bands couldn't play that well, Topper Headon was actually a pretty skilled multi-instrumentalist as well as a drummer (he wrote all the music for, and played most of the instruments on, "Rock The Casbah", for instance), and he'd played funk and jazz with a bunch of London circuit bands before joining the Clash. I know that Norman Watt-Roy of Ian Dury's Blockheads played bass on "Magnificent Seven" and a bunch of other "Sandinista" cuts, and the Blockheads' Mickey Gallagher played keyboards for them on several tours and in the studio from "London Calling" onwards, but on the whole, most of what you hear on the records after the first album is the Strummer/Jones/Simonon/Headon configuration.

    Paul Simonon was apparently absent from most of the Sandinista sessions, because he was busy acting in the movie "The Fabulous Stains."

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