The Magnificent Seven
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The Magnificent Dance
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Released in 1981

This edition of 12″ Gems features one of the most addictive bass lines to ever grace the dancefloor. The Clash isn’t the first band to come to mind when you’re up in the club, but “The Magnificent Dance” appeals to pretty much anyone who gets up to get down. (For the record, “Rock The Casbah” works brilliantly too.)

The Clash were consistently pushing the boundaries of music. Though mostly defined as a “punk” bank, they also incorporated reggae, political fury, and — as demonstrated on this 12″ — rap into their sound. “The Magnificent Seven” was recorded in 1980, and may have been the first rap record made by whitey (with the possible exception of Blondie’s “Rapture,” which came out at roughly the same time).

Though Mick Jones was the true rap fanatic in The Clash, it was Joe Strummer who busted out the rhymes used in “The Magnificent Seven.” Legend has it that Joe freestyled all the lyrics after checking out local rap outfits across New York City. Joe was a notorious lefty, and his worldview nudged rap towards protest music: “What do we have for entertainment? Cops kickin gypsies on the pavement.”

But what’s really special about this 12″ is the B-side instrumental remix, “The Magnificent Dance.” Equally beloved by adventurous rockers, hip hop heads, and house music junkies, it continues to be sampled, looped, and worn out by DJ’s around the world.

The Clash were savvy enough to recognize the dancefloor potential of their recording and targeted this remix to DJs, successfully:

WBLS was blasting all over [New York] city and we just hooked onto some of that vibe and made our own version of it. We made an instrumental mix of “The Magnificent Seven” and WBLS played it to death. You couldn’t go anywhere in New York that summer without hearing that. And that was us! Weirdo punk-rock white guys!

— Mick Jones, from the documentary Westway to the World

Oh, and about that bass line: it wasn’t played by a member of The Clash. That honor goes to the heretofore unknown (at least to me) Norman Watt-Roy. Watt-Roy came up with the classic rhythm spontaneously while dropping in on The Clash during the Sandanista! sessions at New York City’s Electric Lady studios. If you want to know how funky Norman truly is, take a gander at his teeth.

Viet Nam
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Cohesion
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The Glory Of Man
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Jesus And Tequila
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Album: Double Nickels On The Dime (1984)

How to define punk rock? Is it the sound (electric guitars, hard drums, screaming vocals)? The lyrics (anti-establishment)? The attitude (do-it-yourself, be different)? In a lot of ways, the rise of punk was later mirrored by the explosion of hip hop — it’s as much a cultural movement as a musical one.

Growing up, I can’t say that I was heavy into music that would be neatly categorized as punk, but the punk ethos inspired the bands that I loved (e.g. Talking Heads, R.E.M., The Cure). When I heard Minutemen’s Double Nickels On The Dime towards the end of my high school years, it really opened my mind to how liberating punk rock — and, for that matter, music of any genre — could be. My appreciation of this record has only grown in the two decades since I first heard it.

I could spend most of eternity talking about Minutemen and Double Nickels On The Dime, but then I’d never finish this posting; here are some quick hits:

1. Minutemen was a trio from San Pedro, CA. They formed in 1980 and Double Nickels On The Dime was their third LP.
2. Their name was derived form the militia group that instigated the American Revolution, not the brevity of their songs.
3. Double Nickels On The Dime is a double LP, with 45 total tracks and an average length of 1:48 per track.
4. That’s bassist Mike Watt on the album cover. It took the band three days of driving around the same stretch of Southern California freeway before they could get the speedometer perfectly at 55 MPH*, Watt’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and their beloved “San Pedro” into the shot.
5. It was mixed on a single eight-track in one night and cost $1,100 to record. It sold 15,000 copies in its first year of release.
6. Each band member determined the song selections for one record side. The fourth side of the record was named “Side Chaff”.
7. Lead singer/guitarist D. Boon died in a car wreck in 1985 at the age of 27.
8. The track “Corona” was used as the theme to the TV show Jackass. “Love Dance” was used in a Volvo commercial. Watt licensed both tracks in order to offset medical bills for D. Boon’s father.
9. The documentary, We Jam Econo, is a portrait of Minutemen and their place in musical history; it shows up on the Sundance Channel from time to time. Check it out.

*Sidenote 1: This was in reaction to Sammy Hagar’s terrible but popularish song at the time, “I Can’t Drive 55.” According to Mike Watt: “So he can’t drive 55, because that was the national speed limit? Okay, we’ll drive 55, but we’ll make crazy music.” From this interview on his website.
Sidenote 2: The speedometer is only visible on the LP art.

Clearly, selecting a few tracks to showcase from a candidate pool of 45 was going to be a challenge. As with any LP Classic with this many 5-star classics, there are fluctuations in the tracks I’m feeling at any one point in time.

But select I must. I may need to do a part two.

“Viet Nam” (don’t know why they chose to make it two words) is tight, stinky funk. Mike Watt’s bass pops up in unexpected places and you can set your watch to George Hurley’s drums. Like most of D. Boon’s lyrics, it’s direct, angry, and brief; but his ability to make phrases like “executive order, congressional decision, the working masses are manipulated” swing is a stroke of genius.

“Cohesion” is a D. Boon solo track. In addition to his surprising virtuosity with the Spanish guitar, what amazes me the most about this song is that the melody is played on the bass strings while the treble strings are employed for rhythmic purposes. So cool.

One of my current favorites is “The Glory Of Man,” penned by Mike Watt. I have no idea what this song is about. And what’s with D. Boon’s pronunciation of the word ” measurer?”

The final selection, “Jesus And Tequila” was a favorite of mine during my college years. Lyrically, it comes off a bit as frat rock but on the musical tip, it’s got this woozy, bluesy vibe… and I can’t deny it.

I’ve tried to get into other Minutemen records, but none of them come close to this diverse, mind-blowing LP. “Punk rock” feels too constricting a label for something this free.