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.