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Combat Out Rock

This is Mick Jones' original mix for the album that became Combat Rock. More than likely it dates from late 1981. NB: This boot has now been rendered somewhat obsolete by the upgrade to The Rat Patrol.

Track listing

  1. Know Your Rights
  2. Car Jamming
  3. Rock The Casbah
  4. Red Angel Dragnet
  5. Should I Stay Or Should I Go
  6. Ghetto Defendant
  7. Straight To Hell
  8. Inoculated City
  9. Atom Tan
  10. Cool Confusion
  11. Sean Flynn
  12. Death Is A Star
  13. First Night Back In London
  14. The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too
  15. Kill Time

Review

This was intended to be a double album entitled 'Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg'. The rest of the band dismissed it, and called in producer Glyn Johns to cut it down to size for a single LP. All songs became shorter, and a lot tighter, with more pronounced vocals, a much 'tighter' mix musically, and less vague sound effects and extended rapping. Also, four tracks (Cool Confusion, First Night Back In London, Beautiful People and Kill Time) were cut. Overall, all the songs sound very similar to each other, with a significant emphasise on studio sound effects. The whole thing also has a 'muggy' sound to it, if you know what I mean. Sort of slightly muffled, like sounding as if it was coming from under a thick blanket.

Track seven from Combat Rock, Overpowered By Funk, is not present here and was apparently added to Combat Rock at the last minute (an instrumental version exists on Clash On Broadway Outtakes and an extended remix is on Golden Bullets). Each song varies in some way to the official ones on Combat Rock, so here is a track by track review:

Know Your Rights

This is a basic but extended version, and seems to be a bit slower. Joe is talking rather than singing and the lyrics are different in places. Know Your Rights has a few incarnations besides the official one. This being one, and another one is on Clash On Broadway Outtakes. This is a good version of the song, and in ways works better, with the message of the song being delivered more effectively by Joe's voice.

Car Jamming

Again, this is a more basic version but is very similar to the official one. There are extra sound effects in places and it's extended.

Rock The Casbah

Different intro, then once it kicks in it is very similar to the official album version. There's extra sound effects in places and it's also maybe a touch slower.

Red Angel Dragnet

Paul's vocals seem a bit more present in the song as the volume of the music is lower. Some instrumentation found in the offical version is increased in volume a little - such as the electronic organ effect. Also, there is some faint talking in the background, possibly Joe? There are also extra background vocals from Joe and Mick. Towards the end, there are extra lyrics, as this is an extended version.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Lots of Spanish dialogue at times, along with extra vocals, possibly just Mick's dubbed over twice. Also some extra vocals from Joe it sounds like. Extended, and with extra instrumentation, including brass?

Ghetto Defendant

Allen Ginsberg's lead vocals are different at times, and sometimes appear in a different place to where they do in the official version. There is extra instrumentation. Joe's singing is also very different. The lyrics in the song are different, and this is an extended version. It also fades off quite nicely at the end.

Straight To Hell

This is the same as the official unedited version found on Clash On Broadway disc 3. An extended mix, slightly altered drum effect, also fades away nicely at the end.

Inoculated City

A more pronounced opening that works well. An extended version, with extra vocals that again just sounds like Mick's dubbed on twice. In this song in particular there are studio sound effects not found in the official version. The toilet cleaner ad - '2000 Flushes' - (with the American housewife) is a bit longer too. This is a better version of this song (the official one is too short really) and the extended playing is welcome. There's also faint voices, chatter and laughing in the background at times, which get louder as the song nears its end.

Atom Tan

Seems a touch slower, and has slightly different lyrics in places but otherwise is very similar to the official version.

Cool Confusion

Same as the version on Super Black Market Clash and Clash On Broadway disc 3. Here it cuts off a second or so too soon though. This song is mostly made up of sound effects and strange, but effective vocals. (An alternate mix of this song can be found on the D.O.A. compilation.)

Sean Flynn

A different, and quite spooky, intro to this song, then it kicks in as normal. The sound quality throughout this song varies a bit - there is the odd drop out. Some instrumentation is more pronounced and there are extra sound effects. An extended version but on the whole very similar to the official one. This is a welcome track - Sean Flynn is an excellent song and this version lasts nearly 8 minutes.

Death Is A Star

Very similar to the official version, just some extra lyrics and talking in places. It's clever how, as in the official version as well, Mick and Joe's voices unnoticeably blend into each other at the beginning and throughout.

First Night Back In London

As with Cool Confusion, this is the same as the official version and appears on Super Black Market Clash. It's obvious this song came from this mix, with the big emphasis on sound effects and that particular drumming sound and style.

The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too

A great song, and it's good to have it here with very good sound quality. I especially like the tune to this song, it's very catchy, and Joe and Mick's singing on it works very well. In keeping with the style of the rest of the album, there are the familiar sound effects. This was also known as 'Fulham Connection W11', and has also been known as 'Man In A Box'.

Kill Time

Again, a great song. Very reggae styled (true to Clash form). Also, excellent sound quality which is very welcome from an unreleased studio track. Good to have a complete version of it as well, as it appears on Pier Pressure but is cut short and misses out a drumbeat or two in the intro and is missing quite a bit near the end. The Pier Pressure version also uses a vinyl as its source, whereas this does not. Sometimes known as (Licence To) Kill Time and 'Idle In the Kangaroo Court' which was the song's working title.

It's a great shame official releases of Beautiful People and Kill Time haven't appeared. They should have made it onto the Clash On Broadway boxset (the Straight To Hell unedited version is there) in favour of material that was already available anyway. Other unreleased tracks made it (such as One Emotion) so why not these? If not then, they should almost certainly have made it onto Super Black Market Clash, along with Cool Confusion and First Night Back In London from the very same mix.

Overall, the sound quality is a bit dulled and there is background hiss present all the time (but it's only really noticeable in between songs). However, it is still very good, and the quality of some of the tracks, particularly the last two funnily enough, is excellent. The songs are interesting alternatives and make an enjoyable listen. Extended versions are welcome for some of these classic Clash songs.

Rated: 9 / 10

Extra

As mentioned throughout, all the songs are extended versions. And mostly, it's just the last verse which has been cut out in the versions on Combat Rock. They also seem to be a bit slower as well, but only a touch, and that may have something to do with the mix of the song that just affects how fast it seems to go, and not simply faster playing. Or perhaps for Combat Rock the tapes were speeded up slightly? That's highly unlikely though.

Thanks to Rob Thompson for the copy of this.

NB: In January, 2003 a full unedited and superb quality version of this surfaced under the title of 'Walk Evil Talk', with extra tracks. Needless to say I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy soon.

NB 2: 22nd January, 2003: I have a copy of this new CD in my hands, thanks to the efforts of Sukwoon Noh. HM Customs seem to have opened the package in London (perhaps they too want this golden item) but it seems great. To the review »» The Rat Patrol