An impassioned history of the final, turbulent years of The Clash under the dark shadow of Reagan and Thatcher.
“This is an inspiring take on the rock-band bio format, as much a political history of the 1980s as it is a look at an influential band in its final years.” —
Publishers Weekly
The Clash was a paradox of revolutionary conviction, musical ambition, and commercial drive.
We Are The Clash
is a gripping tale of the band’s struggle to reinvent itself as George Orwell’s
1984
loomed. This bold campaign crashed headlong into a wall of internal contradictions and rising right-wing power.
While the world teetered on edge of the nuclear abyss, British miners waged a life-or-death strike, and tens of thousands died from US guns in Central America, Clash cofounders Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon, and Bernard Rhodes waged a desperate last stand after ejecting guitarist Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon. The band shattered just as its controversial final album,
Cut the Crap
, was emerging.
Andersen and Heibutzki weave together extensive archival research and in-depth original interviews with virtually all of the key players involved to tell a moving story of idealism undone by human frailty amid a climatic turning point for our world.