All good Clash fans know that Joe Strummer (one of the Clash's lead singers and songwriters) started life as the lead singer for a London RnB/Mod-style rock band called the 101ers. They put out only one single and, after the band was already kaput, one album of material. (Only 2,000 copies of the LP makes it a
very collectable item.) This rare 45 features a track that will blow away fans of Strummer and the Clash who've not heard it before, and will verify what a great sense for melody, rhythm, and lyrics Strummer possessed way before he started demonstrating it with the Clash's music. This single was released in 1976, a year before the Clash's first album rocked the punk world. The flip side of the picture sleeve has some great photos of the band, both in and out of concert. From what I understand, the single was released earlier in 1976 on Chiswick Records, after which Big Beat licensed the track and put it out with a different picture sleeve. However, the Big Beat release seems to be the rarer of the two.
