Black Market Clash

This review is for "Super Black Market Clash" from THE ONLY BAND THAT MATTERS! "Black Market Clash" was orginally released as a 10" vinyl EP in 1980. "Super Black Market Clash" is amalgamation of that EP plus the RARE 1979 U.K. EP "The Cost of Living" & B-side singles from the first 2 Clash LPs & reggae DUB versions of singles from "Sandinista!" & B-side singles from "Combat Rock." What's MISSING from "Super BMC" is the single "Armagideon Time" from the original BMC EP. My FAVORITE Clash song of ALL TIME! So disappointing. The reggae dub version "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" of that song from the BMC EP is included, which was originally released in 1979 as the B-side for the 12" single of "London Calling." Confused yet? The other GLARING OMISSION from the original BMC EP is "Bank Robber." The reggae dub version is included. But, it's still puzzling. Why exclude the singles of these 2 songs but include the dub versions? CD time contraints. This should have been expanded into a 2 CD collection! Also MISSING is "Capital Radio One" from the original BMC EP. What's GREAT about this collection is the addition of the B-side singles from the first 2 albums, B-side dub versions & "Groovy Times," "Gates Of The West" & "Capital Radio Two" (extended version of "Capital Radio One") from "The Cost Of Living" EP. All CLASSIC Clash tracks! It also includes "Radio Clash" the B-side single from "This Is Radio Clash" which was HUGE in the clubs & on alternative rock stations back in the day. I owned the original 12" vinyl single with multiple dance remixes. (Needle drop over & over on that single back in the day. "Rewind Selector!") If they had expanded this collection onto 2 discs, the original PLUS the remixes could have been included too! With 2 discs they could have added songs that were excluded from the U.S. version of The Clash's first album. Missed opportunity! As it stands, even with the omissions, this is still A MUST OWN addition to any CLASH fan's collection. And it still deserves 5 Stars! (Now I have to buy "The Clash Hits Back" just get to "Armagideon Time" & "Bank Robber" & "This Is Radio Clash" on CD because MP3s are evil. Oh well. It's only filthy lucre.)

must have clash

Super Black Market Clash is exactly what a B-sides album should be: a handful of gems ("1977," "Groovy Times," "Pressure Drop"), some experimentation ("Justice Tonight/Kick it Over," "Radio Clash"), but ultimately uneven. I have been put on the record as saying that a B-sides album isn't worth anything if it isn't uneven (well, on the record because I just wrote it now). If the band doesn't have some failures then they're really not trying, are they? They're just spending time lounging in the safe zone. There's nothing terribly wrong with the safe zone, it's nice, I'd visit, but I sure wouldn't want to live there. The two biggest critical darlings had some massive failures. Radiohead's first album was absolutely grating (and not in an avante garde sort of way) and in my personal opinion the Beatles were mediocre until Help!. That being said, some of the songs off the second half of the album fall a bit flat. Even so, they're all interesting to listen to and don't permanently scar the album. Most of them show The Clash trading in their gut level impact for some more experimental music. Super Black Market Clash is just the fix for those of you who have already bought the first three CDs (which I recommend doing immediately if you haven't already). It's a great career spanning picture of the most eclectic punk band.

I guess this smallish EP (about 2" smaller than standard album size) by The Clash isn't as rare as I thought it was. The seller or sellers seemed enthusiastic and pretty darn cool (they'd have to be if they have this and similar inventory). I bought this when it first came out in 1979 and wore out the grooves and scratched it up listening to it so much and recording many cassette's for my friends. I kind of forgot about it for a time (years), then remembered it and could not find it anywhere (before PCs, internet and dumb fones). I found one a couple years back and it was selling for 180.00. I couldn't afford it at the time, so when I found this one for about thirty bucks I was suspicious, but I had to try. I got the EP and when I opened it, it was still in the original shrink wrap with an ON SALE price sticker @ 3.99 wich was covering a 5.99 price tag. I am very pleased. This EP brings back a lot of good memories. My mother who is 85 started singing along to it recently, she loved this album back in 1979 also. I don't usually rate products, purchases and shopper-seller experiences, but I had to for this Clash album, arguably one of the best Rock & Roll bands in the history of the Universe. Bill

I was very pleased with this album. Not one bad song in my opinion. Well worth the purchase!!!

One of my favorite medlies of Clash singles.

If you're a fan of B-sides, and you like and respect The Clash like I do, this collection is great. One or two of the songs might already be released on the Remastered CD's, but songs like "1977" and "City of the Dead" make this a worthy purchase for fans of "old" punk.

The last song on the C.D. Mustapha Dance. The instrumental to Rock The Casbah. I love that song 🎵!!

Lo adoro.

I have this record but bought it on CD because it has a ton of extra songs! Clash fans gotta pick this one up (if you can find it!)

Estado y presentación del Cd, excelente. En el devenir de las obra, de la " única banda qué importa". Esta confirma el engranaje creativo y la ratificación de las inclusión de diversos estilos. Cuando no importa la pátina de las superficie, sino la trascendencias del alma qué lo expresa

クラッシュ好きな人にとってははずれなしの１枚。

Je ne savais pas trop à quoi m'attendre mais c'est finalement un CD indispensable ! Nous avons donc ici les B-sides des singles des Clash et même si au début je ne savais pas trop quoi penser Stop the World ou Mustapha Dance par exemple, ce sont finalement d'excellentes chansons. En étant fan des Clash, aucune déception, ce sont de véritables perles (tout comme les chansons souvent oubliées de Sandinista! par exemple). La piste Capital Radio présentée ici est la version n°2 que les Clash ont enregistré après s'être rendu compte que la version 1 était quasi-introuvable par les fans, et trop chère. En définitive, aussi essentiel que les cinq autres albums.