Sharoma The Clash Rockers Galore

Rockers Galore

Compilation of official studio tracks and interviews with band members. Contains a bonus track of the band playing Police & Thieves and Blitzkrieg Bop, which is taken from a show at Le Stadium, Paris, on 16th October, 1978.

Track listing

  1. Complete Control - from From Here To Eternity
  2. Paul Simonon - on the beginnings of The Clash
  3. Mick Jones - on the beginnings of The Clash
  4. Joe Strummer - on the beginnings of The Clash
  5. Mick Jones - more on the beginnings of The Clash
  6. Janie Jones - from The Clash
  7. Paul - on naming the band
  8. White Riot - from The Clash
  9. Topper Headon - on how he joined the band
  10. Tommy Gun - from Give 'Em Enough Rope
  11. Paul & Mick - on why Train In Vain wasn't listed on London Calling
  12. Train In Vain - from London Calling
  13. Paul - on reggae influences and singing for the first time
  14. The Guns Of Brixton - from London Calling
  15. Paul - on reggae and working with Mikey Dread
  16. Rockers Galore - featuring Mikey Dread - B side of Train In Vain
  17. Mick - on Sandinista! & The Magnificent Seven
  18. The Magnificent Seven - from Sandinista!
  19. Joe - on the political nature of the band
  20. Police On My Back - from Sandinista!
  21. Joe - on inspiration for Rock The Casbah
  22. Rock The Casbah - from Combat Rock
  23. Joe - on the state of British rock music in 1980 - 1981
  24. Straight To Hell - from From Here To Eternity
  25. Police & Thieves / Blitzkrieg Bop (Live) [bonus track]

Review

This is a common item in the U.S.A. but was not released in the U.K., so for the benefit of people who don't posses it I'll quote from the artwork:

"At long last The Clash's entire catalog has been remastered under the supervision of the band and their legendary engineer Bill Price. Packaging has been restored to match the original vinyl releases with the help of Julian Balme, who was responsible for designing many of the band's iconic album and single sleeves. This sampler features some of their remastered best, as well as a taste of the brand new live album, From Here To Eternity. PLUS - rare interviews with each band member and a priceless B-side - here on CD for the very first time!"

Rockers Galore is a promo sampler, which was given away free in the US when the whole Clash catalogue was remastered in 1999. You had to buy two Clash albums to get it. I myself got it from the Everything English site, because it sadly wasn't offered over here. Criminal really when you consider that the Clash are a British band.

Some of the interviews can be found on the Clash On Broadway Interviews disc, but there are some which are unique to this disc, particular the one with Topper Headon, and the rest of the ones dating from around 1980/81 and the release of Sandinista!. All versions of the songs are original album mixes (so that's the version of White Riot without the sirens) and the Rockers Galore track itself is a welcome rarity.

After Straight To Hell finishes there is a long pause and then the Police & Thieves / Blitzkrieg Bop track, which you can also find on the Blitzkrieg Live CD. The quality of the track is the same as on that CD, and no overdubs or remastering of it have occurred. Nice of them to add a hidden bonus, and such a rare one as well.

A highly recommended package. Buy it if you see it anywhere. It seems to be becoming a real rarity. Everything English are worth a look as they sometimes have a number of copies for sale at a reasonable price.

Extra

Decent digipack and a great sleeve. The CD cover has also been designed to look like a vinyl and even says 45 RPM on it. Nice touch. Shame this wasn't available in the U.K.

The CD database entry for this CD spells Sandinista! with an a, as in: Sandanista! This minor spelling error is present in the 'Baddendum' torrent, which also missing its .m3u playlist. Apologies for that.