The Clash

The Clash were simply the greatest rock'n'roll band of the post-'60s era. They combined the iconoclasm of the Sex Pistols with the swaggering gang mentality of Exile on Main Street-period Rolling Stones: glaring menacingly in combat fatigues while tearing through tunes that mainstream pop bands would kill for. "White Riot" was the calling card, London Calling the instant classic, "Rock the Casbah" the American breakthrough hit, and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" the posthumous UK #1 single. Tracing Strummer and company's progress from street busking to the pub circuit to US stadiums (and back!), The Clash is a fascinatingly detailed study of the first band to take punk to the masses and survive for a decade against all odds, as well as an intriguing investigation into the gap between rock reality and rock myth. "The only band that matters" is finally getting its due! The Clash will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.