IT WAS 30 YEARS AGO TODAY

The Clash’s London Calling was released thirty years ago today.  The classic cover, an appropriation of Elvis Presley’s first full length album, shows Clash bassist Paul Simonon swinging his bass while on stage at the now demolished Palladium on East 14th Street, which is now a hideous NYU dormitory.  I got to see the Clash a few times as a kid, but regret not doing everything in my power to see Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros when they passed through NYC.  How the Palladium wasn’t deemed a landmark is beyond me.  Shit ain’t right.