TIM SATCHWELL
COMBAT READY
COMBAT READY is the story of the making of the fifth and most commercially successful album by The Clash, released in 1982. After reading every book about the Clash I can lay my hands on, I feel it is time to write my own. I cover as much ground as I can, from the background of the band at the time, important world events, the musical climate, and the tears and tantrums. I include some of the main people involved in the album, preparations for the recording, the songs themselves, release dates and formats, and gather together some of those critical reviews. I take an in depth look at the various “alternative versions” of the album originally to be entitled “Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg”. The Clash continue to influence musicians and music lovers around the world, it was the “Combat Rock” album that truly broke the band on an International Level, and broke the band quite literally. The premise of my book is how on earth the album was ever released, bearing in mind the incredible saga that unfolded between mid 1981 and early 1983, and how it became such a hugely successful commercial release.
Combat Ready
ISBN-13-9781739795559
As an obsessive collector of the music and memorabilia of the Clash, I have built up a collection of Clash biographies, pictorial works, audio and video. I identified a gap in the literature, and feel that my book offers a more International approach than the other excellent works. I have gathered together opinions and news stories and personal memories from the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the UK, and even tracked down a member of the audience at the final show in Thailand of the Clash’s “Far East Tour”. I have listened to hours of bootlegged shows from around the world for the first airings of the “Combat Rock” material, watched official and unofficial video material and pushed the good will and patience of newspaper and library archivists in several countries to the limits. I feel the potential interest would be to Clash fans around the world, the book works on different levels, part academic and part “anorak”, with hopefully a little something for everyone, a few searching questions for the die-hard fans, and some important lessons for up and coming bands and musicians, and even “Ordinary Joes” who are struggling to make sense of the increasingly complex world. As well as directly Clash related works, I have referenced the likes of David Byrne (Talking Heads), Pete Townsend, Alex James (Blur) and Viv Albertine (The Slits and solo).