Radio Broadcast レコード& CD

Review: The Clash are post-punk icons whose music still draws in new generations of anarchists some 40-odd years after the band peaked. Back in 1978, they were still at their very best and it was then that they recorded the BBC Sessions that now make up this new vinyl release. Alongside all the tunes from those recordings are a series of selections from their 1982 East Coast tour in the United States of America. All the classics are here such as 'London's Burning', 'I Fought The Law', 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' and many more along with some less-known gems.

Review: The Smiths captured close to the end of their career by the BBC at the National Ballroom in Kilburn, West London. Promoting The Queen Is Dead and the rich rush of different non-album singles that fell between it and final LP Strangeways here We Come, this broadcast recording - which was also used for the live album Rank - features the re-slimmed down classic four-strong Smiths line up, leaner and meaner than the five piece with additional guitarist Craig Cannon that had toured previous album Meat Is Murder. A string of great singles - 'Ask', 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' and 'Panic' among them - populate the tracklisting, as well a typically brutal execution of 'The Queen Is Dead' as their dramatic opener. It's hard to find a moment in their all too brief stint together when The Smiths are not on top form, but this truly is a peak of peaks.