Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Equals - "Police On My Back" (the song remains the same)

My previous post was about The Clash covering a rebellious song, so let's do another.  "Police On My Back" was originally a 1967 single by The Equals.  Don't worry, nobody in the US has heard of them either.  But if you're a Gen Xer, you might remember Eddy Grant's 1983 hit "Electric Avenue" -- that's the same Eddy Grant that was fronting The Equals in the late 60s.  Now you know.

I learned of this song from Sandinista!, the 1980 sprawling, ambitious, wreck of a triple LP from The Clash.  I keep threatening to review Sandinista!, but truthfully it is simply too daunting.  In the meantime I'll just chip away at it, starting with arguably the best track on the LP.

The Equals: no, that's not Austin Powers IV or "Listen to the Flower People"-era Spinal Tap, it's a lip sync version on Beat-Club, ca. 1967 (version 1, version 2), studio version

The Clash: studio, live in Jamaica, live in Tokyo, live in ???

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