My two little boys are cool for a lot of reasons, but one of the best things about them is their listening tastes. From the time they were infants, I've never given them anything but legitimate music to hear. My first son used to love George Harrison's "All Too Much" from the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. Before he could even clearly form the words he'd ask for "Wah Wah Woll" by Led Zeppelin. A few years later he'd asked if I could make him his own cd. What did he want on it? The Ramones. Steppenwolf. Paul Westerberg. Sure, he was clearly influenced by what I was playing in the car and was really only picking his favorites from what I allowed him to hear, but come on... how cool is it when a five year old requests The Clash on roadtrips?"Career Opportunities" was one of Jack's favorite songs. I'd turn it on as soon as I picked him up after work and we'd just blast it. Car seats protect kids from a lot of things, but they don't restrict their ability to head bang! We'd crank this tune as we were rolling down our street. I can't imagine there were too many mini-vans in the neighborhood doing that. No KidzBop here! We were listening to The Only Band That Mattered.
Nearly everything you've ever heard about the greatness of The Clash is true. London Calling, long said to be one of the best albums ever recorded, is exactly that. And their two releases prior to that are like symphonies of machine gun fire, full of energy and frantic rhythm. They broke out, blew up, and burned out in too short a time, but in their heyday they were really something. What's cool is that even now, thirty years after their peak, their music is every bit as powerful as it ever was... even to a five year old.
"Career Opportunities" is from the debut album "The Clash." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
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