The Clash's Sean Flynn: What is it? And what else sounds like it?

'flawless' is not necessarily a good thing.

I'm not saying "CR" is, but ay..

I once made a CD with about an hour's worth of Clash tunes that included "Sean Flynn," "Death Is A Star," "If Music Could Talk," "The Street Parade" . . . well, you get the idea. A couple of "poppier" things like "Inoculated City" worked surprisingly well in this non-hit, non-rock, not-too-reggae mix. I loved that sound, which was really a combination of the production and an innately good sense of songwriting that worked in such minimalist surroundings. But if you listen, it's really Topper who holds it together.

Anyway, nothing's quite like Sean Flynn. And to me, "Combat Rock" is just the fourth slab of vinyl that should have been in my "Sandinista!" album sleeve - minus "Should I Stay" and "Overpowered By Funk" and with the additions of the wonderful extended version of "Long Time Jerk" and "First Night Back In London."

There are a couple of Tymon Dogg songs that have some of the weird mystery of "Sean Flynn," but (oddly) those tend not to be his best songs.

And why does everyone seem to hate Combat Rock

Well...I can only speak for myself but...when Combat Rock came out I (mistakenly) thought the the Clash were done. "Rock the Casbah" and it's overexposure bummed me out and I didn't even bother with the record. It wasn't until last year that I gave it a whirl (25 years after it came out!)and was pretty much blown away. I love "Car Jamming", "Sean Flynn" "Know your Rights" and, overall, the record is much reater than I had expected. It was a great surprise. It's been in heavy rotation ever since.

I'm wondering if, in ten years, I'll finally discover the merits of "Cut the Crap." Probably not.

"Death Is A Star" is among the strangest closing tracks on any album.

Oh "Cut the crap" is all right.... five out of ten, if "CR" is nine and "LC" is ten. Mind you, "Sandinista" is eleven so hey.

Also "This Is England" might be the best Clash single. Certainly the last true "punk" single.

"Ghetto Defendant" = way underrated.

Yeah, what else sounds like Ghetto Defendant or Straight to Hell? That's what I'd like to know.

(beside the MIA song)

Should I stay or should go, is crap

No it's not.

This Is England" might be the best Clash single. Certainly the last true "punk" single

Huh?

Yeah, what else sounds like Ghetto Defendant or Straight to Hell? That's what I'd like to know.

"Straight to Hell", aside from the vocal, actually doesn't sound unlike some Talking Heads pseudo-Bossa stuff to me. But yeah, I know what you mean, those three songs are kinda in a world of their own.

("those three" meaning the two you mentioned + sean flynn, obv)

Thank you very much in advance for pointing me towards the tracks of which you speak.

Certainly can't fault the ghetto defendant and straight to hell, anything sound like, either but basically what I'm getting is nothing sounds like Combat Rock! I thought maybe Sean Flynn was some kind of world influenced dark, drone raga kind of genre I may not have heard of, but apparentley not.

I've got a live compilation someone put together of Cut the Crap called Out of Control, without the influence of Bernie Rhodes, I'd have to say its much better than the studio album even if the sound quality isn't perfect on a few. Dictator is a pretty great song really but its hard to tell underneath all the studio, I don't know what he's doing, noise basically, it gives me a headache listening to it.

Talking Heads? Really, never much cared for what I'd heard by them but I 'll certainly give it another go, any songs or albums in particular? Thanks.
Adam

And Car Jamming, Jesus Christmas, thats a good song I definitely say as good as Sean Flynn.

Combat Rock is a great album, and on most days my favorite Clash album, for what it's worth.

Roxymuzak, The psuedo-Bossa Talking heads stuff, any album or songs in particular that you'd recommend?

this thread inspired me to listen to the Clash for the first time in a while, and now I'm sat here with a glass of wine at 2:30 AM listening to Mensforth Hill, and just wondering why.

It's all about the Shepherd's Delight, you know.

Roxymuzak, The psuedo-Bossa Talking heads stuff, any album or songs in particular that you'd recommend?

Check Remain in Light, though that's apparently not Bossa-influenced as much as Afro-Beat-influenced. That's the sound I meant, though. Nothing on those is really that close to the Clash songs we're discussing here, but it gives a similar feel anyway.

I think "Straight to Hell" is a straight Bossa Nova beat. I'm not a drummer, though.

Remain in Light is a great suggestion. I wish it came in an instrumental version though.

It occurs to me that "The Equaliser" from Sandanista! can pretty much fall into this same category of Clash songs that float around like little bizarro satellites. Could be interpreted as a straight dub piece, but there's a lot of weird going on (that hyper-picked super-echoey guitar, screeching violin). Then again, there often is a lot of weird going on in dub. Usually not these particular sounds, though. It's unique! Andone of my favorite tracks ever.

And/one

The guy who played sax on "Sean Flynn" (named Gary Barnacle) also played on "1 2 Crush on You" (and was in Level 42, haw!).

And I suspect he also played flute on it. I'm pretty sure the flautist is uncredited.

I was wondering what you would call the Clash's Sean Flynn, if it is some niche or genre I am unfamiliar with?

I was listening to "Sean Flynn" today and found myself coincidentally wondering this exact same question. Does anyone have a clearer idea in 2021 than back in 2008? I get why Remain in Light came up, but it doesn't really sound like "Sean Flynn" is pulling from the same influences to me.

very good revive and question

I don't think I've ever seen this thread before!

weirdly enough, a sonic similarity that comes to mind is Van Morrison's "Slim Slow Slider"

23 Skidoo's "Tearing Up The Plans" also sounds similarly distant and echoed-out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7yzbNPovy8

Ok, sleeve's kind of blown my mind - I'm trying to imagine a dubbed up Van Morrison album, maybe "Summertime In England (Extended Dub Mix)".

Common One has some stuff like that too!

but tbh it's also the flute (?? that's what it is in "Sean Flynn" yeah?) that makes me think of Slim Slow Slider

Is that a Chinese (or other Asian) wooden flute?

good question, sounds wooden to me

woah the Rat Patrol version is very different. relevant links:

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-clash/sean-flynn

https://clash.fandom.com/wiki/Sean_Flynn

The full version of the song is over seven minutes long; much of the backing track is drummer Topper Headon's work - the oriental-sounding drum patterns were his idea. Joe Strummer worked out his lyrics to this pattern, while session musician Gary Barnacle added multi-layered saxophone solos throughout the song. Mick Jones used an echo box and multiple overdubs for his guitar parts.

LOLOLOL

Manager Bernie Rhodes sat through an early mix and at the end apparently threw his hands up and shouted "Does EVERYTHING have to be a raga?!"

so xposts to PBKR I guess it's a saxophone

This reminds me of a lot of the "pastoral post-punk" from groups like LiLiPUT, but it's a strange combination of sounds. The bass and drums are playing a Bo Diddley rhythm, the kalimba and flute think they are on ECM records, and it's probably the only Clash song with no chord changes.

"Does EVERYTHING have to be a raga?!"

it should be?

listening again now and there is def a flute on top of the sax in the mix

The bass and drums are playing a Bo Diddley rhythm, the kalimba and flute think they are on ECM records, and it's probably the only Clash song with no chord changes.

this is perfect, exactly

This album was the soundtrack of my senior year in high school. To me, Sean Flynn fit in with the general weirdness of the album. I mean, what are they trying to say with "Red Angel Dragnet"? I think New York really blew their minds.

Sean Flynn (son of Errol Flynn) was a photojournalist who disappeared in Cambodia in 1970 while covering the Vietnam war.