The Clash: Complete Control: 1977

[@martinzaehringer1697]

The greatest 3:08 in my life was watching The Clash perform this song live . . . four times!

[@tubularbill]

Greatest punk song of all time

[@ClubViking63]

Think it was Bernard Lee who said that he wanted "Complete control".

[@kbsub]

ClubViking63 Bernie Rhodes

[@punkisinthedetails1470]

Best song. period.

[@dermot51]

True , totally fucking peerless

[@佩里-f1m]

Full on.

[@dermot51]

The best punk single ever written ever!

[@tubularbill]

Totally!

[@panzercat39]

I don't know why,but this is my favorite version of the song.

[@christopherjames5895]

yeah I like this , how the clash should sound .... very raw ...... and the pink speaker in the background was used for the picture on the single sleeve I think :) loved these guys back in the day :)

[@ronaldraymond2628]

there's no accounting for taste, is there?

[@888strummer]

This is a great version that has to be very old; maybe before the self titled in like 1976. Definitely Great version!

[@ClashTommyGun78]

888strummer French Television, 28/09/77, 5 days after it came out as a single. Definitely a brilliant version :)

[@888strummer]

Thanks for the info Joe Ree!

[@IKB28513]

Still the greatest rock and roll song ever!

[@shamsoni]

Fav punk song been listening to it since 77 was 13 now 61 with blood cancer - uk cud do with The Clash and teach the youth

[@herrzyklon]

Hope you get through it and get back to full health mate 👍

[@rubenjames6201]

Just beautiful. A raw superb version.

[@fluentreasoningchannel5778]

Can’t get enough of this. Gets better every time!

[@sportscarsmovies]

must read the book of Philippe manoeuvre " l'enfant du rock" . It was a french TV performance but the TV syndicate didn't want they play at high volume . It explains this tiny sound .

[@andyexall8214]

Raw and totally superb, the best song ever!

[@stephendornan992]

stripped back bare and so very very brilliant!! God bless the clash for endless listening pleasure superb!!!!

[@123Scears123]

5th November 1977! The Arnolfini Centre in Bristol! What a fucking concert! The burned the fucking house down! RIP Joe!

[@1234bradeddy]

Out fuckin standing

[@angryeel2864]

The distortion pedal batteries are about to die any minute here LOL still rockin and still awesome regardless. I think Mick's pants were sprayed on too. Either that or he's not wearing any.

[@beegee8825]

The thin sound from mick and chopped chords from joe with pauls Rickenbacker gives the band such a classic sound from the 70's punk setting it apart from any genre which many rely heavily on thick bass to fill the gap but here they little density of sound creates a great performance in my opinion by the only band that mattered

[@schwinnbike18]

Also Mick himself is very thin!

[@edmarth1899]

Still listen to The Clash all the time!

[@jeffallen997]

Topper is such a good drummer

[@thomasshaw9100]

Never ages. As raw and brilliant as the day I first heard it.

[@davidreid5830]

I love the twangy demo sound on this. True the bass is too low, but you hear every sinew of the song. Classic punk.

[@larrythomas4380]

Lucky enough to see them in a club before they were too famous. Still one of my top ten live performances!!!!!

[@lyndadelmonaco7928]

Nothing like raw live Clash!

[@anthonyporter4497]

Greatest band ever

[@Qooooooooogle]

数々のComplete Control聞いた中でも 個人的には、1番かもしれません。 映像ありきですが、特にMick Jones　最高です UP有難う御座いました

[@KarlosSomoza]

La mejor banda de punk rock de todos los tiempos!

[@JcTaipe]

bien ahi ... y que hay de los sex pistols

[@LeanStrummer]

Great live performance, punk rules!

[@carrite]

This is a fantastic piece of punk history. Totally stripped down. Nice.

[@sidfernandez7569]

wonderful. this is an exciting performance and the song is great. outstanding songwriting will shine through anything.

[@eastlake93]

Love the Clash. Always.

[@andrewludlam5686]

this is my fave version. forget about sound recording methods and enjoy the agro vibe. I for one like the cardboard boxy of Micks guitar. a proper treat , thanks for posting.

[@nickcoles957]

It's right up there. Takes a little getting used to but when you do........awesome!

[@punkisinthedetails1470]

1:21 Mick soars to new heights of awesomeness

[@andreaskrettek6094]

for me one of the best video of early punk rock.thank you from poland and germany

[@tadgerdavidson5377]

Topper.....

[@nickcoles957]

Such a shame about Topper's wasted years 😟

[@devilsforkdigital1490]

Topper and Paul were mostly actually a really great rhythm section, especially considering Paul's novice status as a bassist. But Topper was really the glue that held this band together, the only one of the four that was rock solid, allowing the rest of em to fuck up without it all falling apart.

[@drstevie]

Brilliant !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@davibrass]

There's something to be said about a band who can achieve exceptional music, without exceptional playing skills

[@Aeneas64]

That is exactly what he "I Hate Pink Floyd"" tee-shirts meant. However, this song is an early demo -- UK release, 23 September 1977

[@kevinhyland5524]

My fav Clash tune ❤..saw them play it plenty times ❤

[@jamescrow4078]

If you listen to this performance with your Bootleg Ears...you get it. They were playing very low volume on the set of a TV studio. During this performance they did an interview and 3 (yes, 3 songs). They actually played very well. Joe doesn't start playing his guitar until after the first verse of the song. 1977 was the Year of the Clash. All of their best songs were written and released during 1977. City of the Dead, The Prisoner, Complete Control, Gates of the West...Capitol Radio. They have immense cred just from 1977.

[@nickcoles957]

James Crow I agree. Much as I love the first album they really shone when Topper joined. This version is wow!

[@kevingreenhaw7372]

Ya .. this fu&$@king rocks.. I was 19 when this came out. I heard it in SF on KSAN radio and loved this. Thanks for posting

[@starburst539]

this is great punk rock it's all about the soul raw expression

[@bellboy67]

because it sounds powerful even they play with almost clean guitars, without distorsion, any effects

[@mijymotor]

flippin' heck, never knew this existed. Pure charisma, they were so important. Thanks

[@keiththestones7951]

1:58 punkest Clash's moment ever

[@kitchenfitter45]

Mind that day . I know in my fifties now but what a song to be in your head for all these years . Never realised just how raw iand full on it was , privelaged to had those years . Only other one on same page for me is Search and Distroy

[@rloan81]

My uncle is the same sort of age as you and introduced me to the clash SD o glad he did

[@joeblow166]

What's great about this version is you can hear each instrument clearly. It's totally stripped of all the Lee Perry production that invites thoughts of echoes from the basement at the end of eternity. The single version is great, perhaps my favorite of all the raw punk-era Clash songs, but it's nice to see and hear how they played this tune absent the studio effects.

[@dermot51]

Mick Jones produced this 'Scratch' was out of his tree on 'draw' therefore could'nt tell one knob from another on the mixing desk but Mick and Joe were gentlemen and gave Perry the production credits , should have fucked him out of the studio on day one if you ask me, then again rumour has it they did

[@danielramone4205]

Just effing great, what else can be said

[@darrendodd3646]

Mick playing in front of 30,000 and the crowd love every second of it. 😅. Seriously, though, their minimal sound and stripped back and bare essentials approach made them sound even better than most of the bands that tried to play at their best.

[@antstead2329]

Raw and bloody class.

[@flashingarrows]

Is that Topper Headon on drums?

[@TehGav]

Mick is another casualty of the infamous Ampeg V-4. Yeah, it sounds great cranked up all the way. But it's A VERY LOUD AMP. So you'll play some video-studio thing like this, and you'll have to turn it down to like 2 or 3. And you sound like the backing track of a frickin' Beach Boys single. Poor Mick -- carry on, Mick!

[@jh874]

Fek sake - no one should be talking about amps vu meters or the likes -its just fkn clashtastic at its best!

[@kansasbayse7084]

Brilliant

[@humantripx]

awesome guitar

[@aser_001]

i remember watching this when i was 16 and it blew my mind i fucking love this performance

[@dermot51]

Clash were so much about aesthetics as well as about music those pink amp cabs look the business

[@zeekwalker4263]

Best ever version.....my fav single ...and I had them all up till....sandanista came out

[@reneeconlan]

Awesome post ! thanx for that

[@ksupersprint]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing this!

[@alexandredias4308]

wonderfull

[@jenniferscroggins2309]

Wow!

[@ケーティケーフィ]

生々しい音！これこそpunk Rock

[@trumanbentley9491]

Great great great

[@Nigelxman]

This is fantastic!! Thank you so much! :-)

[@munenenganga2191]

Now that is rock music!

[@cshq177]

In a time of Excess, The Clash showed up and saved Rock and Roll!

[@andrewdeen1]

its like pauls bass amp wasn't on and joe only strikes a chord every now and then (like tim armstrong from rancid does) - Mick kept messing up. This sounds like a complaint but its not - loved this!

[@andrewdeen1]

'dave rave' - enough said

[@jahrah7754]

+Andrew Deen Interesting paradox - the sound is sh*te but somehow the visuals overcome that ! The Clash - there has not ever been. nor will there ever be, a band as cool as these fellas!

[@andrewdeen1]

Jah Rah 77 its not that it sounded like shit, or that the visuals overcame it - what i was thinking was more that i enjoyed the rawness of the performance. but apparantly saying these things gets you called a 'twat' these days.

[@devilsforkdigital1490]

Are you deaf? Without Paul's bass on this version you have nothing.

[@fight5098]

Mick jones straight outa glam

[@agelo]

crazy. thx for this

[@L-Slayer]

COME ON ARGHHHHH THE CLASH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@christinadeleu9107]

Joe's wearing Paul's shirt! 😁

[@the_lonely_smoker]

grate song

[@donseagrave]

wow very nice to see thanks for sharing :)

[@devilsforkdigital1490]

I miss the "I don't trust you" part of the vocals, which is so important to the recorded version of the song. Maybe it wasn't added until after this was shot? Still, great to see an intimate early live performance of one of the Clash's best and most important true punk songs. Yeah, so the sound isn't stellar and it's not very loud. Also not drenched in reverb like the record. A lot of punk bands had shit equipment back in the day because they had no money, and this is often what live shows sounded like anyway. Everyone's used to a wall of highly engineered sound these days.

[@bassfixer]

Fkn wicked mate nice one!!;)

[@Khultan]

I would have been 8 or 9 years old in 1977 but I was way over in California, San Francisco, to be exact and none of my peers ever discussed them because these bands would not get air time on the radio....undesirables in the bay area.

[@frankduci7138]

Love the raw sound. High energy.

[@danielscissorhands]

Wow! Thanks for uploading! :D

[@sandropaula]

Não importa o que você escuta, isso e um clássico.

[@stevebez2767]

Real pop stars dude yeah

[@bassfixer]

However i wish i could hear perrys original mix more than i want breath!

[@quinnkay4409]

One of those rare times when a clash song had a guitar solo.

[@dermot51]

The only band that ever mattered

[@Khultan]

FIRE!!!!

[@kevinmurphy9473]

FUCKING ROCKED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@EvanMcNeeley]

dig it

[@tidepoolbay]

Nice! Woof!

[@jamesbrannigan1630]

Been as Lee Scratch Perry was involved I'd have loved it if they'd cut a version like this for a12" or whatever.. I don't think any of the compilations have anything like this on them

[@dwat26]

Terry or Topper back there?

[@jim-hn7ko]

fucking brilliant!

[@paul_laws]

fkin brilliant!

[@prettynoose8497]

Once was rare, before 1996 and the internet

[@dermot51]

Fantastic version so Ill appreciate it for what it is but the 7 inch brought it to another level

[@jamescourtney4655]

Fucking with the absolute best.

[@michaelhowitt1318]

Fucking great

[@txarlimanzanas500]

Me recuerdan a Eskorbuto!!

[@Zopf-international]

Bedroom Destroyer.💥

[@nicholaskung9816]

This is fucking cool

[@kingkenny4347]

This is almost certainly the first TV performance of the song. Note the lines: 'your my guitar hero' & 'I don't trust you/why should you trust me....''are missing. The Clash were never renowned (then) for agonising over their work, so this is very much a work in progress. Maybe why the sound is mixed so differently? Also, note that later, Joe would not play a note on this track; here his contribution at the bridge is astonishing....

[@dododona81]

This version punkrocks!

[@dermot51]

Great though this is its really only a demo a work in progress a declaration of the intention of the song so to speak the finished product the single was brilliant , powerful ,strident, and emotional with a massive wall of sound that was totally justified this time round (sorry Sandy) and became the greatest punk single ever released

[@kildare97]

I feel alone in that I like the guitar sound here.So different from the record.

[@jamesbutler8643]

you should feel alone - its fucking awful ..dryer than a pensioners elbow…different yes … as in its shit .and the record sounds good.

[@dermot51]

You just don't fucking get it do you what do you want a wall of fucking overdriven sound , twat

[@B0untyh4nter]

You’re not alone bud

[@emeraldcelestial1058]

never alone

[@MrLeckey]

They were a great Pop band and this is a great Pop song.

[@slipknot98zz]

+Mark Leckey hilarious

[@LetThereBeLoud]

+coolbeanzz98 its true, thats what set the clash apart from the other punk bands in london in the early days.

[@MrLeckey]

Yes

[@FY-uu9hl]

They're possibly the best pop band of the 20th century, it's amazing that during an era of great punk bands, one of the greatest pop bands were born

[@RasTuft]

POP?!..you twat!!