ON BROADWAY
by CLASH, THE
Compact Disc
UNCD053
Label: UNICORN
THE CLASSIC 1981 SHOW AT BOND INTERNATIONAL CASINO NYC
1 London Calling 3:35
2 Safe European Home 3:56
3 The Leader 1:46
4 Train In Vain 5:00
5 White Man In Hammersmith Palais 3:56
6 This Is Radio Clash 5:24
7 Corner Soul 2:43
8 The Guns Of Brixton 4:02
9 The Call Up 4:40
10 Bankrobber 3:13
11 Charlie Don’t Surf 4:49
12 The Magnificent Seven 6:05
13 Broadway 3:14
14 Somebody Got Murdered 4:43
15 Police & Thieves 4:59
16 Clampdown 4:57
17 One More Time/Brand New Cadillac 5:55
18 The Street Parade/Janie Jones 6:21
19 Washington Bullets 2:44
THE CLASSIC 1981 SHOW AT BOND INTERNATIONAL CASINO NYC
• In support of their 1981 album Sandinista!, The Clash played a series of 17 concerts at Bonds International Casino in New York City in
May and June 1981. Due to their wide publicity, the concerts became an important moment in the history of the band. Some of the
nights were recorded for FM broadcast.
• The site of the concerts was formerly Bonds department store which had been converted into a large second-floor hall. Promoters kept
the name because there was a large Bonds sign on the outside of the building. As The Clash had not yet broken out into mass
popularity in the US, eight shows were originally scheduled: 28, 29, 30, 31 May and 1, 2, 3 and 5 June 1981. However, given the
venue's legal capacity limit of 1750, the series was blatantly oversold (3500) right from the first night, leading the New York City Fire
Department to cancel the Saturday, 30 May performance. In response, the band condemned the brazen greed of the promoters while
demonstrating unprecedented integrity to each and every ticketholder by doubling the original booking with a total of 17 dates
extending through June.
• Strict interpretation of the fire laws meant that audiences were relatively small, resulting in a sense of intimacy between the band and
the audience. Audience members clambered onto the stage to join in singalongs. New York musicians, including Pearl Harbor,
assisted, and Andy Dunkley provided disc jockey services as the audience entered and gathered.
• The concerts captured The Clash on the cusp between being a cult band and their short-lived major market penetration in the USA. As
always with The Clash, ticket and merchandise prices were set relatively low. Prices were $10 per ticket and $5 for matinee shows.
• The band had a new opening act every night, including The Fall, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Dead Kennedys, Bad
Brains, KRAUT, Lee "Scratch" Perry and many more. Some of the hip-hop groups that opened were either picketed or booed off the
stage, which prompted Strummer to chide the audience as soon as The Clash came on afterwards.
• This new CD features the band’s 9th June show at the Casino, recorded, as mentioned, for live FM Broadcast, and featured here in its
entirety for the first time.
