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On this day, 24 May 1977, Punk Rock legends The Clash played Cardiff’s Top Rank on the band’s White Riot tour.
On 25 January 1977, the Clash signed to CBS Records for £100,000, a remarkable amount for a band that had played a total of about thirty gigs and almost none as a headliner.
Mickey Foote, who worked as a technician at their concerts, was hired to produce the Clash's debut album, and Terry Chimes was drafted back for the recording.
The band's first single, "White Riot", was released in March 1977. The album, The Clash, came out the following month.
Filled with fiery punk tracks, it also presaged the many eclectic turns the band would take with its cover of the reggae song "Police and Thieves". The Clash suddenly found themselves as the flag-wavers of the punk rock consciousness.
Though the album charted well in the UK, climbing to number 12, CBS refused to give it a US release, believing that its raw, barely produced sound would make it untellable in that market.
A North American version of the album with a modified track listing was released in 1979, after the UK original became the best-selling import album of all time in the United States.
The Clash at Cardiff Top Rank
In May, the band set out on the White Riot Tour, headlining a punk package that included the Buzzcocks, Subway Sect, The Slits and The Prefects.
