On This Day 04/11/1977 The Clash

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On this day, 4 November 1977, punk legends The Clash played Cardiff University on their Get Out Of Control Tour. Support was provided by Richard He’ll and the Voidoids.

The Clash were still suffering the full backlash of punks bad reputation, including front page headlines for the riot at the Rainbow back in May on the White Riot Tour.

Several dates on the rebeliously entitled 'Get Out of Control Tour' had to be cancelled or re-arranged. Out of the original 21 dates/venues, 19 were advertised as having 'no seating'.

The tour was due to open at the Ulster Hall, Belfast but the insurance was pulled and the gig was cancelled at the last moment. This led to punks blocking the road outside the venue and a confrontation between the punks and the police, which became known as the "Battle of Bedford Street". Compared to many other riots in 1970's Belfast it was small scale but it was unique in that it was a non-sectarian "riot" of Protestant and Catholic punks.

On This Day 24/05/1977 The Clash

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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.