Exploring Rock's Clichés: Sandinista! as a Single LP

I've mentioned before that London Calling by The Clash was a monumental album for me. Unfortunately, Sandinista! didn't have the same effect. With 36 varied tracks sprawling over three LPs—requiring six needle drops!—it was just too much. Sure, I knew there were plenty of good songs on Sandinista!, but the presentation dulled their impact. (What can I say? I was lazy.) But I wasn't alone. One of rock's famous clichés is that there is a great single LP buried within those six sides.

This weekend I happened to hear The Call Up, which reminded me of the many other great songs "hidden" on the album. Never being one to shy away from clichés, I decided to "find" that great single LP. This post shows the track listing I came up with. While I hate to second guess major rock legends, I do have a blog...

Verdict: The cliché is true. A streamlined forty minutes of then-cutting-edge rock power would've been a better way to follow London Calling. (And just think about all of the bonus tracks that could have been included years later in the "deluxe reissue"!)

You always want to leave them wanting more.

In putting this together I followed the time-honored rules for creating a classic rock LP (pre-CD-era): (1) Use just ten songs, five per side, (2) put strong songs at the beginning and end of each side, with the best attention grabber as Track 1/Side A, and (3) make it flow nicely from song to song.

SANDINISTA! AS A SINGLE LP:

Side A
1. Police On My Back
2. One More Time
3. Washington Bullets
4. Somebody Got Murdered
5. The Call Up

Side B
1. The Magnificent Seven
2. Hitsville U.K.
3. Something About England
4. Charlie Don't Surf
5. The Leader

Buy Sandinista! (It's full of great music, and then some.)

If you're fan of The Clash, give this track listing a try and let me know what you think. Would a single-disc Sandinista! be regarded right up there with London Calling as one of the greatest rock albums?

What would your single disc Sandinista! look like?

Am I just full of it today?

Drinkin' Brew For Breakfast?

Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down (buy)
The Clash - Rudie Can't Fail (buy)
The Replacements - Beer For Breakfast (buy)

What kind of beer do you prefer for breakfast?

Billy boy has been shot, and Stagger Lee's come out on top... (Update)

Ed over at the Old Blue Bus has put together a great series of posts about the origins and recording history of the song Stagger Lee. It's a famous American folk song based on a true story. Click here to check it out.

My first exposure to the song came in the early 1980's when I heard this excellent Clash song, which makes good use of the Stagger Lee story: The Clash - Wrong 'Em Boyo (buy album).

The most popular version of the tune is probably this one from Lloyd Price: Lloyd Price - Stagger Lee (buy album).

UPDATE - Here is the original version of Wrong 'Em Boyo that Nicolas referenced in the comments. It's interesting to hear what the Clash did with it (not much, but speed it up): Rulers - Wrong Embryo (buy album).