TS: The Clash vs. The Police

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White kids enamored of Jamaican music go from punk to rock in brief career which more or less touches everybody somehow or another and leaves an outstanding legacy. Who am I talking about?

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 02:40 (twenty-three years ago)

The Ruts? Yeah, they ruled.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 02:41 (twenty-three years ago)

the difference between j.s. and gnits is that j.s. would actually go to jamaica and smoke a spleef with bob marley,back in the day....where sting would probably have bob marley arrested for copyright infringement...if he dared try to recover one of his own riffs

― georgiaboy (georgiaboy), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 02:47 (twenty-three years ago)

i agree -- the Offs from SF were great as was some of the stuff the Terrorists from NYC did.

― jack cole (jackcole), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 03:00 (twenty-three years ago)

but seriously, if I had to choose, gun pointed to my head, I'd take the Clash over the Police any day.

― jack cole (jackcole), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 03:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Clash

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 03:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh man, The Police, no contest.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 03:16 (twenty-three years ago)

The Clash are merely uninspiring while the Police are actually off-putting. On the other hand Clash songs never get in my head while Police songs do. Then, I can sort of find the Clash 'rocking' at times, which I think is what they were going for, while the Police are at best catchy, never sad or intense, which I think is what they were going for. The Clash win anyway.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 04:15 (twenty-three years ago)

ha ha the ruts, ned you kill me

― duane, Wednesday, 5 February 2003 04:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Even you Clash haters have to admit Strummer never got as bad as Sting...right? Right? *dead silence as ILX Clash haters struggle with ethical dilemma*

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 05:22 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, but it's the bands we're talking about, not their embarrassing solo careers.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 11:02 (twenty-three years ago)

This is the most redundant answer I've ever typed. The Clash. By, like, a gazillion miles. That bit in The Magnificent Seven, five minutes in, when Strummer goes "it's fuckin' long, innit?!" is better than The Police's ENTIRE CAREER.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 11:56 (twenty-three years ago)

This is like asking me which form of torture I'd prefer NEITHER. THEY BOTH = SUX0R. (PS ned = correct abt the ruts. The Ruts ruled)

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 12:04 (twenty-three years ago)

When I read the title of the thread, I though it meant the actual police - like it would be a thread about "Police on My Back", "I Fought the Law" etc .. It took about three reads through the first post to figure out what the Police was. I had forgotten that the Police were a band.

In other words: Clash wins.

― dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 13:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Wow, Jack, I had forgotten about the Offs. They were great, tho they seemed to have a constant tuning problem! EXCELLENT lyrics, and WAAY ahead of their time.

― matt riedl (veal), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 14:52 (twenty-three years ago)

The Clash wins by light years, although the first few Police albums are nothing to sneeze at.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 14:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Achoo!

But seriously (and yer right Alex, esp. Outlandos), the Clash...

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:10 (twenty-three years ago)

yes yes but who wz least "punk"?

― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:11 (twenty-three years ago)

The Police were never really Punks.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Sting's into tantric sex, for heaven's sake mark s, is there anything LESS PUNK?

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Q: Why is listening to a Sting boxset like tantric sex?
A: It keeps banging away for hours without ever reaching a satisfactory climax.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:25 (twenty-three years ago)

"The Ruts? Yeah, they ruled."

No, The Slits obv.!

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I think it has been scientifically proven that there was no way for the Police to have been a punk band. I think they even say they were never a punk band; so why do people always say they were a fake punk band?

― dleone (dleone), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:27 (twenty-three years ago)

The Police themselves are the first to admit -- especially Sting -- that they were never truly punks, but rather professionals/dilettantes in "punk clothing". That said, their early faux-Punk singles ("Nothing Achieving," "Dead End Job," "Fallout") are pretty entertaining.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:31 (twenty-three years ago)

dleone, they got their first real stage wardrobe when they played a punk band in a TV commercial, pre-Outlandos.

Playing a punk band in a TV commercial before your first album? I think that DEFINES fake punk.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Plus they all died their hair bleach blonde for that spot. I don't know, it just seems more frat than punk.

― dleone (dleone), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:35 (twenty-three years ago)

They were both in my "5 favorite bands" list in high school, but only the Clash are still there. I still think Regatta de Blanc and Zenyatta Mondatta are pretty great, for all their obvious silliness.

― Jesse Fox, Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Sting makes a cameo in the Pistols' "Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle" as he and some co-horts (not Stew & Andy) bugger Paul Cook. It's true!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:37 (twenty-three years ago)

PS ned = correct abt the ruts. The Ruts ruled

Glad to see there is proper resistance against the hegemony here.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:44 (twenty-three years ago)

If only Stewart Copeland had been the drummer for Strummer, Simonon, and Jones...ah, a boy can dream...

This is a hard choice personally, as I'm a big fan of both groups, but I must say The Clash simply on the "music-what-gives-me-goose-pimples-as-opposed-to-music-what-doesn't" principle.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 15:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Sting's into tantric sex, for heaven's sake mark s, is there anything LESS PUNK?

Oh, I don't know. It sounds like a lot ov PHUN to me......

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 17:24 (twenty-three years ago)

The Clash, even while attempting social commentary ("Straight to Hell" for example) never fully depart from some level of playfulness. The Police sound just as serious on "Do Do Do, Da Da Da" as they do on the interminable "Plastic Sun."

"If only Stewart Copeland had been the drummer for Strummer, Simonon, and Jones...ah, a boy can dream..."

I don't know, Copeland is good, but in a shallow prog show-offy kind of way. Like the kid in High School band who works really hard but doesn't really love music as much as technique; he can't really tell you who his favorite bands are but can go on and on about how Buddy Rich can play better than any one. Topper Headon is my all time favorite drummer incidentally.

― theodore Fogelsanger, Wednesday, 5 February 2003 18:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Copeland is good, but I despise him for one reason: inspiring hordes of wanna-be drummers into buying rototoms and making it impossible to find a drummer that WON'T stop playing them.

Ever try to play space rock when your drummer has rototoms? Bad bad bad.

And why the hell is he part of The Doors "reunion"?

― Chris Barrus (xibalba), Thursday, 6 February 2003 00:12 (twenty-three years ago)

I like the Police better. I don't have a good reason, or anything. Mostly just that I still can't listen to a Clash album without getting bored and annoyed with it.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 6 February 2003 00:17 (twenty-three years ago)

For me I think it really comes down to a dead heat between 'Walking on the Moon' and 'Magnificent Seven'.

― Millar (Millar), Thursday, 6 February 2003 02:03 (twenty-three years ago)

The (English) Beat are better than both of them.

― hooper, Friday, 7 February 2003 03:33 (twenty-three years ago)

nope, the offs still beat both. don vinil tops both strummer and sting, but then again, everyone is a bigot after all. now if only don had stayed away from the heroin -- damn him.

― jack cole (jackcole), Friday, 7 February 2003 04:37 (twenty-three years ago)

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