Battle of the Bands: Led Zeppelin vs. The Clash

[bobthedrummer]

A really awesome battle I'd say!
Vote your choice.

[Kenneth ken]

1. I loathe Zeplin n/t

[bobthedrummer]

6. I have very mixed emotions about them.

I believe Bonham and Jones were the best bottom unit in all rock history-they rule in my book.

I'll keep this positive though.

I voted for The Clash.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. The Clash. No Contest.

Joe Strummer RIP :-(

[FDRrocks]

3. Karlo Marx and Fredrich Engels

Came to the checkout at the 7 - 11
Marx was skint - but he had sense
Engels lent him the necessary pence

What have we got? Yeh - o, magnificence!!

[boobooday]

4. Dread Zepplin

I can't stand Zepplin!

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[susanna]

5. I will be shredded here...

But I like both (for different reasons). That said, I voted Clash. ;-)

[PragMantisT]

7. Looks like a pitched battle

How about Bonzo v Topper Headon?
That could turn the tide.

[CanuckAmok]

8. Duh. This is a Public. Service. Announcement.......with GUITAR!

(Strummer/Jones)


What are we gonna do now?
Taking off his turban, they said, is this man a Jew?
'Cause they're working for the clampdown
They put up a poster saying we earn more than you!
When we're working for the clampdown
We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue-eyed men
To be young believers

The judge said five to ten-but I say double that again
I'm not working for the clampdown
No man born with a living soul
Can be working for the clampdown
Kick over the wall 'cause government's to fall
How can you refuse it?
Let fury have the hour, anger can be power
D'you know that you can use it?

The voices in your head are calling
Stop wasting your time, there's nothing coming
Only a fool would think someone could save you
The men at the factory are old and cunning
You don't owe nothing, so boy get runnin'
It's the best years of your life they want to steal

You grow up and you calm down
You're working for the clampdown
You start wearing the blue and brown
You're working for the clampdown
So you got someone to boss around
It makes you feel big now
You drift until you brutalize
You made your first kill now

In these days of evil presidentes
Working for the clampdown
But lately one or two has fully paid their due
For working for the clampdown
But ha! Gitalong! Gitalong!

And I've given away no secrets
Who's barmy now?


Who needs remote control
From the Civic Hall
Push a button
Activate
You gotta work an' you're late

It's so grey in London town
With a panda car crawling around
Here it comes
Eleven o'clock
Where can we go now?

Can't make a noise
Can't get no gear
Can't make no money
Can't get outta here

Big business it don't like you
It don't like the things you do
You got no money
So you got no power
They think you're useless
An' so you are - puuuuuuunnnnnk!

They had a meeting in Mayfair
They got you down an'
They wanna keep you there
It makes them worried
Their bank accounts
That's all that matters
And you don't count

Can't make no progress
Can't get ahead
Can't stop the regress
Don't wanna be dead

Look out' those rules and regulations

Who needs the Parliament
Sitting making laws all day
They're all fat and old
Queuing for the House of Lords

Repression - gonna start on Tuesday
Repression - gonna be a Dalek
Repression - I am a robot
Repression - I obey

Someone lights a cigarette
While riding in a car
Some ol' guy takes a swig
And passes back the jar
But where they were last night
No-one can remember
Somebody got murdered
Goodbye, for keeps, forever

Somebody got murdered
Somebody's dead forever

And you're minding your own business
Carrying spare change
You wouldn't cosh a barber
You're hungry all the same
I been very tempted
To grab it from the till
I been very hungry
But not enough to kill

Somebody got murdered
His name cannot be found
A small stain on the pavement
They'll scrub it off the ground
As the daily crown disperses
No-one says that much
Somebody got murdered
And it' left me with a touch

Somebody got murdered
Somebody's dead forever
Sounds like murder!
Those shouts!
Are they drunk down below?

It's late, and my watch stopped
Some time ago
Sounds like murder!
Those screams!
Are they drunk down below?



This is a public service announcement
With guitar
Know your rights all three of them

Number 1
You have the right not to be killed
Murder is a CRIME!
Unless it was done by a
Policeman or aristocrat
Know your rights

And Number 2
You have the right to food money
Providing of course you
Don't mind a little
Investigation, humiliation
And if you cross your fingers
Rehabilitation

Know your rights
These are your rights
Wang

Know these rights

Number 3
You have the right to free
Speech as long as you're not
Dumb enough to actually try it.

Know your rights
These are your rights
All three of 'em
It has been suggested
In some quarters that this is not enough!
Well..............................

Get off the streets
Get off the streets
Run
You don't have a home to go to
Smush

Finally then I will read you your rights

You have the right to remain silent
You are warned that anything you say
Can and will be taken down
And used as evidence against you

Listen to this
Run

[thelocalkgb]

38. Know your rights is...

probably one of my favorite songs ever. With that being said, I voted for the Clash.

[bobthedrummer]

9. "Go straight to hell, boy..."

"It ain't Coca-Cola, it's rice..."

[CanuckAmok]

11. "You wanna play mind-crazed banjo?!"

n/t

[bobthedrummer]

12. "with that crazy Casbah sound..."

:hi:
:smoke:

[Melsky]

10. Clash, all the way

I was sitting in a bar the other night, and they played most of London Calling. Made me so happy.

[Dirk39]

13. I stopped listening to Led Zeppelin,

when I was about 12. I became a Clash fan, when I was 16. In a way, the Clash did fit to much into a rock-scheme - that's the reason, they're so popular in the USA:-), somehow this ironic intellectual british spirit got lost...
I still like the Clash somehow, while Zep seems somehow embarassing to me. That hard-rock-penis thing, that stupid lyrics, this stupid Robert Plant...
Seems to me that in the sixties, the idiotic side of Led Zeppelin was not so much on the surface, 'cause they were a kind of heavy-metal band that seemed to be related to that flower power thing - esp. on Led Zeppelin III. Flower power died and only stupid heavy metal sexism remained.

There are still things I like about Led Zeppelin: like Kashmir, like Led Zeppelin III. But I have to forget about some things to really enjoy them. Sometimes I wake up and think: how stupid is this?

"CBS promote the Clash, but it's not for revolution it's just for cash"
The Crass,
Dirk

[CanuckAmok]

15. When I think of Zeppelin lyrics, I think:

"Oi, Robert, put down that twenty-sided die and get back to studying your O-Levels!"


It's pretty sophomoric.

Although I never get tired of the first Led Zeppelin LP. It's the only one I felt was worth keeping.

[Dirk39]

30. Communication breakdown...

is o.k.
They could even get away with that guitar solo in a punk song.

1989 I escaped to the USA to get rid of the reunification-patriotism in Germany. What did I get: Stairways to Heaven on 20 channels, 17 times a day. I'm so bored with the uSa...

On the other hand, I had the pleasure to stand beside the guy, who spit in Joe Strummers face in Hamburg in 1980. He found Strummer to be guilty of playing mainstream rock - London Calling was o.k., but that rockabilly stuff seemed to be counter-revolutionary. Strummer did hit him with his guitar on his head. He had a liver-infection before, from people spiting at him. Our newspapers reported, the guy's half-dead. I report, I did see him again, one day after the concert, healthy enough to drink.
Looove all that reggae stuff from Sandinista.

Squeeze me babe, 'till the juice runs down my leg,
Dirk

[CanuckAmok]

36. Dirk, your posts are always so entertaining! n/t

[maveric]

14. Zepplin set the standard for heavy metal and blues rock.

IMO theay are and always will be giants.
The Clash??? No comparison with songwriting or musical/technical skills.

Led Zep are GODS!!

[Dirk39]

37. standard heavy metal blues rock?

If they would have to pay royalties to all the black musicians they looted, they would have to stay in the welfare line. 30 years from now, you will tell me, how Georgy-Boy did set the standard for oil-drilling in Iraq.




Dirk

[bobthedrummer]

39. The blues is the mother of almost all American popular music

there would be no rock without it.
When all is said and done most musicians end up playing the blues.
And it's absolutely true about the ripping off of blues musicians in the music business of the entertainment industry.
The artist always suffers IMHO and experience.

[maveric]

43. This is true but Zep transformed the blues into power rock.

Most of the early rock pioneers stole black music.

[bobthedrummer]

61. You can't transform the blues maveric.

But the blues has transformed many a musician-lol. In the sixties Chess Records put out an album featuring Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley messing around with effects-especially the wah-wah pedal, in an attempt to appeal to the psychedelic rock crowd too.

Nope, the blues is just the blues. You can find it in many variations though, and Led Zeppelin's first album had some fine covers of Otis Rush and Willie Dixon songs because Bonham and Jones could really play with a genuine blues feeling regardless of what was put on top of it,IMO.
:hi:

[MrSlayer]

16. Christ. How anyone can pick the candy ass Clash...

over the gods Led Zeppelin is beyond me. The Clash are one of the most overrated bands in history and were NOT Punk. Having a Mohawk does not make you punk. Listen to Dead Kennedys, The Misfits, Agnostic Front and D.R.I. and tell me what "Rock the Casbah", "Should I stay" and "Stand by be" are. Pop crap.

[brainwashed_youth]

31. AMEN

I mean serously, I like The Clash alot, but they do not compare to Led Zeppelin. This is almost a no brainer here.

[CanuckAmok]

33. "The new groups are not concerned with what there is to be learned..."

...They got Burton suits...HA!...you think that's funny? Turning rebellion into money...."

[Dirk39]

42. Devil. How anyone can pick the candy ass J.K.

over the god D.K. is beyond me. J.K. is one of the most overrated band in history.
The Mohawk was about 1984 from watching Taxi-driver over and over again. Rock the Casbah, Should I stay and stand by be are just the same. We're talking 1977 'till 1981 here.
Your approach to music might include the same mistakes that have directed you towards J.K., everything's upside down, the Dead Kennedys become the real punks, the Clash mainstream rock. And what do I get:
J.K alias Led Zeppelin. That's the DLC of music. I get the message: first you play off the Clash against the Dead Kennedys, and later I wake up with Led Zeppelin as my president!

Sitting here in my safe european home,
Dirk

[NightTrain]

66. "Candy ass?"

If you want to hear the Clash at their best, listen to stuff like "White Riot," "I'm So Bored With The U.S.A," and "Clash City Rockers."

It's hardly fair to judge the Clash only by their chart singles. That's like judging Louis Armstrong only by "What A Wonderful World."

[bobthedrummer]

17. "Armagideon Time" vs. "Whole lotta Love"

:bounce:

[CanuckAmok]

25. Both are covers, tho. But, yeah, point taken!

n/t

[GOPEC]

18. How can anyone pick The Clash?!?!?!

Listen to the lyrics! Read the lyrics posted above.

BTW - Wesley Clark's Desert Island Disc is The Best of Journey. I miss Clark already, but I wouldn't want to share the island with him and Steve Perry.

[bobthedrummer]

19. "Julie's been working in the drug squad,

Julie's been working in the drug squad."

[democracyindanger]

20. Zeppelin Rules!

Cripes, I don't think I've said that since the 8th grade.

[bobthedrummer]

21. "Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust..."

:hi:
:smoke:

[NightTrain]

22. "London Calling" is one of my all-time favorite albums.

It blows everything Led Zeppelin ever did completely to shit!

[Fenris]

23. Say it loud, NightTrain!

The boys managed to put just about every fucking genre on that record. To me, there is no other record that covers such a variety of styles and still survives as a masterpiece. There will never be another LONDON CALLING.

[bobthedrummer]

24. They were "the only band that mattered" in the 80's

eom

[Fenris]

27. Damn straight!

IN 1977
YOU'RE ON THE NEVER NEVER
YOU THINK IT CAN'T GO ON FOREVER
BUT THE PAPERS SAY IT'S BETTER
I DON'T CARE 'COS I'M NOT ALL THERE
NO ELVIS, BEATLES OR THE ROLLING STONES

IN 1977
SOD THE JUBILEE
IN 1978
IN 1979
STAYED IN BED
IN 1980
IN 1981
THE TOILET DON'T WORK
IN 1982
IN 1983
HERE COME THE POLICE
IN 1984

[Kolesar]

67. I like my bombast straight up

Zep was just a bunch of junkies at the peak of their career. Sorry, zep fans.

[Dirk39]

45. Fenris help me now!

DU has turned Ian Curtis into an Aventar?????

No portraits so fine, only sheets on the wall,
Dirk

[Fenris]

46. No man. If you donate you get to upload your own avatar.

I made this one myself!

[Dirk39]

48. Expect foreign powers to finance...

liberal evildoers in the USA pretty soon.

...to mess with your values, to change wrong to right.
Dirk

[Fenris]

49. Great to have ya aboard, Dirk! Wilkommen!

Lemme no if you need an avatar after you "arrive".

[LastKnight]

26. zeppelin has my loyalties...

im not much of a punkpop person... but i can see how they would appeal to some.

im not sayin Led Zep was the all great ones either, plant never seemed to make any f*cking sense... ever... page's guitar is cool though

-LK

[NightTrain]

28. Though I'm not the world's biggest Led Zep fan...

...I must admit, I can never listen to "Rock and Roll" without cranking the volume up full blast. It's one of those records I never, ever tire of hearing!

[bobthedrummer]

29. He sang "The Lemon Song" once too often

perhaps?
LOL!

[jus_the_facts]

32. Led Zeppelin RULES....The Clash was stool......

:evilgrin:

[bobthedrummer]

34. That James Page fellow

from The Yardbirds-was he playing on "Over Under Sideways Down"?
We cover that one.
"Modern girls are easy to come by
in this day and age.
Laughing, joking, drinking, smoking
will I set the stage?
When I was younger people spoke of immorality,
all those things they said are wrong are what I want to be.
Over Under Sideways Down
Backwards Forwards Square and Round...hey!"

Or was that Jeff Beck?

[Kenneth ken]

51. that was Jeff n/t

[bobthedrummer]

57. Thanx Kennethken!

:hi:

[Wonco_the_Sane]

35. Both cool

Clash on the couch, Zep on the road...IMHO

[sendero]

40. haha....

... why don't you ask if an apple or an orange is better? These bands have nothing in common. There is no way to compare them :)

[bobthedrummer]

44. Both are British popular bands.

Both play electric instruments.
Both sold a lot of music worldwide.
Both experimented with the music of other cultures outside of the UK
Zeppelin ruled in the 70's; The Clash ruled in the 80's
Both were truly great bands.
Pick one.

[sendero]

62. sorry...

... there is just no comparison between neo-blues and pseudo-punk. None.

[bubblesby2002]

41. I love them both so I refrained from voting

cus I can't vote twice.:hi:

[bobthedrummer]

50. You can always vote anonymously later

if you change your mind.
:hi:
:smoke:

[bubblesby2002]

55. Hey Bob I did

guess which one I voted for?:smoke:

[bobthedrummer]

56. Led Zeppelin

because of the satin trousers perhaps???
lol
:hi:
:smoke:

[bubblesby2002]

60. Yup you got it.

Dude you are quick.:toast:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

47. I'm not the biggest rocker out there

But I have to go with The Clash.

[Zomby Woof]

52. I like 'em both

My collection welcomes "London Calling" and "Houses Of The Holy" with equal enjoyment. I think these "battle" threads offer false choices and encourage flaming and the same kind of musical cliquishness I loathed in high school.

[bobthedrummer]

53. LOL!

My Battle of the Bands polls are quite carefully prepared and are offered as an amusement to the bile and blood found in some of the other forums.

Plus I LMAO at some of the posts!
:hi:

[ldoolin]

54. This is a joke, right?

The Clash, obviously.

Led Zeppelin was something I got into at age 16 and outgrew by the time I turned 18. I suppose they are better than Van Halen and the Scorpions though. But definitely of the same ilk.

The Clash will always be the only band that matters.

[Dirk39]

58. You will always remind us of the Scorpions, don't you....

Even centuries ahead, you will still mention the Scorpions. Although the singer of the Scorpions is a close friend to Gerhard Schröder - never say, I didn't warn you, it's in the DU archieves - not all of us are Scorpions.
If David Hasselhoff wouldn't have liberated us, pulling down the Berlin Wall - the Scorpions would never have released "Winds of Change".
Me, I'm innocent,

Dirk

[ldoolin]

59. Whatever...

:eyes:

[Loonman]

63. Zep vs The Clash????

How about The Byrds vs Black Sabbath?

:wtf:

[CanuckAmok]

64. How about Liszt vs. the Banjo Kid from Deliverance?

n/t

[ZenLefty]

65. Those Clash supporters freeped this poll!

It's true. They're talking about it at

http://www.theclash.com/forum/freep_du_poll.html

:o

[southpaw]

68. Gotta go with Zep

The Clash may be hipper, but neither Joe nor Mick could sing for shit, and I think that matters.

Plus, Page cut a striking image with the Gibson doubleneck

[jus_the_facts]

72. heh...that figures....

....thanks for pointin' that out ZL...that fact makes this poll make more sense now! :eyes:

[Beaker]

69. that's like asking: Baby Boomer or GenX?

I'm generation jones, so I want to give each one half a vote, but...

I'll give this one to Zep.

[LynneSin]

70. This is SOOOOOOOOOOO Apples and Oranges...

:eyes:

[FunBobbyMucha]

71. Led Zep are just Whitesnake with better press.

I've always hated Zep. How they gained a position of respect over vastly superior bands of the same era (Stones, Kinks, and especially the Who blow them out of the water) has baffled me since I was 12. The Clash were, as the rhetoric goes, the Only Band That Ever Mattered. As for the post above about them not being Punk, sweetie, Zep were in no way, shape or form the Blues.

"Phony Zeppimania has bitten the dust!"

[jus_the_facts]

73. hummm....Zeppelin's record sales prove otherwise......

....I'd bet! :D

[geniph]

74. I give the Clash a slight edge

because more of their material was truly original. Zeppelin's was HEAVILY derivative of much older blues bands. I still love 'em both, though. I saw Zeppelin live in 1977, and they were fantastic (one of their last tours before Bonzo died). Then again, "When they kick out your front door, how you gonna come - with your hands on your head, or on the trigger of your gun?" Gotta love the Clash.

Clearly, I'm stuck between generations, which isn't surprising, since I was born in 1959 - too late for a true baby-boomer, too early for a Gen-Xer. They're calling those of us stuck in between Generation Jones these days. That figures, we even get a dorky generation ID. I love both "classic rock" and "classic punk." It's hard to say whether I'd rather listen to the Stones or to Talking Heads. Both.