The Clash announce 40th anniversary re-release of ‘Combat Rock’

The Clash are gearing up for a special edition re-release of their classic album ‘Combat Rock’.

As first reported by NME, the punk legends will reissue their seminal 1982 record, the last to feature the classic lineup of frontman Joe Strummer, guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon. It was their biggest commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic, and featured iconic singles including ‘Rock the Casbah, ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’, ‘Straight to Hell’ and ‘Know Your Rights’.

The record will now be revived for a special new edition that’s set for release next month. Perhaps most excitingly for the Clash hardcore, the release will come with 12 additional tracks compiled by the surviving members of the group, and will be accompanied by a first-ever official release of the two tracks on which they collaborated with late The Beat frontman Ranking Roger. His reinterpretations of ‘Rock the Casbah’ and ‘Red Angel Dragnet’ hit streaming services today (April 6) alongside the announcement – you can hear them below.

‘Combat Rock/The People’s Hall’ will arrive on May 20. The album’s second disc is named after the rehearsal and recording space where ‘Combat Rock’ came together, in London’s Freston Road. It was the centre point of the Republic of Frestonia, an attempt by squatters to secede from the United Kingdom in 1977. 

The disc includes a host of rare tracks, including a unreleased instrumental called ‘He Who Dares or Is Tired’ and a version of ‘Know Your Rights’ recorded using The Rolling Stones’ mobile studio. They will appear alongside an earlier mix of ‘The Escapades of Futura 2000’, a version of ‘Radio One’ by Jamaican singer Mikey Dread, and outtakes like ‘The Fulham Connection’ and ‘Idle in Kangaroo Court’. You can see the full track listing below.

The Clash – ‘Combat Rock/The People’s Hall’:

Disc One: ‘Combat Rock’

1. ‘Know Your Rights’
2. ‘Car Jamming’
3. ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’
4. ‘Rock the Casbah’
5. ‘Red Angel Dragnet’
6. ‘Straight to Hell’
7. ‘Overpowered by Funk’
8. ‘Atom Tan’
9. ‘Sean Flynn’
10. ‘Ghetto Defendant’
11. ‘Inoculated City’
12. ‘Death Is a Star

Disc Two: ‘The People’s Hall’

1. ‘Outside Bonds’
2. ‘Radio Clash’
3. ‘Futura 2000’
4. ‘First Night Back in London’
5. ‘Radio One’ [by Mikey Dread]
6. ‘He Who Dares or Is Tired’
7. ‘Long Time Jerk’
8. ‘The Fulham Connection’
9. ‘Midnight to Stevens’
10. ‘Sean Flynn’
11. ‘Idle in Kangaroo Court’
12. ‘Know Your Rights’