Rock the Casbah
Encyclopedia
"Rock the Casbah" is a song by the English punk rock
band The Clash
in 1982. It was released as the third single from their fifth album, Combat Rock
. The song reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100
chart in the U.S. (their only top 10 single Stateside) and, along with the track "Mustapha Dance," it also reached number eight on the dance chart. It is the band's highest charting single worldwide.
account of a ban on rock music by the Sharif
or King
being defied by the population, who proceed to "rock the casbah
." The King
orders jet
fighters
to bomb any people in violation of the ban. The pilots ignored the orders, and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios.
The song′s lyrics feature various Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Sanskrit loan-words, such as sharif
, bedouin
, sheikh
, kosher, rāga
, muezzin
, minaret
, and casbah
.
According to the album notes in the box set The Clash on Broadway
, "Rock the Casbah" originated when the band's manager Bernie Rhodes
, after hearing them record an inordinately long track for the album, asked them facetiously "does everything have to be as long as this rāga
?" (referring to the Indian musical style known for its length and complexity). Joe Strummer
later wrote the opening lines to the song: "The King told the boogie-men 'you have to let that rāga drop". The rest of the lyrics soon followed.
The instrumental opening was a tune that drummer Topper Headon
had written on the piano
some time earlier and had toyed with during rehearsals before being incorporated into the song. In the 2000 documentary
Westway to the World
, Headon said he played drums, bass and piano on the record for the song. Headon claims that, while he thought he was merely playing the song for the band, his performances were recorded without his knowledge. All that was left to record were the guitar parts and the vocals. However, in The Future Is Unwritten (a documentary on Strummer), he states that he was in the studio waiting for the rest of the band to come to record, got sick of waiting, so recorded the parts himself.
, it depicts an Arab
, played by Austin actor Titos Menchaca, and a Hasidic Jew, played by local stage director Dennis Razze, befriending each other on the road and skanking
together through the streets to a Clash concert at Austin Coliseum, often followed by an armadillo
, interspersed with the band performing in front of an oil well.
The U.S. Air Force
became an unwitting participant in the video. Two RF-4C
aircraft landing at Bergstrom Air Force Base
(near Austin) from the east are featured in the portion of the video with the lyrics "the King called out his jetfighters..."
. The single version of the song is what is played in the music video.
"Mustapha Dance," which features in many releases of the single, is an instrumental remix of the song.
released their list of the top 50 "Conservative Rock Songs," with "Rock the Casbah" at #20, noting its frequent requests during the Iraq War. "Rock the Casbah" also was one of the songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In one of the campfire scenes late in the 2007 documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
, a Granada
friend states that Strummer wept when he heard that the phrase "Rock the Casbah" was written on an American bomb that was to be detonated on Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Cultural reviewer and political analyst Charlie Pierce
commented that "the notion of the Clash as spokesfolk for adventurism in the Middle East might have been enough to bring Joe Strummer back from the dead."
Popular Culture
has made use of the term "Rock the Casbah" in a number of ways. Most commonly, it means to perform an act which while not within the law may be regarded as "correct". It has also come into use as a euphemism for sexual intercourse
. In The Simpsons
episode "Natural Born Kissers
", Bart asks Homer "Did you Rock the Casbah?" in reference to sex. The track also plays over the ending credits of the episode. In 2011, a book on the Arab Spring
was named after this song.
band One Bad Pig
, on the 1992 album Blow the House Down; the Australian band Something for Kate
; Solar Twins (band)
on the movie soundtrack
for the 1999 film Brokedown Palace
; the American band Trust Company
; the Japanese duo Tica recording a version in 2000 sampled by the English drum and bass
, trip hop
group from Bristol, Smith & Mighty
; and the Asturian
studio project Soncai System, who did an Asturian language
version of the song on the album Clashturies (2007).
The Algeria
n rock singer Rachid Taha
covered the song (in Arabic
) on his 2004 album Tékitoi
. On 27 November 2005 at the Astoria, London, during the Stop the War Coalition Benefit Concert, "...for the night's grandstanding conclusion, the Clash legend Mick Jones
strides on in a skinny black suit and plays probably the most exciting guitar he has delivered in years. He and the band are brilliant on Taha's definitive take on "Rock the Casbah," for which the audience goes berserk." They played again the Taha's version of the song, "Rock el Casbah," on February 2006, at the France 4
TV show Taratatà. In 2007 at the Barbican, ".... The band were later joined by special guest Mick Jones from The Clash who performed on "Rock El Casbah" and then stayed on stage for the remainder of the show."
Will Smith
's song "Will 2K" of the Willennium
album samples "Rock the Casbah" both instrumentally and in some of the lyrics. "It's Gonna Be Alright" by house act Pussy 2000 also samples the song. Richard Cheese
recorded a lounge
cover of the song on his 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin
. U2
have also played a snippet of the song on their 2005–2006 Vertigo tour
. After hearing the crowd singing the song as it was played over the loudspeaker before the start of the concert, Bono
, the lead singer of U2 started singing "Rock the Casbah" in the middle of one of their songs during a concert in Melbourne. It has also made appearances on their 360o Tour. It has been played in Sunday Bloody Sunday
, which shows clips from Iranian protests. Green Day
covered the song near the end of their AOL Sessions, and also have performed it live.
Howlin' Pelle Almqvist of The Hives
covered the song with some members of another Swedish Band, Randy
for a Joe Strummer Tribute concert at The Debaser in Stockholm
.
The Hungarian singer Varga Zsuzsa covered this song on her album called "Szívadóvevő." It's mostly an energetic, electronic version.
A cover version was also recorded by Ranking Roger
and Pato Banton
in 1999 for the Clash tribute album Burning London: The Clash Tribute
.
On some album versions ("Combat Rock
" as well as the double CD set "The Essential Clash
") you can hear the monophonic
sound of a watch playing the song "Dixie"
in the background. Supposedly it is Jones' watch and intentional.
}U.S. Billboard Hot Dance
| style="text-align: center" | 8
|-
| U.S. Billboard Main
| style="text-align: center" | 6
|}
|
| style="vertical-align: top" |
|}
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
in 1982. It was released as the third single from their fifth album, Combat Rock
Combat Rock
The album received positive reviews from critics, and reached the number two on the UK Albums Chart, the number seven on the Billboard Pop albums, and the top ten on many charts in other countries...
. The song reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in the U.S. (their only top 10 single Stateside) and, along with the track "Mustapha Dance," it also reached number eight on the dance chart. It is the band's highest charting single worldwide.
Origin
The song gives a fabulistFable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
account of a ban on rock music by the Sharif
Sharif
Sharīf or Chérif is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. In origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa...
or King
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
being defied by the population, who proceed to "rock the casbah
Casbah
The Casbah ) is specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns...
." The King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
orders jet
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
fighters
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
to bomb any people in violation of the ban. The pilots ignored the orders, and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios.
The song′s lyrics feature various Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Sanskrit loan-words, such as sharif
Sharif
Sharīf or Chérif is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. In origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa...
, bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
, sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
, kosher, rāga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
, muezzin
Muezzin
A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...
, minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
, and casbah
Casbah
The Casbah ) is specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns...
.
According to the album notes in the box set The Clash on Broadway
Clash on Broadway
-Track listing:All songs written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer except where noted otherwise.-Disc one:# "Janie Jones" — 2:11# "Career Opportunities" — 1:58#* early demo versions produced by Guy Stevens# "White Riot" — 1:59# "1977" — 1:41...
, "Rock the Casbah" originated when the band's manager Bernie Rhodes
Bernie Rhodes
Bernard Rhodes is the former manager of English punk rock band The Clash. He previously worked with Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and once claimed to have "invented punk".-Management:...
, after hearing them record an inordinately long track for the album, asked them facetiously "does everything have to be as long as this rāga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
?" (referring to the Indian musical style known for its length and complexity). Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
later wrote the opening lines to the song: "The King told the boogie-men 'you have to let that rāga drop". The rest of the lyrics soon followed.
The instrumental opening was a tune that drummer Topper Headon
Topper Headon
Headon was extensively interviewed for the Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten documentary film about the late Clash frontman. He related his experiences during this period, how he became addicted to heroin and how there were problems before his dismissal...
had written on the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
some time earlier and had toyed with during rehearsals before being incorporated into the song. In the 2000 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Westway to the World
Westway to the World
The Clash: Westway to the World is a 2000 documentary film about the British punk rock band The Clash. In 2003 it won the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video....
, Headon said he played drums, bass and piano on the record for the song. Headon claims that, while he thought he was merely playing the song for the band, his performances were recorded without his knowledge. All that was left to record were the guitar parts and the vocals. However, in The Future Is Unwritten (a documentary on Strummer), he states that he was in the studio waiting for the rest of the band to come to record, got sick of waiting, so recorded the parts himself.
Popular culture
The song was chosen by Armed Forces Radio to be the first song broadcast on the service covering the area during Operation Desert Storm.Video
The Clash made low-budget music videos for several of their songs, and the one for "Rock the Casbah" may be their most memorable. Filmed in Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, it depicts an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
, played by Austin actor Titos Menchaca, and a Hasidic Jew, played by local stage director Dennis Razze, befriending each other on the road and skanking
Skank (dance)
Skanking is a form of dancing practiced in the ska, ska punk, hardcore punk, reggae, and other music scenes.The dance style originated in the 1950s or 1960s at Jamaican dance halls, where ska music was played. British mods and skinheads of the 1960s adopted these types of dances and altered them...
together through the streets to a Clash concert at Austin Coliseum, often followed by an armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...
, interspersed with the band performing in front of an oil well.
The U.S. Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
became an unwitting participant in the video. Two RF-4C
F-4 Phantom II variants
The McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II variants were numerous versions and designations of the F-4 and are described below.-Variants:XF4H-1F4H-1F TF-4AF4H-1 DF-4BEF-4BNF-4BQF-4BF4H-1P F-110A SpectreF-4CEF-4C Wild Weasel IV...
aircraft landing at Bergstrom Air Force Base
Bergstrom Air Force Base
Bergstrom Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located seven miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas. It was activated during World War II as a troop carrier training airfield, and was a front-line Strategic Air Command base during the Cold War...
(near Austin) from the east are featured in the portion of the video with the lyrics "the King called out his jetfighters..."
Single
The single version has more pronounced bass. Also when Joe Strummer screams "The crowd caught a whiff / Of that crazy casbah jive" at the end of the third verse the word "jive" is sustained for several seconds with digital delayDelay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
. The single version of the song is what is played in the music video.
"Mustapha Dance," which features in many releases of the single, is an instrumental remix of the song.
Single issues
The single has several issues, all with different cover, format and B-side (see the table below).| Year | B-side | Format | Label | Country | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "Rock the Casbah" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 34-03245 | CAN/USA | Promo |
| 1982 | "Mustapha Dance" | 45 rpm 12" vinyl | CBS/Sony Records Inc. 07.5P-191 | JP | — |
| 1982 | "Mustapha Dance" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 49-03144 | USA | — |
| 1982 | "Mustapha Dance" | 45 rpm 12" vinyl | Epic 49-03144 | CAN | — |
| 1982 | "Mustapha Dance" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | CBS A112479 | UK | Picture disc |
| 1982 | "Red Angel Dragnet" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 34-03245 | CAN | — |
| 1982 | "Long Time Jerk" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 34-03245 | USA | In blue Epic generic die cut sleeve |
| 1982 | "Mustapha Dance" | 45 rpm 12" vinyl | CBS A 13-2479 | UK | — |
| 1982 | "Long Time Jerk" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 15-05540 | USA | — |
| 1991 | "Mustapha Dance" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Columbia 656814-7 | UK | Reissue |
| 1991 |
|
45 rpm 12" vinyl | Columbia 656814-6 | UK | — |
| 1991 |
|
CD | Columbia 656814-2 | UK | — |
Cultural impact
In 2006, the conservative National ReviewNational Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
released their list of the top 50 "Conservative Rock Songs," with "Rock the Casbah" at #20, noting its frequent requests during the Iraq War. "Rock the Casbah" also was one of the songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In one of the campfire scenes late in the 2007 documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten is a 2007 documentary film directed by Julien Temple about Joe Strummer, the lead singer of the English punk rock band The Clash, that went on to win the British Independent Film Awards as Best British Documentary 2007. The film premiered 20 January 2007 at...
, a Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
friend states that Strummer wept when he heard that the phrase "Rock the Casbah" was written on an American bomb that was to be detonated on Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Cultural reviewer and political analyst Charlie Pierce
Charlie Pierce
Charles P. Pierce is a nationally known American sportswriter, author, and game show panelist.He graduated from St...
commented that "the notion of the Clash as spokesfolk for adventurism in the Middle East might have been enough to bring Joe Strummer back from the dead."
Popular Culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
has made use of the term "Rock the Casbah" in a number of ways. Most commonly, it means to perform an act which while not within the law may be regarded as "correct". It has also come into use as a euphemism for sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
. In The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Natural Born Kissers
Natural Born Kissers
"Natural Born Kissers" is the season finale of The Simpsons ninth season which originally aired on the Fox network on May 17, 1998. Homer and Marge discover that the fear of getting caught while making love is a turn on and start making love in public places. It was the first episode written by...
", Bart asks Homer "Did you Rock the Casbah?" in reference to sex. The track also plays over the ending credits of the episode. In 2011, a book on the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
was named after this song.
Cover versions
Other versions of "Rock the Casbah" have been recorded by the Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
band One Bad Pig
One Bad Pig
One Bad Pig is a Christian punk and metal crossover band from Austin, Texas which formed in 1985. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music describes them as "Quite possibly the most popular hard-punk act ever to arise within the Christian music scene." They were known for their mischief and...
, on the 1992 album Blow the House Down; the Australian band Something for Kate
Something for Kate
Something for Kate are a rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Members include songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Paul Dempsey, drummer Clint Hyndman and bassist Stephanie Ashworth...
; Solar Twins (band)
Solar Twins (band)
Solar Twins are an English electronica duo with Joanna Stevens and David Norland .Solar Twins were signed by Guy Oseary at Maverick Records after playing at Viper Room. They are known for their version of Rock the Casbah, found on the soundtrack to the movie Brokedown Palace...
on the movie soundtrack
Brokedown Palace: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Brokedown Palace: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the film Brokedown Palace, released by Island Records on August 10, 1999 .-Track listing:...
for the 1999 film Brokedown Palace
Brokedown Palace
Brokedown Palace is an American film directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and starring Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale. It deals with two American friends imprisoned in Thailand for drug smuggling. Because it presents a critical view of the Thai legal system, most scenes were filmed in the Philippines;...
; the American band Trust Company
Trust Company (band)
Trust Company is an American alternative metal/post-grunge band from Prattville, Alabama.-First run :...
; the Japanese duo Tica recording a version in 2000 sampled by the English drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
, trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
group from Bristol, Smith & Mighty
Smith & Mighty
Smith & Mighty are a Drum and bass/Trip hop group from Bristol, consisting of Rob Smith and Ray Mighty. Their first releases, in the late 1980s, were breakbeat covers of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Walk on By"...
; and the Asturian
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
studio project Soncai System, who did an Asturian language
Asturian language
Asturian is a Romance language of the West Iberian group, Astur-Leonese Subgroup, spoken in the Spanish Region of Asturias by the Asturian people...
version of the song on the album Clashturies (2007).
The Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n rock singer Rachid Taha
Rachid Taha
Rachid Taha is an Algerian singer and activist based in France who has been described as "sonically adventurous." His music is influenced by many different styles such as rock, electronic, punk and raï.-Early life:Taha was born in 1958 in Sig , Algeria, although a second source suggests he was...
covered the song (in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
) on his 2004 album Tékitoi
Tékitoi
Tékitoi is a studio album released in 2004 by the Franco-Algerian musician Rachid Taha. The title is a nonstandard spelling of the French question "Tu es qui, toi?" which might be pronounced in speech as "T'es qui, toi?" and, in the context of this song, means "Who do you think you are?"...
. On 27 November 2005 at the Astoria, London, during the Stop the War Coalition Benefit Concert, "...for the night's grandstanding conclusion, the Clash legend Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
strides on in a skinny black suit and plays probably the most exciting guitar he has delivered in years. He and the band are brilliant on Taha's definitive take on "Rock the Casbah," for which the audience goes berserk." They played again the Taha's version of the song, "Rock el Casbah," on February 2006, at the France 4
France 4
France 4 is a french public channel owned by France Télévisions, dedicated to the entertainment. At first named Festival, the channel took its current name in 2005, to mark better its membership to the group France Télévisions...
TV show Taratatà. In 2007 at the Barbican, ".... The band were later joined by special guest Mick Jones from The Clash who performed on "Rock El Casbah" and then stayed on stage for the remainder of the show."
Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
's song "Will 2K" of the Willennium
Willennium
Willennium is Will Smith's second solo studio album. It was released on the heels of Smith's unprecedented success, Big Willie Style.-Album information:...
album samples "Rock the Casbah" both instrumentally and in some of the lyrics. "It's Gonna Be Alright" by house act Pussy 2000 also samples the song. Richard Cheese
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Mark Jonathan Davis , known by his stage name Richard Cheese, is an American musician and comedian. He was born in New York...
recorded a lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
cover of the song on his 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin
I'd Like a Virgin
I'd Like a Virgin is the third album from Richard Cheese, released April 20, 2004. The album title and artwork are take-offs of Madonna's 1984 album, Like a Virgin...
. U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
have also played a snippet of the song on their 2005–2006 Vertigo tour
Vertigo Tour
The Vertigo Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the band visited arenas and stadiums from 2005 through 2006. The Vertigo Tour consisted of five legs that alternated between indoor arena shows in...
. After hearing the crowd singing the song as it was played over the loudspeaker before the start of the concert, Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
, the lead singer of U2 started singing "Rock the Casbah" in the middle of one of their songs during a concert in Melbourne. It has also made appearances on their 360o Tour. It has been played in Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song by U2.It may also refer to:*Sunday Bloody Sunday , a 1971 film*"Sunday, Bloody Sunday"...
, which shows clips from Iranian protests. Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
covered the song near the end of their AOL Sessions, and also have performed it live.
Howlin' Pelle Almqvist of The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
covered the song with some members of another Swedish Band, Randy
Randy (band)
Randy is a punk rock band from Hortlax, Sweden, formed in 1992. They were first inspired by skate punk bands like NOFX and Propagandhi but after the release of The Rest Is Silence and the depart of their bass player Patrik Trydvall, they radically changed their musical style and adopted an older...
for a Joe Strummer Tribute concert at The Debaser in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
The Hungarian singer Varga Zsuzsa covered this song on her album called "Szívadóvevő." It's mostly an energetic, electronic version.
A cover version was also recorded by Ranking Roger
Ranking Roger
Ranking Roger is an English musician. He was a vocalist in the 1980s two-tone band, The Beat and General Public...
and Pato Banton
Pato Banton
Pato Banton is a reggae singer and toaster from Birmingham, England. He received the nickname 'Pato' from his stepfather, and 'Banton' from the disc jockey slang for a "heavyweight DJ".-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Banton first came to public attention in the early 1980s when he worked with The...
in 1999 for the Clash tribute album Burning London: The Clash Tribute
Burning London: The Clash Tribute
- External links :* Neva Chonin, Aidin Vaziri, Colin Berry, Gary Graff, David Wiegand, Dan Ouellette, Amanda Nowinski . . Collection. SFGate.* Keith Phipps . . Review. The A.V. Club.* Scott Schinder . . Pulse....
.
On some album versions ("Combat Rock
Combat Rock
The album received positive reviews from critics, and reached the number two on the UK Albums Chart, the number seven on the Billboard Pop albums, and the top ten on many charts in other countries...
" as well as the double CD set "The Essential Clash
The Essential Clash
The Essential Clash is a career-spanning greatest hits album by The Clash first released in 2003. It is part of the on-going 'The Essential' Sony BMG compilation series...
") you can hear the monophonic
Monophony
In music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony. This may be realized as just one note at a time, or with the same note duplicated at the octave . If the entire melody is sung by two voices or a choir with an interval between the notes or in...
sound of a watch playing the song "Dixie"
Dixie (song)
Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...
in the background. Supposedly it is Jones' watch and intentional.
Charts
EWLINE
Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
8 | ||||||||||||
| style="text-align: center" | 8
|-
| U.S. Billboard Main
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
| style="text-align: center" | 6
|}
|
| style="vertical-align: top" |
| Chart (1991, Re-release) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
10 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
15 |
|}
Personnel
- Joe StrummerJoe StrummerJohn Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
- lead vocals, guitar - Mick JonesMick Jones (The Clash)Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
- guitar, backing vocals. - Paul SimononPaul SimononPaul Gustave Simonon is an English musician and artist best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. Recent work includes his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007...
- bass, backing vocals - Topper HeadonTopper HeadonHeadon was extensively interviewed for the Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten documentary film about the late Clash frontman. He related his experiences during this period, how he became addicted to heroin and how there were problems before his dismissal...
- drums, piano, bass
External links
- "A Brief History of 'Rock the Casbah' City Pages (December 15, 1999)