The Call Up

Infobox Single
Name = The Call Up

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Artist = The Clash
from Album = Sandinista!
B-side = "Stop the World"
Released = Start date|1980|11|28
Format = 7" vinyl
Recorded = at Electric Lady Studios, New York, United States in 1980
Genre = Post-punk
Length = 5:28
Label = CBS S CBS 9339
Writer = The Clash
Producer =
Reviews =
Last single = "Bankrobber"
(1980)
This single = "The Call Up"
(1980)
Next single = "Hitsville UK"
(1981)
Misc = "The Call Up" is a song and a single by English rock group The Clash. It was the first single released from their 4th album "Sandinista!". The single was released in November 1980, in advance of the release of "Sandinista!", with the anti-nuclear "Stop the World" as its B-side.

The song opens and closes with a US Marines' marching chant and is mostly about The Draft though it also deals war in general. The song also includes a rejection of dead-end jobs ("who gives you work and why should you do it?"). Though the US discontinued the draft in 1973, in 1980 Congress re-instated the requirement for men aged 18-25 to register with the Selective Service System. This may have inspired the song's subject matter as it was a topical subject in America during 1980, the year when "Sandinista!" was written and recorded.

The song was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York.

Don Letts filmed the single's accompanying video in a warehouse owned by singer and collector of military paraphernalia Chris Farlowe. The video was in black and white, and featured the band dressed in costumes consisting of various parts of military uniforms and gear.

Re-releases

The single was reissued in 1981 in the U.S. by Epic Records (catalog number 02036) in 7" vinyl format and with a different cover. On the B-side of the US release was "The Cool Out", a dub of "The Call Up".

In addition to its inclusion on "Sandinista!", "The Call Up" has been included on both "The Clash on Broadway" and "The Singles". It is absent from "The Essential Clash", although "Stop The World", its B-side, is included. "Stop The World" is also included on "The Clash on Broadway" and the B-side compilation, "Super Black Market Clash".

The single was reissued on CD as Disc 12 of Singles Box, complete with a re-creation of the original sleeve artwork, but omits "The Cool Out", making it the only disc in the set that does not include all non-UK released tracks. "The Cool Out" is however included on Disc 14 as part of the "Magnificent Seven" release.

Charts

References

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