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The Clash were an English rock group that existed from 1976 to 1986. One of the most successful and iconic bands from the original wave of punk rock in the late 1970s, they went on to incorporate punk with reggae, rockabilly, dance and eventually many other music styles into their repertoire. They were legendary for their uncommonly intense stage performances.

From their earliest days as a band, The Clash stood apart from their peers with their musicianship, as well as their lyrics; the passionate, left wing political idealism in the lyrics of frontmen Joe Strummer and Mick Jones contrasted with the anarchic nihilism of the Sex Pistols and the basic simplicity of The Ramones. Although they were a major success in the United Kingdom from the release of their first album in 1977, they did not become popular in the United States until 1980.

Their third album, the late 1979 release London Calling is considered by many critics one of the greatest albums in the entire history of rock music; it was then released in the U.S. in January, 1980 and a decade later Rolling Stone magazine declared it the best album of the 1980s.