I’ve been wanting to write about “The Card Cheat” for a while, but had forgotten about it until ten minutes ago. I can’t conceive the notion that nobody on Earth has realized this then written it down, but it seems like I’m truly the first…
The Clash are probably my second favorite classic band, eclipsed only by the Beatles (of course). London Calling is their universally known masterpiece, for it is a cohesive whole like all the legendary works their contemporaries put out (Tommy, Dark Side of the Moon, Sgt. Pepper, etc.). It is a solid hour of good music, and after listenig to it fifty times, it finally hit me that “The Card Cheat” is ridiculously similar to “Rudie Can’t Fail.” They have the same melody and beat, for Christ’s sake!
In the end, this doesn’t detract from either song, but “Rudie Can’t Fail” is clearly the better work and “The Card Cheat” definitely could have been used as a b-side, since I see it as probably the weakest point on the album. Saying that might be scandalous, but an hour is quite long for any LP to be, and “Four Horsemen” didn’t really need to be included either if it didn’t run into “I’m Not Down” so damn well. “I’m Not Down,” by the way, is a seriously underrated song and one of my favorites. Okay, so I won’t rant anymore, but go listen to the songs and tell me your opinion of my opinion, because it shows that you care…
Oh, and don’t forget to buy things from The Clash’s official website!
Related posts:
- Lesser Known Classic Rock Sunday: The Knickerbockers – “Lies”
- Lesser Known Classic Rock Sunday: Os Mutantes – “A Minha Menina”
- Lesser Known Classic Rock Sunday: Aerosmith – “Big Ten Inch Record”
- Lesser Known Classic Rock Sunday: Golden Earring – “Radar Love”
- Lesser Known Classic Rock Sunday: The Stampeders – “Sweet City Woman”
