Capital Radio One


Capital Radio is a song and an extended play by the English punk rock band the Clash. The original song has been included as "Capital Radio" or "Capital Radio One" on the Capital Radio EP, Black Market Clash, The Story of the Clash, Volume 1, Clash on Broadway, , The Essential Clash, and Singles Box.

Lyrics

Lyrically, the song is an attack on the music policy of what was London's only legal commercial music radio station, which played mainstream chart hits and little if any punk. It mentions the station's then-Head of Music, Aidan Day"He picks all the hits they play/to keep you in your place all day":
The song ends with a parody of one of Capital's actual jingles of the period; the band replaces the lyric "in tune with London" with "in tune with nothing". The parody is heightened by the use of a variation on the ending riff from "I'm Only Dreaming" by the Small Faces.

''Capital Radio'' E.P.

The extended play Capital Radio was released on 9 April 1977, and was given away to readers who sent off the coupon printed in the NME, plus the red sticker found on the band's debut studio album The Clash. It was produced by Mickey Foote and engineered by Simon Humphrey. The interview was with the NME's Tony Parsons.

Track listing

Personnel

"Capital Radio"

In 1978-79, the EP was extremely rare in the UK, so much so that the group had re-recorded "Capital Radio" on the extended play The Cost of Living, which was released on 7-inch vinyl on 11 May 1979 through CBS Records. "Capital Radio" was re-recorded because the group learnt that copies of the original Capital Radio EP were selling for high prices. The new version, later titled "Capital Radio Two", is longer, mainly because of a protracted intro and outro. "Capital Radio Two" has been included on Super Black Market Clash and Singles Box, whereas "Capital Radio One" was included on the original version of the former, Black Market Clash.

Personnel