Topper has no memory of his original lyrics, though former Clash co-manager Kosmo Vinyl told us it was a filthy ode to Headon’s girlfriend. "He had really pornographic lyrics for it if I remember correctly," Vinyl says. "Very, very pornographic lyrics."
Strummer decided to take the song in a different direction. His inspiration came from the Clash’s other manager, Bernie Rhodes, who asked the band, "Does everything have to be as long as a raga?" after a particularly long take of the track "Sean Flynn."
"I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, 'The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop,' " Strummer said shortly before he died in 2002. "I looked at it and for some reason I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in
you can even stream audio of Topper playing the different parts of the song on a piano, which is pretty cool.
3 comments:
Huh, fascinating. Cool story.
Apparently he played that piano riff for years in rehearsal before they finally used it in a song...
topper is the best! I miss u joe :(
Post a Comment