WCSX Classic Cuts : Should I Stay or Should I Go
WCSX Classic Cuts The Clash: “Should I Stay or Should I Go” The Hook: Reissued in Britain in the early 1990s, it became the Clash’s only British number-one. Album: Combat…
INDIO, CA – APRIL 26: (L-R) Carbon/Silicon musicians Mick Jones (former of The Clash) and Tony James (formerly of Generation X) perform during day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival held at the Empire Polo Field on April 26, 2008 in Indio, California. (Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images)
Credit: Karl Walter / GettyimagesWCSX Classic Cuts
The Clash: "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
The Hook: Reissued in Britain in the early 1990s, it became the Clash's only British number-one.
Album: Combat Rock
Year: 1982
Writers: The Clash
Stats: Peaked at number-45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number-13 on its Top Rock Tracks chart.
Background: The Clash never had a chart-topping album or single in the U.S. and only one at home in Britain. "Should I Stay or Should I Go" went to number-one when it was reissued there in 1991, nearly a decade after its original release. In an old interview, guitarist Mick Jones -- who sang the song on Combat Rock, his final album with the group -- explained what happened.
Clash guitarist and singer Mick Jones on “Should I Stay or Should I Go” being the group’s only British chart-topper, but only after it was reissued nearly a decade after it first came out. OC:…still together. :20
“It was a pretty strange situation, because the record company wanted to release it and it was released and sort of went to number-one in this country. I don’t know, it was pretty nice to have a number-one, but the problem was that I think it was probably about eight years too late, because the group had already split up. I mean, it’d probably have helped us out a lot more if it’d been a hit while we were still together.”
