Date of the show: April 26, 1984
Top song: “Rock the Cabash“
Before London had called for them, The Clash had Long Island calling. The English punk-rock band, which spearheaded the punk rock movement when it first came out in the 1970s, performed at Stony Brook University in the 1980s fresh off a shift in band line-up.
The original members—singer/guitarist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon—were there to herald the new members in—guitarist Nick Sheppard, drummer Pete Howard and guitarist Vince White. The April 26, 1984 show was opened by New York City band Paleface in the school gym.
“They had the music, goods, attitude and swagger. They were the real deal,” said Norman Prusslin, Director for Media Arts and Interdisciplinary Arts Minors/Living Learning Centers and former director of campus radio station WUSB. “I didn’t attend the concert, but when The Clash first came out, we were playing them on our station in the ’70s. We were into non-commercial music—stuff that not everybody played.”
He also added a fun fact: Sandy Pearlman, a Stony Brook alumni from the late 1960s, produced The Clash’s first American album and second studio album, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope,” in 1978. The band is mostly known for their fusion of rock, ska and reggae coiled with a message of social unrest in England.
In a 1984 article by Howard Breuer for The Statesman, the event was “good…considering” an electrical malfunction that blew off the band’s power for about 15 minutes and brawls by the stage.
The Clash’s biggest hit that year was “Rock the Casbah” from their fifth album “Combat Rock.” It spent 24 weeks and peaked at number eight on the Billboard charts, making it the band’s highest charting single. They continued their Out of Control tour in 1984, which toured from Europe to Nashville, and released their final album the following year.
