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Paul Simonon is best known as the bass guitar player for punk rock band The Clash. He grew up in the mostly Jamaican neighbourhood of Brixton in England. Before joining the Clash, he had planned to become an artist.He was asked to join The Clash in 1976 by lead guitarist Mick Jones, who planned to teach Simonon guitar. However, the instrument proved too difficult for Simonon, so Jones decided to teach him bass instead. Much of the band's self-titled debut was recorded in Simonon's flat.
Paul Simonon wrote and sang three of the Clash's songs: "Guns of Brixton" on London Calling, "Crooked Beat" on Sandinista!, and the mostly spoken-word "Red Angel Dragnet" from Combat Rock. Simonon only decided to write "Guns of Brixton" because he was jealous of the money the band's main songwriters, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, were making in royalties, but it is now one of the band's most recognized songs.
After the Clash dissolved in 1986, Simonon started a band called Havana 3am. They recorded one album in JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh before breaking up. Presently, Simonon works as an artist - his first passion before joining the Clash. He has had several gallery shows, and even designed the cover for one of Big Audio DynamiteBig Audio Dynamite is the primary musical outlet of Mick Jones, formerly of punk pioneers The Clash. Big Audio Dynamite BAD for short) was founded in 1984 with movie director Don Letts ( The Punk Rock Movie, Clash videos and later the Clash documentary We's (Mick Jones' post-Clash band) albums.
Paul Simonon was forever immortalized on the front cover of the band's double-album London Calling, where the image of him smashing his bass has become one of the most famous pictures in rock.
Discography
The Clash
- The Clash, 1977For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January 1 First woman Episcopal priest ordained January 6 EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious " legionnaire's disease" Januar, CBS Records
- Give 'Em Enough RopeGive 'Em Enough Rope is The Clash's second album. It was released in 1978 by CBS Records. After the success of The Clash expectations were high, and, when released, Give 'Em Enough Rope was treated harshly by the critics. It has since become the most obsc, 1978Events January January 1 The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. January 1 Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay 213 dead. January 4 Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet., CBS Records
- London Calling, 1979, CBS Records
- Sandinista!, 1980, CBS Records
- Combat Rock, 1982, CBS Records
- Cut the Crap, 1985, CBS Records
- From Here to Eternity, 1999 (live album, recorded 1978 - 1982)
Simonon, Paul
