Stealing All Transmissions is a love story. It's the story of how The
Clash fell in love with America, and how America loved them back. The
romance began in full in 1977, when select rock journalists and deejays
aided the band's quest to depose the rock of indolence that dominated
American airwaves. This history situates The Clash amid the cultural
skirmishes of the 1970s and culminates with their September 1979
performance at the Palladium in New York City. This concert was
broadcast live on WNEW, and it concluded with Paul Simonon treating his
Fender bass like a woodcutter's ax.
This performance produced one of the most exhilarating Clash bootleg
recordings, and the photo of Simonon's outburst which graced the cover
of the London Calling LP was recently deemed the greatest rock'n'roll
photograph of all time. That night marked one of the last opportunities
for American audiences to see The Clash as a punk band, teetering
between conviction and uncertainty, before they became a seriously
brilliant rock group.
Stealing represents a distinctive take on the history of punk, for no
other book gives proper attention to the forces of free-form radio,
long-form rock journalism, or Clash bootleg recordings, many of which
are now widely available on the web. This story, which takes its title
from the 1981 single "Radio Clash," includes original interviews with
key figures from the New York punk scene. This secret history concludes
with an analysis of how we listen to music today and its impact on the
written word.
