London punk band The Conflict is maybe finest remembered (the band hadn’t actually been energetic because the unique breakup in January 1986, and under no circumstances since unique member Joe Strummer died in 2002) for its platinum-selling London Calling, a pivotal launch in British rock n’ roll revival. The band’s temporary profession of slightly below a decade had its different moments, although, not least the typically unheralded track Bankrobber.
Poorer Lessons
Theft is one in every of humanity’s oldest genres, arguably relationship again to the Previous West however massive sums of wealth have at all times attracted sticky fingers. The concept continues to be alive in films like Warmth (1995), The Italian Job (1969), and even Die Laborious: With a Vengeance (1995) however casinos – so typically the goal of heists in Hollywood – have their tackle the idea too. The 333 Increase Banks slot from Video games International duties the participant with sneaking previous safety and cracking open a secure. This basic 5×3 sport contains imagery of money and bullion on the reels, in addition to three coloured safes that may be opened.
Mockingly, for a band accustomed to lyrics about poverty, hardship, local weather change, authorities, and plenty of different issues that hassle the poorer courses essentially the most, The Conflict’s 1980 single Bankrobber looks like a have a look at what Hollywood presents as a high-life, large payouts from a “final, massive job” lining the pockets of those that don’t want it. Bankrobber has a practical bent. Strummer and Mick Jones’ lyrics converse of theft as work. “However I don’t imagine in mendacity again / Sayin’ how dangerous your luck is.”
“David Bowie Backwards”
Bankrobber tells a well-known The Conflict story of a down-on-his-luck character. The heist is an act of desperation but one the protagonist finds agreeable. “He simply liked to dwell that approach / And he liked to steal your cash.” Far Out Journal claims the track was “taken actually by many”, one thing that NME claimed, in 1991, reached a logical excessive when two actors within the Bankrobber music video have been questioned by real-life police.
On their web site, The Conflict describes their file firm’s reluctance to launch Bankrobber, which by no means appeared on any album till the 1980 compilation Black Market Conflict. This file additionally included Capital Radio One, Time is Tight, and Stress Drop. Execs complained that Bankrobber gave the impression of “David Bowie backwards”. Oddly sufficient, its success within the Dutch singles chart ensured that it acquired radio play six months later.
“Washed Up”
Mick Jones has his personal model of Bankrobber’s story. The guitarist hinted that his father might have been a financial institution robber’s “assistant”, noting that he labored as a taxi driver. The entire thought may appear ridiculous at present, within the high-tech banking world, the place the whole lot exists as numbers on a display. Again then, the only was written “so all people might relate to it” – maybe not a lot the heist itself however the pleasure of discovering a fast repair for poverty or working your approach out of a dangerous life.
In 1980, The Conflict skilled a fast change in fortunes. The success of London Calling (1979) ended a interval street supervisor Johnny Inexperienced described as “washed up” in a 2019 interview with the BBC. The group famously entered the rehearsal classes for London Calling with no new materials. Bankrobber was ultimately recorded with reggae artist Mikey Dread, whose providers have been retained for The Conflict’s follow-up album Sandinista! Bankrobber is ska-tinged all through its 4:34 run-time.
I Fought the Legislation
It’s maybe truthful to say that Bankrobber is without doubt one of the band’s lesser recognized hits, behind Ought to I Keep or Ought to I Go, Rock the Casbah, London Calling, and a canopy of The Crickets’ I Fought the Legislation. But it has made an unlikely dent in popular culture, regardless of being written off by The Conflict’s label. It’s an virtually joyful track of refusal: “A lifetime serving one machine / Is ten instances worse than jail.”
Associated
HeartBeat4Kids