Song · The Clash
“Bank Robber” by The Clash
“Bank Robber” by The Clash appears on 3 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1980 and 2023. Its best result is #46 on the John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1980). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,092 alternative song of all time.
The Clash never put "Bankrobber" on a studio album. The 1980 single stood on its own, steeped in reggae and at first sold in Britain only on import, and it turned up instead on the Black Market Clash compilation. It still went to No. 12 in the UK and No. 14 in both Ireland and New Zealand, with "The Call Up" next in line.
Don Letts shot a low-budget video that cut between the band at work in the studio and two Clash roadies, faces hidden behind bandanas, staging a bank job in Lewisham. The police weren't in on the joke: they stopped the pair during filming and questioned them, convinced the robbers were the real thing.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 46 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1980) | 50 |
| 2003 | 1069 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2023 | 353 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s | 850 |
Also listed as: Bankrobber.
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