Song · The Clash
“Capital Radio” by The Clash
“Capital Radio” by The Clash appears on 3 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1977 and 2003. Its best result is #54 on the John Peel's Forgotten Fifty of 1977. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #54 alternative song of 1977, #4,624 alternative song of all time and #54 of the '70s.
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The Clash fired off "Capital Radio" in 1977 on the Capital Radio EP, and it's punk at its most gloriously petty: a band picking a fight with the gatekeepers and naming names. The target was Capital itself, then the only legal commercial music station in London, whose playlist leaned on slick pop and mainstream chart fare with precious little punk in the mix. The lyric even singles out the station's head of music.
Never mind that Capital did playlist the Jam's first single, "In the City", or that the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" reached the top three of the station's own Capital Countdown; this was about principle. The song has kept resurfacing, sometimes as "Capital Radio One", on Black Market Clash, The Story of the Clash, Volume 1, Clash on Broadway, the live From Here to Eternity, The Essential Clash and Singles Box.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 54 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Forgotten Fifty of 1977 | 61 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1745 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 788 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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