Sandinista! is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. Anticipating the "world music" trend of the 1980s, it features funk, reggae, jazz, gospel, rockabilly, folk, dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, and rap. For the first time, the band's traditional songwriting credits of Strummer and Jones were replaced by a generic credit to the Clash, and the band cut the album royalties, in order to release the 3-LP at a low price.
The title refers to the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and its catalogue number, 'FSLN1', refers to the abbreviation of the party's Spanish name, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional.
Sandinista! was voted best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop critics poll in The Village Voice, and was ranked number 404 on the Rolling Stone list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003. Slant Magazine listed the album at number 85 on its "Best Albums of the 1980s" list in 2012.
Track listing
The compact disc release has the first three sides on the first CD and the latter three sides on the second CD.
All songs written and composed by The Clash, except where noted.
Side one
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "The Magnificent Seven" Joe Strummer 5:28
2. "Hitsville U.K." Mick Jones, Ellen Foley 4:20
3. "Junco Partner" ("writer, at present, unknown" on liner notes) Joe Strummer 4:53
4. "Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" Topper Headon 3:05
5. "The Leader" Joe Strummer 1:41
6. "Something About England" Mick Jones, Joe Strummer 3:42
Side two
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Rebel Waltz" Joe Strummer 3:25
2. "Look Here" (written by Mose Allison) Joe Strummer 2:44
3. "The Crooked Beat" Paul Simonon 5:29
4. "Somebody Got Murdered" Mick Jones 3:34
5. "One More Time" (written by The Clash and Mikey Dread) Joe Strummer 3:32
6. "One More Dub" (Dub version of "One More Time"; written by The Clash and Dread) Instrumental 3:34
Side three
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)" Joe Strummer 4:51
2. "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" Mick Jones 4:31
3. "Corner Soul" Joe Strummer 2:43
4. "Let's Go Crazy" Joe Strummer 4:25
5. "If Music Could Talk" (written by The Clash and Dread) Joe Strummer 4:36
6. "The Sound of Sinners" Joe Strummer 4:00
Side four
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Police on My Back" (written by Eddy Grant; originally performed by The Equals) Mick Jones 3:15
2. "Midnight Log" Joe Strummer 2:11
3. "The Equaliser" Joe Strummer 5:47
4. "The Call Up" Joe Strummer 5:25
5. "Washington Bullets" Joe Strummer 3:51
6. "Broadway" (Features an Epilogue of "The Guns of Brixton" sung by Maria Gallagher) Joe Strummer 5:45
Side five
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Lose This Skin" (written by Tymon Dogg) Tymon Dogg 5:07
2. "Charlie Don't Surf" Joe Strummer, Mick Jones 4:55
3. "Mensforth Hill" ("Something About England" backwards with overdubs) Instrumental 3:42
4. "Junkie Slip" Joe Strummer 2:48
5. "Kingston Advice" Joe Strummer 2:36
6. "The Street Parade" Joe Strummer 3:26
Side six
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Version City" Joe Strummer 4:23
2. "Living in Fame" (Dub Version of "If Music Could Talk"; written by The Clash and Dread) Mikey Dread 4:36
3. "Silicone on Sapphire" (Dub version of "Washington Bullets") Joe Strummer 4:32
4. "Version Pardner" (Dub version of "Junco Partner") Joe Strummer 5:22
5. "Career Opportunities" Luke Gallagher, Ben Gallagher 2:30
6. "Shepherds Delight" (Dub Version of "Police & Thieves") Instrumental 3:25
Personnel
Joe Strummer – lead vocals, guitars
Mick Jones – guitars, vocals
Paul Simonon – bass, vocals
Topper Headon – drums, vocals
Additional musicians
Mickey Gallagher (Blockheads) - keyboards
Tymon Dogg (credited as 'Timon Dogg') - vocals, violin on "Lose This Skin"
Norman Watt-Roy (Blockheads) - bass
J.P. Nicholson (also one of the album's engineers)
Ellen Foley - co-lead vocal on "Hitsville U.K."
Davey Payne (Blockheads) - saxophone
Ray Gasconne
Band Sgt. Dave Yates
Den Hegarty (Darts) - vocals
Luke & Ben Gallagher - vocals on "Career Opportunities"
Maria Gallagher - coda vocals on "Broadway"
Gary Barnacle - saxophone
Arthur Edward "Bill" Barnacle (Gary's father) - trumpet
Jody Winscott
Ivan Julian (Voidoids) - guitar
Noel 'Tempo' Bailey (aka Sowell, reggae artist/session man) - guitar
Anthony Nelson Steelie (Wycliffe Johnson of Steely and Clevie)
Lew Lewis (Eddie and the Hot Rods) - harmonica
Gerald Baxter-Warman
Terry McQuade (had a small role in Rude Boy (film))
Rudolph Adolphus Jordan
Battersea
Tim Curry - priest on "The Sound of Sinners" (uncredited)