Robbed Hit of the Week 8/6/12 - The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"...

The Clash - "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"

from the album Combat Rock (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45 (two weeks)

This Week's "Robbed Hit" is by the iconic punk band the Clash, who were just coming off of two giant albums in both size and scope, London Calling (a double LP) and Sandinista! (a triple). By contrast, their followup album in 1982, Combat Rock, was short and to the point, with a lean 12-track running order and cleaned up pop sensibilities (care of producer Glyn Johns). "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" was released as the second single from the album (the first, "Know Your Enemy" was more of a fanbase anthem), and the songs unforgettable guitar riff crashed onto radio in Britain and the US...

But while the song hit top-20 on both the UK singles chart and at rock radio in the US, the song stalled below the pop top-40, not just once, but twice, on it's re-release following the top-10 success of follow-up single "Rock The Casbah". "Should I Stay..." stayed on the pop chart for a total of 23 weeks, and these days gets more airplay than any other Clash track. In fact, in 1991 the song was re-released in Britain and became a #1 hit (thanks to a tie-in with Levi's). The second release of the song would end up being the groups final hit in America, as the band broke up after the Combat Rock album.

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In 1990, Mick Jones, the writer of the song, incorporated the backing track on his new band Big Audio Dynamite II's "The Globe" in 1990...