On this day in 1977, The Clash released their self-titled debut

Much of the album was conceived on the 18th floor of a council high rise in London, in a flat owned by Mick Jones’s grandmother. The entire album was recorded over three weekend sessions in CBS Studio 3 throughout February 1977. By the third session, the album had been mixed and completed, ready to be delivered to CBS at the start of March.

The album was clearly influenced by a wide range of music such as reggae and early rock and roll. Lyrically it featured themes of race, prejudice, class economic, big business, the police and the Americanisation of the UK.

The album quickly drew critical acclaim and peaked at number 12 on the UK charts. Numerous critics named it as their favourite release of the year and that it was the best punk album they had heard yet. It is now widely regarded as one of the best punk albums of all time, as well as making a number of lists for not only best punk albums, but also ranked at number 77 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.