Police on My Back

Originally released on the Baby, Come Back album in 1968, the song enjoyed a revival in the manner of Junior Murvin's "Police And Thieves" when UK punk band The Clash recorded a cover of the song in 1980 for their Sandinista! album. "We used to play the Equals' version on the tour bus, Mick was the first one to play it to me" said bassist Paul Simonon. "We recorded it at the Power Station, just the three of us, me, Mick (Jones, guitarist) and Topper (Headon, drummer). Paul put his bit on later in Wessex," noted singer Joe Strummer. There was a slight problem with recording in New York as no record store in NYC had a copy of the album, so Clash aide Kosmo Vinyl had to bring a copy of the LP over from London to help the band remember the lyrics.

This song was cited by some critics in reviews of the Sandinista! album as the most Clash-sounding song on the album - with the irony being that it's a cover! The song was a live standard for the band from 1981 until their breakup.