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"Hitsville U.K."
Sleeve for the UK and Dutch single releases
Single by The Clash
from the album Sandinista!
B-side	"Radio One"
Released	16 January 1981
Recorded	1980
Genre	Post-punk, pop punk
Length	4:21
Label	CBS
Songwriter(s)	The Clash
Producer(s)	The Clash
The Clash singles chronology
"The Call Up" (1980) "Hitsville U.K." (1981) "The Magnificent Seven" (1981)

"Hitsville U.K." is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash from their 1980 album Sandinista!. A duet between lead guitarist Mick Jones and his then-girlfriend Ellen Foley, it is the second single released from the album.

Composition

The song's title is a nod to Motown Records, which used the moniker "Hitsville U.S.A." in its advertising and to refer to the label's first headquarters in Detroit.

The lyrics refer to the emerging indie scene in British music in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which is held in contrast to the "mutants, creeps and musclemen" of the major labels with their "expense accounts" and "lunch discounts", making "AOR" and using "chart-hyping" to sell their records. References are made to a number of UK independent labels (Lightning, Small Wonder, Rough Trade, Fast Product and Factory).

Release

The original UK single release included "Radio One" by Mikey Dread as the B-side. A second issue, released later in 1981 in the U.S., replaced "Radio One" with "Police on My Back" as the B-side.

Like all other Clash singles, the song is available on the 1991 compilation The Singles and the 2013 remastered compilation The Clash Hits Back.

Track listing

7" vinyl

1. "Hitsville UK" (The Clash) – 4:23
2. "Radio One" (Mikey Dread) – 6:20

7" vinyl (North America)

1. "Hitsville UK" (The Clash) – 4:23
2. "Police On My Back" (Eddy Grant) – 3:16

Personnel

• Ellen Foley – lead vocals
• Mick Jones – lead vocals, piano, organ
• Joe Strummer – guitar
• Norman Watt-Roy – bass guitar
• Topper Headon – drums
• Jody Linscott – percussion, marimba

Charts

References

1. Curtis, James M. (1987). Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, 1954-1984. Bowling Green, Kentucky: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. p. 314. ISBN 9780879723682.
2. "Hitsville UK". Official Charts Company. 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
3. "The Clash: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.

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• 1980 songs
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