New Rose

And then the last one, the one that, you know, everybody'll argue over.

Which came first, New Rose or Anarchy in the UK?

New Rose.

New Rose.

Yes, then.

[laughs]

He'd drop a dub remix or a two-minute reggae B-side to keep the crowd moving while they waited for the next band to take over.

In practice, that meant that by the time The Clash arrived, their frontman Joe Strummer was already humming to a beat of Sly and Robbie in his mind and had it on autopilot for the opening track, "New Rose." If we go back to the original recordings, the first Clash album didn't include reggae until The Battle of New York City, but tracks like "Ghetto" or even early live sets were drenched in that bass-heavy, laid-back vibe that Letts was feeding into the audience.

Don's influence on The Slits is equally fascinating.

She was touring with them, and his mixing of dub soundscapes allowed a guitarist like her to explore heavier chord progressions while keeping rhythmic looseness.