10 Songs About How The Music Business Sucks

One of the biggest obstacles that comes with the pop rock machine is the idea of promotion. Even though you might have made one of the most important album statements of your lifetime, it's not going to mean a thing if you don't have a good song for radio to play for you. Music is about more than just a catchy single, but the Clash found a way to fight the system on their own playing field.

While the early Clash songs had to do more with politics on songs like I'm So Bored with the USA and White Riot, Complete Control is where Joe Strummer takes aim at his record company. Stemming from an argument that the label had with them over having a catchy tune, Joe wrote this song as a direct retort, writing a tight single about how being tied down by the suits sucks. Throughout the song, you can hear every lyric having some sarcasm to it, from the management not letting their old punk friends into the venues to knowing the greedy reason why they signed that little bit of paper for their label.

Even though this song was re-released on the US version of the Clash's debut, Joe was getting to the heart of the relationship between management and band, with the suits just trying to make a buck off of some clueless kids that they never think are going to last. You can try to work with the best management in the game if you want to, but you had better make sure that they have clean hands before you get everything down.