I Fought The Law - The Clash Version

The Clash Version

In mid-1978, the Clash were working on their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope. Singer Joe Strummer and guitarist Mick Jones flew out to San Francisco to record overdubs in September–October at the Automatt studio. The owner of The Automatt kept his collection of classic jukeboxes distributed around the various rooms of the studio complex. Strummer and Jones listened to the Bobby Fuller version of "I Fought the Law" for the first time on one of the jukeboxes, and by the time they returned to England they could perform the song.

Their version first appeared on the EP The Cost of Living in May 1979 in the UK, and then later in 1979 was made part of the American edition of the Clash's eponymous album. This cover version helped gain the Clash their first taste of airplay in the States and is one of the best-known cover versions of the song. The live recording of the song, performed at the Lyceum Theatre, West End, London on December 28, 1978, features as the last piece of the 1980 film Rude Boy directed by Jack Hazan and David Mingay. The Clash were dressed all in black for that gig and the song, at that stage, was considered the film's title song.

In 1988, CBS Records re-issued the single (catalog number) in CD, 12" and 7" vinyl formats, with "City of the Dead" (2:24) and "1977" (1:40) as its 7" B-side. The song is featured as a downloadable track in the music video game series Rock Band.

In 1989 during Operation Just Cause, the US military surrounded the Apostolic Nunciature in Panama while trying to capture Manuel Noriega, the strongman of Panama. US forces blasted loud rock music—including "I Fought the Law" by the Clash—to put pressure on Noriega to give himself up.

In 2012, the Clash's version of the song was featured in the video game Sleeping Dogs as part of a karaoke mini-game.