January and February 1985, on a 24-track mixing desk in Weryton Studios, Unterföhring, outside Munich, Germany, with some parts recorded in London. Epic Records chose the German studio because the band's finances were dependent on ongoing legal cases, including moves by Jones to prevent them recording under the name "the Clash". Rhodes hired engineer Micheal Fayne on the basis of affordability, and his prior experience with programmed drum machines, which Strummer wanted to use on the album because, according to Rhodes, "Joe wanted to compete with Mick's drum machine thing". Rhodes also employed engineers Ulrich A. Rudolf, Simon Sullivan and Kevin Whyte, who are credited on the sleeve. Strummer and Rhodes disagreed on the direction of the recordings almost from the outset. Rhodes, credited on the sleeve under the pseudonym "Jose Unidos", had no previous experience with either songwriting or record production. While Strummer had been pleased with his demo versions, he fought against his manager over the album's production. Rhodes believed he had discovered a new genre, seeking to mix electro, hip hop and cut-up technique. He replaced live musicians with synthetic sounds and layered the tracks with audio from TV programs. Fayne described Rhodes's treatment of Howard as "damaging". Rhodes would begin recording sessions by asking the drummer to play what he wanted, but would inevitably respond to Howard's parts by saying "no, not that", or "no, not that either". In one incident, Rhodes appeared in the recording room and began to "smash the drum kit up", at which point Howard stood up and left. Fayne said, "Bernie didn't want any connection with the past... He wanted to take it forward, to control it, to mastermind the whole thing, and what they were doing was a bit too reminiscent of what it was". Disillusioned and lacking reinforcement or direction from Strummer, Howard seriously considered leaving the band at several points. Most of the Clash and the production team liked the football-style chants used in some of the choruses. They were in part inspired by the communal sing-alongs the Clash performed during their busking tour the previous year, and thus evoked memories of a less tense period in their career. The massed vocals were provided by several dozen of their friends and families, and several of the inner team remembered those sessions as the only enjoyable period during the album's recording. The only other aspect that the musicians agreed