ah geez, i forgot the Costello stuff. duh. his first three are vital! there's a great box set of the first three (with bonus tracks) + the Live From the El Mocambo. it's called '2 & 1/2 Years', and it's just great.

good call on the Clash and Tom Robinson, too. i'm in a band with Jon Ginoli (from Pansy Division), and of course Tom Robinson is a big influence on them. (http://www.theplanningcommission.net, if anyone's interested. it's an indiepunkrock thing, we're all about local (SF) politics and our tool for the rich mayor Willie Brown, etc.)