Joe Strummer is Dead

[Elephant with mouse gyp]

The day the music died for me.

Shame he didn't take any of the b*stards with him.

[Pistike]

I knew that red leather trouser suit would get him in the end.

[firesign]

That is terribly sad news. Only yesterday, I was listening to "London's Calling" what a ******* brilliant song that is.

He will be missed. Condolences to all his family and friends.

[Mat ov CPFC]

Originally posted by Elephant with mouse gyp
The day the music died for me.

Shame he didn't take any of the b*stards with him.


Which b@stards ?

[El Aguila]

Bizarrely..... I was talking to a friend of his when I saw that, Elephant. He hadn't heard and when he asked me where I'd seen it, I had to say, the Crystal Palace page. f*ck.

[Ruskin Old Boy]

A cloud over xmas. RIP

[selhurst]

Terribly sad news, he was one of my (anti)heroes. I saw The Clash many times during the punk era, from The Lyceum to Hammersmith Palais, Victoria Park and of course at The Rainbow. His original vocals complimented Mick Jones' guitar playing, and I will never forget the energy they generated on stage. It is tragic for anyone to die at the age of 50. God bless you Joe.

[Elephant with mouse gyp]

Originally posted by Mat ov CPFC
Which b@stards ?

Dunno what I meant either really. Just a kind of 'world f uck off' moment.

[Dave]

Very sad

[Neil the Eagle]

BVB Bob is also going to be distraught when he hears this...

[Sussex Eagle]

I can't believe this. I'm just too young to have seen the Clash, but I went to see the Mescaleros several times, and the Clash, and specifically Joe are my all-time biggest heros. Why the **** him and not one of those shits like the rolling stones?? If the world was right, the country would be in mourning, but he'll probably be remembered more in America.

[Georgie Boy]

May I ask how?

[Neil the Eagle]

Heart Attack

[Smurph]

Sad news, 50 is too young to die from a heart attack.

My Dad had a serious heart attack the day after his 50th Birthday but fortunately bypass surgery saved him. He's still going strong at 65.

So sad about Joe.

[Sunny Fan]

Sad news

[Mr C]

Are you sure its a heart attack as there's no news on the radio or the BBC news website regarding how?

[Sussex Eagle]

My post sounded angry I should think, and I am in a way. But God bless you Joe, and I hope you're still happy somewhere

[Neil the Eagle]

Originally posted by Mr C
Are you sure its a heart attack as there's no news on the radio or the BBC news website regarding how?

That's what its saying on BBS website. Does Rob know? I've e-mailed him, but don't where he is today.

[BVB Bob]

Originally posted by Neil the Eagle
BVB Bob is also going to be distraught when he hears this...

Too feckin right mate. I am absolutely gutted. Normally when someone I don't know dies, I feel sad, upset for the families etc, but not genuinely moved.

I feel emotionally washed out. If anyone has influenced my life more than my mates & family, it was Joe. His passion, his desire to fight for what he believed in, his need to teach & educate others about the wrongs of this world. He spoke of the love for his family & his friends being the most important things to him. Too often he would get into trouble for helping fans into gigs for free - he loved people. And he was a class musician.

Stay Free. RIP Joe. I really will miss you.

[Neil the Eagle]

Will be raising a glass to him lunchtime...

[Mr C]

I spoke to BVB Bob at work and he's a little shocked as Joe was one of his biggest, if not his biggest heroes.

[Smurph]

Originally posted by Mr C
Are you sure its a heart attack as there's no news on the radio or the BBC news website regarding how?

That's what it says on the BBC, Ananova and his official website.

[Sussex Eagle]

Who's up for having an unnoficial silence/other tribute at portsmouth?

[firesign]

Just switched on Radio 1, and London's Calling is playing. I feel a bit choked, I've lots of memories of this song.

[Ron Noades Wife]

Very choked - a very sad day for me

R.I.P. Joe

[Tony]

The Clash were heroes to a generation. A very sad day.

[biggus mickus]

Yet another piece of the puzzle has gone.:(
Went to see them three times, cracking band.

Bye Joe.

RIP:(

[SE20]

Sad:(

Still, at least we might get to hear some decent music on the radio over Xmas now.

[Gavin Axten]

Sad news,I got into the Clash when someone bought me the Give em enough rope album for xmas in 1978 I think and have most of their albums and singles up to combat rock.RIP Joe

[SKATE]

Even more reason for Rob Fox to play London Calling at SP for the Preston and Coventry games. Great band - a sad loss. God I feel old :(

[willythesqueeze]

The Clash gig in Purley (was it Tiffany's? - memory fading with age) will go down as one of my favourites of all time, especially with the Slits supporting. I haven't followed his career much post-Clash but for the massive influence in my teens... a big CHEERS. A sad day indeed.

[BVB Bob]

Nice set of tributes from those that matter most - the public:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2600757.stm

His official site seems to have crashed due to too many people logging on, but if anyone's interested:
http://www.strummersite.com

[selhurst]

an' if you're in the crown tonight
have a drink on me
but go easy...step lightly...stay free

[RtS]

Desperate news. A musical enigma and a great bloke.

[A Wooden Fish On Wheels]

What a top bloke Joe Strummer was... R I P.

They think they're so clever,
they think they're so right,
but the truth is only known
by guttersnipes.

[El Aguila]

Originally posted by selhurst
an' if you're in the crown tonight
have a drink on me
but go easy...step lightly...stay free
One of Mick's though, that one, isn't it?

[RednBlue]

Originally posted by SKATE
Even more reason for Rob Fox to play London Calling at SP for the Preston and Coventry games. Great band - a sad loss. God I feel old :( I was just going to say the same think. Rock on Joe!

[selhurst]

Originally posted by El Aguila
One of Mick's though, that one, isn't it?

Yes, but I thought the words were very apt. How about:

An' in the in-tray lots of work
But the boss at the firm always thinks he shirks
But he's just like everyone, he's got a Ford Cortina
That just won't run without fuel
Fill her up, Jacko!

[TAK]

Sad news, one of my all time hero's.

Only saw the Clash once but am glad I got to see the Mescalero's twice this year.

:(

[cdm61]

Janie Jones.......indeed a great tune 'Let them know - how you feel'

There I was at 16, forced to listen using headphones on the parent's stereo....his death may make us feel a little old but his music still makes us feel 10 foot tall.......here's to ya Joe

(Strummer/Jones)

He's in love with rock'n'roll woaahh
He's in love with gettin' stoned woaahh
He's in love with Janie Jones
But he don't like his boring job, no...

An' he knows what he's got to do
So he knows he's gonna have fun with you
You lucky lady!
An' he knows when the evening comes
When his job is done he'll be over in his car for you

An' in the in-tray lots of work
But the boss at the firm always thinks he shirks
But he's just like everyone, he's got a Ford Cortina
That just won't run without fuel
Fill her up, Jacko!

An' the invoice it don't quite fit,
There's no payola in his alphabetical file
This time he's gonna really tell the boss
Gonna really let him know exactly how he feels
It's pretty bad!

Let them know - how you feel

[johnny]

I'm distraught.I got to know Joe Strummer very well.He was camped at the recording studio I worked at,recording his penultimate album "Rock Art And The X-Ray Style" a few years ago,and I used to stay on after my shift had finished and sit and chat and drink whisky with him most of the night.He was a facinating bloke and very funny,everyone who met him loved him.Feel so sad for Luce his wife and his daughters who are such good people.Joe always liked helping a good cause.I remember he once asked me what was going on at Palace (Joe supported Chelsea) with all the Goldberg chaos,and I explained it to him as best I could,and he signed our fans petition (in his real name of John Mellor) as he thought it would be tragic if our club ceased to exist.I didn't see him for a couple of years when he finished recording,but then I got in touch with him when he was playing Dublin on the off chance that he might remember me (people in the music biz' often cease to remember you when they've run out of uses for you) and get me a ticket and back stage pass-not only did he remember me (and even that I was a Palace fan!),but he got me 2 tickets for the Royal Box and the after gig party was a corker!.He was like that with everone.A great great bloke.
JOE STRUMMER R.I.P.

[Mat ov CPFC]

I will confess to not being the greatest Clash fan ( although I have a Clash singles album ) but thats a great memory Johnny and he does seem to be a genuine person as opposed to the image of many in the music buisness.

[El Aguila]

Originally posted by johnny
I'm distraught........!.He was like that with everone.A great great bloke.
JOE STRUMMER R.I.P.
That's very nice - thanks for that. I only met him a couple of times and drinking but my brief impression of him was just as you say.

[bert head is god]

What a shock. Joe was unique. Not only did he help create a truly new sound in the late seventies, but in doing so he had an incredible influence on countless bands since. He always had a reputation, as stated elsewhere, for being a genuine good person and after The Clash split he put a lot of effort in the promotion of independent bands.

He found a band called Los Fabulosos Cadillacs in Argentina and tried to launch them to success in the United States. They gained a sizeable following but sadly did not break into the mainstream.

A lot of people have lost a true friend and mentor today.

RIP Joe

[TARRING EAGLE]

Very sad news The Clash are probably Britains greatest ever band,yet tomorrow the papers will give it a couple of lines and ******* girls aloud will get pages.
Joe Strummer R.I.P

[JohnA]

Originally posted by SKATE
Even more reason for Rob Fox to play London Calling at SP for the Preston and Coventry games. Great band - a sad loss. God I feel old :(

Exactly what I was thinking (just before Glad All Over)

It is sad news. Is there some Pogues curse on Christmas? Joe sang with the band (he replaced Shane when they sacked him) and also produced them. 2 years ago Kirstie Macoll died at Christmas.

[Thanet Eagle]

Originally posted by TARRING EAGLE
Very sad news The Clash are probably Britains greatest ever band,yet tomorrow the papers will give it a couple of lines and ******* girls aloud will get pages.
Joe Strummer R.I.P

Totally agree with both sentiments.A sad day for real music fans.London Calling is one of the best singles of all time.R.I.P Joe Strummer 2002

[selhurst]

Been watching clips from the 'Rude Boy' DVD tonight. I didn't want to feel nostalgic, but I find it impossible not to be.

[Martin Searle]

Gutted. Hadn't heard until logging onto the BBS tonight. I think I'll have the headphones out later....

[99percent]

:(

[Meerkat 2]

Sad, sad, sad news. Why do the great ones get taken early.

[CPaul]

VALE Joe. Super quality man. Truely legendary band.

[Thatch]

Terrible news. Another one of the great ones goes early. The Clash were a big part of my life. This will sadden Christmas somewhat ,but he wouldn't want us to mope about at his expense. Lets have a beer to the great man and play his music LOUD in tribute.

RIP Joe.

[Sir.S.C Remembered]

sad news

[eagle.hu]

I was shocked. My all time favourite band was The Clash,
the first tape I ever got was London Calling. My Mum brought
it from Vienna. At that time, here in Hungary we could not by the
current western albums, tapes. She brought me one, and I could hardly
wait to hear the music. But the was twisted inside the casette and I could not hear anything. I had to pull it aou, cut out the damaged parts
and then stick it...so I had a half London Calling and could not manage
to get a new one for years.

[Gagging Ferret]

Originally posted by TARRING EAGLE
Very sad news The Clash are probably Britains greatest ever band,yet tomorrow the papers will give it a couple of lines and ******* girls aloud will get pages.
Joe Strummer R.I.P
Telegraph gave page three to him and a very large obituary.He seemed a very decent bloke.

[Lee B]

Raised a glass to the great man last night.

I'm told that the Clash used to try to get as many of their fans as they could back stage to the after show parties, explains why they had such a connection with the people, because they never forgot, became some tw@ts, never sold out.

I was 2 when the Clash were at their peak, gutted I never saw them, but relieved they never reformed.

The last gang in town.

When you look at some of the 'bands' out there now it's enough to make you weep.

[Skin Up]

Very Sad, the Clash were a bit before my time but a lot of the bands I listen to were heavily influenced by them.

Strangly I was listening to the London Calling album for the first time in months the day before I heard the news.

[BaldEagle96]

Punk was my time and the Clash were just the VERY best.... I was very saddened to hear of his passing and only hope that he has gone on to better things now....

RIP Joe....

[Tony]

This is the Independent's obituary.

Joe Strummer

Frontman of the Clash and eloquent spokesman for punk

24 December 2002

John Graham Mellor (Joe Strummer), singer and songwriter: born Ankara 21 August 1952; married 1975 Pamela Moolman (marriage dissolved), (two daughters with Gaby Parker), 1995 Lucinda Tait (one stepdaughter); died Broomfield, Somerset 22 December 2002.

The job of being Joe Strummer, spokesman for the punk generation and front man for the Clash, never sat easily with the former John Mellor. Always prepared to give of himself to his fans, he still felt a weight of responsibility on his shoulders that often made him crave anonymity, as much as the natural performer within him needed the spotlight.

But when – after a hiatus of almost a decade and a half – he returned to recording and performing with a new group, the Mescaleros, in 1999, it was business as usual: seemingly the same huge amounts of energy, passion and heart-on-sleeve belief that were his trademark with the Clash and that drew a worldwide audience for him and the group. After a show the dressing-room or backstage bar still would be crammed with fans and friends as Joe held forth on the issues of the day, in his preferred role of pub philosopher and articulate rabble-rouser for the dispossessed. (Even here was the endless paradox of Joe Strummer: he could argue the case for Yorkshire pitworkers or homeless Latinos in Los Angeles, but, if obliged to reveal himself through any interior observation, he would generally freeze. Even other members of the Clash would complain about his hopelessness at soul-baring.)

Yet when he played a show at the 100 Club in London two years ago, he was so exhausted afterwards that he had to lie down on the floor of the dressing-room: his Mescaleros' set included a good percentage of Clash songs, and you worried that the frenetic speed at which they were performed would test the health of a man approaching his 50th birthday. In an irony that Joe Strummer no doubt would have appreciated, his death the day before yesterday came not from the stock rock'n'roll killers of drugs, drink, or road accidents, but after taking his dog for a walk at his home in Somerset: sitting down on a chair in his kitchen, he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Neither of his parents had lived to a ripe old age. Joe Strummer, who earned his sobriquet from his crunchy rhythm-guitar style, was born in Ankara, Turkey, in 1952 to a career diplomat. Christened John Graham Mellor, he was sent at the age of 10 to a minor public school, the City of London Freemen's School at Ashtead Park in Surrey. He had already lived in Cairo, Mexico City ("I remember the 1956 earthquake vividly; running to hide behind a brick wall, which was the worst thing to do," he once told me) and Bonn. Strummer's father's profession of diplomat didn't arise from any position of privilege – quite the opposite, in fact. "He was a self-made man, and we could never get on," said Strummer:

He couldn't understand why I was last in every class at school. He didn't understand there were different shapes to every piece of wood, different grains to people. I don't blame him, because all he knew was that he pulled himself out of it by studying really hard.

All the same, such a background was not especially appropriate in the mid-1970s punk world of supposed working-class heroes, which may explain why Strummer always seemed even more anarchic than his contemporaries. Mick Jones, like Strummer a former art-school student, discovered Joe when he was singing with the squat-rock r'n'b group the 101'ers, and poached him for a group he was forming called the Clash, becoming his songwriting partner: matched to Jones's Zeitgeist musical arrangements, Strummer's lyrics were the words of a satirical poet, and often hilariously funny – one of his first creative contributions on linking up with Mick Jones was to change the title of a love-song called "I'm So Bored With You" to "I'm So Bored With the USA". Verbal non- sequiturs were a speciality: his gasped aside of "vacuum-cleaner sucks up budgie" at the end of "Magnificent Seven", inspired by a newspaper headline on the studio floor, is one of the funniest lines in rock'n'roll.

Strummer had one brother, David, 18 months his senior. By the time he reached 16, the younger boy had become accustomed to his brother's far-right leanings – he had joined the National Front – and to the fact that he was obsessed, "in a cheap paperback way", with the occult. Was it this unpleasant cocktail that led David to commit suicide? Whatever, it was clearly a cathartic moment for his younger brother: Joe Strummer often seemed overhung by a mood of mild depression, a constant struggle.

After dropping out of Central College of Art ("after about a week"), he threw himself into the alternative world of squatting. Moving for a time to Wales, he spent one Christmas on acid listening to Big Youth's Screaming Target classic and so discovered reggae. One of the main themes propagated by the Clash was the rise of a multi-cultural Britain; in the group's early music reggae rhythms jostled with an almost puritan sense of rock'n'roll heritage; as the group progressed, it osmosed and absorbed Latin, blues, and early hiphop sounds, with Strummer's never-less-than-heartfelt lyrics making him a modern-day protest singer, in a tradition stretching back to Woody Guthrie.

Positive light to the darkness of the Sex Pistols, the Clash released an incendiary, eponymously titled first album in 1977, the year of punk, a Top Ten hit. With Strummer at the helm, the group toured incessantly: at a show that year at Leeds University, he delivered the customary diatribe of the times: "No Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones . . . But John Lennon rules, OK?" he barked, revealing a principle influence and hero of his own. The next year, after a night spent at a reggae concert, he wrote what he himself felt was his finest song, "White Man in Hammersmith Palais", a blues ballad that opened up the musical gates for the future of the group.

In that song, however, was contained the seeds of a paradox that would become more and more uncomfortable for Strummer: one line spoke of "new groups . . . turning rebellion into money". Through writing such outsider lyrics, he became a millionaire; his problem was one common to many radical figureheads: how do you remain a folk hero when you have succeeded in your aim and are no longer the underdog?

As they toured the country that summer of 1978, the group's concerts were shot for a feature film, Rude Boy, directed by David Mingay and Jack Hazan. "He already seemed to be suffering terribly from the notion of being Joe Strummer," said Mingay:

He wasn't exactly lying back and having a great time. Joe was always full of contradictions, one of which was that he managed to be both ultra-British and anti-British at the same time.

With London Calling (1979), their third album, the group achieved commercial American success. Sandinista, a sprawling three-record set, followed (1980). When it became clear that the album was commercial folly, Strummer demanded the return of their original manager Bernard Rhodes, a business colleague of Malcolm McLaren and someone with whom Mick Jones had always had an awkward relationship. With Rhodes's sense of wily situationism powering the group, the potential disaster of Sandinista was turned into a triumph after the group played 16 nights at Bond's in Times Square, New York. The group were the toast of the town, and only a big commercial hit stood between them and superstardom.

That came in 1982 with Combat Rock, a huge international success, selling five million copies. Strummer bought a substantial terrace house in London, in Notting Hill, yet seemed to feel obliged to justify it by explaining that it reminded him of the houses he used to squat. By 1984, the Clash had begun to disintegrate; the heroin-addicted drummer Topper Headon was replaced; then, extraordinarily, Mick Jones was fired, Strummer having gone along with Rhodes's perversely iconoclastic desire to get rid of the group founder. New members were brought in, but the Clash finally fizzled out in 1986.

Strummer's sense of guilt over the sacking of Jones developed to a point of almost clinical complexity. In the late summer of 1986 he asked me to go for a drink with him. After much alcohol had been consumed, he suddenly announced: "I've got a big problem: Mick was right about Bernie [Rhodes]." He had finally realised he had been manipulated. He caught a plane to the Bahamas, where Mick Jones was on holiday: an ounce of grass in his hand, he sought out the guitarist's hotel, and presented him with this tribute, asking to get the Clash back together. But it was too late: Jones had already formed a new group, Big Audio Dynamite; although Strummer ended up co- producing BAD's second album, his own plans came to nothing.

A familiar figure on the streets and in the bars of Notting Hill, Joe Strummer was mired – as he later admitted to me – in depression. He tried acting, with a passable role in Alex Cox's Straight to Hell (1987), and a minor part in the same director's Walker (1987), for which he also wrote the music; he made a much more significant impression in 1989, playing an English Elvis-like rocker in Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train. That same year he released an impressive solo album, Earthquake Weather, and toured. But, apart from briefly filling in as singer with the Pogues, he was hardly heard of again. For a time Tim Clarke, who now manages Robbie Williams, attempted to guide his career. "He was obviously in bad shape," Clarke told me:

He'd turn up for meetings the worse for wear. You could see he was going through a bad time, but you also felt there was probably no one he could really talk to about it.

After moving out of Notting Hill to a house in Hampshire – he had become worried about his two daughters, he said, after one of them found a syringe in a west London playground – he split up with his longterm partner Gaby. In 1995, he married Lucinda Tait; moving to Bridgwater in Somerset, Joe seemed to find a relative peace. He formed the Mescaleros and began recording again, releasing two excellent albums, Rock, Art and the X-Ray Style (1999) and Global A Go-Go (2001), that title a reflection of his interests in world music, about which he presented a regular show on the BBC World Service. Strummer was once again touring, incessantly and on a worldwide basis: he was playing to sold-out audiences, with a set that contained a large amount of Clash material. "All that's happening for me now is just a chancer's bluff," he told me in 2000:

This is my Indian summer . . . I learnt that fame is an illusion and everything about it is just a joke. I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all.

One of Joe Strummer's last concerts was at Acton Town Hall in London last month, a benefit for the Fire Brigade Union. Andy Gilchrist, the leader of the FBU, was apparently politicised after seeing the Clash perform a "Rock Against Racism" concert in Hackney in 1978, and had asked Strummer if he would play the Acton show. That night Mick Jones joined him onstage, the first time they had performed live together since Jones had been so unfairly booted out of the Clash. "I nearly didn't go. I'm glad I did," said the guitarist, the poetry of that reunion clear to him.

Bitterly critical of the present Labour government for betraying its former ideals, Joe Strummer was delighted at the show for the firemen; a smile came over his face at the idea that, if only tangentially, his former group was still capable of causing discomfort for those in power. His death, however, comes as a deep shock. After considerable time in the wilderness, Strummer seemed to have reinvented himself as a kind of Johnny Cash-like elder statesman of British rock'n'roll, a much-loved artist and everyman figure.

"I still thought he'd be doing this in 30 years' time," said his friend the film director Don Letts.

Chris Salewicz

[El Aguila]

A lot better than the one in the Guardian.

[Elephant with mouse gyp]

The Andy Gilchrist thing is symptomatic of his influence, certainly on the likes of me. Billy Bragg said yesterday that Punk's claim on politics was all down to Joe Strummer; that Punk wasn't political without The Clash and that The Clash weren't political without Joe Strummer. I don't think anyone would claim that his views were all that coherent but he opened the door to the other side for loads of us. It was great that in all the puny, f uckwit TV obits yesterday the empty vessel grinning presenters didn't have a clue how to deal with him. When Lennon died they could lean on both Love Me Do etc. and Double Fantasy but Joe didn't give them that crutch.

[Tim of the 80's]

Originally posted by willythesqueeze
The Clash gig in Purley (was it Tiffany's? - memory fading with age) will go down as one of my favourites of all time, especially with the Slits supporting. I haven't followed his career much post-Clash but for the massive influence in my teens... a big CHEERS. A sad day indeed.

Yeah it was Tiffany's - I was at that one too. One of the best gigs I ever saw...

For me, they were the best of all the punk bands, none of the Pistols cynicism or the Jam's po-faced earnestness, and the heart of them was Strummer. He made a difference.

[eagle.hu]

Does anybody out there know something about Paul Simonon, the bassist of The Clash? Did he say something these sad days?

[Stellavista]

I've only ever owned the debut album and London Calling, and a bunch of the singles, but The Clash, and Mr Strummer, were hugely significant in my late teens.
I was lucky enough to be in a band that supported The Clash on the 'Sixteen Tons' Tour, which I guess would have been around 1979.
My abiding memory of that experience was the way in which Strummer, and Jones, made us feel welcome to their world.

We were wet behind the ears kids, and they were already huge stars, a good few years older than us, and needn't have bothered, but they did.
We were well looked after, off and on stage, and treated like human beings, as I understand Strummer tried to treat most he came in contact with.
Funnily enough, years later, Topper shared a flat with our bass player, in Brixton, but thats a whole other, less savoury, story.

I could raise a glass to Joe Strummer for being an outstanding songwriter, or an electric performer, or as a man who fought hard to stick to his principles, but for me, it's as a really decent man, who made me feel like I counted, when I was just some teenage oik with a guitar and a desire to get on a stage and play it.

God rest you John Mellor, you are a legend in my house.

[selhurstparkflyer]

I have just seen this thread.

I am no great music fan and he was before my time but The Clash was one band whose records I bought in my days. I still like their stuff.

Reading his obituaries, Joe Strummer seems to have been a very confused man (I suppose we all are)- eg he read the Daily Trelegraph.

Despite his suspect political views he appears to have been a fundamentally decent bloke and his death is obviously a great loss to all those he has influenced in a positive way.

[g23]

Just thought I'd mention that the new issue of Uncut magazine is a Clash special (coincidentally). 17 pages of history, comment etc. Haven't read it yet, but they're usually pretty good at giving neophytes an introduction, and old hands something to argue about.

[Axie]

I've just got that edition at lunchtime, looks like it went to press prior to his death as it mentions that they are now 'almost certain' to perform white riot when the clash are inducted into the hall of fame in march.

[Elephant with mouse gyp]

Originally posted by Axie
when the clash are inducted into the hall of fame in march.

Thank christ and all the angels that never happened.

[El Aguila]

Originally posted by Elephant with mouse gyp
Thank christ and all the angels that never happened.
They swooped down and killed the singer to make sure of it.

[BVB Bob]

JOE STRUMMER MEMORIAL FOREST

He meant a lot to me & it's evident that he influenced a lot of people's lives on here. At the moment there seem to be no plans for a memorial service of any sort, but the eco group he founded, Future Forests, are setting up a Joe Strummer Memorial Forest on the Isle of Skye. It's a small, but fitting, gesture. I will be paying my respects to the great man, & thanking him for being a part of my life, by planting a tree in this forest (in fact, sadly, I'm planting a "magnificent 7"). The link below allows you to do the same so go on. It's only £8.50 for a tree & as well as remembering someone who we all loved, it does that little bit for the eco-system too.

http://www.futureforests.com/halloffame/joestrummer1.asp

[Neil the Eagle]

Orbost is a beautiful location, I had wrongly assumed it was in one of the great sitka swathes near Portree. I will be buying a tree and organising a Strummer pilgrimage up there ...

(Ok, so I go to Skye most years to do some hill-walking, but it sounds much flashier this way)

[Gosling]

Just got home from a first aid duty at the Canterbury Fayre rock gig. Headlining tonight were the Buzzcocks, who introduced their second number (Autonomy?) with the words "This one's for Joe Strummer. Rest in peace mate. F ucking quality.". Fine words.

[NZsparky]

I'm still in shock about it and mourning the dude.
Like a lot of others he had a massive effect on me.
Sorry still can't talk about it, probably because the sh it he was telling us to resist remains pervasive today( well it is in my case).

[Kevin T]

Not just you it seems, cuz London Calling has just came top of XFM's 2003 best 104 song x-list.

[RtS]

"Phoney Beatle mania, has bitten the dust."

[BVB Bob]

Final album with the Mescaleros, Streetcore, out on 6th October for those that are interested. Rumours of a single too, currently titled Coma, for 22nd September release.

[NZsparky]

Originally posted by BVB Bob
Final album with the Mescaleros, Streetcore, out on 6th October for those that are interested. Rumours of a single too, currently titled Coma, for 22nd September release.

Thanks for this I will try and get it imported.

[guyw]

I'm a new member, Jo's wife Lucinda is one of my oldest friends, I'll forward a link to her so she can see this "thread", she likes to read peoples comments about Jo
Guyw

[JohnA]

Documentary on the Clash - this Friday. To commemerate his sad death.
I think its BBC2 21.00

[BringBackSasa]

Joe Strummer is DEAD?!?

[ginger eagle]

RIP Joe Strummer a great entertainer and will be sadly missed by the music world.

[Santos-er]

Originally posted by BringBackSasa
Joe Strummer is DEAD?!?

AGAIN???

[RtS]

Anyone see the "From the Westway" documentary repeat last night? Absolute class, brought it all back. The Clash were the finest, they broke the mould of the music world and reduced the Rod Stewarts of this world to establishment Broadway musicals where he belongs.

[Paul the eagle]

Its a year on from Joe's Death, i've posted on here to remind people how good he was. I shall now put on London Calling ( the best album ever released)
Joe we will never forget you

[BVB Bob]

Originally posted by Paul the eagle
Its a year on from Joe's Death, i've posted on here to remind people how good he was. I shall now put on London Calling ( the best album ever released)
Joe we will never forget you

Twas actually yesterday without being picky. Still find it hard to comprehend. My idol is dead. So help me sing...these songs of freedom, cos all I ever had.....redemption song.......

[celery stick]

One Year On.
King Rock Rebel.
Sorely missed.

[The Misfit]

For those of you who want to be reminded of just how great Joe Strummer and The Clash were, the film Rude Boy was re-released on dvd a couple of months ago. It has some brilliant live footage but amongst the extras is a totally storming performance of English Civil War at The Lyceum which is worth the asking price on its own.

The greatest rock band ever? Oh yes...

[selhurst]

I was VERY fortunate enough to have been around in 1977, when The Clash stormed onto the scene. I saw them at The Rainbow, The Lyceum, Hammersmith Palais and Victoria Park (with Jimmy Pursey as featured in Rude Boy).

It's difficult to imagine that Joe is no longer with us, but the records are still as fresh now as they were back then. The 'London Calling' album is one of the greatest records ever released.

The greatest rock band ever? No question about it.

[The Misfit]

Like you selhurst I was lucky to see them back in 77/78. I was at the Victoria Park gig but the best performance I ever saw was in a nightclub in Purley called (I think) Cinderellas just before Xmas '78. I was still buzzing a week later.

[JohnA]

On Newsnight tonight:

When "London Calling" was released, Margaret Thatcher was spending her first winter in Downing Street and the Russians were about to invade
Afghanistan.

In the 25 years since its release, "London Calling" has assumed a near
legendary status as one of the defining albums of the past few decades
but, since that time, rumours have abounded of secret recordings the
Clash made before the final "London Calling" sessions.

Now they're found, and Newsnight has the first world exclusive of some
of the unreleased tracks.

[celery stick]

Wow!
Thanks for that indeed John A!

[BringBackSasa]

Joe Strummer is DEAD?!?

[JohnA]

Originally posted by BringBackSasa
Joe Strummer is DEAD?!?

No its far worse:













Joe Dolce is dead.
(crashed into a car driven by the Krankies)

[BringBackSasa]

Are you sure it wasn't a van-dabba-dozy?

[SKATE]

London Calling - one of my all time favourite albums!

[Riccardo]

Originally posted by JohnA
No its far worse:

Joe Dolce is dead.
(crashed into a car driven by the Krankies)

Shuttaaaa uppppaaaa ya face !

[NZsparky]

Bugger, I thought this might have been a reference to the Vanilla tapes.

[Niceaction]

Joe Dolce's follow up to Shuttupa your face was 'toucha my car, I breaka your face'!

[BVB Bob]

Originally posted by NZsparky
Bugger, I thought this might have been a reference to the Vanilla tapes.

It is. Have a listen (only 50 seconds but better than nowt)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3622318.stm

[ebyeeckeagle]

Originally posted by NZsparky
Bugger, I thought this might have been a reference to the Vanilla tapes.

It was. Odd programme to publicise it on. Had Brian Jones talking about their unreleased stuff that we have heard about for so long. They played extracts of the 'new' stuff. Vanilla album actually out next month I think. Very poignant, with clips of Joe from the early days.

[celery stick]

Originally posted by Paul the eagle
Joe we will never forget you

We sure won't!
Rock Rebel!

[celery stick]

Originally posted by BVB Bob
It is. Have a listen (only 50 seconds but better than nowt)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3622318.stm

Thanks for the link BVB Bob.
I missed the programme last night - so great to see the actual feature.
Cheers.

[Aylott's_Son]

not wanting to nit pick celery, but wasn't it Mick Jones who wrote Stay Free?

[celery stick]

You're not nit picking.
You're not the first to ask this but I'm not saying Joe Strummer wrote it.
Its meant to read like this

"Go Easy, Step Lightly, Stay Free"
The Clash 1978

and then

Joe Strummer RIP

[The EEEAAAGGGLLLEEE!!!]

Has anyone heard Stiff Little Fingers tribute to Joe Strummer called Strummerville.

I saw SLD live in Cincinnati last week and the song that Jake Burns wrote is awsome and brings back great memories of Joe. Below are the lyrics.


You lit a flame in my heart
And it is burning still
And every time I hear you shout
It still gives me a thrill
I can see you up there
With your right leg pumping

Goodbye inspiration
Voice of a generation
Goodbye Inspiration
I won't be playing Strummerville again

You wore your heart on your sleeve
With honesty and pride
You gave me hope,made me believe
That what I did was right
You brought out a passion
That had long been missing
Yeah you brought out a passion
That you never stopped giving

Repeat chorus xs2

And if music seems mundane
It's cos the companies get their own way
And all the young bands seem to say
Please turn our rebellion into money

So thanks for giving me my creed
I'll try to stay onside
Y'or helping me to dare to dream
After all this time
Cos I still see you up there
On a stage and playing
Yeah I still see you up there
I still agree with what your saying

repeat chorus xs2

[celery stick]

Yeah I got it on one of the Clash tribute CD 's that came free with UNCUT a few months back.
Great lyrics for Joe.

[BVB Bob]

Not sure how easy it is for anyone to get there, but managed to get to the London Print Studio last week for the Joe Strummer exhibition there.
Worth an hour of your day, particularly to see original lyric sheets to London Calling, Somebody Got Murdered & Clampdown - to say the final versions differed somewhat is an understatement.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3638718.stm

Also, on a more Pistols based theme, this may be of interest to some:
www.thehospital.co.uk

[BVB Bob]

Five years on & I'm still gutted when I think that Joe's not around. Missing you still.

On another note there are tribute/fundraising nights all over the shop tonite. London has 2, one at Jamm in Brixton, one at the Half Moon in Herne Hill. Both look the sort of chaotic ramshackle events that Joe would have loved!

[celery stick]

Good one BVB.

RIP Joe.

[Scifo]

I watched Joe Strummer The Future is unwritten the other night. It was a very good dvd and he's certainly an interesting character, I can't say I'm sold on The Clash as a band though.

[Neil the Eagle]

Originally posted by BVB Bob
Five years on & I'm still gutted when I think that Joe's not around. Missing you still.

On another note there are tribute/fundraising nights all over the shop tonite. London has 2, one at Jamm in Brixton, one at the Half Moon in Herne Hill. Both look the sort of chaotic ramshackle events that Joe would have loved!

Was certainly true of the former... the night was saved by two star turns from the Larry Love Showband (aka acoustic Alabama 3) and Jim Bob, together with a great punk DJ set (not mine, I hasten to add).

[Sussex Eagle]

I'm both thankful and sad to be reminded of that anniversary. In many ways the spirit of the man is burning more fiercely in others now than before he died.

Thanks for everything Joe.

[Bintang]

Have we forgotten?

[The Misfit]

No, we haven't. Great man, missed now as much as ever.

[NZsparky]

No we have not

[The Misfit]

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2011/1508225546_bf54a7a429_z.jpg.