December 22nd, years ago this date held no significance to me and since 2002 it’s become a date on the calendar that sometimes I feel needs to be endured and when in better spirits a date to be celebrated. It was a mild (for December) day in the West Country of England and windy, a Sunday afternoon and the last weekend shopping day before Christmas that holiday season. As it turned out that was part of the reason why Joe Strummer died alone as his wife Lucinda had taken the girls out for some last minute Christmas shopping. According to what I’ve read she’d asked if he’d like to come but he refused saying he was a bit tired.

2002 had been a good year for Joe, fresh from a UK tour which saw the Mescaleros playing new material from the still unrecorded third album that would later become Streetcore with Lucinda Strummer overseeing his notes. Joe was impassioned about his new band and it was easy to see why, live they were a versatile band and Strummer was at ease playing Clash songs as well as cover versions while not making the new material marginal in any sense of the word. I’d seen Joe Strummer live the December before (if memory serves) and was thrilled at how great he looked, how at ease with his growing status as the elder statesman of punk. He still insisted on working hard, touring a lot and spending as much time with the fans as was possible. Funny that, the same things that perhaps caused The Clash too self destruct were what he lived for and I guess he always did. Lucinda lamented that she wished they had more time together but Joe always wanted to tour, to play the music, to meet the people who bought the records. In one of those moments that seems too unlikely even for a film Joe was even joined on stage by Mick Jones in Acton for the final songs of his set on November 15th, just 5 weeks before he died. Remarkably this was one of his last ever performances at the tour ended just a week later in Liverpool. Everything happens for a reason I’m always told, and so it may be.

The Mescaleros album was looking  set to be recorded that forthcoming Spring, Joe was also writing a song with Bono and Dave Stewart for the Mandela Day concert that was just six weeks away. The wasteland of the 1990′s now seemed to have been firmly behind Joe as the press (who always were tough on him post-Clash) were seemingly now seeing him as having matured into an elder, better (?) and more resourceful campaigner now that punk rock had been cleaned up and filed under ‘fad’. In some senses the fact that Joe was now on the BBC world service sharing his love for all types of music and being interviewed more frequently that at any point since the early 1980′s had put Strummer back on the map. Cynics say he was becoming part of the establishment, I beg to differ and suggest you watch the Dick Rude Joe Strummer documentary DVD “Let’s Rock Again” – Joe was never seeking to be part of the establishment, much less were doors ever being opened for him.

However I think what hurt the most for me when the news appeared on my computer screen was the feeling that “NO – HE’S STILL GOT TOO MUCH WORK TO DO, SO MUCH TO SAY”, I know that’s what I was feeling (along with the despair, anger, turmoil and grief) I’d been playing Global A-Go-Go almost daily since it was released in July of 2001. That album meant so much to me, when the events of September 2001 befell the United States it seemed at such odds with what Strummer was singing (and he so loved New York). Global A-Go-Go was about unity and reflection, it was about the world being far more interesting a proposition without walls and borders, without fear and hate. The stranger danger of The Clash lyric had now been replaced by an older seasoned Strummer who wrote on Bhindi Bhagee about strangers once more, this time though inclusion was his goal.

Welcome stranger to the humble neighborhoods
You can get inspiration along the highroad

That album marked such a fantastic accomplishment for Strummer in terms of music, blending sounds from around the world and styles from the delta right back to West London. Joe was back and knowing a new album was in the works was so exciting, I couldn’t wait to see him live again…perhaps this time I’d have the courage to try and get my 7″ single of ‘Tommy Gun’ signed. I was always too nervous to try and meet Joe previously, something about that seemed too lofty for me…funny how much I regret such a daft fear now.

So it was that later on that Sunday afternoon Joe Strummer took his dog/dogs (depends what you read) for his normal early evening walk on the fields near his home in Broomfield, Somerset. By best accounts he concluded his walk, took the dog off the lead and then sat in his favourite chair to read a copy of the newspaper. That would be the last event of Joe’s life, as he passed away in that chair due to an undiagnosed congential heart defect.

I can’t begin to fully explain how badly I reacted, I’m too guarded to share how fucking devastated I was, 2002 had been a difficult year, my marriage right at it’s very ending and I was learning how to be single again. Facing Christmas was the last thing I fancied that winter and then I turned on the computer to see a yahoo headline from the Associated Press that simply read:

Punk legend Joe Strummer dead aged 50

I clicked on the link hoping I’d misread the headline, or that somehow maybe this was some shit dream that would stop as soon as the alarm went off. I clicked and waited, the odyssey that began for this eleven year old kid hearing The Clash from his brother’s bedroom was now suddenly over. I was 35 and my hero was dead at 50, I suddenly felt really old and angry about everything. I remember thinking how can Strummer be dead when (various people I abhor) are still living? This is so wrong, crying like a kid I remember playing Nitcomb from Rock Art and The X-Ray Style, I played it maybe four or five times, dug out my Clash vinyl and had a brutally sad morning playing records, looking at pictures and getting ready for a world without Joe Strummer.

As you enter our house there are some shelves, and instead of the traditional photos of weddings and babies I have a framed black and white photo of Strummer. It’s positioned to be noticed only as I leave the house…that’s when I need him the most.

Tim

Hello in Clash loving living rooms, offices, trains (do you use your phone to read this?) and elsewhere Just a few quick links for you tonight and part two of the Carbon Silicon album review tomorrow. I had the best laid plans on Saturday and then spent the last few days with the flu…I know one thing after another. I’ve got this optimism burning bright now – daily or more posts as originally planned on The Clash Blog. There’s so much music and news to share and you lot keep sending me great stuff also – I’m backlogged and that’s a good thing.

Our good friend Pete (Photographer and all around nice chap) bumped into a certain Mick Jones the other night at The Inn On The Green. Being a photographer he didn’t have a camera, but did capture this with Mick’s approval via his laptop…truth be told Mick essentially lined it up and took the snap (so a semi-exclusive!). Seems Mr. Jones was in excellent form and having a good night seeing Dirty Strangers (? the band..not the collective) and popped up on stage to jam with John Sinclair. Sinclair was the former MC5 manager and a White Panther…(Detroit breeds good committed people doesn’t it?)…he’s still incredibly active and 68 years young…puts me to shame…sitting here typing out my blog drinking a Latte….shame. Anyway – photo is to the right….pretty cool!

I’m listening to No 10 Upping Street this evening and I’ve got to say this album gets stronger and stronger as the years roll by. Mick’s lyrics (and vocals) were far more structured than the (still strong) debut album and he’d shaken of any post Clash hangover by the time the recording got underway on the 2nd Big Audio Dynamite album. The band never got the critical praise and sales that I think they merited but if you’re newer to The Clash and wanted some of the better post-Clash albums in your collection you could do a lot worse than pick this disc up. Listen in entirety for free on lala.com or head over to Amazon UK (4.50 GBP) or Amazon USA ($2.50) - there is supposed to be a reissue with bonus tracks in 2010, but don’t wait – get listening. Added to that the Joe production/co-writing and I guess it’s as near to a Clash continuation as we ever got.

Right, this next bit makes me happy and angry at the same time. Sardinia, island in the Mediterranean and part of Italy, has a small town in the middle of the island called Tonara. All well and good so far right? Well they also now have a street named after Joe Strummer (see picture below). While I think that’s brilliant – why the hell hasn’t London (or Somerset) or similar made this happen yet? Is the bureaucracy in England such that we can’t honor our modern day poets? You’ll name a bloody 150 million pound motorway bridge after a woman who was born into her job and yet still nothing after Joe? (Oh yeah…and The Queen is still alive and she never wrote White Riot did she! ). I’d be content with a small lane in West London, or even a tube stop on the Metropolitan line being called Strummerville….better still let’s call the Westway the Clash memorial flyover (they name all the freeways here after people…..one of our locals was just renamed after a soldier sadly killed in Iraq…) Not sure how to get a campaign started…but it’s on my 2010 list. If any readers of the blog work on a borough council in London (or anywhere in England) please get in touch and we can start a petition!

Unrelated to The Clash – but if you love great guitar music chances are you’ve owned a few albums produced by Steve Albini? He’s been one the producer on a number of my favourite albums and rarely gives interviews that offer more than soundbites, so I was thrilled to find this LENGTHY interview with him on The Daily Swarm. If you’ve enjoyed The Wedding Present, The Breeders, Helmet, Manic Street Preachers, PJ Harvey, The Frames, Low, Mogwai, Nirvana (to name a few) you may already have heard his production. One of my favourite producers – so tuck into his interview and get listening.

One other thing I need to clear off my list (although the film is nearly two years old) if you’ve not seen Happy Go Lucky – then  you should. I’ve always been a fan on Mike Leigh’s films (someone who doesn’t go all Bridget Jones when setting a film in England) and the performances he gets from Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan are just remarkable and both dominate the film. Let me know what you think.

Night then….

Hello and welcome back, something is trying to stop me from keeping the Clash Blog on track! Internet was out for a few days this week – cable company finally arrived to announce that they had disconnected the wrong house. Nice one indeed. Apologies – yes … Refund for missed service – of course not….(it’s not like I need the internet for my job as I work from home…oh wait yes I do). Needless to say playing catch up has meant the blog hit the pause button again…for which I’m sorry.

Big News though –- Don Letts has announced he is going to be working on a documentary all about the Strummerville foundation. That’s good news on two fronts, firstly what a great and worthy topic for his next project coupled with (in my eyes) an ideal person to put it together. Letts’ affilation with Strummer and The Clash goes right back to 1977. He has worked ceaselessly the last decade in chronicling the London scene and the role that The Clash played. I honestly can’t wait to see the outcome of this although my initial concern as with most things cinematic is whether we will see a global release? The internet has enabled me to get essentially any CD I need even if it’s not imported to the USA but with the regional issues that impact DVD you never know where that leaves you. When I learn more I will of course share that information. Letts most recent work was Carnival which was released this August as I covered on the blog. Here’s a link to the trailer….

Back to the Strummerville project — beneath is the official blurb from Brassneck TV (Letts production company) and of course Strummerville have additional information right here.