Sorry for the lack of news, it’s been an odd 36 hours and the show must go on! I enjoyed…….no that’s the wrong word….I spent time observing Joe’s Birthday yesterday and it’s very hard to articulate how you feel. Like so many of you who wrote it in, it straddled the line between celebratory and morose, bittersweet is a word I heard more than once. After a long day the image (previous post) of Mick Jones from the ‘library’ in front of the Strummerville banner almost encapsulated everything about the day – or more broadly the loss of Joe overall.

I’m left wishing I had another Strummer album to wait for (there are some rumours of Sony working with Lucinda) or a tour, even an interview or two. You can’t go back and I appreciate that, and for someone who did so much great work maybe it’s selfish to think “I wish there were more”. One of the many things I read yesterday was along the lines of

‘sad though the loss of Joe is, imagine a world where The Clash never existed, that’s real tragedy’

- and that’s a really good point. We spend far too much time and energy bemoaning what isn’t and what cannot be and should redirect some of that in celebrating what is. Music for us (I’d assume if you read about The Clash 25-30 years after the fact makes you a fan) is part of something that gives us hope, or energy, or inspiration, or unity. Perhaps The Clash did those things as well as anyone, perhaps it’s all about personal preference.

I wanted to see Joe get older, I wanted him to be there with Mick when Springsteen floored Hyde Park a few weeks back. To be appearing with Conan O’Brien in the US when he got the new ‘big gig’ on american late night TV. I wanted him to do more radio shows. I wanted him to discuss Obama winning. I wanted him to see the greener planet he strove for become more of a hot topic and maybe a reality. I wanted him to hang with his fans and live to a ripe old age in Somerset. I wanted him to always be there….I wanted too much.

I do feel that Joe Strummer meant more though, I do think his contribution might be far more revered in 15 years than it is today. Most of all from all I’ve read, people felt they lost a friend and someone who stood up and was prepared to be counted. The music, yes of course that mattered but the people who made it were something else. I’ll get normal service resumed tomorrow and Clash Cup matchups and features, news and updates. If anyone made it along to the last day under the Westway today please share what you saw and heard…Clash Fans await. Sorry for my rambling….I think Bob Gruen said it best when we lost Joe. Goodnight…

“I’m in shock over the sudden death of my friend Joe. He was the strongest of men, a real inspirational leader, a guy who never seemed to tire of listening to people and talking to them, learning and teaching all the time. He had true compassion for everyone he met. He was the nicest and also the most fun loving person I’ve known.”

Bob Gruen