Strummer 10th anniversary audio tributes
Right then, enough of that holidays lark – there’s work to be done. That’s how it is in the US sadly, no sooner do you have the kids move their toys to their bedrooms than its time to get out and go back to work again the next morning. No matter how long I live here I’ll never get used to Boxing Day being a normal work day, then again Arsenal didn’t play today (thanks tube drivers, you did what the Luftwaffe failed to do and canceled boxing day football) so it didn’t even feel like a proper Boxing Day either. Needless to say I only worked a bit today, convincing myself it was sort of a day off. With that said I hope your Christmas (*other celebrations are available) went well and you got more than a lump of coal. Any Clash related gifts I need to know about?
I thought I’d try and continue the holiday spirit at least another day or two, but rather than celebrate Bethlehem’s most famous son I thought we should continue remembering Ankara’s instead. There’s no reason our 10th anniversary of Joe Strummer should be limited to just December 22nd so tonight I’ve got enough listening to keep you glued to your computer/laptop/i-thing for at least another half a day. Happily there have been a lot of tribute broadcasts to Joe this year and having managed to get through most of them I can endorse them all as being fully worth your investment of time. So with that said in no particular order try these. Also if you know of others that are available as online archives please let me know, doesn’t matter if you’re in Malta, Milan or Manila.
Don Letts BBC6 Music Strummer Special – I think this must be the 5th year in a row that Don has put together a special broadcast for Joe. On the negative side he doesn’t mix up the playlist as much you might like, on the plus side Don does of course have a mountain of personal stories about Joe that he shares between tracks. BBC iPlayer has this archived until Monday I believe (Dec 30) and you should be able to access it globally. Running time is 2 hours.
image courtesy www.mainstagegallery.com
Phonic FM’s Trash City Joe Strummer Tribute - Every Tuesday when I’m working I notice a lot of folks on Facebook getting pretty hopped up about a weekly broadcast from Exeter’s Phonic FM. Trash City with DJ Joe Rebel is a weekly broadcast that always features a good dose of Clash related tunes and week after week I’m annoyed I miss it. Happy to say that this years Joe Strummer Tribute has been uploaded and I’m listening to it a second time as I write this. Excellent stuff. The Facebook Page for the show is lively too, like a modern day Tufty Club.
CJAM’s annual Strummer Day – I’m trying to find out if all or even some of Windsor Ontario station’s annual Joe Strummer broadcast will be archived. Last year I had it on for much of the day, this year I managed a few hours and it was once again superb. To their immense credit they dedicate the whole days broadcasting to Joe Strummer and special features that look at issues of homelessness and poverty in the Detroit/Windsor area. They do a great job and if I can get archive information I’ll be sure to let you know.
DJ Scratchy – Two part special tribute to Joe. Part I and Part II – No apologies for saving this for the last link. DJ Scratchy was the nearest thing a band ever got to having their own resident DJ and as you’d expect each of these setlists are stellar. He performed that role with The Clash for better than two years. I always wanted to spell that word the same as the beer and these broadcasts are that too. Not sure how long they’ll be online but please make sure and get listening now, just in case. Incidentally if for some reason you’ve never bookmarked Scratchy’s website here it is so you can do so.
Right then, that should keep you busy there is a mountain of great alternate versions, live tracks and good honest chatter above that I can’t endorse these sufficiently. My presents to you for the holidays, each of these are great but let me know if you have a favourite. More soon I’m sure – cheers for dropping by.
Our local non-commercial "community" radio station, KDHX (St. Louis, MO), had one of their DJ's host a two hour tribute to Joe today. You can find it here: http://kdhx.org/play/radio-shows/drifters-escape You can hear it by clicking on the the box at the top that says "LISTEN", and you can click down below to see the playlist. I've yet to listen to it, but it looks like a good one!
thanks for that Mike. I'll definitely give it a go.
Scratchy sets the tone just right as it was back in the day. When arriving at a hotel it was just like this, with each band member strolling in with their own sounds playing on their ghetto blaster. I don't know what the locals must have thought, suddenly being exposed to ska, cajun, funk, rockabilly….it must have been like a musical free-buffet.
Just listening to Don Letts' BBC Radio 6 tribute whilst sorting out all my 100 Club photos. It's very good indeed….
NPR had this short piece on Morning Edition:
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167651279/joe-strum…