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

Well it’s that time of year isn’t it – and I’m not talking about presents and religous holidays. Tomorrow marks the 7th anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer. Where do I begin to write about that tomorrow? Since I started the Clash Blog I’ve enjoyed covering many of the positive news and future developments around the band members and their exploits, however on a regular basis the nagging reminder that this is only running on three cyclinders is never far from my thoughts.

I wish I was writing about Joe Strummer’s new record and tour – and not his memorial concerts. I wish Joe was visiting Mick’s exhibition this past Summer along with Lucinda instead of her without him. I wish Joe had seen this decade unfold and heard what he had to say. However, wishing won’t change anything and I dare say many of you share these sentiments so I won’t ramble on about what isn’t.

Tomorrow I’ll try and explain what Joe Strummer means to me – I think it important to keep that in the present tense. I wasn’t friends with Joe or The Clash….I didn’t spend time with him or them. I was lucky enough to be exposed to their music and views at an early age and it profoundly shaped who I’ve become. Not ‘knowing’ Joe I suppose should make much it easier then right? Of course the grief we (as ‘fans’) share is somehow more pedestrian than the loss felt by his family and close friends. I hope that those same people are still being inspired by Joe seven years on, I know many people are.

Somehow the loss of Joe has made people explore the depths of the man with greater scrutiny and (usually) respect. I’m not a seasoned journalist looking to put The Clash on a pedestal and compare in terms of importance with The Beatles or The Stones, The Doors or The Velvet Underground, Oasis or Blur. I can only write about how The Clash and therefore by default Joe impacted my life. I’ve learned over the months of doing the blog that my ‘knowledge’ of The Clash, of punk and the scene that spawned it is still growing and so many of you have so much to offer. It could be your age, your location, the people you know or ‘dedication’ to the band and its great to share those experiences – but I know we share that one crucial thing our memory that  – THE CLASH MEANT SOMETHING – (and were somehow ‘ours’)

I’ve lost people in my life of course as we all have. When you know them personally its different, you have a personal relationship and ideally you’ve had a chance to say how you appreciate, respect and love them. I do think our sole purpose is  building positive relationships and being good to those we care about. With Joe it was different, I never was able to say thank you, never had a chance to explain how he shaped my youth and then my adult life, I was 11 when I first heard The Clash and 35 when Joe died – I lost such a great friend.

I won’t start a contest about how much it hurt to lose Strummer…at some point (maybe this year…but probably not) I’ll try and explain how late December of 2002 went for me. For whatever reason there were difficult changes all year long (many of which were on the face of it more relevant) but the loss of Joe right before Christmas allowed me to grieve for a long while. Fuck it was difficult wasn’t it? Strummer couldn’t die….that wasn’t part of the plan. If you want to write something about Joe….please please do so in the comments section (or I can extra posts tomorrow)

It took me a few years to realise that his death didn’t mean the end of what his life was about…and hopefully in some strange way it elevated it to a new place. Some days it makes me bloody angry, other days a bit gloomy but most days I feel fortunate – fortunate that I knew a band could change your life – and that trying to be a decent person was more important than possessions, accomplishments or recognition. Strummer never stopped trying to be decent and make a difference. Despite his many faults he never stopped growing – that’s a good life in my book.

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