Joe Strummer A personal tribute to a legend

The news hit me like a blow to the stomach.  I was hoping it was one of those sick Internet jokes because it sounded so unbelievable.  Yet there it was, plastered all over the news; ‘Joe Strummer, frontman of the Clash, is dead’.  That same night on my weekly radio show for Bradford’s St. Luke’s Sound, I dedicated the full hour to the Clash’s music.  As I went through the classics, it sunk in just how important Strummer and the Clash were to my musical upbringing and how the world is a much sadder place without Joe’s talent, especially since his profile was at its highest in years.

Fifteen years ago, I discovered the Clash via a reissued version of ‘I Fought the Law’, a track they recorded in 1979.  Being only nine years old at the time and previously unaware of their existence, let alone the fact they were no longer together, I assumed it was a new song.  Whatever, it was one of the most exciting things I ever heard.   The way Topper Headon’s drum roll comes on like an asteroid hurtling towards Earth and then impacts to create an explosion of pure rock n’ roll excitement still urges me to turn the volume up on the stereo whenever and wherever I hear it.  Here was a band whose name matched the power of their music and it sounded cool too.  Even if I didn’t know either band’s music, I’d much rather be into a band called The Clash than one named Coldplay.  

The Clash’s pot-pourri of musical styles kept them relevant in the public eye long after their 1977 peers had given up the ghost.  Sure they put up with more ‘sell-out’ accusations than most (not least for keeping a sneaky eye on the American stadia), yet their palette was not restricted to three-chord thrashers laced with the odd dabble in dub reggae.  ‘London Calling’ is the obvious starting point but its patchy follow-up ‘Sandanista!’ is an equally prime example of their musical diversity veering between rock, Motown, calypso, folk, gospel and so forth.  And how many other white rock bands flirted with the burgeoning hip-hop movement in 1980?With the Clash, it was never just about the music.  They looked great and, for years, I tried, and failed, to look like Joe Strummer.  When I tried to style my hair like his, it looked more like bad Bros quiff than punk rock hero!  Let that be a lesson to anyone else with fine blonde hair and similar ideas.  I had a biker’s jacket just like Strummer’s yet I didn’t look as cool in one as he did.  Joe wasn’t blessed with the greatest of vocal pipes, his charisma and energy shone through.  If you, like me, never got to see Joe in concert, check out the brilliant live footage of the Clash in the otherwise baffling ‘Rude Boy’ film and it’s evident he is up there with the best rock n’ roll frontmen.  Even with his last band, the Mescalero’s, he was still making great music, keeping his sound fresh and preserving his reputation as one of rock’s most revered characters.  How many other rock veterans could you say that about?

Written by Ross H
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