Comments on: The future is unwritten (I think he might have been our only decent teacher)

By: Dani California

Dani California — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:28:00 +0000

Is it my imagination or are The Clash more steeped into mainstream pop culture now than they were back in the day? The kids today -- can they name another punk band?

No matter, I guess. None of the others were as good as The Clash (although The Jam was pretty awesome too.) As the only band that ever really mattered, The Clash deserve that legacy. But for God's sake, I heard "Rudie Can't Fail" while noshing a foot-long coney with the kids at Sonic this week.

Back in the day, I was psyched if I got to hear "Train in Vain" on my college radio station. Although it was their most "pop-sounding" song, God it was pure. THEY were pure.

Now my teevee blares "Should I Stay or Should I Go" to get me psyched about buying a new car. "Rock the Casbah" is supposed to make me buy a cell phone. Hmph.

It wasn't supposed to go this way. I remember putting on "The Clash" as a sophomore in high school and being stunned by the wild abandon of "Clash City Rockers." These guys could do anything!

I was so hooked.

And I've stayed hooked for 30 years. Yeah, Strummer and his boys deserve the legacy. But, but.... pivotal -- absolutely pivotal music -- being used to sell crap? I expect that of today's Top 40 homogenized, corporatized, Pro Tools-ified, one-size-fits-most "music." But not The Clash. I'm just not ready.

Did you ever try watching the news and then listening to "The Call Up?" That'll break your heart right there. Goddamnit. It so wasn't supposed to go this way.

The kids in the back complain loudly when Mom sings along (between sips of a Route 44 Diet Coke):

How'd ya get so rude and a-reckless?
Don't you be so crude and a-feckless,
You been drinking brew for breakfast....

and remembers her punk rock days. Yes, The Clash is everywhere these days. And I can't help but wonder, What Would Joe Think (WWJT) about that?

By: Rambling Canuck

Rambling Canuck — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:29:00 +0000

One of the best moments in rock and roll I’ve ever witnessed was seeing Joe jump off the stage at the Roseland Theater in Portland, where he was performing with the Mescaleros behind their debut album, and grab an audience member by the lapels and chewed him out for complaining about poor sound. Granted, the something was wrong with the PA for the first couple of tunes, but I love that Joe never lost that kick-ass attitude with age. He’d get up in anyone’s face if he thought that person deserved it.

By: wallrock

wallrock — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:08:00 +0000

I came late to the party when it comes to the Clash, so much so that I had been listening to what I had considered punk for over six years before I even listened to an entire Clash record. I just knew “London Calling” and “Rock the Casbah” and the other radio songs, but at the time I didn’t care about anything that wasn’t on the Warped Tour. The real crack in the dam of my willful ignorance came in the form of the track “Global A Go-Go” which was on this Hellcat Records comp given to me in ’01. I didn’t really care for it at first – I was probably skipping it to listen to Rancid or the US Bombs. It came down to an instance of walking home after class, spinning the disc in my Discman, when it suddenly came to me: “Whoa, this guy’s actually saying something here…” I kept listening to the song over and over on the walk home, and all of the sudden I couldn’t get enough.

The neophyte that I was, I didn’t know who Strummer was, so the next time I was at the record store I couldn’t find anything under S. The bemused store clerk got to inform me that I should be looking under C for The Clash. He also told me that I might want to consider picking up a copy of London Calling if I was not familiar with the band. That is how it started for me, and how I managed to shed the blinders of teenage rebellion and turn a corner into appreciating music on so many more levels.

My favorite Strummer lyric isn’t exactly profound or even that memorable, but it was running through my head the day I really heard they lyrics to “Global A Go-Go”: “We send the funk into the jungle, to the last outpost of the bass player.”

By: Eli

Eli — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:33:00 +0000

I saw Joe front the Pogues at the Beacon Theater some years ago. I thought he was the perfect replacement! Fantastic show.

By: ekko

ekko — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:01:00 +0000

I never win these things, but no blogger has shown more Strummerlove than me. I post a Clash boot just about every two weeks.

I don’t love one thing about Joe–I love everything about him. But here’s my favorite Joe lyric:

“If Adolf Hitler were here today/They’d send a limousine anyway.”

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:06:00 +0000

My recently retired blog, That Truncheon Thing, was named in honor of Joe (it’s a lyric from “London Calling”), who we referred to as our patron saint. I just think he was about the coolest bloke who ever lived — unwaveringly and passionately political, he achieved a ludicrous level of fame but never stopped being a regular guy or treating his fanms with genuine affection and respect. But if all he had ever done was record The Clash’s cover of “Brand New Cadillac,” he’d still be a hero of mine. Balls to ya, daddy.

By: kingseyeland

kingseyeland — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:18:00 +0000

I love the what Joe Strummer revealed about himself when describing Mick Jones in the Clash doc Westway to the World:

"punctuality wasn't one of his talents"

but

"his was a talent worth waiting for."

And the sage advice he left for others: "If it works, don't mess with it. Do what you have to do to bring it forward."

In about a minute of video, I learned more about Joe Strummer than I'd ever known, and I respected him even more afterward. He admitted his own folly in how he dealt with Mick and what that cost, and he hinted at a sort of aching regret. For a moment, Joe Strummer, leader of The Clash, became Joe Strummer, human being, and that's how I remember him.

By: kappa00073

kappa00073 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Hey Heather, even through I saw Metallica at the Tower Records parking lot and went to see Pearl Jam at Spartan Stadium, two of my favorite bands. My all-time favorite song is Straight to Hell. My older cousin who actually was old enough to see the Clash played it for me when I was about 7 and I will always remeber sitting in his room listening to this on vinyl, no less, every time I here it.

By: ant'ny

ant'ny — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:53:00 +0000

These lyrics were originally so cool because they were “naughty”. Now that I’m on the other side of the story, age-wise, they’re rather wistful and a bit painful.

“But I believe in this–and it’s been tested by research:
“That he who fucks nuns will later join the Church.”

Ah, Joe, you were so ahead of your time it’s still not funny.

By: Justin Burnett

Justin Burnett — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:39:00 +0000

Unfortunately, I became a huge Clash fan after Joe Strummer died. I'm glad that I finally discovered the band, but it will always be one of my biggest musical regrets that I never got the chance to see him live in concert with The Mescaleros before then (I was six when The Clash broke up, so I didn't have any chance of seeing them in concert).

I have a copy of the London Calling album framed on my wall. I'd always heard about albums and songs that changed people's lives and never really believed that was possible until I heard that album.

Thanks Joe.