Seminal Punk

He was the first person I ever saw in concert. I remember him walking out onto the dark stage. The crowd, including yours truly with number one cut blue hair, went wild. As he played, with the angle I was at, it wasn't clear which was larger - the man or his guitar. He was probably all of 5'7", and 5'6" of that was rebellious energy. He jumped, he slammed into band members, kicked speakers, spit water into the audience and he let out that cigarette-strained voice like only he could. You could barely hear him sing Rock The Casbah over the crowd who were all too enthusiastic over the first US concert by The Clash.

Joe Strummer anchored The Clash and really, he was kind of instrumental in introducing and anchoring generations of Americans to BritPunk - the disco crushing wave that started sometime in the late 70's.

I loved this guy, don't ask me why.

When I found out there was a film about him I had to see it. Its a great film with interesting archive footage from his days with The Clash and his post-Clash days with The Mescaleros. Probably it started out as a tour documentary and then it morphed into a tribute, if not a eulogy to Strummer. You don't really have to be a fan of The Clash to enjoy this one, just a fan of anyone who is personable, outspoken and incapable of conforming to crap they know is wrong.

My only complaint about this film is that, like Strummer's life, it was entirely too short.


Joe Strummer

Let's Rock Again
9.0/10