Entertainment For Lively Minds
Joe Strummer RIP
Posted by PaddyH on 22 December 2009 - 12:21am.
He's seven years dead today. Just wanted to mark it.
To quote Bubbles, I know I'm equivocating like a motherfucker here. But for all his faults and his obvious feet of clay and contradictions and the inevitable naysayers who'll post negatively on this strand, all his music still means the world to me.
And no words from any pop star have ever affected me so greatly as those in the clip above.
All the best
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Great memories
thanks for the reminder.
Silver & gold
I'm with you Paddy.
I'd also like to say congratulations to all at 'Strummerville' which does seem to be working hard to leave a legacy Joe would be proud of.
Go check it out - http://www.strummerville.com/.
RIP Joe
not many musicians change lives. Joe did.
The Hold Steady put it well
Raise a toast to saint Joe Strummer
I think he might have been our only decent teacher
I really couldn't care less...
about all the arguments about his background, character and politics. All I know is that he was part of a band that made some damn fine records...
S'funny
How come the gravity and import of what you say seems to depend entirely on your background or perceived credibility ? Why does it matter if the speaker is from a wealthy background, impoverished background, whatever ? If the message is right, why does background change anything ?
Do you need a position in society or a particular education to be able to understand a moral question ?
I suppose it is the old "Street Cred" chestnut...
in popular culture - the working class hero. Not just in the punk days but right through to Damon Albarn pretending to be a football loving cockney geezer, Nigel Kennedy, Tony Blair as a paid up member of the Toon Army inviting Oasis to Number 10 and (as Sparks would say) Suburban Homeboys from Ruislip wearing baseball caps back to front pretending to be from the Bronx.
It shouldn't matter but there's no doubt it does to a lot of people.
Maybe with Joe Strummer there was an accusation of hypocrisy with regard to his background against his rhetoric, maybe if he'd just been honest and come clean about his diplomat father he wouldn't have got so much stick.
But, all I know is as a young kid he was wonderfully positive and inspiring to me, I didn't really care what his background was or if he was middle class or working class. As a kid you are a ball of contradictions, discovering things, learning and I always thought Joe Strummer was speaking from the heart and that was what was important to me.
Most importantly, As Patrick said he just made some fantastic music and also led me on a voyage of musical discovery too.
I was lucky enough to meet him and he was a true gentleman, I was very sad when he passed away.