I really hate obit threads over on the blue, but we did it for DeeDee and we did it for the ox.
Damn pity. I always thought he'd have a long career as a crooner, producer and perhaps writer - which makes his death that much sadder. People I know who met him all spoke of his great, accessible and spontaneous personality.
Posted by: Miguel on December 23, 2002 12:06 PMFuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck.
(and last night, without knowing this, for some reason i felt it necessary to learn "Jimmy Jazz" on guitar)
Posted by: eyeballkid on December 23, 2002 12:14 PMUh oh. Miss Cleo's gonna have a run for her money.
Posted by: witchstone on December 23, 2002 12:21 PMWell damn. One of my best London memories is seeing the Clash play at the Marquee. I still have the promo poster that I ripped off the wall on my way out of the club.
I feel old, because the punks have started dying off of natural causes...and I was one of the punks. (Granted, I was still too young to actually get into the clubs I got into...but being a young girl in a catholic school uniform was pretty much a passport to any club anywhere in the early 80's.)
This is really sad news. I'm bummed.
Posted by: dejah420 on December 23, 2002 01:07 PMMan. Terrible news. I saw Strummer once only, when he filled in for Shane MacGowan on the Pogues' Hell's Ditch tour. The Clash just resonated somehow, I imagine with all of us.
A little White Man in Hammersmith Palais sounds about right, right now.
I guess the image I'll always remember of Strummer is in the goofy flick "Straight To Hell". Or maybe "Elvis" in "Mystery Train".
Posted by: kafkaesque on December 23, 2002 01:37 PM"After all this you're not even my fucking brother-in-law?"
Posted by: jpoulos on December 23, 2002 02:17 PMIt's heartbreaking. Like Dejah, I feel odd since our musical heroes aren't dying of drug overdoses anymore, but natural causes. It's a great loss, and he was a seminal figure in my music world. What a bummer.
Posted by: readymade on December 23, 2002 02:45 PMLet's also say a little eulogy for that crazy cracker ranger, Dill Deezer. Umm, what can we say? He liked nature and having conversations withsnowmen to the very end.
-Chef from South Park
Posted by: witchstone on December 23, 2002 04:52 PMSad...as London Calling was my first cassette ever, found it when I was in Jr high on the way to a friend's home. Not only was that a score at the time, the tunes rocked. No one had to tell me who the Clash was or Punk from then on..., Joe Strummer...spelt with Capital Angsts for me...
Looking foward...Strummer recently collaborated with Bono of U2 and Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics to write a song in honor of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Titled "48864," Mandela's number in prison, the song is to be played at a Feb. 2 AIDS benefit concert Mandela is sponsoring at his former prison on Robben Island.
Posted by: Thomcatspike on December 23, 2002 05:25 PMI met Strummer a couple of times. As Miguel said, he was very approachable with no rockstar airs. The last time I saw him was October 2001 in the surreally inappropriate surroundings of the Trump Marina Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. He still seemed very youthful and the Mescaleros rocked the cabaret lounge. After the show he spent a lot of time talking to a local 16 year-old fan about songwriting. He was a sweet revolutionary.
Posted by: liam on December 23, 2002 09:26 PMR.I.P., Joe. Very sad to realize that half of the Beatles are gone, half of the Ramones, and now a quarter of the Clash.
But still, what they all did will always be with us -
I've got blisters on me fingers!
One-Two-Three-Four!!
This is a public service announcement -
With guitar!!!
"a sweet revolutionary" indeed. rockin', wise and a major contributor to the grander legacy of 20th century pop music. his talent will be missed - he was still making great recordS!
sad sad sad sad sad day.
Posted by: Marquis on December 24, 2002 07:22 PM"As the poets have mournfully sung,
Death takes the innocent young,
The rolling in money
The screamingly funny,
And those who are very well hung."
-W. H. Auden
Joe Strummer. One of the good dead ones. Res ipsa loquitur.
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