The Official Clash & Joe Strummer Thread

Check this s'hit out, yo. It's my first one, so be nice.


Joe Strummer

Born: August 21, 1952 in Ankara Turkey, Died 2002 in Somerset, England.
Bands:The Vultures, 101er's, The Clash, The Pogues, Mescaleros, and some solo work


Disocagraphy:

Mescaleros/Solo:
- Global A Go Go
- Rock Art & The X-Ray Style
- Walker
- Earthquake Weather
-Streetcore

Clash:
-The Clash
-Give Em' Enough Rope
-London Calling
-Sandinista
-Black Market Clash
-Combat Rock
-Cut The Crap

101'ers:
-Keys to Your Heart / 5 Star Rock & Roll Petrol
-Sweet Revenge / Rabies
-** LP ** Elgin Ave Breakdown

Vultures:
-Uhhh, none to my knowledge


Pogues:
-Produced Hell's Ditch

Soundtracks and Misc

- Grosse Point Blank
- Docteur Chance
- Permanent Record
- Straight To Hell
- Sid & Nancy
- When Pigs Fly
- Chef Aid
- Kicks Joy Darkness
- Free The Memphis 3
- Small World Big Band
- Theme To Black Hawk Down


Joe was born John Grahm Mellor in Ankara, Turkey in 1952 to a wealthy British diplomat. After being sent to a boarding in school in London, Joe as a teenager began to play folk and blues music along the streets of London under the assumed name Woody Mellor, presumably for his affection for Woody Guthrie and his music.

Joe finally decided "bollocks to this, I'll form a band" and The Vultures were born. Although they played only six gigs at student union events, they formed the basis for Joe's love for performing and his undoubtable stage presence.

Soon after The Vultures broke up, Joe formed "El Huaso and the 101 All Stars" which was later shortened to the 101'ers, named after the squat at 101 Walterton Road, Maida Vale. This band was more succesful than The Vultures, and were well established as an outstanding pub rock band. However, Joe became disillusioned with the Pub Rock scene, and shortly after seeing the Sex Pistols, broke up the band and began to look towards Punk as an inspiration.

Apparently, one day he was walking down the street and Mick Jones shouted that he thought the 101'ers were trash, then promptly asked Joe to join his band.

Thus, The Clash were born, after going through a few s'hitty names like The Heartdrops and Big Girl's Panties.


The Clash quickly became one of the biggest Punk bands around, and in their prime, were bigger than those f'ucks in the Pistols ever were.

Famous for their fiery performances and Joe's wild stage behavior, The Clash quickly got lumped in with the band that were "too dangerous" thus, leading to the expulsion of their concerts from many venues.

The Clash soon began expirementing with other forms of music, and although their later albums were stellar in terms of variety and musicianship, they began to get classified as sellouts, which led to their breakup in 1985.

After poncing about for a few years, Joe decided to get back into the music scene and recorded his first solo albums.

Later, he produced a Pogues album and even replaced Shane on one of their tours for a short bit.

For the majority of the 90's, Joe remained relatively quiet, releasing the occasional soundtrack song here and there, until 1999 when he released the excellent Rock, Art, and The X-Ray Style on Hell-cat records.

After that, he recorded the follow up, Global A Go-Go, which was another solid release to add to his career.

In the midst of recording the album Streetcore, Joe had a sudden heart failure in his Somerset home and sadly passed away on December 22nd, 2002.

EDITuring Joe's career, he had outspoken socio-politcal views, and these often focused less on the happenings of the political world itself, but what was happening in the streets and slums of the globe, and tried his d'amnedest to inspire the poor and apathetic public to get off their a'sses and get a better future for themselves.

Also, in order to help further the progress of modern music, Joe's family and friends have launched Strummerville, Joe's foundation for new music, which gives rehearsal space and recording facilities to upcoming musicians around the world.


^Again, s'hitty, but it does it's job.
I'm just not very good at this

Recommended songs:
Mescaleros/solo-Johnny Appleseed, Get Down Moses, X-Ray Style, Yalla Yalla
Clash-Complete Control, White Riot, Janie Jones, Bankrobber, Magnificent Seven, London Calling



Any criticism/complaints is appreciated, because I want to know if I'm not the only one who thinks I did a s'hitty job.Thanks.

[sketchyjoe]

You could've gone into more detail about his time in The Clash but it was good.

I thought it was a bit Clash heavy, but I can see what you'e talking about.


Thanks.

[EightMilesHigh]

That was pretty good. R.I.P. Joe

[Coma_Girl]

I love pretty much everything Joe Strummer did.He was awesome.You didn't say anything about all his political views and the causes and all these stuff, and in my opinion, it was a big part of his life, but it was good anyway.

a week ago or so, they named a train after him.that's awesome.


RIP Joe.

[PoisonParadox]

I'm reading Let Fury Have the Hour

Originally Posted by Coma_Girl

I love pretty much everything Joe Strummer did.He was awesome.You didn't say anything about all his political views and the causes and all these stuff, and in my opinion, it was a big part of his life, but it was good anyway.

a week ago or so, they named a train after him.that's awesome.


RIP Joe.

I was trying to focus on his musical career, not his political ethics, but I felt bad for leaving them out.


Perhaps an edit is in order...

[Coma_Girl]

Originally Posted by PoisonParadox

I'm reading Let Fury Have the Hour

is it good, cause i wanted to buy it, but i heard it wasn't that interesting...

[Coma_Girl]

Originally Posted by SlappedByTheClash

I was trying to focus on his musical career, not his political ethics, but I felt bad for leaving them out.


Perhaps an edit is in order...

yay!

[PoisonParadox]

Originally Posted by Coma_Girl

is it good, cause i wanted to buy it, but i heard it wasn't that interesting...

I haven't read a lot of it yet, but it's not that great so far

The edit sucked, but I did it in a hurry, give me some time to rethink it so it'll be better.


I'm totally unprepared for this, report esque things were never my strong point.

[Coma_Girl]

i think it's pretty good.you can't say how much Joe was great in a text, it's just impossible (the fan in me speaking)

even if his convictions were confused sometimes, it showed the world that you have to stand for what you believe in.and that's great.
and he wrote some of the greatest lyrics ever.
and i swear i've learned more about history listening to the clash and searching names and places and dates on internet cause i didn't understand the song, than in my history class.

[sketchyjoe]

Originally Posted by SlappedByTheClash

I thought it was a bit Clash heavy, but I can see what you'e talking about.


Thanks.

Its probably just because I know a lot about The Clash so anything less than a huge biography will seem sparse to me.

Yeah, I know what you mean, but I was trying to not focus on one band too much, so it ended up a little uneven in some parts, but it was my first one, so it wasn't a travesty of a biography or anything.

Oh man, no one's reading it.

[Coma_Girl]

i read it


ahh okay.it won't cheer you up.

All of four people read it.


After all that work, and then nuthin'.


D'amnit.

[El_Shiznit]

Originally Posted by SlappedByTheClash

All of four people read it.


After all that work, and then nuthin'.


D'amnit.

Shutup bit'ch.

Go read some of the old band profiles from way back when. Back then, barely any responses came. You kids these days got no appreciation for what you got.

Still have more then mine.


I didn't expect many replies, but I'm needy and I felt like whining like a little bitch.


Sorry.

[El_Shiznit]

That's right you little whippersnapper.