RIP Joe Strummer - 8 Years Ago Today

It's hard to believe it's been eight years ago today that one of my all time heroes, Joe Strummer, died suddenly at age 50 of a congenital heart condition. Every year I think about what a sad shame it is that he's gone, but also glad that he was around in the first place.

Above: Joe Strummer on top of 30 Rock in NYC in 1981.

If you don't know much about Joe, here are some suggestions...


BOOK
--Redemption Song - an excellent, honest biography of Strummer


MUSIC
--The Clash - London Calling
--Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Global A Go Go


MOVIES
--The Future Is Unwritten - biography of Strummer well worth watching
--Mystery Train - a fictional film in which Joe has a starring role

I'll leave you with a couple lines from more recent songs that include mentions of Joe...

"I'll keep listening to the great Joe Strummer, 'cause through music he will live forever." - line from the song "Indestructible" by the band Rancid.


"Lets raise a glass to Saint Joe Strummer, I think he may have been our only decent teacher." - line from the song "Constructive Summer" by the band The Hold Steady.


"And then I heard it like a shot through my skull to my brain,
I felt my fingertips tingle and it started to rain,
When the walls of my bedroom were tremblin' around me,
This ramshackle voice over attack of a bluesbeat,
Tellin' me he's only looking for fun.
This was the sound of the very last gang in town."

--from the song "I Would Have Called You Woody, Joe" by the band The Gaslight Anthem (about Joe Strummer).