Tag Archives: Joe Strummer

Episode 5: Tom Verlaine, Television, CBGB, Joe Strummer and the Pogues, and Jimmy Cliff

On this week’s rambling podcast, I start, somewhat unintentionally, with where I left off last week, talking about yet another artist we lost too soon: Tom Verlaine of Television, who died on January 28, 2023. Though I was aware of Television back in the day, I first gave them a serious listen after seeing the 2013 film CBGB, about the legendary music venue in the Bowery that launched the careers of the Ramones, Blondie, and Talking Heads, among others. (Here is the NPR review of CBGB I mention on the show.) 

Verlaine was the pivotal figure in one of the most influential, if lesser known, punk bands to come out of New York in the 1970s. He was an excellent guitar player in a band that was quintessentially punk, but not in an overtly self-conscious way. If you’re not familiar with Television or Verlaine’s artistry, the 1977 LP Marquee Moon is an excellent place to start, and check out Patti Smith’s beautifully written obituary/memorial called “He Was Tom Verlaine” in The New Yorker. 

From there, I pause for a moment to recognize James Joyce’s 141st birthday and segue into a discussion of Joe Strummer’s days with the Pogues, including the iconic 1991 Pogues/Strummer show in London when Joe was filling in for Shane MacGowan (note: I mistakenly said the show took place in 1988). Rhino Records released a recording of that show, aptly named The Pogues with Joe Strummer — Live in London, in 2014. And speaking of MacGowan, his Wikipedia page has one of the greatest ear-related punk rock stories of all time.

Finally, in this week’s Great Artists, Good People segment, I talk about the legendary Jimmy Cliff, a guy who introduced a generation of suburban Chicago kids to reggae with the soundtrack to his 1972 film, The Harder They Come. It’s not just that Jimmy is a great artist, but he also has a strong connection to the Clash and Joe Strummer. So much so that the Clash mention both The Harder They Come and Jimmy Cliff’s character, Ivan, in “The Guns of Brixton” from London Calling:

You see, he feels like Ivan

Born under the Brixton sun

His game is called survivin’

At the end of The Harder They Come

To bring it full circle, it turns out that Jimmy recorded his own version of “The Guns of Brixton” with Tim Armstrong of Rancid, which is totally excellent. And here’s Jimmy’s song “Over the Border,” featuring Joe Strummer. The Clash connections are everywhere!

So please give this week’s show a listen and share your thoughts in the comments. And as Joe always said, “Without people, you’re nothing.” 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 4: The Music They Left Behind

I took a different, more somber approach to this week’s show, inspired in part by the track “Silver and Gold” from the final Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros album, Streetcore, which was posthumously released in 2003, and from the untimely passing of a Chicago legend, deejay and former program director Lin Brehmer of 93XRT.

On “Silver and Gold” (poignantly, the last song on the last album he recorded), Joe repeatedly sings, “I’ve got to hurry up before I grow too old.” And boy, ain’t that the truth … a truth brought even more sharply into focus by the death of Lin Brehmer, a guy who called himself our Best Friend in the Whole World and was an all but ubiquitous and omnipresent figure in Chicago for nearly four decades.  

Apropos of this Clash-themed podcast, WXRT, and Brehmer in particular, were longtime supporters of the Clash and Joe Strummer. Like most Chicago area Clash fans of a certain age, I first heard the band on XRT, and Lin and many other XRT folks kept the memory of the Clash and Joe alive long after they were gone. And when Joe himself died unexpectedly at the unreasonably cruel age of 50 in 2002, I turned to Brehmer, out of the blue, for a little moral support, blindly emailing him with the day’s most pressing question: What’re we gonna do now??

I ask myself that question a lot lately, especially having reached the age where so many of my music heroes are aging and passing away. The answer, I think is: Keep listening to the music. The music is the thing that keeps them alive, and keeps alive our connection to them. And this isn’t just true for the artists we lose. It’s true for folks like Brehmer, and for friends and family members who’ve gone before. The music we shared is the connection. Don’t let go of it.

Finally, in this week’s Great Artists, Good People segment, I talk about a guy who always fit the bill: the great Tom Petty. Not only was Tom Petty one of my favorite artists of all time, but my late brother Tom loved him, too, and Petty’s music will always remind me of brother Tom. 

I first saw Tom Petty live in 1982 at what was then (and will always be!) the Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. My wife and I were lucky enough to see him there again in May 2017, just about 35 years later. Little did we know that it would be the last time we saw him. He died on October 2, 2017. I will be forever grateful for getting to see him that one last time, to hear him play the music that keeps him alive for us forever.

So please give this week’s show a listen and share your thoughts in the comments. And as Joe always said, “Without people, you’re nothing.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 3: The Clash Fight Racism

Because we recently celebrated the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday in the US, it seems like a good time to highlight the Clash’s commitment to fight racism in the UK and around the world. But first, some thoughts on the current campaign in the US against teaching the truth about America’s history in our schools, my own recollections of Dr. King’s assassination, and the tendency of some white Americans to cherry pick and misquote Dr. King this time of year. I conclude this segment with these lines from Maya Angelou’s poem for Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, “On the Pulse of the Morning”:

History, despite its wrenching pain
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

Moving on to the main discussion in this week’s episode, I talk about the Clash’s fight against racism from the very start of their career, inspired in large part by Joe’s and Paul’s experiences during the Notting Hill Carnival riot in August 1976. That led Joe to write the lyrics to “White Riot” and to the band’s brilliant cover of Junior Murvin’s “Police and Thieves,” both of which appeared on the band’s debut album, The Clash. This also led, in part, to the band’s historic performance at the Rock Against Racism concert in London’s Victoria Park in April 1978. (For more on Eric Clapton’s embrace of Enoch Powell and his racist meltdown in 1976, see When Eric Clapton’s Bigoted 1976 Rant Sparked Rock Against Racism.)

On a related note, I also discuss Chuck D’s essay in Antonino D’Ambrosio’s Let Fury Have the Hour, titled “Strange Bedfellows: How the Clash Inspired Public Enemy.” And since we’re on the topic of the MLK holiday, check out Public Enemy’s epic track,“By the Time I Get to Arizona”.

Finally, in this week’s Great Artists, Good People segment, I talk about one of the greatest hard rock bands of all time, Living Colour. Be sure to follow them on social media (@LivingColour on Twitter) and definitely follow guitarist extraordinaire Vernon Reid (@vurnt22), a living encyclopedia of art, music, and culture. (One correction: I mistakenly said Living Colour’s cover of “Should I Stay or Should I Go” is on Shade. In fact, it’s on the extended release of Vivid).

So please give it a listen and share your thoughts in the comments. And like Joe always said, “Without people, you’re nothing.” 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 2: The Band Went in and Knocked ’Em Dead

On this week’s episode, I talk about the origin of the name Two Minutes Fifty-Nine, a lyric from the song “Hitsville UK” from the Sandinista! album: 

They say true talent will always emerge in time

When lightning hits, small wonder 

It’s fast rough factory trade

No expense accounts, or lunch discounts,

Or hyping up the charts

The band went in and knocked ’em dead

In two minutes fifty-nine … 

“Hitsville UK” pays homage to Motown records and the spirit of innovation and determination embodied in all artists who forge their own path despite the resistance they face. The choice of this song as an inspiration for the podcast also is a nod to a brother who was a huge Clash fan and who sadly passed away nearly 22 years ago.

I also talk about a book of essays that writer/filmmaker Antonino D’Ambrosio (@antonino44 on Twitter) edited and curated — and contributed essays to — called Let Fury Have the Hour: Joe Strummer, Punk, and the Movement that Shook the World. The book, like the film of the same name, is a mediation on the Clash’s and Joe Strummer’s social consciousness and how their music at once confronted the harsh realities of the world and gave us hope.

Finally, I introduce a new segment I call Great Artist, Good People, focusing on artists who are both supremely talented and genuinely decent, great artists who embrace humanitarian values. This episode’s selection is zydeco legend Terrance Simien from Bayou Mallet, Louisiana (@ZydecoRocks on Twitter). I’ve been a fan of Terrance Simien’s music for a good 30 years or more, having seen him multiple times at local music venues around Chicago. He’s not only an outstanding artist, he’s a kind-hearted, positive person who supports the fundamental rights and human dignity of all people.

Please give it a listen and share your thoughts in the comment section. And like Joe always said, “Without people, you’re nothing.” Enjoy!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Clash “London Calling” Scrapbook

An awesome belated Christmas gift arrived today, all the way from the UK. I will definitely be diving into this soon. 

Meanwhile, I’m busy working on Episode 2, which should be posted by the end of the week. Cheers!

Episode 1: Why the Clash?

For me, I suppose, the easy answer is, why not? The Clash has been my favorite band since I first put needle to vinyl on the US version of their self-titled debut album in 1980. I have every album they ever put out in one format or another and I never get tired of listening to them.

But that’s not really the reason for this podcast. The reason, I think, is that as we approached the twentieth anniversary of Joe Strummer’s passing in December 2022, it occurred to me that his music, and the Clash’s music, remain as relevant as ever. We’re living in dark times, but Joe and the Clash always showed us the way forward.

So, in this episode, I explore why I’ve loved the Clash for 40-plus years and why I think we need them more now than ever before. 

As Joe always said, “Without people, you’re nothing.” So please enjoy.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Welcome

I am pleased to announce the launch of Two Minutes Fifty-Nine, which I (perhaps jokingly) refer to as Lake County, Illinois’ favorite Clash podcast (as far as I can tell, it’s Lake County, Illinois’ only Clash podcast, but I may be fudging a bit here). I have one episode “in the can,” so to speak, so look check back soon and listen in.

Cheers!

Dave