If he was still around, Joe Strummer would've been 57 today. The Clash is one of those bands that was so good, sometimes I can't believe they were real. I saw them when I was in 9th grade. It was after they had kicked Mick Jones out, but still. I stood right in front of the speakers and my ears rang for 3 days after. It was awesome.
Apparently, I also saw Alex Chilton that night! In googling to find out the exact date of that show, I found this here:
"Tav Falco & Panther Burns did in fact open both shows, but only at the Nashville show were they the full line-up--they played a full opening set at Vanderbilt in the basketball auditorium, but by the time they played Knoxville, the second guitarist and the piano player had quit and--of all people--Alex Chilton was drafted in to play guitar in their place, even though it immediately became clear to the audience that Alex obviously did not know the songs at all. The "band" played about 6 songs in total, and the booing got so bad that the drummer stopped playing several times to smile and sarcastically blow kisses at the audience."
I sure as heck don't remember that, but maybe that's when the seed of my Big Star/Alex fetish was planted. It's definitely when my affinity for bass players started. Hellooo, Paul Simonon!
Anyhoo, back to Joe and the Clash. Thought we could celebrate with a special edition of N+P TV.
I realize that Mick sings this song, but Joe Strummer just looks so freaking COOL in this video. Is there a DVD of the Shea Stadium concert?
Career Opportunities from Shea:
The Clash--The Avis of RocknRoll:
The Clash on Fridays. I loved that show! They had the best musical guests.
White Riot from Rude Boy. Remember when they used to play that movie on USA Night Flight all the time? Night Flight--I loved that show, too.
And to wrap it up, a two-part interview w. Joe post-Clash.
Happy Birthday, Joe! Hope they got cake where you are.