On another timeline we celebrate this Joe Strummer Birthday with the man himself. On this timeline we mark another past year.
And that’s more than 20 years without Strummer. It somehow doesn’t feel that long, but it also feels longer. I know that last sentence might not make sense. That’s intentional. Like you, time has become elastic for me in recent years.
Sure, the COVID-19 pandemic is the main reason. But I’m also in my mid-40s, so age is a reason too. And there are some cases where the death of a musician I love is just vague and difficult to pin down in time. That’s the case with John Graham Mellor.
Joe Strummer Birthday Sixpack: London Calling
Mellor was born on August 21, 1952 in Ankara, Turkey, and gave up his stage name “Woody” in favor of Joe Strummer in 1975. He was a co-founder The collision a year later in London. For generations to come, this band would define and embody the ethos of punk rock.
Strummer’s punk rock spirit inspired countless people to pick up guitars, write and interpret “three chords and the truth” (or two and a few vague ideas) in their own way. The man was just on a different wavelength. And those vibrations still resonate today.
Joe Strummer Birthday Sixpack: Death or Glory
The music that Strummer created with The Clash and The Mescaleros and others are as timeless as the philosophies he incorporated into his lyrics. Perhaps that’s why it’s so hard to accept the fact that he’s been gone for so long.
That’s why it was difficult to limit myself to just six songs from his legendary discography. I hope I did the man justice on his birthday. And I hope you like my selection.
