After writing about the new Joe Strummer documentary below, I remembered reading somewhere about the punk dicotomy represented by the Clash and the Sex Pistols. I thought it was in this great piece from the New Yorker, but I just re-read it and didn’t find what I was looking for.

The point was that with these two bands, you could already see a rift in the newly-formed punk movement: the Sex Pistols represented nihilism and decrepitude, while the Clash represented earnest anti-establishment sentiment. This rang true with me: I discovered the Clash much later than I’d like to admit, mostly because nihilism appealed to the 13-year-old me much more than activism (I was 8 when London Calling came out, btw). I followed that line all the way into college, really (Pistols to Exploited, then Misfits, Cramps, etc). In retrospect, it was rebellion against my orderly Christian upbringing more than anything else, but once I started looking at the world around me, the Clash made much more sense.

One of the main reasons Joe was (and is) loved so much is because he never lost touch with people or took himself too seriously. Promoters here will tell you how he would stay after shows long after the band had packed up, talking with whomever wanted to speak to him. One of my favorite quotes from Steve Buscemi, of all people (he shows up in a Mescaleros video, actually). He talks about when he first saw the Clash play in the 80’s, Grandmaster Flash was the opening act (!). All the punks screamed “Fuck you!” and Joe came out and berated them, saying “Give the guy a chance!” Damn.

Strummer’s very worthy charity is here

Black & White photos by the venerable Bob Gruen (Look here for more). Above photo from Yottamusic.com