when he died over the weekend, he left behind a body of work that speaks
volumes of making
change in the world. Not only did the jams he write tick tock with electric
harmonies and tough melodies, but his money was placed where his mouth was. He
spent years in the field working with sandinistas before that was recognizably
good cause, long after his band's record of the same name came and went.
Strummer was a musicina first and foremost, but he let the politics of his
heart bleed into everything he did, taking the first new wave of music in
quite some time along with him. whereas the sex Pistol,s the band he said made
him want to be a punk, just fizzled into chaotic cartoon versions of Iggy Pop
and his detroit brethren, Strummer et all went around the world spreading
their fire and disease. They would often reach out to a particularly
downtrodden fan, letting them onto their bus, and in some cases sharing their
lodgings with the ragamuffin fan. This was an extraordinary new way to rock
out in the free world.
And freeworld is whart Strummer envisoined, for evey person on the planet.
After the Clash he worked with Alex Cox on many of cox's bizarro movies,
including the excellent and overlooked Straight to hell. this acting career
parlayed into soundtrack work, and eventually he returned to touring,
recording three solo albums along the way. At the time of his Death he was
working on an aids benefit album. It was his dedication to charities dealing
with the aids struggle world wide, and the zapatistas revolutionaries of
mexico that found his political attention in recent years.
The music world has certainly lost a major contributior, but then so has the
world of activism.
