Let’s Rock Again Again!
The Joe Strummer worship is about to get real serious in this joint. Dick Rude’s documentary on Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros,Let’s Rock Again! , has been released on video and you’ll never guess who bought a copy? That’s right, and so, instead of going to the Vusi Mahlasela concert tonight in Wingfield Park (and I really wanted to go!), I stayed home to watch a couple of hours of vintage Strummer, and by vintage, I mean footage of Joe Strummer and his band just months before his surprisingly death.
If you find yourself scratching your head over the minx’s Strummer worship, I suggest renting this video. Its available on Netflix, so I’m sure other video stores and vendors will have it too. Honestly, the man was/is a jewel deserving careful preservation. From calling himself a hack and meaning it, to the hours he spends after and between each show tirelessly and graciously with his fans, Strummer was a wonder.
There are so many highlights in this movie–it contains several full-length song performances by the band from all three albums (Global a Go-Go,
Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, and
Streetcore) as well as some Clash songs (most notably “Armagideon Time” with a trombone!), footage of the adorable Mescaleros (While trying to hustle more concert goers for a show in Atlantic City, Strummer tells some women on the boardwalk that his bandmates are skinny, sexy, and English), and lots of interviews with the man himself. I’m still not finished watching all the special features. There are performances of all my favorite Clash reggae tunes, my all time favorite “Pressure Drop,” “Armagideon Time,” and “Rudie Can’t Fail” (okay two of those are ska but still) that I haven’t even seen yet. See how I look after you? I interrupted my Joe worship just to fill you in because its about you!
I think the beauty of this film is that you see a man who is thankful to be making music everyday. I’m sure at times, he found it really difficult to re-enter the biz after an 11 year hiatus (so to speak), and there is a moment during a Q&A session with Dick Rude in one of the special features when he speaks about how Strummer was trying to get his confidence back. It doesn’t really ever show–even when we watch Joe Strummer call up a radio station in Atlantic City and practically beg to get on the air and promote his show and new album, “Global a Go-Go.” He has to mention that he was once a member of The Clash before they even let him in the door. But Strummer seems unphased–joking with the radio station crew about his “toe-tapper” single, “Johnny Appleseed.”
The wisdom just falls from his lips–about the commercialism of the music industry, about the importance of searching for an buying crazy music no ones ever heard of, about the importance of being humble–such wisdom never came from a source more self-effacing. Was he perfect? No way, perfect is boring, and in Strummer’s musical world, being boring is the worst thing one can be. But if you’re interested in someone who is authentic, and honest, and thoughtful, and good hearted, Strummer’s your guy. As Dick Rude said in the Q&A: “Some people are just born sweethearts.”
One of the songs featured in the film “Bhindi Bhagee“–one of my favorites–is an ode to diversity–an idea that isn’t very popular today–diversity of food, diversity of music, diversity of us. The song exemplifies just some of the qualities I admire about Strummer–an appreciation for humanity, for what’s new and different, for having a good time, the dangers of thinking to highly of yourself, the importance of critical thinking, of social justice and liberalism (okay, not so much in this song, but still). An everyman–the best kind of hero to have.
There’s a scene during the Mescalero’s Japanese tour when a fan literally begins to weep in Strummer’s arms as someone is taking a photograph of them together. The Strummer love is strong.
Similar Posts:
- Joe Strummer and Streetcore
- The Gift of Music: The Jam’s “The Bitterest Pill”
- “The Future Is Unwritten” and “Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer” Coming To A Theater and Store Near You
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Trackbacks & Pingbacks
[...] The minx has been worried about the Gibson supporters today. I’ve been concerned for weeks about how they would recover from a Titus win in the Democratic primary, and its clear from comments at The Gleaner’s place that they’re even more dejected than I thought they might be. I remember what I felt like after campaigning for Kerry in 2004–it sucks to lose–plain and simple. And when I need inspiration, I always look to Joe Strummer whose personal dedication to the proliferation of music as a tool for social change is unparalled, and who was also just a lovely human being. [...]
[...] If you know any Burners, you know they are as messianic as Evangelicals, albeit for entirely different reasons. Or are they? With its emphasis on a personal experience of conversion, Evangelicalism sounds a lot like what I hear from people eager to bring me into the Burner fold. Although, one nice thing about Burners is that I’m pretty sure they don’t think I’m going to hell or call me a whore if I’m not convinced–a definite positive. A Burner Evangelical is more likely to just feel sorry for me for my inability to experience something they’re convinced could change my life for the better, and I can’t blame them for that. How many times have I tried to convince all of you that Joe Strummer could be your own personal savior as he is mine? And like Evangelicals AND Burners, I won’t ever stop trying, because I’m convinced that adding Strummer converts to the world makes it a better place for us all. [...]
[...] Have you noticed that the local station, Bob Fm (97.3) has a very strange playlist? One minute they’re playing some Duran Duran song I’d thankfully managed to forget years ago, the next, Kajagogo’s “Too Shy,” another song I could go my whole life without hearing again, and then they’ll win me back from a live version of the Clash’s “Know Your Rights” with updated lyrics by an always topical Joe Strummer. One song they always seem to play sometime in the afternoon is Men At Work’s “Overkill,” and excellent song full of melancholy angst about an uncertain future. “Overkill,” much like “Pressure Drop” earlier this year, seems to be the theme song for my life at the moment. [...]
[...] Let’s Rock Again Again. A review of Rick Rude’s documentary about Joe Strummer’s comeback. [...]
[...] After 2006’s Clash Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit and Rick Rude’s documentary, Let’s Rock Again, the march to immortalize Joe Strummer continues in 2007 with The Future Is Unwritten, a new documentary by Julien Temple that will debut in January at the Sundance Film Festival, and in a new biography by Chris Salewicz titled Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer. Salewicz’s book was delayed for over a year in the United States (I pre-ordered my copy several months ago), but has gotten good very good reviews from the English press. Temple’s film features interviews with several musicians and celebrities, although I have to say that I don’t really care what people like Johnny Depp have to say about Joe Strummer. Yeah, he was in a band too (The Kids)–they looked like ABC for god’s sake. Still, I am looking forward to both the book and the film–Temple’s Sex Pistols documentary, The Filth and The Fury, was excellent, and from what I’ve read, Salewicz offers a perspective on Strummer that has yet to be seen. [...]
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