August 18, 2022

The future is unwritten

John Graham Mellor was born in Ankara, Turkey on August 21, 1952.  Who's that, you say?  Well, you might know him better by his stage name: Joe Strummer.
 
Strummer was, of course, the co-founder, front man and principal lyricist for the Clash, a band that, when I was younger, some people called "the only band that matters."  After the Clash disbanded in 1986, he spent the next 13 years being whatever the opposite of a rock star is: he worked on projects that appealed to him as a musician, songwriter, producer and actor, but mostly stayed out of the limelight until he founded the second great rock band of his career, the Mescaleros.

One of those projects was an radio show that Joe occasionally hosted for the BBC World Service called London Calling, where he got to explore all of the wide variety of music that inspired him: early rock 'n' roll, reggae, blues and jazz, music from Africa and Latin America, anything that pushed his buttons.

Joe and London Calling are among the primary inspirations for this radio program (which is named after one of the Mescaleros' songs; that song has kicked off this program every week for 18 years).  So it's only appropriate that Global A Go-Go celebrates Joe Strummer's 70th birthday today (Sunday August 21, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) with a 2-hour tribute.
 
P.S.  You can listen to all 7 hours of Joe Strummer's London Calling BBC radio shows here: exchange.prx.org/series/27024-joe-strummer-s-london-calling
 
And here's a Spotify playlist that includes almost all the songs that Joe played on that radio show: open.spotify.com/playlist/0PWMzSdWNHNOESR912xQmg?go=1&sp_cid=33ef6cb3fc38155b67d61a8333e5df54 

One more thing -- a complete tracklisting for each episode of Joe Strummer's London Calling:  rateyourmusic.com/list/Zed/joe_strummers_london_calling_from_bbc_world_service
 
 
 
Artist | Country | Song | Recording | Label | Year
 
Oliver Lake | USA | Separation | Matador Of 1st & 1st | Passin' Thru | 1997
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros | England UK | Global A Go-Go | Global A Go-Go | Hellcat | 2001
 
Woody Guthrie | USA | Pretty Boy Floyd | Dust Bowl Ballads | RCA Victor | 1940
Chumbawamba | England UK | Bankrobber | A Singsong And A Scrap | No Masters | 2005
Bryan Ferry | England UK | Carrickfergus | The Bride Stripped Bare | Atlantic | 1978
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros | England UK | Redemption Song | Streetcore | Hellcat | 2003
 
Max Romeo | Jamaica | Public Enemy Number One | Public Enemy Number One - Single | Truth | 1971
Big Youth | Jamaica | Cool Breeze | Cool Breeze - Single | Crystal | 1972
The Clash | England UK | (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais | (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - Single | CBS | 1978
Bob Marley & The Wailers | Jamaica | Punky Reggae Party | Jamming / Punky Reggae Party - Single | Island | 1977
The English Beat | England UK | Mirror In The Bathroom | I Just Can't Stop It | Sire | 1980
 
Eddie Cochran | USA | Nervous Breakdown | Cherished Memories Of Eddie Cochran | London | 1961
Bo Diddley | USA | Bring It To Jerome | Bring It To Jerome - Single | Checker | 1955
The Stooges | USA | 1969 | The Stooges | Elektra | 1969
The Clash | England UK | Clampdown | London Calling | CBS | 1979
The Clash | England UK | Capital Radio Two | The Cost Of Living | CBS | 1979
 
Nina Simone | USA | To Love Somebody | To Love Somebody | RCA Victor | 1969
Joe Strummer & The Astro-Physicians | England UK | Afro-Cuban Bebop (Alt. Mix) | Just Look Them Straight In The Eye And Say … Poguemahone!! - The Pogues Box Set | Rhino | 1990
The Pogues | England UK | The Sunnyside Of The Street | Hell's Ditch | Island | 1990
Gogol Bordello | USA-Ukraine-Russia-China-Scotland UK-Ethiopia-Ecuador-Belarus | Trans-Continental Hustle | Trans-Continental Hustle | American | 2010
Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra | Ex-Yugoslavia | Unza Unza Time | Unza Unza Time | Barclay | 2000
 
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros | England UK | Shaktar Donetsk | Global A Go-Go | Hellcat | 2001
Cornershop | England UK | 6 A.M. Jullander Shere | Woman's Gotta Have It | Luaka Bop | 1995
Brenda Fassie | South Africa | Vuli Ndlela | Memeza | CCP | 1997
Juslin & Les Thu-Zahina | R.D. Congo | Sanga Mbele Mbele | Sanga Mbele Mbele - Single | Fiesta | 1970
 
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros | England UK | Get Down Moses | Streetcore | Hellcat | 2003
The Clash | England UK | Know Your Rights | Combat Rock | Epic | 1982
Rachid Taha | Algeria-France | Rock El Casbah | Tekitoi! | Barclay | 2004

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