Say it ain't so...

I've never been one to react to celebs popping their clogs. Half the time the public is confused between the roles they played in public (or on stage or on film), and the person behind the mask.

I usually look at the obit in the posh papers, or Anna Ford's BBC News tribute and go "that's a shame..." and get on with the day.

When Diana, our patron saint of shopping and slimming, croaked a few years back I even got as far as the palace gates without the obligatory lump in the throat. My other half at the time was a bit of a Diana completist so I went along to make sure she didn't get lost in the crowd.

So when I heard the news that Joe Strummer - singer and guitarist with old punk rockers The Clash - had died this weekend I was more than a little moved.

Took me by surprise it did. Didn't think I gave a monkeys about the guy. It's not like the fellers done anything you could name for the last fifteen years. Just another aging pop star from yonks ago.

But on hearing the news I thought that England's a poorer place without him.

The Clash were one of the best rock and roll bands that ever was. The Sex Pistols' chaotic rock assault may have gotten the world's attention, but it was the Clash that gave it the brains, the swagger and the politics.

Up until then Bob Dylan was the first and last word in political pop - and what a po-faced old hippy he was. The Clash brought it out into the streets and gave it a good kicking.

They had a strong D.I.Y spirit too - you were left with the feeling that nothing they were doing couldn't be done by you and a few mates if you'd had a few and could be arsed. But of course they happened to be one of the most exciting live acts around - guitar slinging desperadoes out to change the world. Musically they just about succeeded too. No more ten minute long guitar solos or long haired rock operas about giant hogweeds.

They were the first rock band to fully absorb the multicultural environment they grew up in - They accepted Reggae as their own and put out strong anti-racist bass-heavy tunes like Guns of Brixton, Back Robber, Police and Thieves, and White Man In Hammersmith Palais.

Strummer, along with Mick Jones, wrote songs that pulled no punches. The attitude was infectious and fired up similar attitudes in other musical fields. You can find a touch of Joe Strummer in Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" and the entire Public Enemy output.

Live they came on like gangbusters, and provided the blueprint used by everyone from U2 to the Manic Street Preachers. Loud, angular and colourful.

In a few months they were due for a re-form. The Yanks have this ridiculous Hall of Fame thing going on, and although it means sod all over here, getting put onto the list is seen as a major deal over there. And The Clash are on the list.

The plan was for Jones and Strummer to get the band back for a fresh take on the old standards, and it would have put them on the map once again. They bust apart just as the Yanks figured out who they were. This would have been a way to get back on track.

The irony of the band was that they signed to a big record label on a dumb deal - they never reaped the profits they deserved. But they never compromised, and refused to reform for a wodge of dollars. That wouldn't be the point.

So we've lost Joe Strummer - a dude who never compromised himself for anyone. Sod John Lennon and his bogus working class hero stance. Here was the real deal.

Rest in Peace? Not if there's a Fender Strat lying about he won't!

Blogga.