-Joe Strummer.
It�s getting so a girl can�t fire up the Internet without hearing that somebody she admired and respected has shuffled off this mortal coil.
In the last two years, two of the three frontmen for my holy punk rock trinity have died.
Two years ago, Joey Ramone, lead singer for the Ramones, died of cancer. Last weekend, Joe Strummer, frontman for the British group the Clash, died of a heart attack. Iggy Pop, the leader of the power punk band, the Stooges, still lives, but at the rate that we�re going, he�ll be dead within a year.
And yet Bono lives to issue press releases. Amazing. The following is a long list of people other than Joe Strummer who could have died without upsetting me:
Bono
Chad Kroeger
Chevy Chase
Madonna
Any member of the Strokes, if I could be bothered to learn their names, which I can't, so we'll just go with the entire band.
Sid Viscious...wait, nevermind.
Avril Lavigne
Garth Brooks
That guy in those "drugs support terrorism ads"
Ahem. Okay, there. I'm done. Fit of rage over.
Old school punk rock will always bring a smile to my face. It was my introduction to adult music that dealt with serious issues. Sure, I had albums by Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson (speaking of which, he should be on my above list), but my parents always encouraged me to listen beyond the airwaves of mainstream radio.
There was great rejoicing at Chez Fowler when I brought home the first album I bought with my own money.
The album cover of the Clash�s London Calling jumped out at me. The bold pink and green title made me wonder what was going on. Why was London Calling? Who was that man smashing his guitar? Whatfor would he do such a thing? Aren't guitars expensive?
And then, I, only a little geeklet at the time, shelled out the hard-earned shoveling the driveway cashola and bought up my first ever record, tuning in to Radio Clash and torturing my parents for months playing Combat Rock at top volume.
The Clash made punk political. They wanted to be more than a fashion statement like the Sex Pistols. They were all controversy and passion and fight. Their name remains a ringing tribute to the way they operated, wanting to grind out something other than popular opinion, and also wanting to be respected and admired for their music. And as is almost always the case with punk rock, fashion forward in a Geek Chic kind of way.
Through the Clash, I was introduced to the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Stooges, the New York Dolls, the Ramones, I listened to them all.
I�m musically older than my years, I guess. Boy bands don�t hold my interest beyond a quick thought of �My goodness they look really, really stupid.�
To tell the truth, I�m a little depressed about the state of music today. Especially when the old guard is dying off at such a rapid rate and such a young age. Strummer was only 50.
Fifty is young. Fifty is being old enough to teach the younger kids what the heck it�s all about. fifty is not too old to take poseurs like Avril Lavigne over your knee and spank some sense into them.
Here�s to hoping that future generations will be captivated by their musical efforts. I hope, at least, that they know that Will Smith did not write �Rock the Casbah,� and that �Should I Stay or Should I Go?� was not originally intended to sell vodka.
Bah. I�m not saying this right.
These people meant something to me. They said something worth listening to. They indelibly marked a period of my life with one of those big, black laundry markers, scrawling �punk rawk rules!� right along the spine of the yearbook of my soul. I guess I�m just a little depressed that I'm still a young woman, but the writing is already starting to fade.
I am loving: My new DVD player. I'm sure I'll love it even more when I figure out how to work it.
I am reading: Live From New York. Chevy Chase? Is a bad, bad man.
I am watching: Repeats and re-runs. I love Christmas and all, but could they stop with the holiday specials? They're throwing off the regular schedule of Buffy repeats.
I am listening to: Joe Strummer and the Mescalero's. Rock on, buddy.
I am feeling: Justifiably contrite over being pulled over for speeding last night. No ticket, but a warning from a stern-voiced mountie is enough.
