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The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer: Radicalism, Resistance and Rebellion
Joe Strummer was one of the twentieth century’s iconic rock’n’roll rebels.
Frontman, spokesman and chief lyricist for The Clash, Strummer played a major role in politicising a generation through some of the most powerful protest songs of the era, songs like ‘White Riot’, ‘English Civil War’ and ‘London Calling’. At the heart of this protest was the struggle for social justice and equality.
The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer examines Strummer’s beliefs on a range of issues – alienation, exploitation, multiculturalism and humanism - analysing their credibility, influence and impact, and asking where they came from and how they developed over his lifetime.
Drawing on Strummer’s lyrics, various interviews and bootleg recordings, as well as interviews with friends and contemporaries like Billy Bragg, The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer takes the reader on a journey through the political influences and motivations that defined one of the UK’s greatest punk icons.
Frontman, spokesman and chief lyricist for The Clash, Strummer played a major role in politicising a generation through some of the most powerful protest songs of the era, songs like ‘White Riot’, ‘English Civil War’ and ‘London Calling’. At the heart of this protest was the struggle for social justice and equality.
The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer examines Strummer’s beliefs on a range of issues – alienation, exploitation, multiculturalism and humanism - analysing their credibility, influence and impact, and asking where they came from and how they developed over his lifetime.
Drawing on Strummer’s lyrics, various interviews and bootleg recordings, as well as interviews with friends and contemporaries like Billy Bragg, The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer takes the reader on a journey through the political influences and motivations that defined one of the UK’s greatest punk icons.
312 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2022
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About the author
Gregor Gall
37 books4 followersProfessor Gregor Gall (b. 1967) is director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 17, 2023
An excellent book which does exactly what it says on the cover. If you’re into Strummer, Punk, British politics or cultural studies - or all of the above, you’ll enjoy this. Gall knows his stuff. Recommended.
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February 25, 2025No le quiero poner una calificación porque simplemente no era lo que buscaba, no me parece que sea malo ni nada por el estilo, pero definitivamente iba con otra expectativa.
October 31, 2022
There are so many problems with this book, it’s difficult to know exactly where to start. Beginning with the least important - the way in which citations clutter the text is distracting, and there is an overload of these, as Gall seems keen to let us know that this is an academic work, and is obviously hoping to get it on those Cultural Studies reading lists. Footnotes would have been far better. In parts it is difficult to read as every few words are interrupted by bracketed citations.
The deeper problems with the book are, similarly, linked to its academic pretensions, which at times appear as almost self-parodic. Gall constantly refers to the fact that his subject did not make himself amenable to academic study. “…over the course of his life” he tells us, “Strummer made statements which appear contradictory…Seemingly contradictory statements would suggest he changed his view on issues.” Strummer’s statements, mostly gleaned through interviews over the years with various music journals, “were often unelaborated upon and seldom explained in relation to previous statements.” You don't say! There is no need to expect or demand ideological consistency, given that Strummer was a rock musician, not an academic or politician. No one elected him on a program they were entitled to expect to be carried out.
The other most frustrating aspect to this book, given that Strummer was foremost a songwriter, is the paucity of discussion of the man’s song lyrics. Here, the book fails even on its own terms. There is a torturous section attempting to dissect the meaning of Ghetto Defendant, comparing differing interpretations of the song. Strummer’s lyrics, interspersed with Ginsberg’s poetry, provide snapshots of urban despair, political corruption, state violence, narcotic melancholy. It is not a manifesto, it’s visceral. Gall doesn’t appear to understand that the appeal of music, certainly if it has any artistic merit, exists on a different level to that of a political manifesto, and is appreciated, experienced and judged according to a different set of criteria.
It would have been useful if Gall had contextualised the music of the Clash much more than he does against the social and economic predicament of post- ‘60s Britain and multicultural terrain of West London. Done well, that could have been interesting. Or, if he had wanted a subject matter that lent itself to more straightforward political analysis, he could have chosen a figure like Billy Bragg or the Specials, the latter releasing two of the most commercially successful political records in the history of popular music. To the end of the book, it remains unclear why he has chosen Strummer.
Gall details Strummer’s aversion to organized left-wing groups and parties, (‘Fuck off man! Smoke a bloody joint!”) claiming that they could only inhibit his creative independence This was reflective of both Strummer’s social position as a rock star and the self-indulgent individualism that inevitably goes with that territory, a social predicament hardly amenable to the collective discipline required of being in a political organization, along with the fact that, by and large, he was no doubt quite right and parties on the far left probably would have restricted his artistic creativity.
Ultimately, however, I don’t care if Strummer had a fully coherent, worked out political philosophy. That isn’t why, as a teenager, I played the Clash’s first album at top volume until the vinyl wore down. The problem with this book, apart from the fact that Gall is not a very engaging writer, is ultimately that he doesn’t understand Strummer, and he doesn’t understand rock music period.
The deeper problems with the book are, similarly, linked to its academic pretensions, which at times appear as almost self-parodic. Gall constantly refers to the fact that his subject did not make himself amenable to academic study. “…over the course of his life” he tells us, “Strummer made statements which appear contradictory…Seemingly contradictory statements would suggest he changed his view on issues.” Strummer’s statements, mostly gleaned through interviews over the years with various music journals, “were often unelaborated upon and seldom explained in relation to previous statements.” You don't say! There is no need to expect or demand ideological consistency, given that Strummer was a rock musician, not an academic or politician. No one elected him on a program they were entitled to expect to be carried out.
The other most frustrating aspect to this book, given that Strummer was foremost a songwriter, is the paucity of discussion of the man’s song lyrics. Here, the book fails even on its own terms. There is a torturous section attempting to dissect the meaning of Ghetto Defendant, comparing differing interpretations of the song. Strummer’s lyrics, interspersed with Ginsberg’s poetry, provide snapshots of urban despair, political corruption, state violence, narcotic melancholy. It is not a manifesto, it’s visceral. Gall doesn’t appear to understand that the appeal of music, certainly if it has any artistic merit, exists on a different level to that of a political manifesto, and is appreciated, experienced and judged according to a different set of criteria.
It would have been useful if Gall had contextualised the music of the Clash much more than he does against the social and economic predicament of post- ‘60s Britain and multicultural terrain of West London. Done well, that could have been interesting. Or, if he had wanted a subject matter that lent itself to more straightforward political analysis, he could have chosen a figure like Billy Bragg or the Specials, the latter releasing two of the most commercially successful political records in the history of popular music. To the end of the book, it remains unclear why he has chosen Strummer.
Gall details Strummer’s aversion to organized left-wing groups and parties, (‘Fuck off man! Smoke a bloody joint!”) claiming that they could only inhibit his creative independence This was reflective of both Strummer’s social position as a rock star and the self-indulgent individualism that inevitably goes with that territory, a social predicament hardly amenable to the collective discipline required of being in a political organization, along with the fact that, by and large, he was no doubt quite right and parties on the far left probably would have restricted his artistic creativity.
Ultimately, however, I don’t care if Strummer had a fully coherent, worked out political philosophy. That isn’t why, as a teenager, I played the Clash’s first album at top volume until the vinyl wore down. The problem with this book, apart from the fact that Gall is not a very engaging writer, is ultimately that he doesn’t understand Strummer, and he doesn’t understand rock music period.
February 22, 2024
Nearly six months later, I think I have to acknowledge I’m never going to finish this. I tried, I really did.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews