Joe Strummer, lead singer of the Clash, performs in concert at the Roxy Theater, Los Angeles, in 1980. Photograph: Ann Summa/Getty Images
With Julian Temple's documentary about Joe Strummer, The Future Is Unwritten, set for release next month, this slide show, made by an anonymous YouTube contributor, is a timely, poignant reminder of the impact Strummer and the Clash had on so many lives.
Still regarded by countless people - myself included - as the greatest rock'n'roll band this, or any other country, has ever produced, Strummer's untimely death two years ago was an event as seismic as the death of John Lennon had been for the hippy generation almost 30 years before.
This short movie, backed by the Mescaleros' lilting, bluesy Silver and Gold, traces Strummer's life - from boyhood, through pub rocker and grave-digger, to punk-rocker - with a series of photographs of the man. It is tremendously affecting, as YouTube viewers testify. Most admit to not being able to watch without a box full of tissues to hand. For me, it brought up memories that for once actually merit the cliché "bitter-sweet": the Clash's appearance at Victoria Park for Rock Against Racism, the riots at Crawley, my first meeting with him a few years after The Clash split. A strange, fantastical summer when my younger brother, in the company of Joe, bounced between illegal Soho gambling joints, being introduced to characters straight out of Clash songs; and that same summer arguing with our hero about everything from South American politics to the meaning of love.
The film also takes you to a page that is full of other Clash clips and short films, so if you are a fan be prepared for a long and emotional stay. If having watched this, you would like to share your own recollections of the man and the Clash then please, please post them below.
