I spend New Year's being somewhat lazy, it's usually a marathon of jazz thru the speakers and contemplate the year that has passed and look to the year ahead. A nice dinner and perhaps an old movie. How about you?
Download 606_time_after_time.mp3 (John Coltrane)
In music it seems every generation had the one person or group who smashed the mirror, you know the ones who you could define a generation or movement: Chuck Berry, Elvis, The Beatles, The Doors, Bob Marley, The Grateful Dead, Nirvana. Then for me there was The Only Band That Mattered, The Clash. I had read about them when I was 13 and remembering taking a train and then the "L" to a record shop and buying the import of their first album, The Clash UK. It was the first import I had ever bought and probably the 4th or 5th album I had ever purchased. It's sitting next to me now as I write this, looking at I remember how amazed I was, this album wasn't shrink-wrapped, It was in a clear plastic bag, no wonder it was so expensive! When I first heard it, I literally sat there in front of the speaker with my mouth open, this was it! Bands like the Beatles and The Everly Brothers (my early listening) had spoken to me before but not like these guys did. I wish I could really put it in words how I felt, all I knew then was, this was real and honest. I was fortunate enough to see them live at The Aragon here in Chicago. It was life changing, to the crowd we were seeing "The Only Band That Mattered" and to The Clash we were "The Only People Who Mattered"
My love for the group continued, thru London Calling, Sandinista,and Combat Rock. Joe's words not only entertained but educated me, forced me to think and change my ways. Like John Lennon and Bob Marley before him, he preached humanity in his lyrics and showed us about suffering and there is more to life than working for the man. Unlike Lennon and Marley, Strummer and The Clash were my generation's voice. The one who stood up to Reagan and Thatcher and taught me to speak up when I saw injustice either at home or abroad. With each release the group became accepted by more of my friends and the world, The Clash were going to be the answer, the tide was changing goodbye cheesy rock bands.
Then it exploded and Joe Strummer kicked Mick Jones out of the band. I remembering reading that while in college and remember throwing the NME down saying out loud "What the FUCK, FUCK YOU JOE STRUMMER HOW DARE YOU?" I never bought Cut The Crap, I can't even recall hearing a song from it, I moved on, the journey was over. I followed Big Audio Dynamite and knew Joe had worked on some films soundtracks and then started The Mescalaros. A childhood buddy of mine recalled to me seeing the group in Chicago while I was living in New York. He was telling me how great it sounded and that I should go re-discover Joe. Wally knew I still really hadn't forgiven Joe for kicking out Mick and I had moved on. When my friend passed away, I went and seeked out Joe's work with The Mescalaros but unfortunately never got to see the group live.
I recently saw the documentary on Joe Strummer The Future is Unwritten and it is really worth spending some time with. I was glad they didn't make Joe out to be a Saint which some of these documentaries end up doing. Joe like many of us in our lives lose our sense of self,some return to it, others continue to search for it and some never find it. Watching the film it seemed Joe re-discovered himself. Five years ago, Joe Strummer died leaving us with the one thing I heard when I put the needle down on the turntable as a young teen. Hope.
Download career_opportunities.mp3 (The Clash)
Download 08_magnificent_seven.mp3 (The Clash)
Download johnny_cash_redemption_song1.mp3
(Johnny Cash w/Joe Strummer)
If you ever went to college in Boston in the past 30 years or so or were in a band that made it's way thru Boston, you would of run into Butch, Mr. Butch. He might be with his guitar laying down Hendrix riffs, he might of been a bit buzzed back in the day, or he might of just been hanging out on a stoop in Kenmore. But if there was ever a man or human, who defined kindness and pureness of soul it was Mr. Butch. Earlier tonight, a friend sent me a link, informing me Mr. Butch passed away from injuries suffered in an scooter accident. I'm a bit crushed. When I was a young college student in the mid 80's in Boston, living just a few blocks from Kenmore Sq and The Rat, Butch was always there, giving you advice or introducing you to other people you might connect with musically, politically or just socially, Mr Butch knew us all and you knew Mr. Butch. Kenmore Square had changed alot since I left Boston, places were torn down, renovated into luxury condos etc, but I would always run into Mr. Butch or I should say, I seeked him out occasionally for a chat when I returned to Boston for business. He would fill me in on what had changed but you knew nothing had, just the building the facades. He knew all college students, punks and musicians are the same but so inherently different. He knew all our strengths and what we would become. Mr Butch wasn't the Mayor of Boston, or the King of Kenmore. He was just Mr. Butch. Bless you, Butch. Bless you.
Download 1the_wind_cries_mary.mp3
Learn more about Mr Butch here
Good Riddance Jerry, all you did was promote HATE. You never really understood a word of what Jesus spoke.
Download 19_you_cant_judge_a_book_by_its_cover.mp3
As I was writing this a pure genius of The Rock N Roll Guitar Bo Diddley has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke in Iowa. Let's hope he gets through this. The Story is Here
You know I've been guilty of this many times, you meet someone a number of times and don't even "Hang out" long and the next time you see them you completly forget who they are or they forget who you are. I can and will admit I am one of the most guiltiest people of that crime. One person who wasn't, is the comedian above from you tube. Bill Hicks. While in university, I worked at a rock club, where I was a "DJ" between the live bands. Attached to the "Rock Club" was a comedy club and to be honest, the comedians came up to do lines in between their sets in the DJ booth and check out the bands. Besides, the local comedians, who were there every night, the traveling guys never remembered who I was. Shit all they wanted to do was get "Zooted on Goofballs" before their set. And I don't know why or how he did it, but Bill Hicks, would see me before the night would even start and yell out as I arrived "Hey Marc, How you doing? and always came up to say hello, this guy who I would see what every three months for about 10 minutes, knew and remembered my fucking name. This was early in his career and I've really never saw a comedian as brilliant as he was. Lewis Black, whom I love, is pretty darn close, and Dennis Leary stole alot of Bill Hick's schtick but Hicks was pure political and comedic brilliance. When his career began to take off, I never went to see him at the bigger venues but he would stop by my other job at a radio station to promote the gig and again he would come by my office or cubicle and pay a visit, we would have a good laugh, catch up a bit and knew we would run into each other another time. I cried when I heard he passed away from pancreatic cancer back on this day in 1994, I did that once before when John Lennon was killed. You are missed Bill, and hate to be selfish but we need you down here.. Bad.
Learn More about Bill Hicks
Buy Bill Hicks
Taste some of The Outlaw:
Love it or hate it, with someone or not. Here's some last minute tracks for your mix tape to get you thru the day or you can completely ignore them. I'm going to keep these up for one day only.
Download 03_i_fell_in_love_today.mp3
Download 24_I'm_in_love_with_a_girl.mp3
Download 04_love_will_tear_us_apart.mp3
Download 02_do_i_love_you_indeed_i_do.mp3
Download 01_i_love_your_lovin_ways.mp3
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