Redemption Song
Page 76
fired by Clash 236–40, 244, 249, 252, 255
and London SS 142–3, 147
reinstated by Clash 5, 307–10, 315–17, 319–20, 340–50 passim, 362, 367–8, 371–88 passim, 393–7, 404
and Sex Pistols 140–41, 153, 155
songwriting 400, 405, 409
Richardson, Sy 422
Richter, Damita 290
Rip Off Park All Stars 106
Rizvi, Mary 41
Roberts, Greg 399
Rock Against Racism 6, 75, 215–18, 254
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 13–15, 375, 632, 640, 644
Rodger, Pat 495–6
Rodgers, Nile 289
Rolling Stone 478
Rolling Stones 53–4, 55 58, 153, 207, 264, 288, 320, 545
Romero, Esperanza 130, 131, 137, 146, 398
Romero, Paloma 130–31, 137, 139, 146, 155–6, 189, 498
Ronane, Tricia 13, 14, 357, 401, 467–8, 472–3, 479, 493–4, 499–504, 510–11, 517–18, 529, 536, 545, 555–6, 640
Rothberg, Jason 543
Rotten, Johnny, see Lydon, John
Roundhill, Carol 79–81, 83–4, 109
Rourke, Mickey 445
Rubin, Rick 534, 543, 623–4
Rude, Dick 11, 390, 413–14, 416, 422, 424, 428–33, 453, 461, 465–6, 592, 602, 615–16, 629–34
Rude Boy 5, 218, 222, 239, 246, 252, 257
Russell, Paul 335
Ryder, Shaun 528, 537–8, 541–2, 545, 548
Saber, Danny 537–8, 556, 612, 624
Salter, Gaby 6, 11, 15, 35, 210, 233, 240–41, 244–6, 285, 294–5, 317, 340, 364–6, 369, 380, 397, 401, 411–12, 429, 432–3, 453, 460, 465, 473, 492–4, 497–504, 510–12, 515–16, 636, 639, 645
Salter, Mark 342, 364
Saturday Night Live (NBC) 359–60
Savage, Jon 18, 175, 183, 194, 242
Scabies, Rat 13, 144, 449, 541, 543–4
Schloss, Zander 422, 424, 433, 437, 445, 448–50, 458, 462–3, 465–6, 470, 472
Scorsese, Martin 319
Scot, Jock 276, 311, 321, 357
Scott, Ridley 618
Secombe, Andy 64, 67, 83
Seggs 541, 543
Setzer, Brian 611
Sex Pistols 4, 141–2, 144–5, 150–55, 159, 165–6, 168, 170, 172, 176–7, 182–4, 188, 193, 210, 246, 309, 409
Sheppard, Nick 380–82, 385, 393, 397, 409, 594
Shields, Scott 566, 574, 576, 581–3, 591–2, 597, 599, 602, 604–6, 608, 611–12, 616, 618–21, 627, 629, 638, 642–3
Sid and Nancy 410–16, 432
Silver, Marisa, 443, 444
Silverton, Peter 49, 64–5, 138–9, 153–4
Simmons, Gene 584
Simon, Kate 168, 192, 445
Simon, Paul 460, 479
Simonon, Paul 10, 20–27, 119, 143, 147, 154, 156, 184, 193, 236, 285, 338, 357, 393, 406
Clash member 154, 157–60, 165, 167, 174–5, 178, 188, 192, 196, 205, 208, 214–15, 222–30 passim, 234, 238–9, 244, 248, 252, 263, 270, 272–3, 276–7, 283, 304, 321–2, 327, 344, 347, 351, 353, 362, 369, 371, 373–8, 381, 388–90, 394–8, 578
movie actor 289, 294
as painter 22, 418, 497
post-Clash 14–15, 409, 445, 450, 472–3, 501–4, 510–11, 517–18, 520, 524, 529, 534, 545, 614, 632, 640, 644
Simonon, Tricia, see Ronane, T.
Sinatra, Frank 446, 469
Sinclair, Jill 133
Siniestro Total 392
Sioux, Siouxsie 73, 233
Slattery, Martin 542, 566, 575, 592–609
passim, 612, 617–21, 625–7, 629, 638, 642–3
Slits 156, 189, 196, 312, 479
Smith, Ellie 198, 221, 239–40, 247, 249, 272
Smith, Patti 175
Smith, Pennie 111, 178, 239, 273, 296, 298–9, 333, 335, 338, 613
Sniffin’ Glue 172, 176–7, 189
Soul Vendors 305, 309, 441, 447, 627
South Park 543–4
Sparks, John B. 120
Spencer, Neil 254, 615
Springsteen, Bruce 144, 485, 644
Stacey, Spider 431, 483
Stafford, Simon 608, 620, 638
Stasiak, Corky 223
Steadman, Warren ‘Stoner’ 292
Stebbeds, Mark 459, 462–4, 468
Stevens, Guy 180–81, 258–62, 267–8, 279–80, 320, 408
Stevens, Joe 164, 168–9, 207, 235, 360
Stewart, Dave 535, 622
Stone, Martin 157, 160
Straight to Hell 6, 417, 421–3, 431, 434, 584
Strokes 611
Strummerville 644
Stuart, Falcon 367
Subway Sect 196, 242–3
Sun 366
Tait, Lucinda, see Mellor, L.
Temple, Amanda 30, 550–51, 564
Temple, Julien 525, 551–4, 564, 636, 644
Tesco, Nicky 257, 480
Thompson, Danny 505, 507, 510, 513
Thomson, Desson 67–8
Thorngrun, Eric ‘ET’ 414, 415
Thunders, Johnny 119–20, 182, 183
Thyssen, Francesca 210
Timperley, Clive 84, 92, 126, 129–30, 137–8, 144, 148, 156–7, 160
Tiswas 280
Today (BBC Radio 4) 607
Today (ITV) 182
Top of the Pops 544–5, 558–9
Tosh, Peter 361
Townshend, Pete 63, 280, 284, 296, 359, 381
Tregoning, Ian 533–6
Triple X 624
Tunnel of Love 545
Tupelo Chainsex 445
Tyner, Rob 272
Vanian, Dave 144, 153
Vedder, Eddie 476
Vennard, Martin 616–17
Vibrators 175
Vicious, Sid 75, 151, 160, 167, 169, 177–8, 191, 238, 244, 247, 258, 410, 415–16
Vinyl, Kosmo 18, 254, 265, 269, 276, 279, 284–5, 300, 302, 304, 307, 312, 316–17, 321, 327–43 passim, 349, 354, 360, 362–3, 371, 375–6, 383, 389–90, 401, 406, 504–6, 512–19 passim, 524
Von Zerneck, Danielle 432–3, 439, 442–4, 456, 462, 483, 498
Vultures 109, 110
Walker 6, 12, 429–30, 433–9, 441, 443, 474, 476, 479, 489, 629
Walsh, Paul 176
Ward, Andy 53, 56, 119
Warhol, Andy 250, 251
Watt-Roy, Norman 292, 302, 393, 516
Watts, Billy 154, 163
Weller, Paul 215, 316, 626
Wellsted, Keith 73
Westway to the World 1, 16, 25, 49, 578–9, 644
Westwood, Vivienne 140, 153, 168
Weymouth, Tina 588
WFN Productions 471
When Pigs Fly 15, 500, 505–7, 512–13
White, Michael 218, 252
White, Steve 64–5
White, Vince 380–83, 389, 393, 396–7, 407, 409
Who 358–61, 379, 602
Williams, Leo 185–6, 200, 399, 421, 503
Williams, Terry 506
Williamson, Nigel 361
Winks, Simon 81, 84
Winwood, Muff 189, 249, 338, 452, 467–8, 471
Wonder, Stevie 607
Woods, Terry 423, 442, 483
Wozniak, Steve 367–8
Wurlitzer, Rudy 427
Wyman, Bill 154
Yeats, Sheena 12, 28
Yentob, Alan 574
Yewdall, Julian 116, 122, 128–9, 132, 137–8, 140, 160, 242
Zermati, Marc 358, 377–8
Zimmer, Hans 618
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Over the three-and-a-quarter years that it took me to write this biography of Joe Strummer, I met or talked to over 300 of his relatives, friends, work partners and acquaintances.
I must give my deepest thanks and appreciation to Lucinda Mellor and her daughter and Joe’s step-daughter Eliza Henderson, to Gaby Holford, and to Joe’s daughters Jazz and Lola Mellor.
Lucinda introduced me to Joe’s fascinating family: the late John Mackenzie, Iain Gillies, Alasdair Gillies, Anna Gillies and Rona MacKintosh, J
essie and Ken MacKinnon, Jenny Mackenzie, Chrissie Nicholson, Sheena Yeats, Mairi MacLeod and George MacLeod. And the lovely, late Gerry King, Phyllis Netherway, Hugo Jonathan Macfarland and Stephen Macfarland.
Huge thanks go to Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, and Terry Chimes, and also to Pete Howard, Vince White and Nick Sheppard. Also to Bernard Rhodes, Kosmo Vinyl and Johnny Green, Antony Genn, Martin Slattery, Scott Shields, Pablo Cook, Luke Bullen, Smiley Barnard and Tymon Dogg, as well as Andy Boo, Bez, Richard Norris and Ian Tregoning.
From California: Danny Saber, Zander Schloss, Jack Irons and Lonnie Marshall, Alex Cox, Sam Lermer, Mark Stebbeds, Kathy Nelson and Gerry Harrington.
From Woody Mellor’s days before the Clash: Jill Calvert, Helen Cherry, Carol Roundhill, Clive Timperley, Richard Dudanski, Pat Nother, Julian Yewdall, John ‘Boogie’ Tiberi, Kit Buckler, Paloma Romano, Ari Up, Deborah van der Beek, Paul Buck and Richard Evans.
From Joe’s school and art-school era: Celia Pyke, Anne Day,
Ken Powell, Adrian Greaves, Andy Ward, Andy Secombe, Dave Bardsley, Desson Thomson, Derek Boshier, Pete Silverton and Steve White.
From the days of punk rock and beyond: Jeannette Lee, Keith Allen, Robin ‘Banks’ Crocker, Sebastian Conran, Barry ‘Scratchy’ Myers, Jock Scot, Marc Zermati, Kumari Salgado, Jo-Anne Henry, Nick and Connie Broughton, Amanda Govett, Suzi McKewan, Tracey Franks, Audrey de la Peyre, Jesus Arias, Harriet Cochrane, John Shearlaw, Pat Rodger, Dave ‘Bimble’ Parsons, Michael Horovitz, Michael Eavis, Sabrina Guinness, Nyle Shepherd, Alex Chetwynd, Alfonso, Desmond Letts, Spencer Style, and Tony James.
From the world of film: Don Letts, David Mingay, Dick Rude, Jim Jarmusch, Sara Driver, Marissa Silver, F. J. Ossang, Julien and Amanda Temple and Eric Fellner.
And thanks to Damien Hirst and Maia Norman, Jem and Marcia Finer, Spider Stacey, James Fearnley, Danielle von Zerneck, Frank Murray and Rudy Fernandez.
Inspirational were Gordon McHarg, Dave ‘Pockets’ Girvan, Gaz Mayall, Jason Mayall, Tricia Simonon, Patti Paladin, the late Michael Wojas, Josh Cheuse and Steve Kirk. Hats off to Pearl Harbour, Danny Thompson, Rat Scabies, Billy Bragg, Jerry Dammers, Glen Matlock, Andrea Oliver, Chris Musto, Nicky Tesco, Leo Williams, Dan Donovan, J. C., Jesse Malin, Sting, Steve Buscemi, Matt Dillon, Anthony Davie, Sukwoon Noh and Don Whistance.
Chapeaux aloft: Simon Moran, Kev Nicko, Graham Jones, Tommy Dunne, and the always splendid Dermot.
Huge gratitude to Jane Ashley, George Binette, Tammy, Adrian Boot, Paul ‘Pablo Labritain’ Buck, the sadly late Sean Carasov, Josh Cheuse, Jill Furmanovsky, Bob Gruen, Sho Kikuchi, Tony Lyons, the late, great Ray Lowry, Sheila Rock, Richard Schroeder, Kate Simon, Pennie Smith, Fiona Spear, Joe Stevens, Justin Thomas, John Zimmerman and Chuck Sperry.
From the music biz: Chris LaSalle, Hein van der Rey, the late Rob Partridge, Tony Linkin, Ellie Smith, Muff Winwood, Peter Jenner, Andrew King, Glen Colson, Mo Armstrong, Peter Kinnaird, Raymond Jordan and Raoul Shah.
From the media: Dotun Adebayo, Simon Barnett, Victor Bockris, James Brown, Mick Brown, Richard Cook, Mark Cooper, John Dillon, Pip Dunn, Jamie Ferguson, Pat Gilbert, Marcus Gray, Paolo Hewitt, Boris Johnson, Andy Kershaw, Gavin Martin, John Mendelson, Barry Miles, Paul Morley, Charles Shaar Murray, Andy Norman, Mal Peachey, Kris Needs, Paul Rambali, Tresa Redburn, Ira Robbins, Jim Shelley, Dave Tate, Adrian Thrills and the venerable denizens of Trouser Press; and Vivien Goldman, Jon Savage, Neil Spencer, Alan Card, Nick Daganbest, Damien Love and Alison Stroak.
In the publishing world, respect to Trevor Dolby, Denise Oswald, Humphrey Price, Monica Chakraverty, Caroline Hotblack, Bartley Shaw, Terence Caven, Dominic Forbes, Jane Beaton, Fiona Marsh, Jill Crouch, Rose Harrow, Iain Chapple, Eve Fernandez, Clive Kintoff, Elspeth Dougall and Natalie Jerome. And of course especial thanks to my agents Julian Alexander and Sarah Lazin, not forgetting Lucinda Cook and Ben Clark.
Steve, Sam and Jill Eade all helped. And I could not have written this book without the support, companionship, and love of Alex Salewicz and Cole Salewicz. And thanks to Pamela Esterson and Versa Manos.
And Joe … cheers, mate: I’m sure you’re doing fine. Big kiss. We all love you.
PRAISE FOR CHRIS SALEWICZ’S REDEMPTION SONG:
‘A riveting read that’ll keep you gripped to the end.’
Daily Mirror
‘Truly definitive.’
Rolling Stone
‘The definitive account of an extraordinary life.’
Bristol Evening Post
‘Salewicz is an acclaimed rock writer and lifelong friend of Strummer.’
Scottish Sunday Express
‘An impressive, expansive biography that is as exhaustive and enthralling as Strummer himself.’
Metro
‘Passionate and detailed.’
New York Times Book Review
‘Chris Salewicz presents us with one of the few biographies that truly deserves the tag “definitive” … Meticulously researched and exceptionally well written, Redemption Song provides us with a fabulous legacy of a prodigiously talented musician … A book that deserves to rank among the top ten music books of all time.’
Rock and Reel
‘Reading Redemption Song is like finally seeing Joe Strummer with the lights on.’
Daily Echo
‘Salewicz catalogues Strummer’s triumphs through insight and unfettered access.’
Record Collector
‘Punk’s late frontman, Joe Strummer, comes under the clear-eyed scrutiny of Chris Salewicz in Redemption Song.’
Independent
‘An inspiring and uplifting book that promises redemption at the last.’
Daily Telegraph
‘Chris Salewicz writes as the NME journalist who started covering the Clash as soon as they were playing incendiary gigs in the 1977 punk rock London, as the fan who witnessed their inspired glory years, and as the friend and confidant of Strummer … [he] transcends the usual breezy rock bio superficiality, skilfully introducing the seductive parade of characters, mentors, fellow travellers and alter egos that Strummer relied on to help him become an icon of cool.’
Evening Standard
‘Joe Strummer receives the biography he deserves with Chris Salewicz’s Redemption Song … A penetrating portrait of the man who immortalised drab 1970s London.’
Metro London
‘An epic, revealing biography.’
Observer
‘The remarkable double life of one of punk’s icons … Salewicz – or “Sandwich” as Strummer called him – knew and loved his subject well, and that shows on every page.’
Sunday Times
‘Redemption Song isn’t just a great rock biography; it’s a great biography period, a book where the many insights – and revelations – bring the man and his work into ever-sharper focus. Immense.’
Classic Rock
‘Salewicz knew Strummer more than I would have thought it possible for a journalist to know him. Salewicz’s epic biography delves deep into the places where Strummer’s demons lurked.’
Observer Music Monthly
‘Salewicz is a great writer, bringing elegant prose, rigour and research to the genuinely epic story of Strummer, who suddenly emerged in London’s Notting Hill in the mid-70s, ready and willing to take on the role as spokesman for a generation … A book that is a sheer joy to read, even when it’s as sad as it gets.’
Q
‘Chris Salewicz’s huge new Strummer biography captures well the sense of loyalty and loss felt when Strummer died aged just 50 in 2002.’
Guardian
‘I’m not sure which is more revealing in this brilliant biography, its analysis of what fuelled Strummer’s head-spinning levels of self-belief or of the period after the balloon had burst, the moving picture of a lost prophet on the slide … A riveting new perspective … the first completely successful attempt to dismantle the Strummer myth and find the person beneath it.’
Word
‘The whole book is a great read; w
ithout ever making Strummer sound like a saint yet still recording, in spades, the fact that everyone who met the man found his optimism rubbed off on them.’
Nottingham Evening Post
‘An unflinching but affectionate portrait of the Clash front man.’
Telegraph
‘An extraordinary piece of work … a portrait of a man with a boundless energy for life, but with as much shadow as he had sunshine.’
Western Daily Press
‘Epic, meticulously researched.’
Esquire
‘A masterful, literate and extremely accessible book … Essential reading for any Clash fan. Salewicz’s prodigious skills as a writer, along with his personal knowledge of his subject and his world, elevate this book from mere biography to something much deeper and more poetic.’
Houston Press
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
The Pretenders
Paul McCartney: The Biography
Billy Bragg: Midnights in Moscow
Bob Marley: Songs of Freedom
Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Experience
Punk: The Illustrated History of a Music Revolution
Oliver Stone: The Making of His Movies
George Lucas: The Making of His Movies
Firefly: Noel Coward in Jamaica
Rude Boy: Once Upon a Time in Jamaica
Reggae Explosion: The Story of Jamaican Music
Mick & Keith
Bob Marley: The Untold Story
The Story of Island Records: Keep on Running
ROOTS OF HEATHEN
No heritage or culture
Imagined empires at our feet
The tribe beats upon the bench
A country shadowed in defeat
They sing twelve tribes of Israel
But not here in Punkertown
Grey and white I am a heathen
My people have no chosen crown