“The future was here”: the band who killed the blues, according to Joe Strummer
Music needs revolutionaries; those brave few figures aiming to tear down the musical establishment and instate a new sound in its place. Back in the 1970s, a rebellious group of safety-pinned revolutionaries did just that, establishing a bold new era of rock expression known as punk rock. Subverting the fashion, attitudes, and sounds of mainstream rock, punk changed the musical landscape forever, thanks in no small part to the efforts of visionary songwriters like The Clash’s courageous frontman Joe Strummer.
Strummer wasted no time in establishing the revolutionary attitude of The Clash. Their 1977 debut album remains one of the greatest anti-authoritarian records of all time, taking aim at the government and police, as well as discussing topics like unemployment and a lack of prospects for the younger generation in Britain. These ideas came complete with a brand new punk sound, too. Typified by buzzsaw guitars and a rough-and-ready production style, punk was worlds apart from the mainstream rock sounds of the time.
Up until that point in musical history, the rock scene in Britain had largely been influenced by American blues and R&B musicians. Even during the culturally rich period of the swinging sixties and the British Invasion, the vast majority of groups – including the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, etc – took their core inspiration from American blues musicians.
After all, all rock and roll music is descended from the blues, it is the style that started it all. However, by the time the mid-1970s rolled around, young musicians in the UK couldn’t find much to relate to in tracks discussing the Mississippi Delta or the American Deep South. This generation was in need of an entirely new sound and, for Joe Strummer, nobody reflected that bold, innovative new sound quite like the Sex Pistols.
Manufactured by Malcolm McLaren in 1975 from the patrons of his clothing store, Sex, the Sex Pistols were an essential outfit in establishing the sounds of punk rock in the UK. Not only did the band inspire many other musicians, including the likes of Joe Strummer, Poly Styrene, Ian Curtis, Morrissey, along with an endless deluge of others, but they also aided in popularising the attitude, fashion, and inherent sound of the punk rock revolution on a national scale.
When Joe Strummer first saw the band perform, he was the frontman of the pub rock outfit The 101ers. Speaking to Melody Maker in 1976, the songwriter declared, “Yesterday I thought I was a crud. Then I saw the Sex Pistols and I became a king and decided to move into the future.” That move into the future saw Strummer jump ship from The 10ers to Mick Jones’ newly established outfit, The Clash.
“As soon as I saw them [the Sex Pistols], I knew that rhythm and blues was dead, that the future was here somehow,” Strummer revealed in that same interview. Explaining the revolutionary potential of the Johnny Rotten-fronted outfit, he explained, “Every other group was riffing their way through the Black Sabbath catalogue. But hearing the Pistols I knew. I just knew. It was something you just knew without bothering to think about.”
Strummer added, “It’s the music of now. And it’s in English. We sing in English, not mimicking some American rock singer’s accent. That’s just pretending to be something you ain’t.”
Strummer took that inspiration and ran with it, creating an unparalleled sense of rebellion and innovation within The Clash. Although the band explored a wealth of musical styles over the years, including the R&B that the Sex Pistols had done away with, they always stayed true to their punk roots, refusing to conform to mainstream expectations of rock and roll.
