The purest rock band Joe Strummer ever heard: “They beat it back into purity”
Joe Strummer first discovered his love of rock ‘n’ roll through the music of Woody Guthrie, even going by the nickname ‘Woody’ in his early 20s, a time when he began playing in various bands in Wales.
Alongside Guthrie’s folk stylings, Strummer was fascinated with the likes of Little Richard and The Beach Boys, poring over their records that would inspire him to begin playing music. Making his move to London in 1975, he changed his name from ‘Woody’ Mellor and assumed the moniker of Joe Strummer, his surname taken from a self-deprecating descriptor for his role as a rhythm guitarist. Once he was recruited to front The Clash in 1976, though, Strummer was reborn, but his musical inspirations always remained at the forefront of his ambitions.
In tandem, a contemporary inspiration of Strummer’s in the Ramones shaped the sound, vision and look that came to be synonymous with “punk” that would later trickle into the UK scene and, indeed, in Strummer’s mind.
Their self-titled debut, adorned with the sincerely iconic image of the four Ramones – Joey, Johnny, Tommy and Dee Dee – wearing torn denim jeans and leather jackets, standing in front of a brick wall, solidified the unofficial uniform of the culture, an accidental symbol of rebellion. From Joey’s chant of, “Hey ho, let’s go!” on its opening track, ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, the Ramones’ debut album incited a movement, unprecedented in its electrifying results.
Performing with the backing of his post-Clash band, the Mescaleros, in 2001, Strummer would often close his live performances with his rendition of ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, a nod of respect to the forefathers of punk and their leader, Joey, who had passed away that April of lymphoma.
“If it wasn’t for the Ramones, or Joey in particular, there wouldn’t be a Green Day, an Offspring, a Rancid, a Blink-182 – there wouldn’t be any punk band, period,” Strummer told Rolling Stone, in remembrance of the singer after his passing. “There are bands that are influenced by the Ramones that don’t even know it yet. The Ramones sounded like rock & roll in its purest form – they beat it back into purity.”
Strummer then reflected on a time he saw the Ramones perform a decade prior, during their Escape From New York Tour. “The Ramones aren’t only the sort of band that you would go and mosh to. It’s also a band that you can have romance around, too,” he noted. “I remember looking around and seeing people make out in the audience. It was that sort of ’50s inspiration. It’s a bunch of street guys who aren’t afraid to sing a sappy love song, too.”
After the shock of their first single, the Ramones followed with ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’, its teeny-bopper lyrics and sing-song melodies contrast with the driving force of their guitars. It would be the first of many across the Ramones’ discography that reverberate odes of love that differed from their anarchic tunes.
Strummer also recounted the last conversation he shared with Joey, upon learning of his illness while on tour in Japan. “I just called up and said – Hey, uh, I just bought ‘She’s the One’ on seven-inch vinyl for 40 bucks out here,” he recalls, to which Joey laughed and responded, “I heard you guys were bringing up kids onstage and starting bands, and the song that you have them play is ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’. That’s really cool.”
