The reason why Joe Strummer never wanted to reunite The Clash: “Retreading steps”
Bands don’t last forever. Some last multiple decades, while others are only together for a fleeting moment before imploding in the midst of egos and ‘musical differences’. I
f recent band reunions are anything to go by, though, virtually any group can reunite provided the music industry throws enough money at them. Any band, it would seem, apart from The Clash.
Musical reunions, despite being an everlasting presence within the modern music world, are by no means a modern invention. Almost as soon as The Beatles broke up back in 1970, for instance, they were inundated with offers of eye-watering sums to reunite for a one-off concert or collaborative project, to no avail.
Within the safety-pin revolution of punk rock, though, a lot less importance was placed on the longevity of bands – if a group lasted more than a few gigs together without attacking each other, running out of guitar chords, or dying of a heroin overdose, it was cause for celebration.
That’s where The Clash differed from their various punk comrades, though. From their very outset, Joe Strummer’s outfit adopted a much more expansive sound than the rest, incorporating elements of dub, ska, and rockabilly into their punk sound, which in turn opened up various different sonic avenues for their future. While countless other punk bands fell by the wayside, The Clash adapted and diversified their sound, embracing everything from hip-hop to experimental jazz, and they were rewarded with an impressive degree of longevity.
In fact, it wasn’t until 1986 – a full decade after their formation – that the group finally threw in the towel, following a dismal final album, Cut The Crap, and the regrettable sacking of both Topper Headon and Mick Jones a few years prior. In the wake of the dissolution, the band members went in their separate sonic directions: Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite, Paul Simonon established Havana 3am, and Strummer embarked upon various solo projects.
Throughout it all, though, the former members seemingly maintained a constant love for The Clash and the work that they created during their time together. Coupled with the legendary reputation that the group amassed, with multiple generations of fans worshipping their output, you would assume that the band were ripe candidates for a high-profile band reunion, but that never came to fruition.
During an interview with Classic Rock, Simonon mused on why that reunion never happened, sharing, “BAD were so groundbreaking I didn’t feel there was any need for Mick to do it, and I don’t think Joe would have been happy retreading steps that he’d made already. I didn’t really see much point.”
Adding, “Obviously, it meant a lot to so many people and it meant a lot to us, but I think we were always more concerned with protecting The Clash’s legacy rather than squandering it. Move on, make something new. It’s healthy to do that.”
That unwavering artistic drive was what made The Clash so great in the first place, after all, so it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for a songwriter as forward-thinking as Strummer to wallow in the sounds of his younger years in the form of a Clash reunion. According to the bassist, that seemed to be the prevailing reason why it never happened, and the tragic passing of Strummer in 2002 forever put an end to the possibility.
Even in the post-Clash years, the band members routinely collaborated on various projects, if only minor ones, but there was a constant desire to do something new. After all, if Strummer was content to do the same thing over and over again, then the band would never have moved on from the sound of their 1977 debut.
