Joe Strummer and D. Boon

December 22nd is a dark day in the world of Punk music. On this day, 17 years apart, two it's most unique voices passed from this earth.

Dennes Dale Boon died in a car accident enroute to Arizona on December 22nd, 1985. Known to his friends as simply D, Boon had just recorded "3 Way Tie (For Last)" with his seminal Punk group The Minutemen. For Boon and the Minutemen, recording and touring were not activities taken lightly or entered into halfway. In a span of 6 short years The Minutemen spent nearly all of their time either on the road or in the studio. The group released no less than 11 full length studio LP's and Ep's during this time, starting in 1980 with the EP "Paranoid Time". A Minutemen tour was not a lavish affair. Usually consisting of Boon and fellow band mates, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, loading up the Econoline Van and hitting the road with a dizzying schedule laid out in front of them. Their touring schedule saw the group perform hundreds of shows each year (and thus coining the band mantra of "Jamming Econo", which would be the title of the 2005 documentary dedicated to the rise of the group and Boons tragic passing).

The Minutemen

Boon had been interested in music throughout his young life and, with the encouragement of his mother, pursued his musical vision in an assortment of bands formed with schoolmates and friends. It wasn't until he met and befriended a kindred spirit in Watt that his musical vision took flight. Initially the pair formed a group entitled The Reactionaries but at Boon's insistence the group broke up to become a trio. After being signed by SST records the original drummer, tired of the Punk scene, abruptly quit. Reenter Hurley, who after leaving The Reactionaries was playing with another LA band at the time. The Punk scene in the LA/So Cal area at the time was exploding with bands like Black Flag and Descendants generating a strong local following. But the Minutemen stood out from their contemporaries not only lyrically but also musically. Boon and Watt wrote songs that had a much more political bent. And with each successive release, the group tinged their sound with everything from folk to jazz, even polka. On stage, Boon was an imposing figure. Big and burly, Boon was known for constant motion on stage while playing guitar and singing the songs he, Watt and Hurley had penned.

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John Mellor was born on August 21st, 1952 in Ankara, Turkey while his father was working there for the British Foreign Office. Moves, associated with his fathers occupation, followed to such outposts as Cyprus, Cairo, Mexico and West Germany. In his teens, Mellor's musical tastes were influenced by the current wave of British rock 'n roll acts, especially Captain Beefheart (his confessed idol). Having moved to Wales, and after a failed stint in art school and jobs that ranged from gravedigger to farmhand, Mellor takes up music full time. After a short lived stint in a local band called The Vultures and, tired of the meaningless odd jobs he had employed to get by, Mellor (having now assumed the first name "Woody", as in Guthrie) decided to move back to London. Making ends meet by busking at various London mass transit stations, Mellor started his next group, The 101'ers, with fellow squatters from London's Maida's Hill community. With the new band came a new title, Joe Strummer (at left, circa 1973), based on his guitar style. Strummer and the 101'ers meet with middling success, scoring regular gigs around town and releasing two singles. The first single, inspired by Strummer's then girlfriend Paloma Romano (later to be known as Pomolive of the all girl band The Slits), was entitled Keys to Your Heart.



As the 101'ers searched for a following and record label interest in London, the Punk movement was exploding in the Bowery of New York. Having been spotted by Mick Jones a few months prior during a 101'ers gig, Strummer joins Jones as the 101'ers dissolve around the same time Jones' group London SS never gets off the ground. Along with Paul Simonon and Terry Chimes, The Clash was officially born. Chimes lasted only until 1977 when Topper Headon took over behind the drum kit.

The Clash (Mick Jones, Strummer, Topper Headon, Paul Simonon)

After The Clash officially called it quits in 1983, Strummer takes to acting and penning movie soundtracks as well as briefly reuniting with Jones in 1986 to c0-produce and co-write Big Audio Dynamites No. 10 Upping Street. In 1989 Strummer releases a solo record "Earthquake Weather" that meets with lackluster sales and reviews. After a brief stint with The Pogues in 1991, Strummer spends the remainder of the decade a drift, feuding with The Clash's old label Epic and hosting a BBC radio show.

Joe and the Mescaleros

By the end of the 90's Strummer hooks up with the band The Mescalero's after working with several of the members on a movie soundtrack. Strummer would later add violinist Tymon Dogg, an old busking mate, and the group would release "Rock Art and the X-Ray Style" in 1999. In 2001 the group released "Global A Go-Go" and while touring to support the album the group includes several Clash favorites in each nights set. In one of Strummers final live appearances, in November of 2002 at a benefit concert for striking firefighters, he was joined on stage by Mick Jones, who was attending the event. The unplanned reunion features the two performing Clash classics "Bankrobber", "White Riot" and "London's Burning". Strummer would be dead a month later from an undiagnosed heart condition. The posthumous "Streetcore" was released a year later.

Related Links:

D. Boon on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._Boon

Minutemen: http://www.lardbiscuit.com/lard/minutemen.html

Mike Watts Hootpage: http://www.hootpage.com/hoot_gallery-mmen.html

We Jam Econo Documentary : http://www.theminutemen.com/

Joe Strummer Sites: http://www.joestrummer.com/ http://www.joestrummer.org/ http://www.joestrummer.us/

The Future is Unwritten Doc Site: http://www.joestrummerthemovie.com/

Let's Rock Again Documentary Site: http://www.dickrude.biz/_lets_rock/_lets_rock_intro.htm

The Clash Site: http://www.theclashonline.com/

Carbon/Silicon: Mick Jones Rides Again

London SS - Mick Jones and Tony James (right)

The Clash, Generation X, The Damned, Chelsea, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and the Rich Kids. If you play six degrees of separation with all of these bands they all have one common denominator: London SS. Founded by Mick Jones (The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite) and Tony James (Generation X, Sigue Sigue Sputnik), London SS never really was a band but more a Punk version of American Idol. With Jones and James playing the part of Simon and Randy, they conducted audition after audition looking for more musicians to round out their vision of what London SS would be; some would make the cut and move on, others would not and drop into obscurity. After 10 months and having already rejected the likes of Paul Simonon (Clash bassist), Tony Chimes (Clash drummer), Topper Headon (Clash drummer after Chimes), Steve New (Rich Kids guitarist) and Rat Scabies (Damned drummer), Jones and James decided to call it quits. James first moved on to play bass with Chelsea which splintered into Generation X. When Billy Idol left Generation X, James started up Sigue Sigue Sputnik (right). Jones, famously, would join up with Chimes, Simonon, Keith Levene and Joe Strummer to form the Clash.

The Clash

Throughout the years, bands and projects the two would participate in, Jones and James remained close friends. Sometime in 2002 the two started making regular trips to a recording studio together in West London. By Spring of 2003 the pair, under the name Carbon/Silicon (http://www.carbonsiliconinc.com/default.aspx ), began to release the results of their collaboration free of charge as downloads on their website. By 2007 the pair (at right) had released a total of 7 downloadable EP and full length albums for free. In November they released “The Last Post”, their first “official” CD and began to play gigs in the U.S. this month to promote it. They will tour Britain next year. The sampled, electronic sound Jones broke ground with in B.A.D. is still present, but Carbon/Silicon is much more a garage-based band than B.A.D . One area that still remains from The Clash days is the overtly political theme to much of the lyrics and themes. Song titles like “Why Do Men Fight”, “The Whole Truth” and “National Anthem” would fit nicely on the back of any Clash album.

For more, check out these links:

London SS - http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/london_ss.htm

Sigue Sigue Sputnik - http://www.sputnikworld.com/

Generation X - http://www.billyidol.com/v1/genx.html

The Clash - http://www.theclashonline.com/

Big Audio Dynamite - http://www.esmark.net/bad/bad.htm

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Radio, Radio

In telecom-speak, the capture effect describes how a radio determines, when given two different signals on the same frequency, which signal it will broadcast. When presented with multiple signals, FM receivers will only broadcast the strongest signal. The capture effect can also be used to describe the current state of “terrestrial” radio. When given the option of turning on your radio today, most people choose to talk on their cell phone, play a cd or listen to the ranting of some right-(or left) wing talk show host on AM radio while making their daily commute or driving to the store. The options for diverse radio programming have not been this bleak since Marconi sent himself the first radio transmission in 1895. The state of today’s terrestrial radio is in sad shape. Why else are millions of people signing up and paying for the subscription services offered by such companies as XM or SIRIUS? I, for one, will never pay for radio. I already pay for bottled water, toll roads and 100 channels of cable TV (of which I may watch 6 channels during any given month). Radio, like this shit, is supposed to be free. Scan the dial the next time you get in your car. Wait, I’ll save you the agony, because all you will find are 4 hip-hop stations, 3 Spanish language stations, 2 oldies top 40 channels and a partridge in a pear tree. Eventually, internet radio will get its act together and then your radio options will be limitless, and hopefully still free.

When scanning the airwaves for 70’s and 80’s punk or new wave, the real estate effect is invoked: location, location, location. If you are lucky enough to live in an area with either a college station or a community supported station you have a chance to hear much more diverse programming and have a shot at someone still rolling out the punk and new wave music from an era when it, to, was largely ignored by ad-based radio. Let’s look at a few of the better radio programs that are still exposing the masses to some real variety, most 30 years after it was recorded:

Lest We Forget – Sundays from 9pm to midnite EST
90.9 FM WVVS-FM (www.valdosta.edu/wvvs)
Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA

One of the longer running programs dedicated to punk and new wave, Lest We Forget (http://www.myspace.com/skipv91) will still occasionally throw in some newer music that is also ignored on ad based radio. Show founder and host Skip will enlighten the Fishbone, Iggy and XTC crowd with the occasional song from Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers (right) and She Wants Revenge. Skip hosted shows on the station while attending VS in the 80’s, then left and now is back working for the university. Lest We Forget also updates it’s listeners on newer releases from some of the 70’s and 80’s stalwarts such as New York Dolls and Patti Smith. Unfortunately the broadcast area is small (approximately 25 miles) and the station does not stream over the internet or maintain pod casts. The next time you’re rolling through Valdosta, GA check it out.

Patti Smith

80’s Underground – Wednesday from 9am to 11am PST
103.3 FM KSCU ( http://www.kscu.org/ )
University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA

A college station dj’ed by mostly non-students, KSCU has been around as a radio station in one form or another for over 50 years. Jeff Shelton brings an eclectic mix of 70’s and 80’s new wave and punk to the South Bay airwaves every Wednesday from 9 am till 11. 80’s Underground ( http://www.myspace.com/80sunderground ) specializes in reviving the lost gems and forgotten acts from the era (Screaming Meemee’s, The Neats, The Nils - left) while still maintaining a link to the bands that ruled college radio back in the day (X, Guadalcanal Diary, The Replacements). KSCU has a broadcast area of 30 miles and is available on the internet. Jeff maintains a pod cast of all his shows at ( http://www.midwestusergroup.org/KSCU_Podcasts.htm ).
And if you want to hear some great new music with one foot planted firmly in the new wave era check out Jeff’s side project, The Well Wishers ( http://www.myspace.com/thewellwishers ).

Guadalcanal Diary

The Modern World – Friday from 6am to 8am CST
89.9 FM WEVL ( http://wevl.org/ )
Listener Supported, Memphis, TN

Running continuously since 2000, The Modern World is straight ahead Punk and New Wave and rarely strays beyond 1990. For every song you hear that you recognize, you’ll hear two you don’t…and you’ll be better for it. The former host maintained an excellent site that documented every song played from every show (http://www.dtradio.com/) and is still a great place to go if you’re trying to remember the name of that Vitamin Z song that you liked (it was Burning Flame, by the way). The current host Scott maintains playlists of all his shows (http://www.myspace.com/letthedaybeginonwevl ) as well. The station is listener supported and has a broadcast range of 60 miles around the Memphis area. The station streams on the internet but does not maintain pod casts. Get up early on Friday-it’s worth it.