JOE STRUMMER
Born John Mellor, his rhythm and blues band the 101'ers became a staple on the pub and club circuit in London in the mid 1970s. One evening an unknown band called the Sex Pistols opened for the 101'ers at the Nashville Room, impressing Strummer enough to form his own punk band with Mick Jones and Paul Simonon. The Clash became known for the political content of their songs, addressing issues such as urban disaffection, racism, unemployment and militarism amid the backdrop of the decaying Labour administration of the late 70s. The band fell apart in 1983. Strummer pursued a subsequent career as an actor and music producer and formed his own band the Mescaleros. He died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 50.
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DON LETTS is a British film director, DJ and musician. He first rose to fame in the 1970s as the DJ who converted a whole generation of punks into reggae fans. In the 1980s he founded the pop group "Big Audio Dynamite" with Mick Jones of the Clash and co-wrote four albums including the top ten hit E = mc2 . His films have been shown at the ICA, NFT and The Kitchen NYC and in 2003 he won a Grammy for his documentary 'Westway To The World'. |
