STRUMMERVILLE’S FIRST U.S OUTING
What do Billy Bragg, The Foo Fighters, The British Music Embassy, the Strummerville family and legendary British filmmaker Don Letts have in common? All of these tastemakers in film and music will be celebrating Strummerville’s debut at this year’s SXSW Music and Film Festival.
Strummerville is a proactive charity, set up by family and friends in the wake of Joe Strummer’s death in 2002. Since then it has built a strong community network - offering otherwise unfunded bands and solo performers the chance to record, rehearse and play live. A regular feature at Festivals in the British Summer season, Strummerville’s work goes on all year internationally. Offering mentoring services, a magic bus on loan for gigs and tours, partnering with projects from Belfast to Bogota and a range of charities including The Amber Trust (helping blind and partially sited children enjoy music) and Jail Guitar Doors (helping prisoners gain access to guitars) Strummerville insures the spirit of the man who inspired its creation lives on in the most practical manner.
March 2010 marks Strummervilles’ debut at the internationally renowned SXSW Music and Film festival:
On the evening of Monday 15th March Strummerville will takeover the British Music Embassy. Hosted by Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters the night will feature performances from the infamous ‘National Treasure’ Billy Bragg in addition to some of Strummerville’s finest bands: Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Smokey Angle Shades, Beans on Toast, Nat Jenkins, The Good The Bad, and The Supernovas.
STRUMMERVILLE SXSW 2010 BRITISH MUSIC EMBASSY SHOWCASE RSVP CLICK HERE
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly aka the introspective Sam Duckworth received critical acclaim for his debut album ‘Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager’. A cross cultural line-up of Northern Irish, German, English and Italian members The Smokey Angle Shades take their name from a flying moth and create a world where the bar room rave ups of The Faces meet joyful country capers, spiced with psychedelic whimsy. Beans On Toast, a topical Troubadour, in the style of his East London (The) Clash inspired forbearer Billy Bragg, is a regular MC at Strummerville events with songs that are a jostling blend of humourous aside and a hardnosed invective. Nat Jenkins - Intense Richie Havens flare ups, finely plucked emotional landscapes; rock swagger and pop nous indicate a singer songwriter for all seasons. The Supernovas, a young band from Holloway North London with a sound influenced by the political attitudes of Castro and Chavez, combined with the wry irony of Morrissey, and the cutting observational skills of Lennon. And The Good The Bad bringing the finest New School Surf and Flamenco to the masses. On Wednesday 17th March Strummerville will kick off proceedings on the official opening night of the SXSW Music Festival by holding a second showcase at the renowned Prague. Wayne Kramer, singer, songwriter, producer and esteemed guitarist, will join the line-up for this special occasion.
On Friday 19th March ‘Strummerville – a film by Don Letts’ will premier at the Paramount. The film, directed by the London born, Grammy award winning filmmaker and artist Don Letts, captures the very essence of Strummerville. The film journeys through the past six months of the diverse Strummerville calendar, including interviews with the bourgeoning talents and the friends and family of Joe who work hard to keep the charity going. The documentary also includes unseen footage of Joe Strummer taken from Don’s personal archive. On the film Don says, “In a cultural climate that feels like punk never happened Strummerville (the film) serves as a timely reminder of a way forward. It worked back then and it can work again – and man it needs to!”
Don Letts was the first in-house DJ at London nightclub Roxy, playing a mix of punk rock, dub and reggae. Letts’ music choice influenced Joe Strummer and The Clash; he is credited as the DJ that single-handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. He became a close friend of Joe’s and is pictured on the cover sleeve of the 1980 release, ‘Black Market Clash’. His first film The Punk Rock Movie (1978) catalogued the Punk movement in the UK. He has directed many documentaries and music videos since and in 2003 his film Westway to the World featuring The Clash won a Grammy for ‘Best Long-form Music Video’
For more information please contact:
Kate Head: kate@stokedpr.com
Zoe Stafford: zoe@stokedpr.com 020 7841 4875
We wanted to share this with you this post made by a blogger who goes under the name of Shazwellyn.
“Let me introduce you to the charity Strummerville! Set up in honour of the late Joe Strummer of The Clash, the trustee’s consist of family and friends who create opportunities for musicians who lack the necessary funds to do so.
They also support projects and organisations based around Joe Strummer’s ethics and beliefs. This ranges from providing instruments to prisoners, to help with rehabilitation (Jail Guitar Doors), to supporting people after murder and manslaughter (SAMM).
As you can see they are not biased in where they direct their help. The key is intervention humanitarian…the common good. Strummer strived for an unbiased world – a world where racism and racial discrimination, whether against whites, blacks and whoever, ceases to exist. He strived for a world against racism by advocating freedom and fairness.
The Strummerville Charity was inspired by Joe – he helped make a difference in the world. From environmental to humanitarian and social issues, through his music he inspired change. The formation of Future Trees (now The Carbon Neutral Company) was his brainchild by instigating the planting of acres of trees and Johnny Appleseed by Strummer was released to advertise this passionate environmental message.
His legacy continues to help the lives of others. From the days he spent around the Strummer Camp fire at Somerset’s Glastonbury Festival, to the united collaboration of musician’s in aid of fundraising for Strummerville (cover of Janey Jones with Babyshambles and friends) – John Mellor continues to leave his mark. Strummer was an inspiration… The Future Is Unwritten!!”
Thank you for the kind words Shazwellyn
Loads of love,
Strummerville x
NME - Dec 21st 2009: A hand-drawn Christmas card by Joe Strummer is to go on sale tomorrow (December 22), seven years to the day since the Clash frontman passed away.
The card was designed by Joe to be given to friends and family personally. As well as the card, a tribute album is also being released tomorrow (22nd Dec) showcasing new UK acts.
Listen to and download Strummerville’s ‘Winter Sessions Showcase Album 2009‘ now.
Continuing their series of cultural tours of the capital, Guardian music editor Tim Jonze meets Trish at the Strummerville yard, Don Letts, & Jon Savage. Who’d have thought Notting Hill’s well-heeled streets gave birth to some of punk’s defining moments? Tim tracks down the people and places where the legacy lives on…
For one day only Edgware Road’s Subway Gallery was turned into a makeshift recording studio. On October 30th 2009, commuters and residents were invited to come down to the art gallery, located in the tunnels under Edgware Road, to go underground to record their own music tracks.
Scores of people including buskers and bemused passers-by made their way down to take part in the gallery’s ‘Rocking the Subway’ event.
The gallery was open from 11am but the mass recording did not take place until the afternoon. The aspiring recording artists were also joined by The Musical Differences.
For more info go to Subway Gallery website.
Here is a recent interview by Glasgow PodcART
Strummerville is not only one of the more inspiring things to happen in music, ultimately its is essential. The friends and family members of Joe Strummer set up Strummerville after his passing. A registered charity aims to reflect Joe Strummers magnificent and standout contribution to music. They offer support, resources and performance opportunities to artists who would not usually have access. This project has been a phenomenal success thus far and is going from strength to strength.
Halina was lucky enough to catch up with Trish Whelan who runs Strummerville and has been a strong part of the music industry for a number of years.
Halina: How did Strummerville begin and what is it you aim to do for musicians?
Trish: We started after Joe passed away; people began to send money and wanted to keep his legacy alive so this was the best way. We help to create opportunities for musicians by helping with recording and advice. It is to help them get their music out there and giving them a chance.
H: Joe Strummer was known for his open minded and embracing attitude. Do you feel that Strummerville is carrying on his ethos on a bigger scale?
T: Absolutely! We do not judge anyone nor are we political. We just want to help everyone how we can and as much as we can.
H: You have set up rehearsal rooms in Belfast and London. Are there any plans for other cities and indeed other countries?
T: We opened out first official Strummerville resource at the newly refurbished Roundhouse in Chalk Farm in 2006, and we have actually just opened another one in London. We are looking to open a further recording/rehearsal space in Bridgwater, Somerset, a series of Strummerville Showcase nights giving unsigned musicians a chance to highlight their work, as well as a continuing presence at Glastonbury Festival. We have also set up by helping Africans namely in Malawi and set up a sister school.
H: Glasgow PodcART are particularly aimed at the unsigned like yourselves. Are there any bands that you would recommend to our audience and us?
T: There are absolutely loads of DIY bands! Dan Smith being one you can find him at www.myspace.com/dansmithuk he is amazing. Also another top act to check out is Beans On Toast (www.myspace.com/sexdrugspolitics) they are a top act!
H: We have felt a shift in music of late, people are becoming more independent and innovative when releasing and exposing their music. Do you feel that this has helped Strummerville relate to more people?
T: Yes, people are a lot more open now and the treasure chest of the music industry has unlocked. It has empowered people to get more out there and there is more of a punk ethos now. I am a great believer in the good getting through.
H: Would you ever consider corporate sponsorship or is Strummerville always going to be a charity?
T: I think we would have to take a view on who was offering what. Also, what they would want in return, if it were for a good cause you cannot rule out anything like that. You have to think about who is going to benefit and as long as it has the same purpose and is for the good of everyone.
H: Are there any plans to host an event of your own i.e. a concert or curate a festival or stage?
T: Oh my God, it’s non-stop! This years Glastonbury was the biggest open we have done yet! We are always showcasing and have masses of great things happening with the likes of Billy Bragg and other brilliant musicians who really care about what is happening.
H: For unsigned bands that feel as though they have nowhere to seek help or feel that they have hit a dead end do you have a message?
T: There is no such thing as a dead end or no help. The main thing in all of this is you have to keep playing and remain true to yourself. The good will always shine through.
Strummerville have been a huge inspiration to Glasgow PodcART and will continue to do so. It is the idea that the passionate will always prevail and that instead of creating barriers and having blinkers on you embrace everything and everyone. It is with music that we do this and it comes from our hearts, our souls and our very beings. Joe Strummer was a man that was all of this and Strummerville are not only keeping his dream alive but also are creating a beatific reality from it.
Halina Rifai
ABOUT GLASGOW PODCART
Weekly podcasts playing music from both signed and unsigned artists and lots, lots more. The main idea behind the podcast being that we don’t want to create some pretentious ‘Indie’ site and would rather expose as much Scottish talent as possible. No matter what style, what size or how established, we believe everyone deserves a platform to showcase their work. Please visit their website for more information: http://www.glasgowpodcart.com
Tonight a bevy of unsigned, unknown musicians will play to about 500 people in support of The Kooks on an open-air stage underneath the Westway.
Who’s responsible for their appearance at such a high profile event? Joe Strummer, mainly.
On what would have been his 57th birthday (he died from a heart defect in 2002) the Clash frontman’s influence on London’s music scene still looms large, not just through the popularity of his old band but in a practical way, too.
Strummerville, the charity set up by his friends and family shortly after his death, has become an invaluable support for young musicians.
All five support bands at tonight’s show near the organisation’s Westway home - Smokey Angle Shades, Beans On Toast, Nat Jenkins, The Supernovas and The Skylarkers - have benefited from Strummerville aid.
They are a long way from superstardom, although Strummerville acts Jamie T and Mumford And Sons are now doing very nicely with major label record deals.
“It’s inspired by The Clash’s do-it-yourself ethos, empowering people to get their music out there themselves,” Trish Whelan, director since last September, tells me.
She’s looking for people who want to be musicians, not pop stars. The anti-X Factor Strummerville is a fitting legacy for a rock giant who was resolutely down to earth.
For just a pound an hour, Strummerville offers rehearsal and songwriting rooms decorated with Clash lyrics and artwork in the Camden Roundhouse and the Oh Yeah centre in Belfast.
It organises campfire gigs at the Glastonbury Festival, where Strummer, more heal-the-world hippy than cynical punk, was an annual fixture around an open fire.
It offers introductions to mentors including Clash drummer Topper Headon, Massive Attack producer Nellee Hooper and Coldplay producer Danton Supple. It can provide something so simple yet vital as the loan of the Strummerville van or even cash.
Money comes from gigs organised around the world by Clash fans, and trustees such as Damien Hirst, who in 2008 auctioned Beautiful Love Strummerville Painting With Beautiful Butterflies for over £800,000, donating all the proceeds.
The surname-free Jay, who performs Billy Bragg-style witty folk as Beans On Toast, can’t speak highly enough of the charity that gave him a platform. “There’s a real Robin Hood vibe to it,” he says.
“Having Joe Strummer’s heart behind it is such a great start because there’s so much love for that man. Everyone’s got a Clash story. It opens a lot of doors.”
The bands, more than a hundred of whom have uploaded songs as free downloads in the DIY section of the website, become part of a friendly community at a stage when they might normally feel isolated and unloved.
The loan of instruments and drummers is common, and if someone starts landing bigger gigs, they’re likely to bring their Strummerville pals along as support bands.
One day one of them might even become as big as the hero whose legacy made their dream possible.
Library Live, tonight, under the Westway at Portobello Road. Doors 6pm, tickets £15 on the door.
The curly-haired Brighton boys have been a bit quiet of late, so fans will be pleased to hear they’re planning a not-so-secret gig this Friday in west London.
Organised by the Joe Strummer New Music Foundation – a charitable organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for aspiring musicians – it’s being held to celebrate the late Clash co-founder’s birthday.
Venue details are suitably sketchy – it’s described as an “urban space underneath the Westway” next to Portobello Market and the Public Library. The gig will also mark the closure of fellow Clash member Mick Jones’s pop-up exhibition of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia , which shuts on 25 August.
To commemorate the closing of The Mick Jones Rock & Roll Public Library, Strummerville are proud to present:
The Library Live
This Friday 21st August 2009
Under The West Way, Portobello Road
Featuring:
The Kooks
The Smokey Angle Shades
Beans on Toast
Nat Jenkins
The Supernovas
The Skylarkers
plus special guests
Tickets are £15 on the door which opens 6pm sharp. This is going to be a busy event and tickets are available on a first come first served basis.
Please arrive early to avoid disappointment.
The Kooks have announced a one-off intimate gig to take place in west London this Friday (August 21).
The band are set to play the gig in aid of the late Clash legend Joe Strummer’s charity Strummerville. They will play underneath the Westway, next to Strummer’s former bandmate Mick Jones‘ Rock ‘N’ Roll Public Library exhibition space.
Entry to The Kooks‘ gig costs £15 on the door, on a first-come first-served basis. All proceeds will go to Strummerville. Doors open at 6pm (BST).
August 21 would have been Strummer’s 57th birthday. The Clash’s frontman died in 2002 aged 50 of an undiagnosed heart defect.
Mick Jones‘ Rock ‘N’ Roll Public Library is open until August 25.
This just in — Brighton band The Kooks are booked for a special Friday night show for Joe Strummer’s Birthday (this Fri Aug 21) under the Westway at Mick Jones Rock n Roll Public library. Talk about missing London, when you can roll together a band I really rate playing at a venue that love to visit marking the birthday of Joe Strummer. I’d almost put up with the weather, the cost of living and Tottenham fans to get over for this. Don’t forget our own birthday bash tribute for Joe this week.
So here’s an event that not only should be a good gig but proceeds go direct to Strummerville. Can you ask for more? Full details of the show on the first link and also here from the NME.
Visit The Clash Blog for more info and Clash related news
With apologies (I’d been sitting on this contribution in error for a few weeks) I wanted to post this great piece earlier. Mark Hagen from London was another who was lucky enough to get to the opening event of Mick’s Rock n Roll Public Library – his kindly submitted summary follows:
It was a top event, & the actual installation is brilliant – bigger & better than the previous version. It’s taken over a suite of offices right under the Westway. The rooms are divided up thematically – there’s a DVD room (playing Westway To The World last night), a video room (where you can pick any of Mick’s tapes to play; my 14 year old son enjoyed “Killer Clowns From Outer Space”), a magazine room, a book room, Mick’s office, a working studio, a kind of games room, an American themed room and evrywhere you look tons of, well, stuff…
4/5
Gone but not forgotten, Joe Strummer’s spirit lives on. This CD brings together a wealth of talent operating under the Strummerville charity banner. Musicians can use the free recording studio at The Rock ‘N’ Roll Public Library currently hosted by Joe’s old Clash comrade Mick Jones at 2 Acklam Road, London W10. You can get a free copy of this CD by sending an SAE to Summer Sessions CD, Strummerville,
22a Stable Way, London W10 6QX.
Strummerville are so happy to be involved with this truly inspirational project. This is a total must see.
Over the course of the exhibition we will have some of our bands recording with Mick in the live studio room. More info on this as it comes.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: THE ROCK & ROLL PUBLIC LIBRARY
2 ACKLAM ROAD,
Portobello Green,
London, W10 5TY
(02077929626.)
Ladbroke Grove Underground.
22nd July to 25th August 2009,
11am-7pm. Wednesday-Sunday (free.)
‘Rock & Roll’ and ‘Public Library’ shouldn’t mix, one phrase is brash, loud the other sedate and quiet. Yet these two cultures are about to collide. For the first time since the 1850 Library Act that much loved British institution the public library is about gain a loud, revolutionary 21st Century companion.
The Rock & Roll Public Library is Mick Jones’s (The Clash, B.A.D, Carbon Silicon) direct artistic challenge to the likes of the corporate 02 British Music Experience. Rather than let his creative legacy atrophy Jones is reworking (with curator Robert Gordon McHarg III) his own archive collection as a unique ‘guerrilla-installation.’ Set under the Westway motorway in 3000 sq.ft of former office space, Jones’s four-week artistic and civic endeavour will also encourage visitors to enrol, freely interact with the exhibition (Jones began collecting well before he formed The Clash in 1976 to eventual international success, as such it forms an invaluable guide to the influences that informed Jones as a pop-artist). Also uniquely by request users will be able to scan (courtesy Genus, U.K distributor of the Book2net Kiosk) certain objects and via memory stick carry them away. Numerous young-bands will also be recording at the Library (courtesy of Strummerville). Note visitors to the world’s first, resolutely alternative, Rock n Roll Public Library shouldn’t expect peace and quiet.
##Notes to editors.
A press kit comprising background information and photography is available. Interviews on request.
PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Contact TIM BURKE.
Email: waywestpress@netscape.net
Tel: 020 7792 9626. 07949381819.
Strummerville will again be hosting the biggest campfire at Glastonbury 2009, situated perfectly near the commemorative stone, devoted to Joe Strummer in the Arcadia field. There will be many acoustic performances happening around the campfire from Strummerville’s supported new talent. A guest appearance from Billy Bragg and friends Johnny Neeson and Leon Walker on the Saturday should definitely attract a huge crowd.
Strummerville supports the work of Billy Bragg’s charity, Jail Guitar Doors, an independent initiative which provides instruments to those who are using music as a means to help with their rehabilitation process whilst in prison. Founded by Bragg, the name is taken from The Clash’s 1978 single ‘Clash City Rockers’.
“It’s great that Strummerville are hosting a performance by Jonny and Leon. I named my music in prisons initiative Jail Guitar Doors in memory of Joe Strummer, and the people at Strummerville have been very supportive of our work since the off. Inviting the lads to play at Glastonbury Festival is very much in keeping with the work that Joe did. The voice of ex-prisoners is rarely heard in a society that locks more people up every year and both Jonny and Leon draw on their life experiences to write powerful songs.
“I’m here this year not to play but to support Jonny and Leon when they play the Strummerville stage. I set up my Jail Guitar Doors initiative - providing musical instruments to prisons in the UK for rehabilitation - in the name of Joe Strummer and The Clash and it’s really fitting that they are playing Strummerville in that tradition.” – Billy Bragg
“This is my first first time at Glastonbury and I’m really looking forward to playing for Strummervile on Saturday night, with Billy (Bragg) coming up to support us and maybe play with us. This has been a great journey. Jail Guitar Doors has given me self confidence and a belief in myself to be a great performer.” - Leon Walker, released from HMP Dartmoor two months ago
“I’m also a Glastonbury first timer. I can’t believe the size of the place. It’s been a really liberating experience so far. There’s no doubt that I wouldnt be here if is wasn’t for Jail Guitar Doors and Billy.” - Jonny Neeson, released from HMP Guys Marsh last year. He has already supported many artists including Dirty Pretty Things and is currently working on a single with Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.).
With anticipation of very big acts (possibly including Glasto’s headliners!) to perform round the campfire, the surprise will definitely be something to look forward to over the weeken.
[words: Chloe Gillard]
In the late 1970s, a drummer called Topper Headon joined The Clash, the most exciting rock’n'roll band in the world. There followed five years of non-stop playing, partying and drug-taking…but by 1982, Headon’s heroin addiction was out of control, and Clash leader Joe Strummer was forced to sack him. Then things got really bad. Today, reflective and sober, he tells Mark Lucas his remarkable story.
Driver K44 sits in a deep armchair with his Staffordshire bull terrier, Yowsah, lying across his lap. Stroking the dog he recalls the mini-cabbing job he took in west London in the late 1980s to fund his heroin addiction. “I look like death,” he tells me. “I’m driving a Talbot Solara with a dodgy starter motor and I pick up this old lady. She goes to get in the car and I say, ‘Excuse me,’ and I hand her a broom. While I turn the key she has to bash the solenoid. The car starts and I go, ‘OK, get in. Here’s the A to Z – do you know where you’re going?’”
By 1989, when the mini-cabbing work became too much for him, he had taken to the London Underground, busking with a set of bongos. “Every hundred people who passed, there’d be one who’d stop and ask, ‘Are you Topper Headon from The Clash?’” He shrugs, “I’d have to say, ‘Yeah, this is what I do now.’ It was so humiliating.”
More than 20 years have passed since I last saw Nick “Topper” Headon; we were fellow drivers at a mini-cab company in Fulham, west London, where I went by the radio call-sign K42. At the time, I thought Headon had taken the state of heroin addiction to a new level; it didn’t seem possible that he could drive a car at all, let alone do it for a living. When I came across his name in the press recently, I was surprised to learn that he was still alive.
On a bright spring day, however, as I step out of Dover station, he pulls up in his customised Mini Cooper to collect me. Now 54, Headon is still small and slim. He is dressed in jeans, a striped shirt and trainers, he wears wire-rimmed glasses and his greying, spiky hair is receding. By the time we arrive back at his house, I have had a chance to adjust to how the man I knew all those years ago has been transformed in other ways, too. Where before he had the slack, cadaverous features and reduced conversational ability of the long-term heroin addict, I am now treated to his charming smile, lengthy anecdotes and frank admissions.
As if making up for his lost years, Headon is making an increasing number of appearances in the press: working with local music charities; drumming with various bands; being a spokesman for the Hepatitis C Trust, a virus that he has recently beaten. He is about to donate his beloved Mini Cooper to be raffled by the Strummerville Foundation, a charity for young musicians. To some it may seem ironic that Headon is so involved with the organisation set up in memory of The Clash’s frontman, the late Joe Strummer, the man who sacked him from one of the 20th century’s most revered rock’n'roll bands. Although already a heavy user, it was to be this event that propelled Headon into taking his heroin addiction to the next level …
Clash man raffles mini
The raffle for Topper’s near-perfect mini costs just £10 to enter with all proceeds going to Strummerville. Tickets went on sale on May 30 and are available for six weeks.
To enter or check out more pics? Go to the Strummerville website.
To help Topper with his cause we’ve also written him a classified ad:
Should you stay or should you go? Go, we’d suggest - getting there will be much easier in this gem. Better than a Brand New Cadillac, reluctant sale for a good cause; one two-tone Mini Cooper, X thousand miles on the clock, perfect for parking outside the Casbah or dropping the kids off at Hammersmith Palais. Lost In The Supermarket? No worries, ample room in the boot for groceries. It’s surprisingly nippy - just watch you don’t end up in any scrapes with the law, they usually win, and of course park safely to avoid the Clampdown…
Topper Headon interview will be on the Huey Morgan Show on BBC 6 on Sunday 14th at 3 o’clock (BST).
Topper Headon is selling his Mini Cooper with raffle tickets to raise money for the Strummerville charity that helps young musicians.
The Clash drummer’s car is customised and totally unique and the £10 raffle tickets are available from Saturday May 30, with the draw taking place on July 13.
Raffle picked up byThe Clash official website.
Legendary Clash drummer TOPPER HEADON has donated his Mini Cooper to be raffled for Strummerville.
Starting May 30th
Topper’s Red 2-Tone customized Mini Cooper is going up for raffle on May the 30th, with all proceeds going to the charity Strummerville Joe Strummer’s New Music Foundation.
Strummerville is a registered charity that aims to create new opportunities for aspiring musicians.
[visit The Clash website for more info]
Unfortunately, skinbeater supreme Topper Headon has been the least visible Clash member in the years since the band’s demise, largely because of much-publicized drug problems, which he has seemingly overcome. But now, you can add to his list of accomplishments — which already include writing the music for “Rock the Casbah,” being hands-down the most gifted drummer of punk’s first generation, and simply sporting the name “Topper” — a personal sacrifice in the name of charity.
Planet Notion failed our driving test 5 times.
Well, technically speaking it was only 4. The first time wasn’t a failure because the car broke down. It was totally out of our control.
Following that we used to come out in sweats every time we took our test. Maybe it had something to do with the examiner breathing down our neck and looking down their nose at us.
Then again, the sweats could have been brought about by our booze intake, and, if the sweats did have anything to do with the examiners, they probably acted that way because we stunk of booze.
Basically, booze let us down. Point is that we can’t drive and we probably never will do.
If you happen to drive and you happen to like original punk-band The Clash, you’ll be interested to hear of a raffle taking place as part of the charity Strummerville.
| Thursday, 28 May 2009 | |
Clash drummer raffles Mini Cooper for Strummerville
The Clash drummer Topper Headon is selling his prized Mini Cooper car in aid of the Strummerville charity.
The customised motor will be sold off in a raffle to raise funds for the organisation, which aims to give young musicians a leg-up, and was set up following the death of The Clash’s frontman Joe Strummer in 2002.
Tickets cost £10, and will be available from Strummerville.com from Saturday (May 30).
Headon said of the giveaway in a statement: “This car has been my pride and joy. I had it two-tone customised and it was the first car I drove when I got clean, so you can imagine I’ve been attached to it and have loved it a lot.