Day 20: World Radio Day
The Clash -
London Calling
When I was around 12 years old, Toronto radio station "Edge" 102.1 (mostly mainstream and I guess a bit of alt rock at the time) had a show on Sunday evenings called "The Ongoing History of New Music" hosted by (I think) their station director, Alan Cross. It was an hour or maybe even two-hour program where he'd take a dive into a scene, movement, format, etc. and play the biggest or most significant songs from it while telling the story of it and how it influenced other culture or otherwise endured. I used to listen on my clock radio in my bedroom. Not knowing anything about music apart from what I heard on regular radio and the CDs my older siblings had -- a lot of pop, and then bad pop rock like Creed, etc., but then later some cool stuff like Blue Rodeo and Lauryn Hill -- this show introduced me to a bunch of new bands on it over the years, like Fugazi, the Grapes of Wrath, Husker Du, and others. Mainly, though, Alan's storytelling is probably the primary reason the music resonated with me so much. He always seemed so knowledgeable and passionate about whatever his subject was and it really opened my eyes to just how much stuff there was out there to explore. Not just music, but culture more generally. Looking back, listening to this radio show was a pretty large factor in the person I'd become in my teens and later.
No band, introduced to me via this radio show or elsewhere, was more significant to me than the Clash. Everything about them. At first I assumed they were just a regular punk band like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, etc., having maybe just heard "London Calling" and a couple other tracks. To the point where, when I bought this album in the spring of '03, I was a bit disappointed at first! What are these non-punk songs!? There's so many horns! "Jimmy Jazz"!? But pretty quickly I got past that and became enamored with how they tried to many different styles and world sounds on this record, incorporating all the stuff they loved from outside the traditional punk world and a lot of the stuff that the radio show opened my eyes to. Looking back with some time behind me now, it's pretty amazing the impact this album has had on me. Today I can't think of a better or more significant rock album.
I'm not sure if the show is still on the air, as I haven't had a radio for years, but I think it still exists at least in podcast form. I should probably check it out.
Yesterday would have been Joe Strummer's 68th birthday. I posted this on the front page, but there was a two-hour
tribute to him on YouTube that was incredibly touching, with stories and performances from friends, colleagues, and of course admirers of Joe. It was great to hear so many of these songs performed by others who loved this music as much as I do.
So, thanks, Joe, Mick, Topper, and Paul. And thanks, Alan.
