Review: Let The Fury Have The Hour: The Punk Rock Politics Of Joe Strummer

By
February 1, 2005

SLUGmag

LET THE FURY HAVE THE HOUR: THE PUNK ROCK POLITICS OF JOE STRUMMER
ANTINIO D’ AMBROSI

Nation Books
Street: 10.13.04

I still remember turning on the TV after coming home from work to hear that Joe Strummer had died. I couldn’t believe that he could be gone just like that. I couldn’t sleep that night, so I watched the memorial documentaries they played on VH1 all night. Soon after, The Clash were inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. With all of this talk, I wondered, “How will history remember Joe Strummer?” This book gets to the heart of that question. While attempts to define him are futile, this book avoids that task completely and lets you judge for yourself. From interviews from the early Clash days to Billy Bragg and Chuck D (Public Enemy) explaining Joe’s impact upon them, Let the Fury Have the Hour presents Joe the way he was–rebel, musician, poet and punk. The Clash will live on forever and it was inevitable that books be written about “the only band that matters” and its members. However, I don’t think any one of them has explored Joe Strummer as effectively as this one. –James Orme