Today (August 21, 2009) would have been the 57^th birthday of John Graham Mellor. He is better known by his stage name Joe Strummer and as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for The Clash. This British punk band, which Strummer co-founded with Mick Jones, is held in high regard by many and their 1979 album London Calling is widely considered one of the best and most influential albums of all time. At the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, the Clash was said to be "considered one of the most overtly political, explosive and exciting bands in rock and roll history."

In 1982, The Clash would release the album Combat Rock which would eventually go multi-platinum. It included the hit single "Rock the Casbah" which I have to admit is the first song I personally remember from The Clash. Later on, I would go back to enjoy London Calling, but at the time all I knew of the band was that song as well as "Should I Stay or Should I Go." The song reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the band's highest charting single worldwide. So in celebration of Joe Strummer's birthday, this week's Flashback Video is "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash...

Though not from the 80s, one of the song's more humorous pop culture references is when the title is used as a euphemism for sex in The Simpsons 1998 episode "Natural Born Kissers". Marge says "It is our anniversary night, I suppose we should... Rock the Casbah"; later on in the episode; Bart says "So did you guys... Rock the Casbah?" The song also plays over the credits.

Mick Jones would leave the band in 1983 and The Clash would release one more album in 1985 before disbanding. In November of 2002, Jones and Strummer shared the stage for the first time in nearly 20 years, performing three Clash songs during a London benefit show. This raised hopes for a Clash reunion, which were dashed when Strummer unfortunately died suddenly in December of 2002 at just the age of 50 due to an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. The music world has mourned him since, but his contributions will live on forever.

Strummer was instrumental in setting up Future Forests, recently renamed The Carbon Neutral Company, an organization dedicated to planting trees in various parts of the world in order to combat global warming. Strummer was the first artist to make the recording, pressing and distribution of his records carbon neutral through the planting of trees. Many other artists such as Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Pink Floyd have followed suit and fans can visit the Carbon Neutral Company website to buy trees to be planted in their favourite artist's forest (Strummer's being christened "Rebel's Wood", a specially selected section in Orbost, on the Isle of Skye). In his remembrance, Strummer's friends and family have established the Strummerville Foundation for the promotion of new music.

That will do it for this issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also now follow Old School on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.