THE MANY VISIONS OF THE HOLY BLESSED JOE

Its only a couple of years since JOE STRUMMER died and although it is still a shame i am starting to get really sick of looking at his face so often, you didn't see it as much when he was alive yet now that he has gone to "that great gig in the sky" (to quote a book i read once about some dead rock star who Ive forgotten, it may of been Keith moon, but I'm not sure.) but anyway, since Joe died i have not gone a week without seeing his face being used to advertise something or other, Ive even seen the SOCIALIST WANKERS PARTY use the clash on a flyer to advertise a meeting (and they once called the CLASH Nazis, now they are 'a mirror on society. the SWP always were the last to catch the boat), and it looks like everyone who ever took the mans photo has put on a 'retrospective' exhibition of photo's that includes one or two taken of JOE but are just snapshots taken years ago.
Admittedly not all have been bad, the exhibition of strummers personal belongings found in a forgotten box in his attic and used to herald the STRUMMERVILLE CHARITY was good, all the first and finished handwritten lyrics for CLASH, SOLO and 101'ERS songs along with his doodling'S and collection of badges, memorabilia, and sketches, and also hurried lyrics that never made it was good, but that is the only event that has really given you what it said on the tin.
The latest 'mob' to use the 'STRUMMER' image is a group of drinkers from notting hill who were/are comprised of old roadies, failed musicians and/or writers, and pub prophets who used to produce a little mag called THE ROUGHLER which was made largely by and for themselves to read in the pub as they held forth on how the ....(fill your own crap here)...isn't as good as it used to be.
I'm sure that having JOE STRUMMER hold a benefit night for them in the tiny upstairs pool room of a dingy pub was a big deal for the 'ROUGHLERS', but i cant see this as a reason to hold an exhibition of photo's of drunk people in pubs as anything but pure marketing, all the time 'THE ROUGHLERS' trying to 'hint' that JOE was 'one of them', and work it may do, but only for people who want to see pictures of JOE, they will ignore all the other photo's as they have done at other exhibitions, either that or stand outside with a glass of wine laughing loudly at anything even if it isn't funny in the hope of getting noticed without having to resort to shouting "im here" and who don't bother to look at any of the photo's, including the JOE ones and instead just go to 'be seen'.
And now, with the JULIEN TEMPLE film of strummer the arch druid round his sacred campfire out it can only be a matter of time until people are cutting up avocado's and seeing the face of JOE in it or Muslims are seeing his name written in Arabic in the seeds of sliced pomegranates, or people will claim JOE came to them in a dream and told them not to take the flight they were booked on, only to find out the flight they cancelled crashed into the sea killing all aboard.
If POPE JOHN PAUL 'the saint maker' was still with us I'm sure he would be receiving letters to have JOE canonised (after all POPE JOHN PAUL 'made' more saints in his own time than all of the previous popes in history all put together, so there may of been the chance that we could of had a ST JOE 'THE STRUMMER', patron saint of 'indie' guitarists).
I say it is time his face was put to rest and only used when it has to be, like on one of the hundreds of new CLASH bootlegs that have sprung up since JOE'S death, making it possible for music geeks to have a badly recorded copy of every CLASH gig ever played before they went 'stateside', and even then most gigs there have been bootlegged, as well as most other gigs they ever played , except for the far east where bootlegs of gigs there are rarer to come across.
So leave his face for the records, and by god there is now enough of them. and stop using it just for the sake of it, its boring and it has been a 'Trojan horse' more than once so i say if you see his face advertising something steer well clear of it.
unless you like dodgy bootlegs of 'events' like the 100 club 'punk festival' (of which i know of two completely different released performances claiming to be from the same gig, but that isn't new in the bootleg world.)
so, enough of this 'CULT OF JOE' shit and let the man rest in piece.