Joe Strummer

From songs on the Spanish revolution to others on American Imperialism, Strummer's lyrics inspired a generation of music-lovers to action.

In Working for the Clampdown from the band’s 1979 album London Calling, he issued this call to arms: Many of those I spoke to recounted to me that before the era of the internet, they went to public libraries to find out more about these issues. Not only did some of those I spoke to join the Nicaragua Solidarity Committee but a few also went to work as volunteers in Nicaragua to support the Sandinista revolution. The band’s fourth album, Sandinista!, released in 1980, embraced the cause of the Sandinista rebels against the Somoza regime in Nicaragua and attacked US attempts to underime the revolution. This was in turn met with an increasingly vocal reaction from musicians like Strummer and the Rock Against Racism movement. Among their number are many union leaders in Britain today, including Matt Wrack of the Fire Brigades Union, who said): “Firefighters are immensely proud of our links with Joe Strummer and what he stood for politically and as a musician.”