ABSTRACT
Joe Williams saw the Acton benefit as illustrating his argument about Joe Strummer's consistency. "Joe playing for the FBU has resonance – it fitted with the whole Clash ethos. Joe and Mick being solid and representing the people they'd always been about – 'this is Joe public speaking!'" This chapter aims to give expression to the latent voices of Clash and Strummer fans that are largely absent from the popular and academic discourses surrounding Joe Strummer. Strummer was the key to Rock Against Racism's success in fashioning a cultural movement that would steer thousands of white working class youths away from the ascendant National Front. The chapter presents a synthesis of data from both sets of interviews and, therefore, extends beyond analyses of people's early memories of the Clash to present the more nuanced discursive narratives that a broader temporal frame of reflection has permitted the participants to plot.
