Very sad news. I saw The Clash twice and it was about as close to a rock'n'roll out of body experience as you can have: glorious fury for 50 minutes.
The Clash fell apart in the unrelenting super-pressure of Fame, multiplied by the never-ending tension in punk between dropping out and selling out (or back in), but it's hard to think of a more momentous set of music over the last three decades than theirs. The name "Strummer" wasn't very punk really, it was offhanded and sly in the understated British way, unlike the procession of gob-smacked stage names of that time. After the Clash era, Strummer regained his footing and did a lot of good music and sidestepped the temptation to cash in. Full respect for Joe Strummer. phred
