Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Joe Strummer discussion forum. Latino Rockabilly War, Mescaleros and more!
Heston
User avatar
God of Thunder...and Rock 'n Roll
Posts: 38356
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 4:07pm
Location: North of Watford Junction

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Heston »

Marky Dread wrote:I only need one finger to show people what I think of them. ;)
:fuck:
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Dr. Medulla
User avatar
Atheistic Epileptic
Posts: 115976
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:00pm
Location: Straight Banana, Idaho

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Dr. Medulla »

101Walterton wrote:
Silent Majority wrote:Do you know why we have the QWERTY keyboard? It was to slow down our typing so we wouldn't go too fast and break the typewriting. it was designed to make us go searching for the letters in the non-conventional order. But now, it's what we all get used to when growing and so it remains, even though the technological reason for it has long since died off.
I thought the opposite was true? I thought the letters were positioned and grouped in a way so as to make typing easier. Irrelevant really because regardless of how / where you put the letters you get used to it anyway.
My problem is having fingers too big for a poxy phone screen.
Nope. It was because typewriter keys got jammed up too easily if people typed too fast, so the keyboard, after trial and error, was designed with a certain inefficiency to slow down typing speed and keep the keys unjammed. There is an alternate keyboard layout called Dvorak that is designed to increase speed, but it's never really caught on because it requires people to unlearn QWERTY.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

101Walterton
User avatar
The Best
Posts: 21973
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 5:36pm
Location: Volcanic Rock In The Pacific

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by 101Walterton »

Heston wrote:
Marky Dread wrote:I only need one finger to show people what I think of them. ;)
:fuck:
That's two.

Low Down Low
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 4921
Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 9:08am

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Low Down Low »

NoMoreHugh wrote:
Low Down Low wrote: 3. Walker (all of it, the whole damn thing, it's just one complete mass of inspired brilliance)
This has some value. This is probably Joe's equivalent of breaking away from the Clash sound in the same way that Mick did with BAD even though it was a soundtrack. I cant say i will rush back to play this again or hail it to be a masterpiece as this isn't quite my sort of thing. Tonight though at gone 11.30pm on this hot evening i have the windows open letting some cooling breeze come though the house. I have my trusty dog sitting by my side and i am digging this album in a very uplifting ambient way.

This is skillful songwriting to my ears its just not my taste but its interesting i still have my original vinyl copy of this upstairs so it helps i guess that i have heard it a few times before in my past but this is a damn sight more interesting than a lot of his other songs i have listened to in the past days.

Its a very sensitive album and if in the right setting and atmosphere can reach out and leave you touched.
Couldn't have put it better myself mate. I wouldnt expect anyone to listen to it all the way through or give it repeat hearings, but for what it is, I reckon it's an accomplished and fascinating piece of work. I'm sure most prefer the Permanent Record stuff but, I dunno, I just find it a bit plain and unchallenging in comparison. And Zander's guitar work might take a bit of a kicking elsewhere but on Walker I challenge anyone to say it isn't top notch!

msza2
Junco Partner
Posts: 465
Joined: 22 Aug 2012, 2:15pm

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by msza2 »

NoMoreHugh wrote:
Low Down Low wrote: 3. Walker (all of it, the whole damn thing, it's just one complete mass of inspired brilliance)
This has some value. This is probably Joe's equivalent of breaking away from the Clash sound in the same way that Mick did with BAD even though it was a soundtrack. I cant say i will rush back to play this again or hail it to be a masterpiece as this isn't quite my sort of thing. Tonight though at gone 11.30pm on this hot evening i have the windows open letting some cooling breeze come though the house. I have my trusty dog sitting by my side and i am digging this album in a very uplifting ambient way.

This is skillful songwriting to my ears its just not my taste but its interesting i still have my original vinyl copy of this upstairs so it helps i guess that i have heard it a few times before in my past but this is a damn sight more interesting than a lot of his other songs i have listened to in the past days.

Its a very sensitive album and if in the right setting and atmosphere can reach out and leave you touched.
Nice thoughts. I agree that Walker is an accomplished album. I prefer it over EW and a lot of his other soundtrack work. I would rank it higher if so much of his work weren't so goddamn great. I think what really hurt Walker was his stupid contract limitations. I imagine he had a lot more to say than he was able to, and his lyrics were really strong when he was allowed to open his mouth.

I was once an immortal can go toe-to-toe with Hemmingway's famous short story: "For sale: baby shoes, never used." It's a complete story in 5 words, and a witty one at that. How does one stop being immortal? It's a brilliant line. I wish I was a helmsman on a clipper sailing for the Spanish main is incredibly evocative as well. Joe is a romantic and the story of Walker was a perfect match for him in that regard. It's just too bad we were only able to hear his wonderful lyrics on 3 tracks.

Marky Dread
User avatar
Messiah of the Milk Bar
Posts: 58881
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 11:26am

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Marky Dread »

101Walterton wrote:
Heston wrote:
Marky Dread wrote:I only need one finger to show people what I think of them. ;)
:fuck:
That's two.
I like to reserve dual digit dexterity for special occasions. ;)
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

msza2
Junco Partner
Posts: 465
Joined: 22 Aug 2012, 2:15pm

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by msza2 »

Looks like the voting has slowed down. If you haven't voted yet, jump in! I'll tally new ones as they come, but here's where it stands today:

Trash City (18)
Burning Lights (10)
It's A Rockin World (9)
Unknown Immortal (9)
Island Hopping (8)
Shouting Streets (7)
Love Kills (6)
Afro-Cuban Be-Bop (5)
Cholo Vest (5)
Tennessee Rain (5)
Leopardskin Limosines (3)
Nothin Bout Nothin (3)
Pouring Rain (3)
Sleepwalk (3)
Dum Dum Club (2)
Jewelers and Bums (2)
Harder They Come (1)
Permanent Record Theme (1)
When Pigs Fly (1)


Any surprises?

Trash City is running away with it. I didn't expect that, and I gotta say I didn't think It's A Rockin World would do so well. I had overlooked that one. Great song though.

coffeepotman
Graffiti Bandit Pioneer
Posts: 1487
Joined: 23 Jun 2008, 1:51pm

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by coffeepotman »

Here's a surprise

Ride your Donkey

Flex
User avatar
Mechano-Man of the Future
Posts: 35799
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 2:50pm
Location: The Information Superhighway!

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Flex »

That's a pretty damn good set of songs, imho
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

Low Down Low
Unknown Immortal
Posts: 4921
Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 9:08am

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Low Down Low »

No surprises. I think Dizzy's Goatee is underrated and better than a few of the songs there but not surprised no one voted for it.

Does Harder They Come qualify as a wildnerness track? Thought Joe was already with the Meskies by the time that came out.

101Walterton
User avatar
The Best
Posts: 21973
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 5:36pm
Location: Volcanic Rock In The Pacific

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by 101Walterton »

Low Down Low wrote:No surprises. I think Dizzy's Goatee is underrated and better than a few of the songs there but not surprised no one voted for it.

Does Harder They Come qualify as a wildnerness track? Thought Joe was already with the Meskies by the time that came out.
It was but I don't think straight covers should count?

Wolter
User avatar
Half Foghorn Leghorn, Half Albert Brooks
Posts: 55432
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 7:59pm
Location: ¡HOLIDAY RO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OAD!

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Wolter »

101Walterton wrote:
Low Down Low wrote:No surprises. I think Dizzy's Goatee is underrated and better than a few of the songs there but not surprised no one voted for it.

Does Harder They Come qualify as a wildnerness track? Thought Joe was already with the Meskies by the time that came out.
It was but I don't think straight covers should count?
Yeah, I ruled out covers before I even thought about it.
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson

"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"

Wolter
User avatar
Half Foghorn Leghorn, Half Albert Brooks
Posts: 55432
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 7:59pm
Location: ¡HOLIDAY RO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OAD!

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Wolter »

Flex wrote:That's a pretty damn good set of songs, imho
Would make a pretty decent compilation disc.
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson

"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"

101Walterton
User avatar
The Best
Posts: 21973
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 5:36pm
Location: Volcanic Rock In The Pacific

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by 101Walterton »

Yep would make a great Joe solo comp. No surprises in that list.

Marky Dread
User avatar
Messiah of the Milk Bar
Posts: 58881
Joined: 17 Jun 2008, 11:26am

Re: Wilderness Years - vote your top 3

Post by Marky Dread »

101Walterton wrote:Yep would make a great Joe solo comp. No surprises in that list.
Just needs a free ep of Boogie with Your Children remixes.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Post Reply