Winner of the 2003 Academy Award for Best Long Form Music Video…
Possibly the greatest rock & roll documentary ever made, definitely the only rockumentary that ever mattered…
For your viewing pleasure, today we offer up Westway to the World, Don Letts’ outstanding comprehensive portrait of the formation, the rise and the fall of the only band that ever mattered. The film combines footage from early rehearsals, live club shows, The Clash‘s 1982 trip to New York and “new” interviews conducted for the film by Mal Peachey of band members Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, and Joe Strummer.
Westway is a fascinating glimpse into the early formative years of The Clash in West London. The individual band member’s early influences varied greatly with Simonon leaning towards reggae, Jones toward harder-edged British rock and Strummer preferring American R&B. What they had in common was declining interest in art school, an earnest disdain for the status quo, and a lack of interest in ever holding a “real job”. When punk rock began to rear it’s ugly gob-encrusted head, the band successfully merged that angry new style with their combined early influences, most notably dub and reggae, to form a brand new sound that changed rock & roll forever. They took punk to entirely new heights that included the top of the charts and huge sold-out stadium shows on both sides of the Atlantic.
But that success came at a price for The Clash. The band began to grow in different directions as each member was affected by fame and fortune in different ways. Mick Jones’ ego and Topper Headon’s drug use grew out of control. At the height of their popularity, Strummer and Simonen decided to break up the band and The Clash became Rock & Roll legends. The film’s final segment explores how the individual members dealt with and felt about the band’s break-up, both at the time and later in life.
Cheers & RIP Joe.
