The 101ers (feat. Joe Strummer): Elgin Avenue Breakdown

Amazingly, I had never heard much of Joe Strummer's work with the 101ers in the mid-seventies before he left to join The Clash until recently - just a few tracks here and there. Certainly, back in 1977 when I first heard The Clash I got to know, vaguely, that Strummer had done a bit of "pub rock" before he became a main face in "the only band that matters". That was all, though. Punk was "year zero". Nobody was interested in what went before.

Strummer was a bit older than many of the punks, although there were others with a background like The Vibrators, Nick Lowe and Ian Dury, so the fact he had done other stuff was not a surprise. What surprised me was just how similar to what The Clash became after a year or so the material on this excellent twenty track compilation actually is. Listening to so much of it and I just think "The Clash 1979 and onwards".

Before punk, if you wanted to rock it up a bit, all down 'n' dirty, then pub rock was the thing for you. Pub rock was short and sharp, often lyrically wry, and heavily influenced by rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, sixties, garage rock, uptempo r 'n' b and upbeat blues. It gave us artists like Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Dr. Feelgood, The Flamin' Groovies, Ian Dury and, of course, Joe Strummer. In many ways it was the forerunner of the "new wave" that punk quickly morphed into - short songs with an intrinsic pop sensibility, no lachrymose ballads or extended workouts. Albums like Nick Lowe's Jesus Of Cool, Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True, Ian Dury's New Boots And Panties!! and Joe Jackson's Look Sharp! are the definite children of pub rock. 

You can hear the influence Nick Lowe and his band Brinsley Schwarz in much of the material here, notably on Keys To Your Heart and Dr. Feelgood vibes are all over Sweety Of The St. Moritz and 5 star R 'n' R. We get frantic, punky, energetically-strummed chords and breakneck drumming. Punk was the clear snotty little brother of this stuff and new wave took its wittiness and ear for a fine, catchy pop song. You get all of that in the songs on here - all delivered by Joe in his characteristic, slightly-slurred vocals that would soon become so familiar when he joined The Clash. 

You can hear the influence of some of the material here on Clash songs like Gates Of The West, Groovy Times, Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad, Drug Stabbing Time, The Leader, Brand New Cadillac, Four Horsemen, The Right Profile, Junco Partner (included here in an early, rockabilly format), Hateful, The Sound Of The Sinners, Know Your Rights, Midnight Log, Let's Go Crazy......the list is endless.

Lonely Mother's Son is an early prototype of Jail Guitar Doors, without the later-added Jagger and Richards references. 

Highlights are the frenetic Letsagetabitarockin', the attractive acoustic-driven rock of Sweet Revenge, Silent Telephone, Keys To Your Heart, Motor Boy Motor, the very Dr. Feelgood-esque Steamgauge 99, Surf City and many more, actually. Look, it's all good, surprisingly so, for me. 

The sound quality is much better than I expected on many of the tracks too, especially the earlier ones on the running order. Some of the later ones are a bit rough and ready. Some are live cuts too, so that isn't surprising. It sort of adds to their appeal. 

Joe covers The Stones' Shake Your Hips and Out Of Time too. I thought The Stones were old hat, to be ignored when punk took over in 1977. Yeah right....that didn't last long did it eh, Joe and Mick (Jones)? We get Chuck Berry's Maybelline and Van Morrison/Them's Gloria too. Joe always was an old rocker, wasn't he? Here's your proof. He knew his music and its roots. Sandinista! would later exemplify that to great effect. 

Joe's mid song "rap" on Gloria is in the style of the one he would use later on Capital Radio Two. So many of the idiosyncrasies evident on this album reappeared in his work with The Clash. 

If you like The Clash, particularly the rockabilly/new wave aspects of their music, then you'll love this. None of us who loved The Clash at the time of their inception had any idea about this stuff. There must have been some people out there who would have thought "oh yeah, that's the guy out of The 101ers" but not many of us eighteen year-olds did.