The Clash Honored in Nine Cities With ‘International Clash Day’

On Tuesday, nine city and state governments will unite with 23 radio stations to honor punk band the Clash‘s legacy. “International Clash Day ensures new generations are aware that the band, through Joe’s snarling lyrics, called out the conspirators and united the people to stand up and be counted,” Steve Mullen of the Joe Strummer Foundation said. “As Joe Strummer once said: ‘Without people, you’re nothing’ and never a true enough phrase has been spoken.”

Austin, Ithaca, Kent, San Francisco, Seattle, Tucson, Vancouver B.C., Bridgwater (UK), Washington D.C. and the State of Washington will all be participating in the fifth annual celebration. These cities will be joined by radio stations, notably Seattle’s KEXP, which will focus on Clash-centric programming. Starting at 6 a.m. PST, KEXP will play 12 hours of Clash-themed music, illustrating the ways that “protest was central to their message of hope and change.”

Event organizer and KEXP host John Richards said the band is still relevant today. “The message of the Clash, so influenced by the international sounds they grew up with, is both powerful and uplifting especially now in this time of struggle,” he said. 

The Strummer Foundation’s Mullen put it more simply: “Anyone with a modicum of humanity can appreciate the Clash.”