With exclusive access to Strummers friends; relatives; and fellow musicians; music journalist Chris Salewicz penetrates the soul of an rock n roll icon. The Clash was--and still is--one of the most important groups of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Indebted to rockabilly; reggae; Memphis soul; cowboy justice; and 60s protest; the overtly political band railed against war; racism; and a dead-end economy; and in the process imparted a conscience to punk. Their eponymous first record and London Calling still rank in Rolling Stones top-ten best albums of all time; and in 2003 they were officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Joe Strummer was the Clashs front man; a rock-and-roll hero seen by many as the personification of outlaw integrity and street cool. The political heart of the Clash; Strummer synthesized gritty toughness and poetic sensitivity in a manner that still resonates with listeners; and his untimely death in December 2002 shook the world; further solidifying his iconic status. Salewicz was a friend to Strummer for close to three decades and has covered the Clashs career and the entire punk movement from its inception. He uses his vantage point to write Redemption Song; the definitive biography of Strummer; charting his enormous worldwide success; his bleak years in the wilderness after the Clashs bitter breakup; and his triumphant return to stardom at the end of his life. Salewicz argues for Strummers place in a long line of protest singers that includes Woody Guthrie; John Lennon; and Bob Marley; and examines by turns Strummers and punks ongoing cultural influence.
#3280797 in eBooks 2012-05-07 2012-05-07File Name: B008CEVYU6
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. How Cartoons Promote Environmental ActivismBy herb ladyHow are people motivated to environmental activism? What makes them care? And beyond that. what makes them act? As a former academic and an environmental activist. I found Deidre M. Pikes Enviro-Toons: Green Themes in Animated Cinema and Television helpful in thinking about these questions.Using an eco-critical approach. Pike analyzes the pro-ecological content of Bambi (1942). The Simpsons Movie (2007). Wall-E (2008) and Happy Feet (2008). and Avatar (2009). and the work of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. as well as the TV cartoon series South Park and Futurama. In her preface. Pike reviews the grim ecological news and responses to the apocalyptic visions by trying to imagine how people can and should respond. She says. "I know that my students. friends. family members. neighbors. and co-workers want a place to stand. We want to change the things we can change and impact the systems that control what we cant change. and we crave the wisdom to know the difference." How do people do this "not out of guilt but out of a sense of responsibility"?"Its difficult to discern exactly what kind of discourse sparks guiltless activism." Pike asserts. Her book explores the discourse of cartoons to assess their value and effectiveness at moving us. Pike employs multiple theoretical tools in analyzing cartoons without getting bogged down in arcane academic language. Her style is approachable. with no loss in depth or detail.Relying on ecological. media. and literary critics. such as Bakhtin. Mcluhan. Joseph Meeker. and Scott Slovic. Pike develops a continuum for analyzing discourse modes--monologic/dialogic. hot/cool. tragic/comic. epic/novel. She prefers cool/dialogic/comic/novel cartoons. which provide viewers with multiple perspectives and a means of engaging in the creation of a story with minimal artistic details. exemplified by The Simpsons Movie and South Park. More detailed and vivid message- oriented films like Bambi and Avatar. she asserts. leave little room for viewers to participate in the film.Pikes analysis of each cartoon provides insight into both how the medium itself operates on our emotional response and how the message of the film is communicated to us. whether through a single narrative view point or one that offers a multi-voiced perspective of the issue. Pikes detailed descriptions of what works on us in film recognizes the complexity of the work of cartoons. She offers Wall-E as a film that complicates the binaries of tragic/comic and monologic/dialogic. by refusing to idealize the past and providing a pluralistic message.Pike recognizes --with Scott Slovic--the ability of popular films like Bambi. Happy Feet and Avatar "to weave rhapsodic appreciation for nature with a warning about the impact of mans actions on his exterior environment." Nonetheless. she admits that her analysis favors the cartoons that offer realistic views of the environment. with opportunities for free. democratic dialogue. rather than propagandistic cartoons that cut off reality. discussion. and thought.
