Joe Strummer Plaque Unveiling Tomorrow
- Written by Marky Edison
On Wednesday December 7 at 1.01pm a community plaque will be unveiled at 33 Daventry St. NW1, the squatting location where Joe Strummer lived during a pinnacle creative period in 1978 and 1979. Night Czar Amy Lamé and Strummer’s family members will be there to mark the occasion.
At 12.45pm there will be a short introduction speech from Robert Gordon McHarg III from Seymour Housing Cooperative Ltd, who has arranged the plaque. The plaque will be unveiled at 1.01pm on the anniversary of the release of The Clash’s iconic ‘London Calling’ single.
As part of Punk.London, the year-long festival commemorating forty years of punk in London, The 101ers and The Clash musician, wordsmith and punk icon will be honoured with a permanent testament in an area of Bell Street, north west London which is now being acknowledged as an epicentre of London’s punk scene.
“In this fortieth year since punk ignited in London, I’m thrilled to see a new permanent plaque to Joe Strummer, commemorating a true punk instigator, and in an area of North West London that fostered this pioneering punk community. For me, Joe’s memorable line “London calling to the faraway towns” still resonates as strongly today, and I’m proud that London is open to everyone who wants to live in a city where you can create and inspire.” - Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries
"It’s incredible to know that one of the icons of Punk Rock - Joe Strummer - lived in a squat along our street when he and the Clash were holding huge gigs in the UK, Europe and US. I’m really proud to see the acknowledgement of how this enclave of Marylebone (Bell Street/Church St) was a sanctuary to punk rock when it needed space to flourish, showing the importance of providing creative spaces still in Central London." Murad Qureshi, Local resident.
