Strummer, Joe. "Post-Hospital Reflections and Punk Perspectives." MATER HOSPITAL RADIO, Belfast, Oct. 1978. Interview by unnamed presenter, duration 4:26.
Joe Strummer Interview
Mater Hospital Radio, Belfast - October 1978
– Hospital Experience: Strummer recounts a 2-week hepatitis quarantine in a London hospital, describing delirium where he imagined being a WWII airman in the Philippines due to Filipino nurses' care
– Belfast Concerts: References two cancelled 1977 gigs due to insurance issues, noting fans protested by lying in roads outside Ulster Hall
– Crowd Behavior: Disagrees with Hugh Cornwell's negative assessment of Belfast crowds, praising them for no spitting ("gobbing")
– Rock Against Racism: Supports the cause but calls their RAR gig "one of the worst" due to music industry backstabbing
– Describes intense pre-show rituals of solitary corner-sitting to manage nerves
Transcript
00:05
Interviewer: You were recently in the hospital yourself. What did you think of hospital life?
Joe Strummer: I was lying there, you know. I was kind of lying there.
00:18
Joe Strummer: I spent two weeks in a glass cage because I was suffering from hepatitis, you know, and you kind of got to keep away from other people. And I thought I was kind of a bit delirious. I thought I was in East Asia. I thought that I was in the Second World War, that I was an American airman. Because the nurses were Philippine, you know, in this hospital in London. And they were treating me really nice. And I thought for some reason I was in the Philippines, you know, when I was really ill.
00:45
Interviewer: Was there a hospital radio on the hospital you were in?
Joe Strummer: No, there wasn't. I wish there had been.
Interviewer: Do you think a hospital radio can help the relief of boredom?
Joe Strummer: Yeah, got it. You know, people...
00:56
Joe Strummer: People who lie in hospitals spend a lot of time thinking. I think it's generally really good for your brain as well. It saved me from being an alcoholic, really.
Interviewer: You've already tried to do two previous concerts here in October 77 and December 77. How did you feel when you didn't get insurance for your first one?
Joe Strummer: It was terrible. Coming over here for the first time, it's a shock.
01:21
Joe Strummer: and then not being able to play when we only told about half six you know and it was just terrible and all the kids outside they lay down in the road outside Alster Hall and that's where a lot of people made sure
01:37
Interviewer: What did you think of the Belfast crowd after tonight? We interviewed Hugh Cornwell a few weeks ago and he said he thought they were a bit too active.
Joe Strummer: Who said that?
Interviewer: Hugh Cornwell.
Joe Strummer: No, I don't agree much. I don't agree. I thought they were just great. No gobbing. That's what we don't like. When you get gobbed, someone spits in your eye.
01:59
Interviewer: I've got a rock on magazine here and it says that you read a lot of material in the bog, is this true?
Joe Strummer: No, no. I write it just sitting down at a table like anybody else, you know?
02:14
Interviewer: You've played Police and Thieves as a reggae song. Do you like reggae as well as punk?
Joe Strummer: Sure, yeah. I think it's a really great music.
Interviewer: And do you believe that the political messages in your songs are listened to?
Joe Strummer: The what?
Interviewer: The political messages in some of your songs. Do you think they're listened to by your fans?
Joe Strummer: I don't know. A lot of people tell me they can't hear what I'm saying. But because I said it, I can hear it. So I find it hard to believe, but...
02:44
Joe Strummer: I don't care if they hear it or not because it's the sound of the words, not what they say. Although I spend all my life making sure they say something worthwhile and intelligent, you know, and perceptive, it's still, even though that's my whole life doing that, it's still the sound of the words. Ultimately, when you're singing, you know, like Elvis Presley could have been in Japanese going, you know, rock, rock, rock, you know, could have been Japanese and everyone was still going, hey, you know.
03:12
Interviewer: You're a member of the Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League. Do you enjoy playing at these gigs for the Rock Against Racism?
Joe Strummer: I think obviously it's a good thing to do, but that was one of the worst gigs we ever did as it happens. There was a lot of music business backstabbing going on at a gig like that where there shouldn't be any. I don't know.
03:38
Interviewer: Are you having any more trouble with your record company?
Joe Strummer: Only in that they're not too interested, you know? We're trying to force them to... Some of them don't even know who we are.
Interviewer: And finally, would you agree with a quote here that says that the Clies are the only band that are waving the punk banner at the moment? Would you agree with this?
04:01
Joe Strummer: No, I'd say there was the Flits, Suzie and the Banshees. There's thousands of groups up and down the country. Here, from here you've got...
Interviewer: What did you think of your backing group, The Aidcast?
Joe Strummer: Well, I didn't see them. I mean, I meant to see them, but I get very nervous before a show, especially the first one of a tour. This is the first one, right? You know?
04:26
Joe Strummer: I get too nervous. When I'm nervous, I like just to sit in a corner. I don't want to talk to anybody. I don't want to look at anything. I just sit in a corner, look at the floor. And I was doing that. Although I heard him. Thanks very much.
Interview conducted by Mater Hospital Radio, Belfast - October 1978