"Let Fury Have the Hour" Press Release

Publisher’s Weekly
“Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin, and a pair of bondage trousers,” writes Billy Bragg, and documentarian/activist D’Ambrosio proves it with this gathering of skillfully selected articles and essays on Clash front man Joe Strummer (1952-2002), from the likes of Lester Bangs, Chuck D, Greil Marcus and D’Ambrosio himself. Most contributions consider the highly politicized early years of “the only band that mattered,” its commercial U.S. breakthrough in 1983 as well as its imminent demise, and Strummer’s role as lyricist and political agitator. Although a few essays discuss the political ambiguity of some of Strummer’s songs, they mostly praise the outspoken singer/guitarist’s commitment to confronting racism, classism, and capitalism at a time when punk bands were apolitical or nihilistic. In a 1979 essay, Lester Bangs credits the Clash with forging “the missing link between black music and white noise.” Other pieces chronicle Strummer’s stints as a film score composer and actor and his ongoing forays into multicultural music. Some essays lean toward a preachy interpretation of Strummer’s humanist philosophy, but the best invoke irresistible excitement as they describe beer-soaked early Clash shows and the message of hope the band gave to kids rebelling against what they saw as the oppressive conservatism and systemic self-loathing of Thatcherite England. (Dec)

D'Ambrosio's fine collection...Less a hagiography than an earnest consideration of Strummer's political views and life, "Let Fury Have the Hour" is a rewarding look back at the man who made The Only Band That Matters, well, matter. Leaping confidently from timeless screeds by Greil Marcus and Lester Bangs to appreciations from Chuck D, Kristine McKenna, Michael Franti, Tony Kushner, Tim Robbins and out into the more analytical work of Bad Subjects vets Charlie Bertsch and Joel Schalit, this potent collection ably communicates the hunger for social, cultural and racial justice that made Strummer's work so engaging...[Read More]
--Salon.com(1/31/05)

"Antonino D'Ambrosio zooms the lens in on Joe Strummer's music and politics both during and after his Clash tenure. One key essay convincingly links the singer with the politically charged world music of Chile's Victor Jara, Cuba's Silvio Rodriquez and Brazil's Caetano Veleso...[read]
--Harp, Aril 2005

"An amazing collection of articles, essays, interviews, and reviews...Antonino D'Ambrosio proves that Strummer and the Clash transformed punk into an actual social movement."
--Punk Planet, Jan/Feb. 2005
You can read the Punk Planet article online here:
Page 1, Page 2

"Antonino D'Ambrosio has put together a powerful and important book"
--Air America's Unfiltered radio program


"With his book, Antonino D'Ambrosio proves that politics and art do mix...it is a wonderful and timely book..."
---Janeane Garofalo, host of Air America's Majority Report

"The comprehensive Strummer anthology, 'Let Fury Have the Hour' collects articles and essays from folks whose opinions we love..."
---CMJ New Music Monthly, Issue No. 129

"...the pieces in Let Fury Have the Hour remind us that Strummer's quest for community has a historical basis in radical music activism. For Strummer and musicians like Woody Guthrie, the MC5 and Victor Jara, tearing down the walls meant opening the doors to class unity. That quest for a democratic community coexists with punk's essential and most enduring trait, the "do it yourself" ethic, a humanist standard..." [read]
--MetroActive

'Punk Rock Politics in the Present Day..." --Washington Square News, April 22, 2004

"Let Fury Have the Hour" is a smash in Brazil...[read]

"From interviews from the early Clash days to Billy Bragg and Chuck D (Public Enemy) explaining Joe’s impact upon them, Let the Fury Have the Hour presents Joe the way he was—the rebel, the musician, the poet and the punk. The Clash will live on forever, and it was inevitable that books be written about "the only band that matters" and its members. However, I don’t think any one of them has explored Joe Strummer as effectively as this one...[more]
--Slug magazine

"Visiting Author Puts New Spin on Clash Frontman"
--The Post-Crescent

"Band Inspires Speaker"
--BG News


"'Let Fury Have the Hour' is a beautiful book by a man with a good heart in tribute to a man with a good heart."
---Mikey Dread, Clash Producer, DJ and artist

"'Let Fury Have the Hour' covers valuable ground."
---Vivien Goldman, writer

"D'Ambrosio's 'Let Fury...' is an impressively composed and engaging book..."
---Seattle's "The End" radio station



LET THE FURY HAVE THE HOUR by ANTONINO D'AMBROSIO
DECEMBER 2004, $16.95, 368 PAGES, ISBN 1-56025-625-7
To purchase "Let Fury Have the Hour On-line," please visit Nation Books