91Èȱ¬

Strummerville, the charity set up in memory of Joe Strummer to work with young musicians, is one of the partners in the Bridgwater Town Hall Island Site project.

Joe's friends say he was passionate about trying to revitalise Bridgwater when he lived in Somerset towards the end of his life.

Somerset-based film-maker Julien Temple, who directed 'The Future Is Unwritten', a documentary about Joe's life, was responsible for introducing him to Bridgwater when he first moved to the county.

"It was the Carnival and the first thing that happened was a float came round the corner with 'Rock the Casbah' and all these people in Arabian Nights costumes. About twenty minutes later a 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' float came round the corner and he was like 'I love this, this is a Clash town, I love this town, I want to live here'
which he did.

Madness played for free in memory of Joe Strummer

"And he did love the town, and I think he understood that it was in need of some affectionate care and help, because other places in the South West received a lot more attention than Bridgwater."

Strummerville

According to Temple, Joe's links with the town were instrumental in persuading Madness to play a benefit gig at the Bridgwater Palace to publicise the Town Hall Island site scheme in January 2008.

"Joe is the man who made this happen - Joe actually did a benefit three weeks before he died in the Palace for the Engine Room which is one of the local organisations that are hopefully going to be getting this scheme in Bridgwater at the town hall off the ground.

"He's the figure that really pulls the threads here together - and certainly the figure that's bringing Madness here.Ìý From the 02 Dome to the Bridgwater Palace is a strange journey. But they're making it because of Joe."

Strummerville would be based in the Town Hall

Opportunities for local bands

Strummerville aim to create a place in Bridgwater where anybody can drop in and not feel intimidated and be able to make music, but also work with the rest of the scheme's partners.

"What we'd like be able to do is team up with the Engine Room to help bands do video jockeying or to make music videos," said Jo-Jo Evans, Strummerville's charity manager. "We'll be able to put gigs and concerts on with the Arts Centre and do screenings with Julien Temple's Black Lamp Cinema.

"The idea is it'll just be a huge cultural centre – the whole point of Strummerville is to continue Joe's legacy. Joe loved all sorts of music from reggae and all kinds of world music to punk and jazz. He loved Bridgwater; he and Julien often spoke about trying to set something up in the town here. And I think he would be really pleased about what we're trying to do today."

Because of Strummerville's involvement with the Town Hall project, they arranged for two local bands – The Royal Males and Shoot the Moon – to be support acts at the Madness gig at the Bridgwater Palace. The Royal Males were also the first group to be put through a recording studio as part of Strummerville's new scheme for young bands.

The Royal Males supported Madness

Madness gig the first of many?

Jo-Jo Evans is hopeful that the January's gig will pave the way for something even bigger for the town.

"I've been working for Strummerville for a year now and right back in the beginning we were talking about putting on a major event in Bridgwater for the local people. Ideally we'd like to look at putting on a festival in the summer in a couple of years' time but this is a really good first step and we're really grateful to Madness for showing their support in this way."

The 91Èȱ¬'s Creative Director Alan Yentob agrees. He's the patron of the Town Hall scheme and hopes that Joe Strummer's links with Bridgwater will pay dividends in the future.

"There are almost no bands of any consequence who don't admire Joe and wouldn't want to come and be honoured to come to play in Strummerville and follow in the footsteps of The Rolling Stones who played here in 1963.

"And if I could bring some influence to bear on my friend Mick to come I would do so. We'll have to see, we've never even got him to Glastonbury yet but maybe it'll happen."