Joe Strummer, two video cassettes and the 1973 movie he couldn’t stop watching
After The Clash split in 1985, Joe Strummer turned to film soundtracks and worked with director Alex Cox on films including *Sid and Nancy* and *Walker*. Cox recalled that Strummer repeatedly watched two films while composing the *Walker* score, with Sam Peckinpah’s *Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid* proving especially influential.
Cox said the pair watched *Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid* and Akira Kurosawa’s *Ran* on video during rainy evenings in Nicaragua, where *Walker* was filmed. He described *Ran* as shaping their approach to battle sound and the film’s central character, while Peckinpah’s western influenced Strummer through its music, violence and political cynicism; Strummer also appeared in *Walker* and wrote its score with Zander Schloss. The soundtrack later fell out of print and had less lasting impact than Bob Dylan’s music for Peckinpah’s film.
- Strummer scored Alex Cox’s film *Walker* after The Clash split.
- *Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid* was a key influence.
- Strummer also drew inspiration from Kurosawa’s *Ran*.
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Joe Strummer was the frontman of The Clash, a rock band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s. After the band split in 1985, he transitioned into composing music for films.
Strummer began working with director Alex Cox on film scores for films including Sid and Nancy and Walker. This marked a shift from his previous work in rock music towards composing for cinema.
Whilst creating Walker in Nicaragua, Strummer and Cox repeatedly watched two films that would influence his compositional approach. Sam Peckinpah's 1973 western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and Akira Kurosawa's Ran shaped his approach to the film's score, violence, characters and political themes.