Read more
Produced and directed by Nick Hall, this is the story of Joe Strummer's self-imposed exile in Granada in 1985/86. Heading to Spain in 1985 to flee the disaster that was the implosion of The Clash Mark Two, the band, formed in the wake of Strummer firing Mick Jones, had already got rid of drummer Topper Headon. The new line-up's 'Cut The Crap' album had largely been shunned by both critics and the public alike and Strummer needed space. Telling a Diario De Granada interviewer that he had come 'to feel the pain of the wound', upon arrival in Granada Strummer found himself firmly subsumed into the city's musical and cultural fabric. He was welcomed with open arms by local acts 091 and bigger-fish Radio Fartuna, who all met at the city's Silibar. 'When we met Joe it was like a miraculous apparition', said Jose Ignacio Lapido, 091's guitarist. It was Radio Fortuna who facilitated the purchase of a set of wheels for Joe. Tracking down a Barreiros, essentially a European edition of the Dodge-Dart, became a mission. As Santiago Auseron, the Radio Fortuna singer said, 'It looked cool, it just looked a bit mad. Which at that time suited Joe very well.' Joe was delighted with the huge car, which he thrashed around the streets of Granada and Madrid. However, having parked the car in the capital and returning to the UK for the birth of his daughter Lola, he forgot where it was and never saw it again. 'I Need A Dodge! - Joe Strummer On The Run' is partly the story of the search for the car, and partly the story of Joe's own search for meaning and redemption in those wilderness years. Drawing on the recollections of his friends in London and in Spain, his partner Gaby Holford and members of 091 and Radio Fortuna, this is a revealing story of a search for much more than just a car. 'It was an escape. He was a man on the run. He was getting away from the tension in London' says Santiago Auseron. Joe Strummer did, indeed, need a Dodge.
Joe Strummer (The Clash)