"He's In Love With Janie Jones"

He's in love with rock 'n' roll.

He's in love with gettin' stoned.

He's in love with Janie Jones.

There may be no better verse in rock and roll than that one above sung by Joe Strummer on the Clash's 1977 eponymous debut album. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll—the popular music's mission statement and mythos—is whittled down here to just three simplistic lines. As Nick Hornby put it in High Fidelity, it's one of the "five best side one track ones of all time" (though on my US version, it's the first track on the second side).

Strummer and Mick Jones wrote the song about English singer Marion Mitchell, who went by the stage name Janie Jones and achieved notoriety by donning topless dresses, playing a role in bribing BBC Radio 1 disc jockeys with sexual favors, and singing the kitschy Halloween single "Witches Brew." While Jones's novelty music won't impress many these days, the song that she inspired The Clash to write and record sounds as fiery, raw, and immediate as ever.

The Clash - "Janie Jones" (from The Clash)

Babyshambles - "Janie Jones"(from Strummerville)
Janie Jones - "Witches Brew" (from "Witches Brew" 7")

After the jump, watch The Clash perform "Janie Jones" live in Manchester in 1977.

The Music of Francoise Hardy, "The ideal woman"

Joe Strummer first introduced me to Francoise Hardy through his personally curated BBC radio program London Calling. A French model and singer, Hardy was perhaps known as much for her looks as her voice. But that doesn't mean the music isn't great. There's an intoxicating charm and subtlty to her songs—especially those from the late 1960s—that create an atmosphere in turns soothing, playful and melancholic. Although Hardy's voice does not have the androgynous quality of Nico's, there's nevertheless a certain similarity: songs dominated by a singular personality, simple vocal melodies that never force the singer to rise or fall out of their comfort zone, and gorgeous professionally-executed background instrumentation that can be vibrantly lush or delicate and sparse.

Joe Strummer Friday

Joe Strummer was one of the greatest voices and attitudes in rock and roll's history. Punk, blues, ska, reggae, rock and soul, Joe loved and played it all—and better than just about everyone. Here's one pre- and one post-Clash track along with two Clash covers, courtesy of Josh Rouse and Babyshambles. (Fun fact: Mick Jones of the Clash produced two records for Babyshambles' lead singer Pete Doherty's previous band, the Libertines).

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - "Tony Adams" (from Rock Art and The X-Ray Style)

Babyshambles - "Janie Jones" (Clash cover)

101ers - "Keys To Your Heart" (from Elgin Avenue Breakdown)

Josh Rouse - "Straight To Hell" (Clash cover)

Faith No More: "We Care A Lot"

I first heard Faith No More's "We Care A Lot" on the well-crafted and underrated Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack put together by none other than the Clash's Joe Strummer. Say what you want about John Cusack's films, but he knows how to deliver good music (High Fidelity: Beta Band, 13th Floor Elevators). Billboard reports that Faith No More's Mike Patton is now working on a soundtrack and audiobook with Alan Moore, the comic book author behind The Watchmen and V For Vendetta. What a trip.

Faith No More - "We Care A Lot" (from We Care A Lot)