[3] Salewicz's time at the NME helped him forge a unique relationship and friendship with two men who would reshape music in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s: Joe Strummer (of the Clash) and Bob Marley.
His journeys with these two men—from Trenchtown Ghetto and Jamaican Gun Court to Zimbabwean independence, and from Maida Vale Squat to Groucho Club to the search for Garcia Lorca's bones in Andalucía—continued to redefine music journalism.
As his subject's influence expanded beyond musical spheres, Salewicz's writing and subsequent books on Joe Strummer (Redemption Song) and Bob Marley (The Untold Story) would also expand beyond the music into what made Strummer and Marley political and cultural icons.
Drawing on extensive research, Salewicz embarked on the writing of Third World Cop, the most successful film ever in the Caribbean when it was released in 1999.
The same year, Salewicz went into Tivoli Gardens in Kingston to report on the "Dudus affair" for The Wall Street Journal.