Hello Joe

Hello Joe was the third and last single for Smack Smash, despite Thomas originally speaking out against this move due to the verses being a clear reference to London Calling. It's music video features famous German actor Jürgen Vogel. Half of the single's proceeds were donated to the Joe Strummer foundation.

This song is a tribute to The Clash singer Joe Strummer. He passed away a mere day after the band's legendary final concert of the Living Targets tour, which lead to Hello Joe being the first song written for Smack Smash. Its first version was demoed in January 2003 and was, however, far from the finished product, having a  vastly different chorus. The final song features a brass section during the outro, played by Berlin based Ska band The Butlers.

Even after pre-production, Beatsteaks had trouble recording Hello Joe's chorus, taking them until the K4 studio session to finalize it.

With over 300 plays, it's currently the bands second most played song ever: It has been played at nearly every concert since the release of Smack Smash. Hello Joe would go on to open concerts for the first time during their comeback tour in 2022.