February 20, 2002

1:13 PM

Josh Clayton-Felt, lead singer of 90's alterntive rock band School of Fish spent the last few years of his life battling his record company (A&M cum Universal) and his last few weeks fighting a highly aggressive cancer that rendered him comatose just weeks after its December, 1999 discovery. When he lost his fight with cancer in January, 2000, the rights to the third re-recording of his final album had just been returned to him. Dreamworks released it earlier this month to favorable reviews. It can also be heard in its entirety here.
posted by Sinner (15 comments total)

i remember their first (one of their first?) albums. the name escapes me, though i have it at home: it's got 3 strange days, rose colored glasses and others. i still like their stuff; i never knew about the goings on until now. i'm really sorry to hear about all of this... think i'll go listen to that cd again when i get home.
posted by moz at 1:21 PM on February 20, 2002

Why must everyone rip off boz scaggs
posted by Settle at 1:27 PM on February 20, 2002

Saw him open for Tori Amos. He stole the show.
posted by whatnot at 1:34 PM on February 20, 2002

unless he was really a crossdressing pregnant woman, i think you got the name of the cancer wrong. choriocarcinoma is a cancer of the placenta.
posted by bunnyfire at 1:50 PM on February 20, 2002

Probably just a mis-link. The ABC story says he had testicular cancer.
posted by Skot at 1:55 PM on February 20, 2002

No, it wasn't a mis-link. A poorly-read link, perhaps, since it does suggest that the cancer is exclusively placental. However, these stories both identify the specific cancer (yes, it was testicular).
posted by Sinner at 2:18 PM on February 20, 2002

Second link ("stories") was supposed to point here.
posted by Sinner at 2:19 PM on February 20, 2002

Thanks for the info; I had no idea about this. Sounds like he was quite a guy.
posted by evixir at 2:50 PM on February 20, 2002

whos gonna write a bad review about the recently deceased?
posted by Satapher at 2:51 PM on February 20, 2002

I also saw him open for Tori Amos. He was a truly great performer, and I bought "Inarticulate Nature Boy" a few days later. It's a personal album with lyrics that seemed to have streamed into his mind through dreams. He plays all the instruments and the whole thing is a relatively unique journey. I think some people might find many of the songs annoying (hard to describe why, but they're just kind of like being inside a "carnival rollercoaster" that makes a lot of noise at regular intervals), but for some reason they really work for me. It's one of those CDs that you only play when you're in a certain mood - and in those situations there is no other CD that would be better.
posted by edlundart at 3:30 PM on February 20, 2002

whos gonna write a bad review about the recently deceased?

With your sharp grasp of the language, Satapher, I'd nominate you.

In all seriousness, though, you're right - a negative shortly-after-the-fact posthumous review is probably a rare beast. No review at all would be the more likely choice.
posted by Sinner at 3:34 PM on February 20, 2002

With your sharp grasp of the language, Satapher, I'd nominate you.

Hmmm. What is a "sharp grasp," anyway? Strong grasp, or sharp command, perhaps. Anyone have the definition of irony around anywhere?
posted by Sinner at 3:38 PM on February 20, 2002

Anyone have the definition of irony around anywhere?

I got your definition, right here.
posted by BentPenguin at 6:05 PM on February 20, 2002

Why can't we all just agree at sucking with languages? Every last one of posters.
posted by Settle at 8:42 PM on February 20, 2002

at the risk of sounding heretical...

both of the times i saw jcf open for tori amos in 1996 he could best be described as "aural valium". i'm sorry he died such a painful death, but the fact is, he wasn't all that.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:29 AM on February 21, 2002