Comments on: Death Lives!

Death Lives!

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:52:08 -0800

Death were a proto-punk trio of black Jehovah's Witnesses based out of Detroit back in 1974. They were almost signed to Columbia, but bailed on the label when Columbia wanted them to change their name. Instead, they self-released a 7" which is now quite a collector's item, influenced as it was by, "Iggy and Stooges, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and The Who". But the story doesn't end there. Recently, Bobby Hackney, whose father played in Death along with two of his uncles, learned of the band and, lo and behold, his dad found the master tapes for their unreleased full-length in his attic. Is a new chapter in punk rock history about to be written?

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:54:34 -0800

Feel free to edit "Recently..." into 'More Inside'. I didn't realise I was taking up so much space there, sorry.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:11:30 -0800

Links to the mp3s from the 7"..... Politicians in My Eyes Keep On Knocking That is an awesome way to get instant cred with your kids.

By: Xoebe

Xoebe — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:11:40 -0800

Awesome! Listening to "Politicians In My Eyes" right now! While some of the structural elements are clearly contemporary to the 70s, this shows how truly timeless Punk is. Those record company execs were idiots.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:11:53 -0800

MP3s of the 7" in the first link BTW.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:12:17 -0800

Argh! Should've previewed.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:17:31 -0800

/rubs hands with glee

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:40:31 -0800

Keep on Knocking is fantastic. All the best parts of The Who and Sabbath, to my ears, with wicked tight playing, to boot. I would love to hear the rest; wonder if the masters are still playable.

By: friendlyjuan

friendlyjuan — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:51:54 -0800

Awesome. I was just listening to Black Dots by the Bad Brains the other day and would love to hear this. I'll have to remember to do so when I get home from work, as we have no sound here in the office. Thanks for the post stinkycheese.

By: tiger yang

tiger yang — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:55:41 -0800

They fucking rip. Thanks so much for posting this.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:00:43 -0800

friendlyjuan: You're very welcome. Not sure if you read the references to HR in the first link, but Death are sometimes cited as a source of Bad Brains' style, particularly vocal-wise (and particularly in "Politicians In My Eyes"). It's kind of difficult to imagine how Bad Brains would've heard Death (or known they were black considering the lack of a picture sleeve), but then again, the similarities are pretty hard to deny.

By: steef

steef — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:07:16 -0800

[This is sweeeeet.]

By: saulgoodman

saulgoodman — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:16:08 -0800

I'd like to listen to those MP3s, but for some reason my work firewall is blocking them as "Tasteless." What the hell kind of a judgment is that for a firewall to be making anyway? What's next, blocking content for being too "Tacky"?

By: the dief

the dief — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:19:35 -0800

Excellent stuff, thanks much!

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:45:25 -0800

Wow, that's great stuff. I'd buy the whole CD if they manage to get the tape from the attic remastered.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:50:26 -0800

This is so cool.

By: lumpenprole

lumpenprole — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:07:13 -0800

Wow, this is great stuff! I hope they can get the full-length out. I want it.

By: dersins

dersins — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:10:17 -0800

thank you thank you thank you thank you

By: xjudson

xjudson — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:25:30 -0800

another rare early punk find http://cracksinthesidewalk.com/Crackslive1994.mp3

By: msconduct

msconduct — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:28:42 -0800

enjoyed Politicians in My Eyes but Keep On Knocking shut down my browser. too punk for firefox, i guess. thanks for the post/links!

By: thedaniel

thedaniel — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:47:45 -0800

Aww, I was sure from the title that this would be about one of my favorite bands, influential extreme metallers Death. Maybe they need an FPP as well?

By: medeine

medeine — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:49:49 -0800

Huh, I immediately thought of Black Death, the first all-black heavy metal band, when I saw this.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:51:35 -0800

Heh. From medeine's link: After landing a deal with Auburn Records, Black Death released their self-titled debut in '85, a record that sold 1,000 copies within ten days of release. But one thing kept them down. "Their biggest problem was finding a replacement if a member quit the band--there just weren't that many black guys in town who could play metal," says Auburn Records president Bill Peters.

By: friendlyjuan

friendlyjuan — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:06:18 -0800

Yeah, I did see that mention of HR in the first link. Also something about tracking Darryl down to see if Bad Brains had heard of Death. I would love to know if that's true. I can't decide if the nascent (if any) scene at the time would be a help or a hindrance. Seems to me that during the time period Death were active folks that were into that sort of music would be looking for anything they could get their hands on, but who knows if they would have been able to get a hold of this. They pressed 1,000 copies of that 7", right? I suppose it's possible.

By: friendlyjuan

friendlyjuan — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:07:37 -0800

(on non-preview) The above posted at stinkycheese.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:27:41 -0800

It's certainly possible, sure. They weren't that far from each other. I'd be interested to hear what The Bad Brains have to say about Death but it would really surprise me if a) they'd heard the band, and b) would admit to it at this point.

By: ianaces

ianaces — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:28:34 -0800

wow. this guys vocals are the missing link between Rob Tyner and HR.

By: friendlyjuan

friendlyjuan — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:10:15 -0800

That's a pretty good point stinkycheese. Bad Brains are held up as one of the founding groups of hardcore, so it might diminish their legacy a bit should they admit to being influenced by Death. I haven't heard the linked songs yet, but if everyone else hears a connection perhaps it's not too far fetched to presume an influence.

By: PHINC

PHINC — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:30:17 -0800

I wonder if this could be a viral prank thing.

By: rotifer

rotifer — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:43:22 -0800

Man, I want this album.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:26:43 -0800

This is some good fucking rock n' roll. I definitely hear the singer's resemblance to HR, but their music doesn't really sound anything like Bad Brains, so I doubt they were an influence. Plus, as the story goes, Bad Brains were all into funk, jazz and reggae, and were originally a jazz/funk band, until one of them bought the first Ramones album and had a revelation. Also, the list of black people in punk and new wave is extensive, but they don't appear to even mention DH Peligro of Dead Kennedys. Other than Bad Brains, he was probably the most visible black man in punk rock.

By: Xoebe

Xoebe — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:39:22 -0800

Um the "Crackslive" mp3 (from above) is what, an entire show? I canceled the download at 50Mb, though it was going pretty quick.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:22:47 -0800

Call me crazy, but the end of "Politicians In My Eyes" - does this remind anybody else of "New Dawn Fades" by Joy Division?

By: Danila

Danila — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:08:09 -0800

May I ask where you are getting the "Jehovah's Witness" thing from? I was very curious to read that but I could not find it in the links. Or is that personal knowledge? Thanks to anyone who can answer.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:57:52 -0800

Danila: They're referred to as being Jehovah's Witnesses in this Arthur piece.

By: Danila

Danila — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:59:16 -0800

Thanks stinkycheese, I really like their music.