MetaFilter posts tagged with death and music

black punk punks your punk

artof.mulata — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:44:33 -0800

mid-70s proto-punk band, Death, have finally gotten a real disc out. unearthed in crates lost for decades, their founder dead before seeing it happen, their children never knowing the shadowy past of their forebears, the sound of black pop-punk-politi-metal-wave is finally here. dig the stodgy new york times on this matter! see what was said on metafilter before (not nec' so stodgy, naturally...)! {big ups to stinkycheese for letting me have this}

Will it last six more months?

Potomac Avenue — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:00:06 -0800

It's been 50 years (on Tuesday) since Buddy Holly died. He still has some rabid fans who will be celebrating his life and work, but should the rest of us still care? His new collection in part consists of demos recorded in Winter of 1958 and January 1959 in an apartment in New York now stripped of the atrocious overdubbing done just after his death by Norman Petty, the same producer who badgered him on his early records into adding sweetening strings and cheesy backup vocals to his tracks, then claimed songwriting credits so his family never got the full benefit of royalties (a bitter irony for one of the first singer-songwriters who would rather play his own music than revamp covers of blues or country songs.) Some examples: Crying, Waiting, Hoping (Demo) Crying Waiting Hoping (Single Version) That'll Be The Day (Early Version ) That'll Be The Day (Later Version) Learning the Game (demo version) Learning the Game (overdubbed version) That´s What they Say (Demo Version) That´s What They Say (1960) That´s What they Say (Slightly better 1963 Version) Caught between Petty's bossiness and a label dispute (taped phone call with the president of Decca) Buddy, broke and disillusioned, went on the badly planned and underfunded Midwestern tour that killed him. Graphic Footage of Crashsite Buddy Holly remains a reminder of the high price that a musician pays for being an iconoclast in a business that rarely rewards real originality. More overdubs and rarities: Peggy Sue Got Married (Demo) Peggy Sue Got Married (Album) Words Of Love (Demo) Words Of Love (LP version) Slippin' and slidin' (Slow Version) Slippin' and slidin' (Fast Version) (overdubbed in the 60s) Down The Line (Demo #1) I'm Gonna Put My Foot Down (overdubbed in 1983) Love Is Strange (Demo) Buddy Holly And The Three Tunes - Rock Around With Ollie Vee (pre-Crickets) Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie (Demo recorded in January, 1959) Buddy at 14 years old doing Two Timin Woman

Creepy Christmas carols

imposster — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:25:07 -0800

An antidote to the holly jolly malaise: Few Christmas carols contain as much blood and suffering as "Down in yon forest." It was first documented in England by Ralph Vaughan Williams, but John Jacob Niles found an even gorier version in North Carolina (Alfred Deller's rendition). Niles was also responsible for another creepy Christmas song: "I wonder as I wander" (audio). In fact, the mountain interior of the United States is a rich ground for such tunes, like "Lady Gay" (variant), "Fair Charlotte," and "Timbo fight." The English continue celebrating Christmas with the ritualized presentation and ingestion of a severed pig head (video). Beware of overindulgence, or be prepared to answer J.M. Gates' musical question, "Did you spend Christmas Day in jail?" (see also: "Death might be your Santa Claus"). Still having a blue Christmas? It will soon be over.

Lead singer of seminal Canadian punk band Teenage Head dies

mathewi — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:46:37 -0800

Frank Kerr died on Wednesday, October 15th of throat cancer. The 51-year-old was better known as Frankie Venom, the lead singer of Teenage Head, a punk band from Hamilton, Ontario that some have called Canada's version of The Ramones. The Glasgow native formed the band in 1975 with some high-school friends and they released several popular albums and played at least two shows that ended in riots. After splitting with the group in 1985 due in part to lifestyle issues, Venom later rejoined and began touring again. In 2003, Teenage Head recorded a special cover album with Ramones drummer Marky Ramone that was just released earlier this year. One fan got some video of one of Frankie's last shows in Hamilton.

Hiram Bullock dead

KevinSkomsvold — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:19:18 -0800

Hiram Bullock, original guitarist for Paul Shaffer's "Worlds Most Dangerous Band" died on July 25th. He was a fixture in the early days of David Letterman's show. The cause of death was not disclosed but Bullock had been undergoing treatment for cancer and was known to have had drug problems. Bullock was 52. Apologies in advance for the obit post. I feel just a bit older after hearing this news. He was an awesome guitar player.

I know who they are. They are French people.

Artw — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:44:38 -0800

William Burroughs recites from the last words of Dutch Schultz, set to the music of The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

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?

Israel 'Cachao' Lopez, R.I.P.

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 06:19:45 -0800

Bassist, bandleader and mambo pioneer Israel 'Cachao' Lopez has died.

cum on feel the noiz

spish — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:30:57 -0800

Kevin DuBrow dead at 52. The lead singer of the 80's metal band Quiet Riot found dead at 52 in Las Vegas. Break out your leather and studs...and hockey masks?

Pen point dulled

klangklangston — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:24:33 -0800

Stylus Magazine is closed. Home to some of the best writing about rockism, and Rasputin, slsking and The Stranger. Greatest hits/bluffer's guide here.

More than a feeling

lobstah — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:10:09 -0800

Brad Delp 1951-2007 Lead singer for the band Boston , dead at 55. "We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll." is all you will find at the band Boston's website

Songs for Dead Time

davebush — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 05:43:29 -0800

Music for Funerals - 5000 Brits were surveyed about songs they'd like played during their funeral. I'm warning you right now, Bon Jovi made the top 20.

Rolling Stone from Texas

NemesisVex — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:05:32 -0800

'Pavarotti of the Plains' In 1957, Don Walser stopped recording country music and became a National Guardsman, just as rock 'n' roll took over the airwaves. He stayed with the Guard for 39 years, but around 1990, his performances at Henry's in Austin, Texas developed a following. By the end of the decade, he would sign to Sire Records, open for Ministry and the Butthole Surfers, collaborate with Kronos Quartet and be honored with a National Heritage Award. Walser retired from his music career in 2001 because of ill health. He passed away on Wednesday at age 72.

"I felt that something unusual was happening, that I had never heard the piano played like this."

matteo — Sat, 20 May 2006 11:14:05 -0800

"The sound was not of this world, it hovered in space like some celestial blessing".
He could play the piano ”before he had learned to smile”, his mother said, and he gave his first concert at the age of six. He studied under Alfred Cortot, Charles Munch, Paul Dukas, and Nadia Boulanger. He was an esteemed teacher and critic at 19, an international phenomenon at 24. He escaped from his native Rumania to Switzerland in 1943 with his fiancée, a joint capital of five Swiss francs in their pockets. After the war, just as he had arrived in the pantheon of great performing artists, Dinu Lipatti was diagnosed with leukemia. In September 1950, near death, despite the urgings of his doctors Lipatti insisted upon one last recital at Besançon. As his wife recalled, this was the only way Lipatti could bear to take his leave of the world. Lipatti was so weak he could barely walk to the piano. But once he began playing, he became transformed. After performing 13 waltzes, he could no longer muster the strength necessary to perform the final selection. So he substituted Myra Hess's piano arrangement of Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".(page with sound). Three months later, Lipatti died at the age of 33. After Lipatti's funeral, his old mentor Cortot wrote: "There was nothing to teach you. One could, in fact, only learn from you."

Noel Mewton-Wood (1922-53)

matteo — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 10:53:40 -0800

After a Noel Mewton-Wood performance of Hindemith's (.pdf) Ludus Tonalis, Dame Myra Hess exclaimed: ‘The boy is truly remarkable, and what shall he be like at 40-odd?’. Glowing testimonials to his ‘genius’ (Sir Malcolm Sargent) from Beecham, Schnabel, Bliss, Hindemith and Britten were countered by indifference from the major record labels and concert managements. In 1953, at the age of 31, the pianist, a shy young man susceptible to depression, committed suicide. Now, the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive of Middlesex University offers a scan of the The London Evening News page with the report of Mewton-Wood's death. And here is a mp3 page with some of his out-of-print work.

There's A Rumble In Heaven Tonight

tapeguy — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 11:08:31 -0800

Pioneering instrumental-rock guitarist Link Wray - one of the original rockabilly artists, credited with having invented the "power chord", which has become the basis for modern rock and alternative music - died this week at the age of 76. You'd probably know him from his song 'Rumble', used on the 'Pulp Fiction' soundtrack. The English-speaking media hasn't picked up on the story yet, but various blogs, the Spanish and Danish press - translation here - and various music messageboards were all over the story 24 hours ago.

Laid down on my bed and cried

klangklangston — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 11:51:17 -0800

Get the blues. Today, one of the blues' finest musicians, R.L. Burnside died. Go on, take a look, take a listen.

RIP Tommy Vance

TheDonF — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 06:26:02 -0800

RIP Tommy Vance. For years the voice of BBC Radio 1's 'The Friday Rock Show' and, for TV viewers throughout the UK, the voice of a multitude of adverts, Tommy Vance has died following a stroke. RIP you gravel-throated bringer of rock.

Last Meals.

monju_bosatsu — Sat, 11 Dec 2004 14:10:28 -0800

The Last Request: Selected Last Meals of Texas Death Row Inmates. [flash] [+]

80's singer Robert Palmer has passed away

nyukid — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 05:38:39 -0800

80's singer Robert Palmer has passed away. CNN reports that the British rocker who is famous for his 80's hit "Addicted to Love" died of a heart attack in Paris at the age of 54.

The Dance of Death.

misteraitch — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 00:21:35 -0800

The Dance of Death. Die Totentanz: A German-language site spotlighting, for example, the dance of death in literature, graphic art, music and film. For those, like me, whose German is not so good, this page offers an English-language history of the phenomenon, and the Catholic Encyclopedia has an article too. See also Holbein's Dance-of-Death; Lübeck's Dance-of-Death; and umm, this.

June Carter Cash

transient — Fri, 16 May 2003 11:28:06 -0800

I'm in the middle of a book called Will you miss me when I'm gone?, which chronicles the history of the famous Carter Family, and includes some incredibly charming descriptions of June Carter (later the wife of Johnny Cash; the development of her musical voice, her mountain-tinted wit, and her onstage goofball comedy. Unfortunately, June Carter Cash died yesterday.

Kiss casket

jeremias — Thu, 20 Feb 2003 06:37:23 -0800

Takes the phrase "Get a Life" to a new level. Those masterminds of marketing, those night rocking, day partying satanic minions, KISS, have achieved the ultimate score in product merchandising. That's right, it's your very own KISS coffin, and while you might think "What's the point?", keep in mind that before you shuffle off this mortal coil, it doubles as a beer cooler.

walrus — Fri, 16 Aug 2002 00:00:14 -0800

The King is dead ... long live the King?

monkey-mind — Sat, 20 Apr 2002 13:58:38 -0800

Alice in Chains' lead singer dead at 34. Apparently he died several days ago and was just discovered last night. Identity was confirmed today. No cause of death is known yet.