R.I.P.

While I was writing down things about Japan, I was going off on a bunch of tangents, looking at different videos and websites. Somehow I ended up at Grant McLennan. I know I said the first post would be about Japan, but this seems more appropriate.

I can't believe Grant died almost four years ago. Although I was never a huge Go-Betweens fan, I did like them and I really liked the catchy 16 Lovers Lane album. Even more, I loved his work with Steve Kilbey when they were Jack Frost.

I don't think Grant McLennan was appreciated nearly enough. His solo work remains among my favourites even today - do yourself a favour and preview Horsebreaker Star, especially What Went Wrong, Coming Up For Air, I'll Call You Wild, Girl In A Beret and Horsebreaker Star.

Yesterday I was looking at more old videos and stumbled on Fad Gadget (Frank Tovey). It's funny - if you asked me to name my favourite bands from the early 80s I probably wouldn't have remembered to include Fad Gadget, but as soon as I saw the name I was so excited! I loved his wacky stuff...Ricky's Hand and Collapsing New People (with Einstürzende Neubauten). Now there was someone ahead of his time. I googled Frank Tovey to see what he was up to lately, only to find out he died in 2002.

I clicked on more links, went off on a few more tangets and ended up finding out that Rowland S. Howard just died in December 2009. He was best known for being a member of the Birthday Party (Tracy Pew died in 1986) and Crime and the City Solution.

Clicking more links I found out that Jeffrey Lee Pierce (the Gun Club) died, so did Lux Interior of the Cramps.

I wasn't actively searching for dead rockstars. This got me thinking about all the musicians that I knew passed on. One of the ones I was saddest about was Nikki Sudden. Like a lot of acts I used to love I drifted away from listening to newer stuff (life gets in the way don't you know), but I will always love the work he did with Dave Kusworth (as the Jacobites). Their first two albums were on my CD player constantly at one point, almost to the exclusion of anything else. I see both albums are now available as an expanded edition of Robespierre's Velvet Basement. Worth checking out are Big Store, Where The Rivers End, She Never Believes, Ambulance Station and One More String of Pearls.

I started writing down the other people I know who died. It's a longer list than I would like to see and I'm sure I've missed a few.

• Epic Soundtracks (Swell Maps, Crime and the City Solution; Nikki Sudden's brother)
• Jeff Buckley
• Billy MacKenzie (the Associates)
• John McGeoch (Siouxie and the Banshees, PIL, Magazine)
• Nigel Preston (the Cult)
• Pete DeFreites (Echo and the Bunnymen)
• Stuart Adamson (Big Country)
• Paul Hester (Crowded House)
• Joe Strummer
• Eliott Smith
• Joey Ramone
• Dee Dee Ramone
• Ian Dury
• Stiv Bators
• Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star)

What a great amount of talent that's been silenced. Calls for a Nick Cave video.