“I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.” - Bill Hicks

On the 26th of February 1994, aged just 32 years old, William Melvin Hicks died from Pancreatic cancer. Bill Hicks, as he was commonly known, was a stand-up comedian whose satirical, visceral and philosophical humour generated controversy and acclaim in equal measures. But Hicks was much more than a simple comedian. He was a musician, a philosopher, a satirist, and to some, a prophet. Hicks never resorted to “Blue” humour, even his infamous “Goatboy” routine was based on a very real tradition of Greek myths about the half-goat God Pan. Instead he presented the world as he saw it to his audience complete with all of its hypocrisy, hate, apathy and mediocrity, and tried to show the world for what it really was… Just a ride.

Hicks was born to a typical Southern Baptist family in Georgia USA, and lived in different states within the American “Bible Belt” in his formative years. As a young teen he discovered the comedy of Woody Allen and Richard Pryor and began to perform routines with friends, first at school and then at local clubs. As Hick’s style began to evolve he would often be compared to the likes of Lenny Bruce and George Carlin for his offbeat tangents and politically charged rants. But there was always more that could be done. Hicks would experiment with drugs and alcohol, and chain smoke on stage. This gave his work a fevered energy akin to a punk rock show. Hicks style was intimate and confrontational. He would viciously shout-down hecklers and never sugar-coated a single thought. But as Hicks’ personal philosophy sharpened, so did the messages in his act. After he gave up doing drugs, he would take an unpopular pro-drug stance because, unlike a lot of people with an anti-drug stance, he had experienced first hand the beneficial effects of drugs like LSD Marijuana and Magic Mushrooms, as well as the bad effects. One of his most famous riffs was on the lack of these positive effects in news reports which only ever focus on morons that throw themselves off buildings while on acid.

“Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration — that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death; life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves... Here's Tom with the weather!” - Bill Hicks, ‘Revelations’ (1993)

Consumerism, society, religion, politics, philosophy, popular culture and (perhaps most importantly) Bill Hicks were all subjects ruthlessly deconstructed in front of his live audiences. A relentless pursuit of “The Truth” featured throughout his material which often meant cutting through the pre-conceived notions of his audience in order to lead them, not to his point of view, but to their own. In an episode of the BBC series ‘A Question Of Taste’, in response to the line of questioning regarding his act, Hicks repeated a comment he once heard from an audience member who stated “We don't come to comedy to think!”, to which he retorted “Gee! Where do you go to think? I'll meet you there!”. He questioned the alleged guilt of Lee Harvey Oswald in the JFK assassination as well as David Koresh in the conclusion of the Waco siege and other conspiracy theories to make the point that the “truth” that the media presents is just one version and that it isn’t, by any stretch, gospel.

In the seventeen years since Bill Hicks death little has changed. Though there are many comedians around today who are inspired by, and pay tribute to Hicks, few take the bold and lonely stance he once did. In the age of surveillance, instant information, the war against terrorism and international fraud dressed up as capitalism a man like Bill Hicks is perhaps needed more than ever. Even senior Labour Party MP Stephen Pound paid tribute to Hicks on the tenth anniversary of his death in the following early day amendment.

“That this House notes with sadness the 10th anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks, on 26th February 1994, at the age of 33; recalls his assertion that his words would be a bullet in the heart of consumerism, capitalism and the American Dream; and mourns the passing of one of the few people who may be mentioned as being worth [sic] of inclusion with Lenny Bruce in any list of unflinching and painfully honest political philosophers.” - Stephen Pound, MP: ‘Anniversary of the Death of Bill Hicks’ (EDM 678 of the 2003-04 session)’

It is easy to think that we lost Bill Hicks too soon and wonder at what might have been if he’d lived to see the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, George W. Bush, 9/11, The Second Gulf War, and the election of Barack Obama. But he did leave us with words to help us look for our own truth in the world. Perhaps Hicks’ most resonating pearls of wisdom came at the end of his 1992 show ‘Revelations’, that was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK, the words of which sums up the truth of life as he saw it.

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it’s very brightly colored, and it’s very loud, and it’s fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, “Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?” And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, “Hey, don’t worry; don’t be afraid, ever. Because this is just a ride.” And we…kill those people. “Shut him up! I’ve got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.” It’s just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok? But it doesn’t matter, because it’s just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, not work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defence each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”

R.I.P



http://www.billhicks.com/

Peter Steele (b. 1962 - d. 2010)
Vocalist/Bassist (Type O Negative)

It always seemed apparent that the time that Brooklyn born Petrus T. Ratajczyk, better known to fans of Goth Metal as Peter Steele, last felt truly free was while working for the New York Parks Department. At this time his 80’s Hardcore/Thrash Metal band Carnivore had come to an apathetic demise after just two albums, and the thought of starting a new band was the last thing on his mind. Instead he’d occupy himself raking leaves, mending fences, and thinking up new euphemisms for maggots (‘dancing rice’ being a popular one among his colleagues).

Then it all went wrong. He broke up with his long-time girlfriend, attempted suicide, and wrote an album that saw him signed back to his old record label. The album was 1991’s ‘Slow, Deep and Hard’ a Hardcore/Doom Metal crossover about infidelity, self-loathing, and everything that pissed off and depressed the six foot six Steele in the previous year. The album was loved by some, and hated by others (including Steele).

“… it was only supposed to be a demo. I was drunk and pissed and I wrote the whole thing in 4 hours. Little did I know that demo would be pressed into an album. So we were pretty much trapped into something I wrote in a span of a few hours […] If I had to do it over, Bloody Kisses would be the first album.” -Rock Out Censorship [http://www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-18/roc18-06.htm]

The Band was condemned by domestic audiences as communists and homosexuals for Steele’s Russo-Icelandic heritage and sensitive lyrics. Internationally they feared little better with most of the European tour cancelled due to anti-fascist groups labelling them a Nazi band (despite Keyboardist Josh Silver being Jewish).



The disastrous tour was immortalized by the band when Roadrunner Records gave them money to do a live album. The band instead spent the money and recorded a fake live album in a basement with their friend’s heckling them with the now familiar “You Suck” as an overdub. The album “Origin of the Faeces: Not Live at Brighton Beach”, became a cult hit for its dry humorous take on a Type O Negative live show and the cover of Jimi Hendrix‘s ‘Hey Joe’ (re-dubbed ‘Hey Peter’). Their label, however, did not see the funny side of it. The album, despite being reworked tracks from their debut, displayed a different approach to the song writing. Under Steele’s direction, Silver’s keyboards were mixed higher and became more Ambient and Gothic in sound.

This carried over onto the bands 1994 sophomore album ‘Bloody Kisses’. This time the anger was running second fiddle to elaborate Gothic hymns to female stereotypes (‘Black No.1’ and ‘Christian Woman’) as well as misery and heartache (‘Too Late: Frozen’ and ‘Bloody Kisses - A Death in the Family’). The album was originally released with many instrumental and humorous tracks, but after the videos for ‘Black No.1’ and ‘Christian Woman’ received play on MTV a re-edit and re-release of just the core tracks propelled the album to gold status. A first for the band and their record label.

With the band’s stock rising internationally and domestically the band crafted a dramatic stage presence on tour with bands such as Mötley Crüe and Nine Inch Nails, with Steele’s vampiric persona and trademark red wine consumption dominating reviews. The label eager to capitalise on the band’s success pushed Steele for a follow up.

“I don't know what drugs they were on. I guess they wanted to make another remake of Bloody Kisses, Bloody Kisses II or something like that. They didn't get it.” - NY Rock [http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/ton_int.htm]

The album that Peter wrote instead was a milestone in what came to be known as ‘Goth Metal’. Part Gothic Rock, part Psychedelic, and filtered through Black Sabbath style guitars - 1996’s ‘October Rust’ turned Type O Negative into an international force. The band embarked on tours with Pantera, Ozzy Osbourne, and headlined festivals in the USA and Europe. MTV once again came calling and the romantic and playful videos for ‘Love You To Death’ and ‘My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend’ turned Steele into a reluctant sex symbol. Appearing on Jerry Springer and Riki Lake as an example of the definitive “Metal Male”. It wasn’t before long that Playgirl magazine invited Steele to do a spread - though Steele was said to be embarrassed after finding out that most of the magazine’s subscribers were in fact men.

“After I did it, I thought, "Oh my God, what did I do?" It was more than upsetting that so many guys had it. Girls, OK, but there just seemed to be at least as many guys. Not that I'm homophobic, but it was certainly irritating.” - NY Rock [http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/ton_int.htm]

Part 2 tomorrow...

I was going to attempt a blog that explains the reasons behind the move from my old Wordpress blog to this rather simple looking Blogger layout (and work in some praise for the new Anathema album while I was at it). But the BBC news feed has just informed me of the passing of the Photographer Brian Duffy from Lung disease at the age of 76.

Duffy had not long been thrust back into the public gaze with an exhibition of his unseen works and a BBC documentary that accompanied it. Before that time he'd been one of the first celebrity photographers (along with Terrence Donovan and David Bailey) shooting for vogue, and creating some of the most iconic images of the 60's and 70's including the photographs used for David Bowie's seminal 'Aladdin Sane' album. But in 1979 he walked away from that life and burned many of his negatives.

Duffy's contribution to the way that music, fashion and in fact all types of photography was shot and thought about by his colleagues and his audience was simply immense. Gone were the days of Gentlemen photographers with their large format cameras that captured an image, and instead in their place was a new idea of the photographer as an 'Everyman', but also as an artist (an idea that Duffy himself professed to loathing). The camera became not a tool, but an extension of the photographer, and the final image was the lasting impression of their mind's eye.


I've no doubt that if the east-end born and bred Duffy read such twaddle he would have dismissed it as utter poppycock. But as an unwilling icon that created willing icons he will always be remembered.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8287900.stm – a link to the BBC's Brian Duffy slide show and below is a link to his website.

http://www.duffyphotographer.com/

RIP Brian Duffy

It’s a terrible shame that so many public figures are dying. Having only recently lost Peter Steele and Ronnie James Dio it has emerged that Slipknot bass player Paul Gray has died from causes unknown. In addition to this the legendary actor Dennis Hopper has also passed away after a long illness with prostate cancer.

Love them or loathe them there’s no denying that Slipknot’s brand of accessible Extreme Metal has opened up a lot of worlds for many teens since their debut album in 1999. With a mix of Nu-metal, Death Metal, Grunge and Hip Hop the band’s sound is certainly eclectic. The skill involved in playing in a band such as that is without question. And as the band’s bass player Paul Gray was in the middle of that sonic maelstrom.

Many traditional Metalheads may pooh-pooh the news of Gray’s passing but to a generation of kids who first discovered Slipknot in 1999 and were in turn compelled to check out this newly opened up world of Extreme Metal, the news will be met with great sadness.

It was well documented that Paul had problems in the past with drugs, getting into trouble with the police after being pulled over with cannabis, cocaine and assorted paraphernalia in his car. But that shouldn’t detract from the music he helped to create.



RIP Paul Gray

What can you say about Dennis Hopper? The actor, director and artist’s work was prolific. From his early film roles alongside James Dean, to the seminal counter-culture classic Easy Rider, and into his well earned reputation as one of the statesmen of Hollywood Hopper thrilled his audience. Even in his so-called “outcast years” Hopper exuded a cool credibility. Most will know him though for his major film roles such as Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet and Rumble Fish - However Hopper had an incredibly well developed artistic side. Working in poetry, paint and photography he could turn his hand to many different styles in these mediums. Like so many geniuses though, his personal life was troubled - his relationship problems and drug use being well known.



Dennis Hopper was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in October 2009 after being admitted to hospital the previous month. Reports soon followed that it was terminal. Hopper’s Hollywood walk of fame ceremony in March this year was overshadowed by the frail frame of the legendary actor and he later died on the 29th of May.

Hopper was buried yesterday at Jesus Nazareno Cemetery, Ranchos de Taos.



RIP Dennis Hopper

This is a transferred post from my previous wordpress blog published on: May 17, 2010.

It has emerged that legendary Heavy Metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio has died as a result of his recent battle with stomach cancer. Dio, born Ronald James Padavona, was known for his work within such classic Heavy Metal bands as Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath / Heaven & Hell, and his own solo band Dio.


Dio's passing is a major blow for the world of Heavy Metal. Recently Dio had been collaborating with his former Black Sabbath band mates under the moniker Heaven & Hell - the result of which had been 2009's commercially and critically acclaimed 'The Devil You Know'. Dio's voice onstage was distinctive and powerful (despite receiving no vocal training) - his voice offstage was friendly and good humoured which has secured him a spot as one of Metal's most loved characters.



Prior to his fame as a Heavy Metal front man, Dio's career in music can be traced back to the late 1950's with bands such as The Vegas Kings (1957–1958), Ronnie & The Rumblers (1958), Ronnie and the Red Caps (1958–1961), and Ronnie Dio and the Prophets (1961–1967). But it was first as a member of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow where he first captured our ears, before solidifying his place as one of Metal's greats by steering the Ozzy Osbourne-less Black Sabbath back to success with the phenomenal album 'Heaven & Hell'. Dio's solo career was one of the most prolific in the genre. From his 1983 opus 'Holy Diver' to 2004's 'Master of the Moon' he and his band always seemed to be touring and delighting legions of Metalheads.

Then last November it was announced he was suffering from stomach cancer. There was very little news after that but things began to look bad when Heaven & Hell announced they were cancelling all their Summer dates. And yesterday it was announced the Ronnie James Dio had passed away.

Dio's legacy to music is simply astonishing and well be very difficult for anyone to ever match.



RIP Ronnie James Dio

This is a transferred post from my previous wordpress blog published on: Apr 15, 2010.



“Well, that's it, that's all we have. I hope it wasn't too disappointing…” - October Rust 1996

Everyone has a band that speaks to them. That one band that you ‘Get’, that has never released an album you didn’t like, that has a song for every mood you’ve ever had or will have. Type O Negative were that band for me. A band to be a little fanatical for.

As I’m writing this I’m on my third rotation of October Rust and struggling to find the right words so expect this to be a little bit of a ramble. Ask any genuine metal fans though, and there will be nods of agreement amongst them that this album was the bands finest moment, and it ensured their place in the annals of music. For me it was the first album I genuinely and whole-heartedly loved. In the 11 years since buying it, whenever I need a pick me up, something cathartic to drink to, or even something to seduce the girls that wander into my lair with - this album has been the soundtrack.




I suppose like a lot of people I was sceptical at the news at first. The band famously made a bad joke about Peter’s death in 2005 on their website. Peter had been in fact detained in a psych ward due to his substance abuse. But it felt different this time. The outpouring was so immediate that it felt all to genuine.


At the time of writing there is no confirmed cause of death. The widely held rumour is of heart failure, possibly linked to Peter’s well documented years of substance abuse.



But grief shouldn’t cloud the genuine brilliance of a career. A lot of bands over the next year or two (probably my own included) will make a public tribute of some kind and that’s fine. But when you start trading off someone else’s name, then we’ll know when it has become a marketing ploy.


The strange thing in all this is I wrote a career overview of Peter/Type O Negative back in January for a University portfolio. In the notes I wrote “Please excuse this if it reads too much like an obituary rather than a profile” (I‘ll post that up in due course). Long-time fans of the band will know what I mean by that. Type O’s musical legacy is one fuelled by Steele’s personal demons. From substance abuse, bad break-ups, and family tragedies they all went into creating a palette to draw from. It’s not like the band were without a sense of humour though. Songs like ‘We Hate Everybody’, ‘Kill All The White People’ and covers such as ‘Angry Inch’ showed that it wasn’t always doom and gloom, even if the humour was a little black. Instead the band , with Peter at the helm created a unique sound that bridged alien influences such as The Beatles, Black Sabbath, and The Sisters of Mercy and moulded them to suit.


But that was Type O Negative and Peter Steele - unique, contradictory, brilliant, and genuine.



RIP Peter Steele

This is a transferred post from my previous wordpress blog published on: Oct 10, 2008.

It has emerged that former Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids bassist and Unpop artist Gidget Gein has died.

Gidget (real name Brad Stewart) co-wrote many of Marilyn Manson's early songs and played on the 1994 debut album Portrait of an American Family. He is also credited as the main influence behind the early visual aesthetic of the band.

After being forced out of the band on the eve of the release of the album, Brad moved to New York and formed his own art-rock band The Dali Gaggers, and released one album; Confessions of a Spooky Kid. After moving back to his home state of Florida, Gein worked as a 'bag boy' for the coroner's office, which he recorded on his official website http://www.gidgetgein.com/.

 

He mended the bridge with former bandmate Marilyn Manson and appeared in the video for (s)AINT along with a sculpture (later bought by the video's director, Asia Argento) entitled In Case of Emergency Break Heart.

He moved to Los Angeles in order to further persue his Art and Fashion, and became a member of the Unpop art movement (alongside such notoraries as Boyd Rice, and Adam Parfrey). He was exhibited at a number of shows in the Hollywood area, and made his art available through his fashion line Gollywood. Gidget's art dealt with alot of themes common to the unpop movement - degenerate art thematically heavy with aspects of American pop culture now swept under the carpet. In 2006 he appeared as Detective Jeffery Mourir in the film Black Dahlia. In 2007 he released three new albums of music and recently began playing live again as part of the band People.






The one constant in Gidget Gein's varied and artistic life was his battle with drug addiction and on the 9th of October 2008, it was a battle he finally lost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gidget_Gein






* * *


I had communicated with Gidget numerous times via his personal myspace page and had always found him to be a wonderfully polite, smart, witty, and obviously a very talented person. As a fan and admirer I am deeply saddend by this news and my heart goes out to his friends and loved ones.

RIP GG