Death
“…For the Whole World to See”
Drag City
“…For the Whole World to See”
Drag City
S hould have reviewed this at the beginning of the year when one of my friends put this slab of wax on their stereo and properly blew my mind. Words can’t describe how rad this record is. Even my most jaded friends fell in love with it.
This is one of the best records to come out this year. But it was recorded way back in 1975 by the three piece rock band Death. And I ain’t talking about that wack metal band called Death either. Fuck those guys, they can change their name ASAP not to mention “Sit n’ Spin”. Sorry nerds, this Death wins. These cats were three young African Americans from Detroit who sounded like MC5 (minus that White Panther bullshit obviously) and The Stooges. They were punk before there was punk. Death are the reason we have Bad Brains… FACT! Bad Brains happened to catch an early Death show and it inspired them to pick up instruments and start a band of their own that would melt people’s faces off! Pretty fuckin’ epic, eh? This album (that came out 2009) is titled “…For the Whole World to See.” and was released by Drag City.
Yeah, this isn’t really much of a “record review”. But I’m breakin’ the rules and filing this rant under “reviews” so more people find it. Everyone into punk / rock n’ roll should own these tunes. Death is just as classic as MC5, Bad Brains and The Stooges (hey at least Death didn’t make “The Weirdness”). You should tell all your friends who are fans of heavy, fast and inspiring music to go buy Death “…For the Whole World to See” right now! Fuck it, buy multiple copies of this record and give it out as Christmas presents to everyone you know for shits sake!
A little bit of history: Death was a garage rock and punk rock demo band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1971 by the brothers Bobby (bass, vocals), David (guitar), and Dannis (drums) Hackney. The trio started out as an R&B band but switched to rock after seeing an Alice Cooper show. The youngest of the brothers, guitarist David, pushed the group in a hard-rock direction that presaged punk, and while this certainly didn’t help them find a following in the mid-70s, today it makes them look like visionaries."
In the early 1960s, the young Hackney brothers were sat down by their father to witness The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The following day, David found a discarded guitar in an alley and set about learning to play. Brothers Bobby and Dannis soon followed suit and they began playing music together.
The brothers practiced and recorded early demos in a room in the family home and performed their earliest gigs from their garage. Originally calling themselves Rock Fire Funk Express, guitarist David convinced his brothers to change the name of the band to Death. "His concept was spinning death from the negative to the positive. It was a hard sell", Bobby Hackney recalled in 201
The Death recoding sessions were actually funded by Columbia Records president Clive “Douche-bag” Davis. When Mr. Douche-bag asked the band to change its name to something that wouldn’t bum people out as much as “Death” did, the band refused and Davis flashed his douche card by ceasing his support. They band only got to record seven of the twelve songs they’d planned for the record but put out 500 copies of a self-released 7 inch the following year. The 7″ single was “Politicians in My Eyes” b/w “Keep on Knocking”. If you have a copy of that, you are officially one of the coolest motherfuckers around. If anyone wants to part with their copy, I can give it a very loving home.
In the early 1960s, the young Hackney brothers were sat down by their father to witness The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The following day, David found a discarded guitar in an alley and set about learning to play. Brothers Bobby and Dannis soon followed suit and they began playing music together.
The brothers practiced and recorded early demos in a room in the family home and performed their earliest gigs from their garage. Originally calling themselves Rock Fire Funk Express, guitarist David convinced his brothers to change the name of the band to Death. "His concept was spinning death from the negative to the positive. It was a hard sell", Bobby Hackney recalled in 201
The Death recoding sessions were actually funded by Columbia Records president Clive “Douche-bag” Davis. When Mr. Douche-bag asked the band to change its name to something that wouldn’t bum people out as much as “Death” did, the band refused and Davis flashed his douche card by ceasing his support. They band only got to record seven of the twelve songs they’d planned for the record but put out 500 copies of a self-released 7 inch the following year. The 7″ single was “Politicians in My Eyes” b/w “Keep on Knocking”. If you have a copy of that, you are officially one of the coolest motherfuckers around. If anyone wants to part with their copy, I can give it a very loving home.
Long story short… if you don’t own this record yet, you should buy it immediately and fall in love with it just like I did. It’s one of the best rock n’ roll / punk records ever made. All seven songs are solid as fuck. If you’re already own the record and are a full-on “Death-junkie” (like myself), then freak out on the trailer for their documentary in progress: wheredowegofromheredoc.com
1 comment:
Wow. Thanks for this!
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