Richard Zvonar, the composer and innovator of electronic music, died this August 3, 2005. Richard worked with me on Wild Women with Steakknives, Eyes Without Blood, Tragouthia apo to to Aima Exoun Fonos, and Panoptikon, which we were planning on
redoing this year.
Le Monde has reported that experimental composer Luc Ferrari died of pneumonia on
Monday evening, August 22 while on vacation in Arezzo, Italy. Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound once said in an interview, "my true love is the Italian born Luc Ferrari of whom United Dairies
would give their testicles to issue some of his material here in England." He
was 76.
As posted on Moogmusic.com,
Bob Moog died on Sunday afternoon at his home in Asheville, NC after a
short battle with brain cancer. A public Memorial Celebration is
planned for The Orange Peel for noon, Wednesday, August 24th. Fans and friends can also direct their sympathies or remembrances to Caring Bridge.
The Crass producer and Southern Records and distribution owner died on
August 12th at 59 after an 18 month battle with a brain tumor. The
Guardian published an obituary on Friday, August 19th. A blog can be found at johnloder.blogspot.com.
We are sad to report the untimely passing of Michael Dahlquist, the
drummer for Silkworm. Although Silkworm aren't a band who's hosted on
Brainwashed, the members are dear friends of the Kadane brothers from Bedhead and The New Year.
Michael died in a car accident in Chicago along with two other
musicians, John Glick and Douglas Meis. Our thoughts go out to the
victims' friends and family. For more information, see this story on the Seattle Post-Ingelligencer.
Some may or may not know that one of the most important
inventor/technicians of electronic music, Bob Moog, is battling brain
cancer. Please visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bobmoog
and send him your best wishes.
We regretfully announce the passing of an international legend, John
Peel. John Peel could easily be the last employed authentic radio DJ.
He was instrumental in breaking new bands constantly and always had
fresh groups perform live on the radio for his Peel Sessions. Although
his radio broadcasts aired on the BBC in the UK, his name was well
known for the Peel sessions, of which, thousands upon thousands were
produced and hundreds have been released over the years. Peel died of a
heart attack while on a working holiday in Cuzco with his wife, Sheila.
John Peel will sorely be missed and our thoughts go out to his friends
and family.
John McGeoch, inventive and influential guitarist for post-punk luminaries
Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Public Image Limited, passed away in
his sleep on March 5th aged 48. Having met Howard Devoto in 1977 as he was
departing the Buzzcocks, McGeoch became a founding member of Magazine and many
memorable riffs are featured on their first three albums Real Life,
Secondhand Daylight and The Correct Use of Soap. By 1980 he was
moonlighting with Visage and Siouxsie and the Banshees and went on to largely
affect three of the latter's most lauded albums, Kaleidoscope, Juju
and Kiss In The Dream House. In late 1982 McGeoch suffered a breakdown and
was subsequently hospitalized and replaced in the Banshees by The Cure's
Robert Smith. In the mid-80s he formed The Armoury Show with ex-members of The
Skids, appeared on two solo debuts (Peter Murphy's Should The World Fail To
Fall Apart and Matthew Sweet's Inside) and, finally, joined Public Image
Limited. He became their longest serving member barring John Lydon and helped
to re-invent Pil into a "rock" band with Happy?, 9 and That What Is
Not. By 1993 Pil dissipated and McGeoch returned to England from Los Angeles
where he continued making music in various low key or unfinished projects. In
1995 he became a qualified nurse but chose not to follow the profession and
lately had been writing music for television. John McGeoch is survived by
partner Sophie and daughter Emily.
In case you've been living under a rock for the last week, the world is
mourning the loss of a legend, as Johnny Cash died early Friday
morning, September 12th of complications from diabetes. Johnny Cash was
the Man in Black long before there were dance clubs with weekly nights
named after Joy Division songs. Cash always spoke his mind, often
resulting in his songs being banned from radio stations, but survived
and managed to have a successful music career, his own television show,
and undying love and respect from fans and industry worldwide. His
legacy will live on.
Singer/songwriter Warren Zevon died on Sunday after a battle with lung
cancer. Zevon's first album surfaced in 1969 but it wasn't until his
hit, "Werewolves of London," from 1978's Excitable Boy
that he gained a considerable amount of attention. Although Zevon never
had any hit singles as memorable as that, he made and worked with a
number of friends throughout the music industry, including George
Clinton, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Garcia,
and members of REM, Fleetwood Mac, David Letterman's Late Show band,
and the Eagles. Zevon learned of his cancer in September of 2002 and
was given two months to live. He set out to make his final record,
which was finally released in August of this year. He was 56.