Death

A few months back I got a bootleg copy of an album called For The Whole World To See. It’s a collection of proto-punk tunes written in the early 70s by trio of brothers who called their band Death.

It’s a pretty awesome album. Tighter then the Stooges, with a perfect balance of fury and melody, the brothers Hackney were obviously way ahead of their time.

When I first heard the album all I was told was that Death was were black dudes from Detroit playing rock n’ roll. For those of you who haven’t dedicated an unhealthy amount of their lifetime learning the history and impact of popular music, let me explain something: Black dudes from Detroit were not allowed to play rock n’ roll in the 70s… at least not if they wanted to make any money doing it.

Between their badass tunes, their flagrant middle finger to the established music scene of their day, and my admitted bias toward unheard of bands, Death soon became a personal favorite of mine.

The recent documentary, A Band Called Death, chronicled the amazing tale of the brothers’ journey from jamming in a tinny, second-story bedroom, to their short-lived bid for fame and subsequent break up, to the death of guitarist and visionary bandleader David Hackney, before finally culminating in the resurgence of their music in underground clubs and in private collections 35 years after its recording.

The last 20 minutes or so of the documentary show the band reformed and touring.

The surviving members are reportedly writing music for a new album, which I will buy and force all of my friends and family to listen to. 

It’s a great watch not only for the fact that it gave good press to one of rock n’ rolls best kept secrets, but also because it had the balls to show something few Rock Docs will: a story of faith.

Despite the fact that the Hackney brothers are now hailed as pioneers of Punk, where bands with names like Agnostic Front and Bad Religion, made their bones by mocking the religious institution, the Hackney brothers spoke openly about their salvation through Jesus Christ throughout the movie.

Whatever your views on religion, you have to admire their candor. The secular music industry isn’t exactly the friendliest place for “Christian musicians”

After all, for 60 years rock n’ roll in it’s purest form has been the anthem of rebels, a champion of social change and at all times a middle finger tossed in the face of whoever happened to be in charge. (Just for fun, here’s a clip of Frank Zappa sticking it to congress.)

So on one level it makes sense, if God is supposed to be in charge, rock music should stick it to him as well, right?

Maybe, but I get the feeling that most artists these days are just perpetuating the hate on religion thing because they feel it’s the thing to do, to which I reply, “Bhaa, Bhaa.”

That’s probably an unfair generalization, but I’m still going to give Death props for saying what they believe without fear or reservation. In my book that makes them some of the biggest punks out there.