Suicide's Alan Vega Dead at 78

[cantona]

RIP Alan Vega.

"I always said I was never gonna be an entertainer, Suicide was never supposed to be entertainment."

[MODLAB]

[jack white]

R.I.P.

2016..

[sublow]

sad day
Spiritualized with Alan vega 1998
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uQkBmmFHgY

[ro]

2016..

Eesh.
Heavy, heavy year.

[semisynthetic]

Yes,
A very heavy year.

RIP Alan Vega.

[runcible]

The end of another era. Very sad.

[BzaInSpace]

I had heard Vega was ailing and lived to a decent age but still... Would really liked to have seen that crazy Suicide/Stooges thing in London some years back.

I listened to this last night - Alan Vega's awesome S/T album from 1970. Minimalist and almost synthetic rock & roll... beautiful. 'Juke Box Baby' is one that always crops up on mixes I make.




Also - A decent obituary from The Grauniad

[The Dr]

I had heard Vega was ailing and lived to a decent age but still... Would really liked to have seen that crazy Suicide/Stooges thing in London some years back.

I listened to this last night - Alan Vega's awesome S/T album from 1970. Minimalist and almost synthetic rock & roll... beautiful. 'Juke Box Baby' is one that always crops up on mixes I make.




Also - A decent obituary from The Grauniad

suicide were great, a deconstruction of the album. i can try and dig out the bootleg for you if you'd like?

[niamhm]

Sad to hear of the passing of Vega, a very productive life and a good age, can`t ask for much more. I have 3/4 Suicide albums and will give 1/2 of them a spin to marks his passing later, The 1st one is the big one obviously, but A Way Of Life is one I keep coming back to, great album, RIP Alan Vega man.

[KingHarry]

First LP is an absolute classic.

Lots of good stuff followed, but that LP still gets a regular play.

[davedecay]

2nd was just reissued by Superior Viaduct, and so is somewhat more affordable on vinyl now.

https://www.discogs.com/Suicide-Suicide ... se/8689745

[Hedspace]

http://www.self-titledmag.com/2016/07/1 ... a-suicide/

[mojo filters]

I guess the headlines above his obituaries may be slightly confusing for those unfamiliar with his band

2016 really seems to have been a rough year, in terms of the number of respected artists who've died. I wonder if it's partly a generational / demographic thing, and actually in successive years we'll notice a steady increase in respect of deaths of notable figures in the history of rock'n'roll?

[simonkeeping]

I had heard Vega was ailing and lived to a decent age but still... Would really liked to have seen that crazy Suicide/Stooges thing in London some years back.

The guy was a genius. Suicide were and will remain to be one of THE greatest bands of all time. That night at the Apollo was insane. Walking into the venue I could here the sound of the bossanova suicide drum sound. It was quiet, like it was muted. Right before they came on someone un-muted it. You could feel it in your head, you stomach and throat. It was loud. Very, very loud. numerous people ran past me for the exit holding their ears screaming it was too loud. One guy was almost crying. It was surreal.

Out came Suicide. I have no idea what they played, it wasn't the nice 'rendition' of the album we've come to know from other All Tomorrows Parties shows. It was a continuous noise. Martin Rev leaning on the keys with his elbow. It was nasty, confrontational and dangerous and will go down as possibly one of (if not the) greatest live show I've ever seen. They destroyed the place. It was refreshing to know that in 2011 (or whenever it was) people could still be shocked by a band, specially a band that was two older guys.

Alot of people there wanted nostalgia, Alan Vega wanted to confront and antagonise. I heard in an interview that he never sang the same lyrics twice as it was all part of the performance. Why rehash the past, keep it current and relevant to now.

So, so far ahead of his time. RIP Alan Vega.

[BzaInSpace]

The guy was a genius. Suicide were and will remain to be one of THE greatest bands of all time. That night at the Apollo was insane. Walking into the venue I could here the sound of the bossanova suicide drum sound. It was quiet, like it was muted. Right before they came on someone un-muted it. You could feel it in your head, you stomach and throat. It was loud. Very, very loud. numerous people ran past me for the exit holding their ears screaming it was too loud. One guy was almost crying. It was surreal.

Out came Suicide. I have no idea what they played, it wasn't the nice 'rendition' of the album we've come to know from other All Tomorrows Parties shows. It was a continuous noise. Martin Rev leaning on the keys with his elbow. It was nasty, confrontational and dangerous and will go down as possibly one of (if not the) greatest live show I've ever seen. They destroyed the place. It was refreshing to know that in 2011 (or whenever it was) people could still be shocked by a band - especially a band that was two older guys.

Alot of people there wanted nostalgia, Alan Vega wanted to confront and antagonise. I heard in an interview that he never sang the same lyrics twice as it was all part of the performance. Why rehash the past, keep it current and relevant to now.

So, so far ahead of his time. RIP Alan Vega.

Wow! I had no idea they did something like that at all! I did assume they just played - as you say a "nice rendition" - of the album but with modern tech and PA etc.

Good for them. Suicide rocked harder than any other so-called punk band.

I love the idea of them antagonizing, aggravating and scaring punters when they were in their 70s!

At least nobody threw an axe at them. Which happened in Glasgow (where else? ) when they supported the Clash in 1978...