RIP Stan Berenstain (via Galleycat)
Category / Obits
RIP Link Wray
Link Wray, the father of the power chord, has died. The man who launched a million punk and metal bands through a staggeringly simple concept: top string at set fret, second to top string two frets down. Slide finger formation up and down with sharp strikes of plectrum, feed through loud Marshall amp. Repeat until you stumble upon wonderful noisy song.
Had not Wray come up with this magical concept, I would never have enjoyed so many hours in garages and basements with other like-minded goofballs as a teenager. (Some of the songs I penned during that period include “The Last of My Kind” and “The Cat Must Die.”) Thank you, Mr. Wray, for democratizing rock and roll for those of us whose grasp of pentatonic scales were shaky at best.
John Fowles Dead
BBC: “Fowles died at his home in Lyme Regis, Dorset on Saturday after battling a long illness, his publisher said.” Does this mean a moratorium on scathing reviews for any posthumous journal volumes released from Cape? (via MeFi)
[UPDATE: More on Fowles from Jenny D, who feels that Fowles’ passing marks “the end of an era.”]
[UPDATE 2: Mark has a smorgasbord of links.]
[UPDATE 3: Another tribute from Litkicks.]
China Nishiura Dead
Terrible news for Shonen Knife fans. Shonen Knife and DMBQ drummer China Nishiura was killed last week in a car accident.
RIP Michael Piller
Michael Piller, the man who penned “The Best of Both Worlds” and caused me, in my teenage zeal, to get the satellite feed of Part II days before it aired, has passed on. He was only 57.