The Death of Death: A Media Meditation

Across the street from where I live, in a place called the monkey bar, a band named Rough Francis played. Here’s what the show was like in case you couldn’t attend:

This in itself might not be worth mentioning except that the members of this band have been playing punk since before punk was even punk. Most of the songs Rough Francis still play were written by Bobby Hackney Sr. and his brothers David and Dannis back in the ‘70’s When they were assembled as the band, “Death.”

Death was up and coming in Detroit between 1974 and 1976 with a sound that a little blues and a lot of punk. This was at a time when punk music wasn’t well defined. When death signed on to a record deal the higher ups wanted them to change their name. When the band refused it was all over—at least for 30 years. Their efforts switched to self promotion, but when Disco was just taking off, they found it hard to find any play time on the radio.

Death died, but music never left the Hackney family. This band has recently been rediscovered and now they will finally have their original albums’ released.

You can read more about this band in a NY Times article written last year.

The following YouTube videos showcase a few of the songs on their first album, all of which date back to 1974.

Okay, let’s get down into the nitty-gritty.

Facts:

When it comes to music there are few facts, at least within the music itself. The facts really don’t matter in that way. But taking a wider look at the band, death, offers some very interesting facts. This band had tapped into the emerging punk movement as it was happening. They were producing punk music before anyone else had really found it. The fact is it was at least a decade before it’s time. It really is a shame that their punk nature (name) did not settle well with the execs and they never took off.

Triune Brain:

The neo cortex is very engaged when consideration is given to the path that this band has taken to get where they are now. They are not famous, but they should have been. I am still amazed that they were playing just across the street from me when they were making great music all the back to the 1970’s.

The limbic brain is always best soothed with music, but punk acts a little differently. It evokes a more animalistic emotion with its sharp tones and uneven melody. I think this is one of the major appeals of punk rock.

The reptilian brain is engaged in a similar way to the limbic, but it is on a different level. Punk music is loud and jagged and this may cause some panic flags to appear in the brain. This is also one of the appeals. As your brain is on attention for possible danger you are more awake and receptive to the music.

Eight Shifts of Media Culture:

Because of the personal shift in our media culture, more and more bands can find followings. IT was because someone found the demo tape in the Hackney’s former house that anyone even knew of the band, Death, at all. Now many people can access the internet, listen to their music, and decide for themselves if they like it or not. Before, it was all about what played on the radio.

An economic shift has also helped create a consumer climate that would now allow for a name like, “Death” to survive. Corporations have changed and so had the music industry. Now it’s all about being creative and unique when before it was about not offending anyone.

The economic shift blends right into a cultural shift. The economic shift is most likely a product of shifting culture. As the masses become more individualistic, there needs to be more creative content to satisfy them. This has allowed for us to have the number of niche bands that we have now.

Seven Principles:

Value Message – Death refused to give up their name because to them it meant thinking about death in a better way. They never broke out to become famous because they refused to give up that idea.

Ownership - When they ran into problems with the record labels they attempted to self produce, taking ownership of all parts of production. While it must have been hard back then to get anyone to listen to your recordings, now it it much more viable to self produce.

Persuasive Techniques:

This is a little hard to point out for music. But let’s see what we can find here.

Timing – I’m going to say that timing played a big part in Death’s music. Although they had the chance to really break out 30 years ago, there is an aura that surrounds them now because of what they could have been. In a way this makes them far more interesting. It could be a tradeoff of being one of the first influential punk bands, but it’s something.

Group Dynamics – When Death is talked about today, it means something for everyone who is a fan of punk music. It is like finding buried treasure, and it is an item of interest for all those who would call themselves one of these groups.

Nostalgia – This one is limited in scope to those who can remember the music scene of the 1970’s. IF you can, hen Death may inspire some feelings of nostalgia just knowing that it was that era Death’s music was written in.

Plain Folks – One of the appeals that I see for this band is that they are just about the plainest, almost-famous people I can imagine. They played in the bar across from my house and yet they have this great unknown legacy.

I think this band really had/has something going for them. I don’t own any of their albums yet, but I will be looking for one in the future. I'm curious to see what everyone else thinks of this band. Do you think they would have been accepted in the 1970's as a punk band? And what do you think of their music now?