Death

Back in the early 70s, Detroit spawned a band called Death that was sadly overlooked by the mainstream and virtually forgotten.  Death was interesting because it was made up of young black men playing Rock music–which for whatever reason is not something that happens very often.  (I could get into some kind of analysis of culture, race, and genre, but frankly, I think it would get too complicated for me to handle articulately.) By most standards, that should’ve been the end of the story.

I first heard of Death when a documentary about the band was released in 2012.  The story of the Hackney brothers and their proto-Punk band sounded intriguing, as did the story of their resurrection.  But life intervened, and I didn’t get around to seeing the movie or listening to the music.  Honestly, I kind of forgot about Death.  (Note: I still haven’t watched the movie, but now that I know where to find it, I probably will.)

Dangerous Minds reminded me today with a post announcing that Death will be releasing new music for the first time in forty years.  The new song embedded in that post is terrific, so I decided to check out iTunes to see if there was anything else officially released by these talented guys.  Imagine my surprise when there was a seven song EP (I guess that’s how it should be classified) available for purchase. I came, I sampled, I downloaded.  To expose myself as hopelessly dated and unhip, this shit’s da bomb.

YouTube has the whole recording, . . . For the Whole World to See, posted, but I’m only linking to one song to encourage everyone to pony up the less than seven dollars it will take to buy this puppy on iTunes (prices are probably comparable anywhere else it’s available.  This music is so good I can’t believe I went this long without hearing it.  You shouldn’t wait any longer either.