GWAR Front Man Dave Brockie RIP: Scumdogs of the Universe Lament Their Loss
ONE of the funnest, daftest and most bizarre rock bands on the planet, are GWAR. A cavalcade of ogre faces, missing limbs, pantomime villainy, showers of blood and all manner of hilariously gruesome content, they were a b-movie writ large, parading around festivals and gigs, mixing schlock horror with stadium-sized metal.
They were so unreal, you’d thought they’d live forever.
However, sadly, frontman and founder of the satirical heavy metal outfit, Dave Brockie, was found dead yesterday in his Richmond, Va., home.
Police say that foul play isn’t suspected.
Brockie, merely 50 years old, performed as Oderus Urungus in his band described – by themselves – as the ‘Scumdogs of the Universe.’
“Dave was one of the funniest, smartest, most creative and energetic persons I’ve known,” said former GWAR bassist Mike Bishop. “He was brash sometimes, always crass, irreverent. He was hilarious in every way. But he was also deeply intelligent and interested in life, history, politics and art.”
“His penchant for scatological humors belied a lucid wit,” Bishop said. “He was a criminally underrated lyricist and hard rock vocalist, one of the best, ever. A great front man, a great painter, writer, he was also a hell of a bass guitarist. I loved him. He was capable of great empathy and had a real sense of justice.”
This news comes on the back of the loss of lead guitarist Cory Smoot, aka Flattus Maximus, who died at of a heart attack in 2011.
GWAR were oddly influential, most notably with Slipknot and Eurovision winners, Lordi. Always completely self-effacing, GWAR weren’t afraid of making fun of everything else and themselves.
A while back, they covered ‘Get Into My Car’ by Billy Ocean as well as making an appearance on the Jerry Springer Show, much to everyone’s amusement/bemusement.
GWAR also did a skit for Break.com, performing Christmas carols in their own unique and completely ridiculous way (they threaten to defecate on a pensioner’s lawn before taking a circular saw to her face and make a baby cry).
There are very few true rock ‘n’ roll outlaws who treat the whole business of showbiz with the winking contempt it deserves, but sadly, with the death of Dave Brockie, we’ve lost one of the finest and most funny renegades in music’s long and often tedious history.
Posted: 24th, March 2014 | In: Music Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
