Song For The Moment
“Politicians In My Eyes” by Death
An awesome article in the NY Times about Death — a rock/punk trio from the early ’70s, formed by three African-American brothers from Detroit. Entitled “Death Was Punk Before Punk Was Punk”, it’s a fascinating look into the history of a band who started out as an R&B trio, before seeing an Alice Cooper concert and deciding to switch to hard rock. Death was truly ahead of the curve:
“Forgotten except by the most fervent punk rock record collectors — the band’s self-released 1976 single recently traded hands for the equivalent of $800 — Death would likely have remained lost in obscurity if not for the discovery last year of a 1974 demo tape in Bobby Sr.’s attic. Released last month by Drag City Records as “… For the Whole World to See,” Death’s newly unearthed recordings reveal a remarkable missing link between the high-energy hard rock of Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 from the late 1960s and early ’70s and the high-velocity assault of punk from its breakthrough years of 1976 and ’77. Death’s songs “Politicians in My Eyes,” “Keep On Knocking” and “Freakin Out” are scorching blasts of feral ur-punk, making the brothers unwitting artistic kin to their punk-pioneer contemporaries the Ramones, in New York; Rocket From the Tombs, in Cleveland; and the Saints, in Brisbane, Australia. They also preceded Bad Brains, the most celebrated African-American punk band, by almost five years.”
I suggest you take a moment to read the article and check out the song I’ve posted — “Politicians In My Eyes”. It’s a great story and a fierce track. The “when” (1975, the exact same time the Ramones were recording their first record) and the “who” (three brothers, mostly teenagers, and African-American to boot) only make it that much more powerful.
You can bet I’ll be scooping up the recently reissued recordings (…For The Whole World To See) ASAP.
