60's rock singer Sky Saxon dead at 63

Post Reply New Topic

There's a saying about how "celebrities die in threes".

Since late last night, i've been hearing people putting Ed McMahon - who died earlier this week - into yesterday's trifecta with Jackson and Fawcett, but someone else of note died yesterday.

His name was Sky Saxon and he was the lead singer of the 60's garage rock band The Seeds, often considered to be an influence on punk rock along with similar bands like The Electric Prunes and The Sonics.

They're probably best known for their 1966 hit "Pushin' Too Hard":
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmHTyLBIZ1g[/youtube]

There was also a recent commercial for Axe Deodorant which made use of their 1967 minor hit "Can't Seem to Make You Mine".

Of course, the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson completely overshadowed his death pretty much everywhere (with the exceptions of places like AV Club and Pitchfork, which reported his death just before Farrah and Michael's) and I just thought it would be nice if there was something somewhere about him.

Gutted. He was a favourite of mine, along with Love's Arthur Lee - I was lucky enough to catch them both on the same bill at London's Forum a few years back.

I always loved his pounding, minimalist take on psychedelia.

Have a gander at this recent clip of him playing live in Portland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?=vj7w5emkdJOQ

Some might perceive his onstage behaviour as the ramblings of a burnt-out acid casualty, but I don't. I prefer to think of him as a rock star in the old fashioned sense of being a free-flowing exhibitionist who clearly didn't give a damn about maintaining a career, being perceived as cool or what anybody thought of him besides enjoying his music.

It certainly beats the hell out of Iggy Pop - whom, on this evidence, must have copped a fair amount of his stage act from Sky - doing those car insurance commercials.

Today's music industry could do with more of his ilk. Far too many boring, uber-healthy, career-minded opportunists cluttering up the musical landscape.

I like this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV8KvKYRxig[/youtube]

And us salty yet soulful music people are still around - we just keep a safe distance from the industry.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbDJOMuxYfs[/youtube]

Too true. Being a veteran of several bands - two of whom got as far as releasing a pair of EPs apiece - I'm glad that the internet now provides the opportunity to distribute music to listeners directly whilst cutting out the industry middlemen. This might mean we have to be satisfied with a smaller audience, but at least it gives us creative control.

For some reason, I had this idea that their album "Future" is sad.