SXSWORLD

New Life into Death By Luke Torn Dannis), were really only a coulda-been band with a wealth of musical talent but little to show for it. They did catch the ear of record mogul Clive Davis and laid down a searing seven-song demo. But with the record business being what it was in the mid-'70s, with its introspec- tive singer/songwriters, dumb arena rock and the dawn of the disco onslaught, marketing them was going to be tough. Besides, Davis wanted them to ditch the dark, nihilistic name. In true punk rock fashion, David Hackney flatly refused. Decades went by. The coming of Death, a Motor City proto-punk trio active in the early '70s, must rate among the all-time least likely comebacks. Death, comprised of the three Hackney Brothers (David, Bobby and group moved to Vermont and went onto other music ventures. Sadly, bandleader David Hackney succumbed to cancer in 2000. Then as Bobby Hackney explained to reporters last spring, "[My son] called me up, and he said, 'Hey Dad, did you know these people are groovin' to your music at these underground parties? Every time they play you, the crowd goes wild, and people just rush the dance floor.'" What those hipsters were "C Younger Generation's Rediscovery Breathes ome back baby, rock and roll never forgets," wailed Detroiter Bob Seger in 1976. That maxim has proven itself repeatedly, keeping long-in-the-tooth bands on the road decades after their last hits. Still, the second individualistic sound marked by punch-in-the-gut rhythms and jagged guitar wreckage. "Dannis got turned on to Alice [Cooper] just by going to one of See (Drag City), which collects the aforementioned single and five addi- tional tracks completed in 1974 for Columbia Records. From "Freakin' Out," which combines some Ramones' style rhythmic abandon with sharp time changes, to "Keep On Knocking," a rollercoaster full of blis- tering guitar leads, it is hard to believe a band this revelatory could slip through the cracks. his shows," Bobby explains. "We always liked the MC5. Of course Motown played a big part in our lives, but Detroit rock n' roll like Mitch Ryder and Grand Funk Railroad, and Bob Seger, and of course Iggy and the Stooges, along with rock/funk bands like The Funkadelic and The Rationals, also played a major role in our influences." That aggression is in glorious evidence on . . . For the Whole World to discovering was Death's only extant music, a rare 1976 single. "Politicians In My Eye" b/w "Keep On Knocking" is coruscating Detroit rock n' roll, a feral missing link connecting generations: MC5 meets Bad Brains; Arthur Lee and Love crossing paths with White Denim. Like Rocket From the Tombs in Cleveland or the New York Dolls in New York City, Death was taking pop music into challenging new territory and inad- vertently presaging punk rock. "When I wrote 'Politicians In My Eye,' it was a great groove with the message I wanted to convey to all the politicians who were committed to the war in Vietnam," reflects Bobby. "When David first heard the song ... he stopped playing for a moment and said to me, 'Bob do you realize you have written a rock n' roll classic?' At the time I thought he was just giving me some brotherly love and flattery, but now after all that has happened, I'll take that a hundred times over." The Hackneys were still teenagers when they began in 1971, making tentative steps toward R&B in their parents' garage. But by 1973, galvanized by the city's rich rock scene, Death veered sharply from both racial and musical stereotypes, fashioning a highly organic, 48 SXSW ORLD / F EBRUAR Y 2010 Bobby Hackney on stage, Death in the '70s: (L-R) David, Bobby and Dannis Hackney. November 2009 obscure to all but the most ardent music buffs, through the interre- lated machinations of the Internet, underground record collectors and the newfangled social networking, Death is getting a surprising second act. With new guitarist Bobbie Duncan, the band has returned to the concert circuit (playing a Detroit homecoming last October), and will appear in Austin for SXSW 2010. And, says Bobby, "we have just fin- ished a documentary entitled Where Do We Go From Here, and we are really excited about it." Meanwhile, raconteur par excellence Mos Def, with partner Damon But, while lots of other deserving but forgotten music remains Dash, the business mogul behind rap label Roc-A-Fella, is also plan- ning a Death film. "It's going to be great," Mos told Filter recently. "These dudes were pre-Sex Pistols, pre-Bad Brains, pre-all that shit, and nobody knows them. I don't understand how the whole world could forget them." n Check my.sxsw.com for details on Death's SXSW showcase. VALERIE FREMIN

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