Welcome to the Disposable Underground newsletter, a companion to my blog of the same name. Read below for some music news bits, tributes, and what’s new at the blog. Please enjoy and thank you—Richard
Music News
SXSW, which took place in March of this year, faced over 60 cancellations by artists and bands because of the festival’s association with the defense industry and armed forces, in light of the U.S. supporting Israel’s war. Andrea Guzmán has the story at Chron.
Rapper Shaggy is a former Marine who was demoted twice for leaving his duty station to work on his music career. He said in a 2020 interview, “People say you go to the military to learn to fire a gun; I went to the military to learn to balance my checkbook.” Blake Stilwell has the story at military.com.
Rest In Peace
BO$$ was one of the first female rappers signed to Def Jam. She died in March at 54. Damien Scott wrote about BO$$ at Billboard.
Robert Heil was known for building audio equipment and touring gear for The Who, Greatful Dead, and many others, and he invented the Talk Box. He died in February at 83. CelebrityAccess has the story.
T.M. Stevens died in March in California. The bassist was perhaps best known for playing with James Brown and Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. He also recorded with The Pretenders. Chris Jordan has more at Asbury Park Press.
Eric Carmen, frontman for the Raspberries, died at 74. He had a successful solo career after the Raspberries broke up in the ’70s. Chris Willman and Jem Aswad wrote about it for Variety.
The original manager of the MC5, John Sinclair, was also known for his activism, his writing and publishing, and his music. He died in Chicago in April, Gary Graff writes at Billboard.
New at the Blog
Listen to a Suppression song premiere as they and Shitstorm prepare to tour East Asia: American bands Suppression and Shitstorm are bringing grindcore to Japan and South Korea in 2024, and Suppression has a song premiere from new album Spiritual Sepsis.
Visit the Disposable Underground blog for more. Take care!
April 7, 2024 newsletter
