Sick of Goodbyes

This morning I woke up to the most sad news I've heard in a long, long time. Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse took his own life on Saturday, March 6. He was 47.

From The Los Angeles Times:

North Carolina-based singer-songwriter Mark Linkous, who recorded under the name Sparklehorse, has committed suicide, his family said. Known most recently as part of the Danger Mouse and David Lynch collaboration "Dark Night of the Soul," which will finally see an official album release this year, Linkous specialized in a somewhat dreamy, fractured take on blues and folk heard through the prism of his own unique style of songcraft.

The news of his passing was confirmed via an online statement attributed to his family. "It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today," read the statement posted on the official Sparklehorse website. "We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts."

His survivors include his wife, Teresa; his mother, Gloria Hughes Thacker; his father, Frederick Linkous; and his brothers, Matt, Paul and Daniel Linkous.

I had the opportunity to speak with Linkous just over a decade ago when he was touring in support of the brilliant Good Morning Spider album. He and I had a friendly 45-minute conversation about life on the road, songwriting, and working in his garage. I vividly remember he and I talking about castor oil, but cannot remember the context of the conversation.

My article, which was for The Flint Journal, is at my parents' house in Michigan and I wish I could read it right now so I could remember more of our conversation. I can fondly recall Linkous as an incredibly sweet man, but also very shy. I was just this eager 21-year-old wannabe music journalist who obsessed over his music and honored to speak with the man behind such great songs like "Gasoline Horseys" and "Hundreds of Sparrows." But toward the end of our conversation, I found myself encouraging him to keep on keepin' on, almost giving him one of those "attaboy" kind of chats. I wasn't sure how it all came about then or now, but it was in that "can I give you a hug" kind of way. Linkous didn't mind at all.

I missed his show at Alvin's in Detroit a few days later, but my friend Brett, a massive Sparklehorse fan, met Linkous after the show and got me a signed poster. He signed it, "Best Ditches, MacKenzie. Love Mark Linkous." That framed poster hung in my bedroom until my New York City move three years ago. It will be put on the wall again, for it should have never been in the closet stash of posters anyway. I still have the matchbook too.

RIP Mark Linkous. God, you will be so incredibly missed.

Remembering Miep Gies

Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank and her family for two years during World War II and saved her diary, passed away on Monday. She was 100.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is one of my favorite books and very dear to my heart. That part of history is also quite special to me, for I focused my graduate thesis on how the Holocaust influenced popular music.

From USA Today:

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Miep Gies, the office secretary who defied the Nazi occupiers to hide Anne Frank and her family for two years and saved the teenager's diary not, has died, the Anne Frank Museum said Tuesday. She was 100.

Gies' website reported that she died Monday after a brief illness. The report was confirmed by museum spokeswoman Maatje Mostar, but she gave no details. The British Broadcasting Corp. said she died in a nursing home after suffering a fall last month.

Gies was the last of the few non-Jews who supplied food, books and good cheer to the secret annex behind the canal warehouse where Anne, her parents, sister and four other Jews hid for 25 months during World War II.

RIP Jim Carroll

Jim Carroll, New York City poet, author and punk rock musician, passed away Friday, September 11th from a heart attack. He was 60. [New York Times]

It was 1996, during my freshman year at Michigan State University, when I really got to understand the brilliant work of Jim Carroll. My American Thought and Language professor, Cassie Carter, (she is also the founder of CatholicBoy.com), had us read The Basketball Diaries and I was hooked. From there, I immersed myself in its sequel, Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries: 1971-1973, and eventually devoured Book of Nods, Living at the Movies, and Fear of Dreaming.

But also, I remember hearing his best known punk song, "People Who Died," during my teenage years. My best friend and rock'n'roll partner in crime, Alyssa, and I thought Carroll possessed something different than all of the other punk legends we discovered during these impressionable years. As a singer, his swagger and his slinky vocal drawl was like no one else. As a writer, I appreciated his brutal, yet beautiful kind of honesty.

During the late '90s, I saw some of Jim's spoken-word performances; February 1998 at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and again at the Blind Pig in January 1999. It was at the '98 gig that he tested out the then unpublished "8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain" (found in Void of Course). It was there that I also had the distinct pleasure of spending an hour or so hanging with Carroll (thank you Cassie). He was incredibly kind, outgoing, and gracious enough to briefly speak with an excited, geeky fan as seen in the photo below.



I am so sad today. What a terrible loss. Bless you Jim Carroll.

Echo and the Bunnymen Keyboardist Dies

Sadly, tragedy strikes Echo & the Bunnymen again. Longtime Echo & the Bunnymen keyboard player Jake Brockman was killed in a motorbike crash on the Isle of Man in the UK on Tuesday, September 1st. He was 53.

According to BBC News, the motorcycle he was riding collided with with a converted ambulance near Kirk Michael. He later passed away from injuries sustained by the accident at Noble Hospital.

Brockman, also called 'the fifth Bunnyman' by fans, joined the group in 1989, and also appears on the Bunnymen's forthcoming LP, The Fountain, out October 12th. The band shared their condolences via Bunnymen.com:

"Our thoughts are with his wife, family & friends.

Love
Ian, Will, Les, Peasy, Pete, Peter & all his fans"

In 1989, original drummer Pete De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident
at the age of 27 while traveling to Liverpool from London.

Along with Echo & the Bunnymen, Brockman also played with Spiritualized's Damon Reece in the dance outfit, BOM. The duo issued one album, Bom Bom Shevaya -- featuring Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant on keyboards and additional vocals by Pete's sister Lucy De Freitas -- in 1996.

RIP John Hughes

I absolutely adored John Hughes' movies while growing up in the 'burbs of Flint, Michigan in the 1980s. Like countless fans around the globe, I was deeply saddened to learn of the director-writer's passing today from a heart attack at the age of 59. He died too young. What a loss. (New York Times obituary)

For me, my favorite John Hughes film was Pretty In Pink (Andrew McCarthy AND James Spader in 1986, THANK YOU!), the last flick that completed "the Molly Ringwald trilogy," which also included Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.

To me, Hughes -- also a fellow Michigan native -- made the '80s seem pretty great. Whether you loved the Molly movies or other flicks like Ferris Bueller's Day Off or Planes, Trains and Automobiles or his blockbusters from the '90s, Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Hughes offered an impeccable and heart-warming sense of humor that all of us could identify with. He liked GREAT music! He defined an era in film and in popular culture. Hughes loved to champion the underdog, while calming the enemy, both with an endearing approach, so much that it'll never be repeated nor should it be.

RIP John Hughes (1950-2009)

RIP Barth

Les Lye, founder and creator of the Canadian teen comedy sketch, You Can't Do That On Television, passed away Tuesday (07/21) in Ottawa. He was 84.

I must give props to Mr. Lye. I loved You Can't Do That On Television and watched it loyally throughout the first half of the 1980s (Thank you, Nickelodean). His role as chef Barth Bagge, who's burgers at the local hamburger diner were made of anything besides beef, and his character, Blip, the cheapskate owner of the local video arcade, were some of my favorites. Also, El Capitano was equally hilarious. Who can forget the show's trademark green slime? Popular players like Alasdair, Christine aka "Moose," Vanessa and Lisa never seemed to learn. Don't say "I Don't Know" or else.

In addition to his time with You Can't Do That On Television, Lye's years in radio, tv and acting spanned over half a century. His other credits include "Willy & Floyd," a popular comedy show that ran for 22 years throughout Canada. In 2003, the Alliance of Canadia Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) honored Lye and show co-creator Bill Luxton for their comical prowess on Willy & Floyd. RIP.

Here's an episode about "Smells:"

James Brown (1933-2006)

RIP "The Godfather of Soul" James Brown.
CNN

Tuesday's Jibber Jabber

Before you walk down the aisle, check this list or be doomed. [New York Times]

You vs. Coca-Cola. Scary, scary shizz. [Healthbolt]

It's a sad day in cartoon land. RIP Joseph Barbera. [CNN]

OMG! Sing with Justin Timberlake at the 2007 Grammy Awards! [Yahoo!]

Canadians and Brits read blogs more than Americans do. Go fig. [Netscape]

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but a USB drive with diamonds is forever! [Boing Boing]

Need help googling MP3s? [Clipmarks]

Get a personalized bobblehead! [WhoopAss]

Ahmet Ertegun (1923-2006)

Music industry mogul Ahmet Ertegun died Thursday from head injuries sustained during a fall at a Rolling Stones concert in October. Best known for founding Atlantic Records in 1947, and nurturing the careers of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones, the 83-year-old Ertegun was involved in the biz through his last days. This is a sad time for everyone working in music and entertainment. Check CNN and the New York Times for additional coverage.