Rolling Obituary Thread 2023

60s singer Chris Farlowe

Was the first choice to be the singer of Led Zeppelin, according to him

the definitive version of 'Handbags and Gladrags'

Wait.. is there any confirmation on Chris Farlowe? The wiki ghouls have not yet killed him off, and I see nary a mention of his passing anywhere

Farlowe still alive, apparently.

that's good! loads of tributes to him on twitter last night.

not quite out of time yet then

Bokito the gorilla (Rotterdam zoo), who got his claim to fame by once escaping his pen and beating up a woman.
I still saw him last January, a very impressive animal with a back full of silver grey hair.

As my friend pointed out, he's now a member of the 27 Club.

Richard Dillard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._H._W._Dillard?wprov=sfla1

I did not know him, but moved in some of the same circles and knew of him (of course Annie is one of my personal heroes, but that's a story for another day).

One of the saving graces of this depraved world is that there are people who decide that their best and highest purpose is teaching others.

That's someone for the "poets no one ever reads" club! Haven't even heard his name in about 20 years.

I have only the haziest memory of his poetry. But a heck of a lot of my fellow Virginians thought he was a brilliant teacher.

And, for white male writers of his age and class and temperment, he might be considered reasonably restrained because he only married two of his students.

I have only the haziest memory of his poetry. But a heck of a lot of my fellow Virginians thought he was a brilliant teacher.

And, for white male writers of his age and class and temperment, he might be considered reasonably restrained because he only married two of his students.

1/2 Rest in Peace Nora Forster

It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster - John Lydon's wife of nearly 5 decades - has passed away. Nora had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years. In which time John had become her full time carer. pic.twitter.com/MmQQdtmrjG

— John Lydon Official (@lydonofficial) April 6, 2023

Sorry, that's Nora Foster, John Lydon's wife and Ari Up's mother, also led an interesting life on the London scene in the late 60s / early 70s.

Apparently also made them both miss Pan Am Flight 103 due to excessive packing, or so I read recently. RIP.

that’s terrible, but also imagining John Lydon being a carer is either impossible or hilarious to imagine, in my opinion

Whenever I've seen him speak about Nora, particularly as she became seriously ill, he displayed a tender side you might not expect from his records or his tedious and try-hard recent TV appearances.

he's spoken very lovingly in interviews about that role for quite a few years

possibly the one thing he's not a prickly troll about

I remember an intervew in Q a couple decades ago, long before her illness, where he briefly dropped his mask to state his love for his wife.

i don’t think i ever realized she was Ari Up’s mom

Johnny Rotten, Full-Time Carer

I remember an intervew in Q a couple decades ago, long before her illness, where he briefly dropped his mask to state his love for his wife.

was that one of those "who does he think he is?" pieces? I remember that too. He also waxed lyrical about the first Led Zeppelin album iirc.

His track “Hawaii” was unexpectedly lovely and as a tribute to his wife seems all the more poignant now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HURFlF8CyV8

tears for sid vicious vs full time carer FITE

The way Mr. Lydon went from icon to pariah so quickly is one the major wtf moments from 20th century cultural history. That Mr. Morrissey and Mr. Morrison have followed him down that path just makes it more head-scratchy than it already was.

Shoot yourself in the foot/dick enough times, people will start to be reluctant to stand too close to you, lest you miss.

I feel like there's still a bit of provocateur with Lydon - like "how can I piss these people off like I did in the 1970's"

I don't see that being the case with Morrissey or Van the Man

Definitely not with Van Morrison. RIP Nora.

Friend who's worked w/John reckons his entourage are at least part of the issue, that he feels the need to play up to a certain side of his politics they agree with.

I've never been a Sex Pistols guy (tho PiL are pretty awesome), but I love the Lydon of The Filth & The Fury.

Land speed record holder and Beach Boys song subject Craig Breedlove, 86

Ah man, I remember reading about him when I was a kid.

Vivian Trimble 5/24/63- 4/4/23
We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved friend and band member Viv on Tuesday. We are devastated beyond words to lose our graceful sister. (More info on FB/Insta)
Gabby, Jill, Kate pic.twitter.com/0T5jwaUHYQ

— Luscious Jackson (@LusciousJckson) April 7, 2023

Never considered this angle

There seems to be something deeply unnerving about what happens to U.K. celebrities after their emigration to California, of what they subsequently become: Morrissey, Van Morrison, John Cleese, Lydon etc. Has anyone seriously examined this, or even speculatively written about it?

— @Agape (@InertialConatus) April 7, 2023

Doesn't really work because Van Morrison only became an irredemable bawbag when he moved back to Northern Ireland (that's in UK, no surrender).

one of youse

one of youse

Perhaps not the thread for this, but I think Morrissey is as much provocateur as Lydon is - whatever his actual beliefs, and I do believe they're abhorrent, they never seem as important to him as the imperative that the world pay attention to him. Van Morrison by contrast is I think entirely sincere in his brainwormed terrible beliefs, which makes him a sadder and less enervating case than Lydon or Morrissey in my book.

Since Lydon began to show a conservative shift, I've had to wonder if his relationship with Ari Up (i.e. having to take over raising her children for her) was one of the cracks in the dam.

Paul Cattermole from S Club 7. Only 46.

Wow, aren’t they doing a big reunion tour.

That’s terrible. “No suspicious circumstances.” 😞

fucking hell

aw :(

"No suspicious circumstances" is just police-speak for "it doesn't look like a crime was committed". RIP.

Since Lydon began to show a conservative shift, I've had to wonder if his relationship with Ari Up (i.e. having to take over raising her children for her) was one of the cracks in the dam.

This led me on a bit of a trail. This little Q&A is quite an eye-opener. What a family life he has had.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/31/john-lydon-my-family-values

Good grief that’s quite a CV :(

"No suspicious circumstances" is just police-speak for "it doesn't look like a crime was committed". RIP.

Re: UK celebs moving to California, I think Southern California in particular is a place where most people feel free to let their freak flag fly. This is, apparently, not limited to people with inherently weird or progressive ideas, and the rightward shift is perhaps more pronounced as one ages. The phenomenon is equally home-grown, see, e.g., Exene Cervenka.

Bolinas, or maybe even Marin County in general, both of considerable hippie heritage, mentioned as anti-vax stronghold[s), even before Covid pandemic, and I've had old friends, originally earning citations as flower children, whose quaint folk beliefs eventually emerged as overtly right-wing crackpotizm--haven't contacted any of them recently, I'm afraid they've gone full Q, if they weren't already, basically---this goes way back in Cali Gold(en State) Rush Promised Land Descendants of Pioneers delusional programming, chains of fooles (see also Didion's great Where I Was From, what she peeled away from, a lifelong effort).

Although Exene was like that early on, and she's from Florida.