Assassins / Butterfly Child - rave, plus C/D

SHIT.

*checks Facebook*

Fuck. It's true.

Sorry Ned. Know he means a lot to you.

Oh shit. He was part of informal hoot nights in Chicago in the early 2000s, saw him a lot in small clubs and was always genial then.

He was just a friendly funny guy, you know? One who had done a lot and ended up in America and seemed pretty happy with it, enjoying life in LA and Chicago. Not knowing the cause I won’t speculate but he had been hospitalized and it reminds me of nothing so much as my uncle’s sudden death some years back.

It appears pneumonia and then sepsis was the cause. What a tragedy.

Just awful. I've got a couple Chicago music industry friends that are just gutted about this tonight. Met him a couple of times & genuinely good bloke.

Yeah there’s a wrenching amount of posts on his FB page from Chicago folks, clearly his spiritual home. And from so many people worldwide — he never knew a stranger, it seems, and you can tell in the best way.

If there happen to be angels
I’ll swallow all my pride
I’ll kiss them all and say goodnight
And feel their words inside
Singing happily in nursery rhymes
On how I lived my little life.

But it wasn't little.

Not the news I expected on this revive. Very sad to lose such a talent. Condolences to all who knew him.

I've tried to remember Joe Cassidy. I've done my best.

That link doesn't work for me. Does this?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/life-that-was-53834871

Working on this end

A great tribute

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/remembering-joe-cassidy-40684867.html

That is decent.

https://thequietus.com/articles/30276-joe-cassidy-butterfly-child-obituary?fbclid=IwAR013iz44K0RQGktsG5ktj1LaUCIOpHh6FUn7L_NMx2El3_YdVB7ju4GAJs

Thanks for that link. Great tribute. "Big, bold balloons of unbridled joy (even – or is that especially – when they were fundamentally melancholy) Joe’s songs appeared as if they had always existed somewhere" sums up that seeming disparity in a lot of music I love, like AMC/Mark Eitzel.

Also answers the question that felt awkward to ask: "There will be (“with my eyes closed I swear to you”) further records released by Joe. At the time of his death (15 July, 11.50 CDT) Joe had a trio of albums very close to completion – his acoustic/ orchestral Butterfly Child album, a new album by Assassins and another under a third name." There was a band name mentioned years ago, starting with a Z, like Zzaxx or Zzazz, that he was involved in, but memory's meshing that name with a Marvel electric monster and a Was (Not Was) tune.

Kate Bush news has a small article as well, with a free download link to his "Top of the City" cover.

This Sun Times obit is quite lovely.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/29/22596221/joe-cassidy-musician-songwriter-producer-humboldt-park

Gary McKendry playlist for Joe ...

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4hXUM7QeKjPienWF9H8kZZ?si=WIUYWOCSQOOVqd143jePPA&dl_branch=1&fbclid=IwAR2zL5_tft2NFHmxBccD7BIcD7oaxtz0wehCsEqIDGgYLBHV7peXZJuUiTE&nd=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SezwkNwu6Y

His family has set up a site in memory, also with some award news:

https://softexplosives.co.uk/

THANK you, Ned! The Assassins album passed by my radar, so glad to see it available at https://snissassa.bandcamp.com/album/the-year-that-never-came, as well as at the Norman Records site linked on the family site.

Appreciate the care done to display his discography. Had forgotten, if I'd known, his involvement on the Chris Connelly album, which I own and like a lot.