Death’s music was lost and forgotten for a long time, not regarded as having relevance to any rock and roll genre or moment – they were certainly never cited as an influence by any of the punk bands that did enjoy popularity, and this not out of oversight or mean-spiritedness but because no one had ever heard their music.
To all intents and purposes, Death was just another in a thousand bands that came close to having a rock and roll career, putting out a single here, an album there, but never catching on, some bands never having had sufficient talent or motivation, others quickly waylaid by the fast side of the business, while a small minority, like Death, falling to the curse of being ahead of its time.
In Death’s case, when they were trying to make their way in mid-70s Detroit, punk had yet to be identified, the belligerent commotion being made by three black guys – who saw their music coming out of Alice Cooper and The Who and had no notion that what they were playing would go on to become punk rock and they were in fact punk rockers, a term they would’ve found offensive – was met with indifference, bemusement and outright hostility. With nothing doing from the record industry, Death soldiered on for a while before rejection after rejection crushed their self-belief and the band petered out, dreams of living the rock life ending in withering failure, despair, addiction and illness.
The Hackney brothers dissolved their band in 1977 and settled for lives of obscurity, regret and, in the case of the band’s ideological force, David Hackney, alcoholism and an early death.
Until, of course, 30 years on, thanks to the fanatical, obsessive record collecting scene, punk aficionados were alerted to Death’s remarkable single Politicians in my Eyes. Soon enough, the unique quality and importance of the band, its unmistakable punk sound and attitude, was realised and master tapes of sessions recorded for a never-released album were unearthed. Death had been rediscovered or, more correctly, discovered, because they had never had any recognition or acclaim first time round.
The documentary film above – A Band Called Death – is the story of Death, their birth, death and resurrection, and what they lost on their way to finding the appreciation and kudos they deserved.