In Kensington, There is No East or West....R.I.P Jack Rose

      Jack Rose was 38 when he passed last Saturday. His records were a familiar sight around town. It seemed that every respectable music outlet in the city would find a way to make sure his records were displayed prominently. For good reason: he was Philadelphia talent of international calibre. Ragtime, raga, and drone flowed seamlessly from a guitar so thick with strange flavors and smells, it rivaled the Delaware. The lineage of his style stretched across continents, but ended up right in our own     backyards. He had contemporaries like Sir Richard Bishop, Ben Chasny, and fellow local Willie Lane: all guitar players. But on Rose's recent effort with the Black Twig Pickers he was (quite literally) a foot-stomping bandleader. A musician of incredible capabilities, he will be missed.

http://www.myspace.com/jackrosekensington

-Caleb Paul

In Loving Memory: R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs (!!!, Maserati, Juan MacLean) 1974-2009

From an article in the The New York Times on drummer Jerry Fuchs, 34, who passed Sunday, Nov. 9 in New York ...

At about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Mr. Fuchs, 34, who had attended a benefit party on the building’s seventh floor, was stuck on a freight elevator between the fourth and fifth floors, friends and the police said. He had been trying to jump out of the stalled car when his jacket got caught on something, causing him to fall to the bottom of the shaft. Another man, who was not identified by the police, was riding with Mr. Fuchs in the elevator but safely jumped to a fourth floor hallway. Read More...

If you have a memory of Jerry Fuchs - whether you're a friend, loved one or adoring fan - leave a comment below. 

R.I.P Lux Interior!

In the early morning hours of Wednesday February 4, 2009, the world of rock and roll lost one of its most original, dynamic, freakish and underrated frontmen of all time - Lux Interiror (born Erick Lee Purkhiser) of the pioneering garage/punk band the Cramps.

I was lucky enough to see the Cramps perform at Motherf*cker (the now defunct NYC dance party) during late 2006. Seasoned veterans by then, I cannot erase the images of Interior as he threw himself about the stage like a deranged ragdoll with reckless abandon or performing fellatio on his mic. (in between songs he would chug red wine, naturally).

The Cramps was the bastard love child of Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy (born Kristy Wallace, later his wife). They eventually left California and traveled east in the mid 1970s with their band to become part of the nascent punk scene that revolved around venues such as Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs in lower Manhattan.

While the bands that inhabited the NYC milieu were initially varied – both visually and sonically (think leather-clad Ramones, spastic Talking Heads or the glamorously trashy Blondie), the Cramps truly stuck out, as they were simultaneously campy and menacing. Their look and sound was a melting pot of references and aesthetics, from 1950’s B-horror movies and sadomasochism to rockabilly and double entendres (“Can You’re Your Pussy Do the Dog?” Ahem.)

Like many bands associated with punk rock, the Cramps never achieved commercial success. However, songs like “Human Fly," “I Was A Teenage Werewolf” and “Goo Goo Muck” are ingrained on a generation of listeners. Even without a gold record under their garter belt, many credit the genre of “pyschobilly” or “horror rock” to the band.

Recommended viewing, the grainy clips on YouTube of the band in the late '70s performing a show for patients at the Napa State Mental. A few songs in, you almost can’t tell the difference between the band and the incarcerated. Take that, Live Aid.

One reviewer put it best, describing Interior's voice as "the psychosexual werewolf/ Elvis hybrid from hell." Somewhere out there, the afterlife just got a little kinkier.

– Daniel Alonso

Sorry, Ms. Hudson

If you haven't heard...

On Friday, Oct. 24, 2008, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson and 29-year-old Jason Hudson were found shot to death in their Chicago home, the day their 7-year-old grandson/nephew, Julian King, went missing. Who are these people?

Family members of Oscar-winning actress and phenomenal singer Jennifer Hudson.

Police suspect William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer's sister, Julia Hudson in the murder of Jennifer's mother and brother, and her nephew's disappearance (and possible death). For info, click here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-jennifer-hudson-1026-2,0,1414019.story.

We here at Origivation want to send our sincere condolences to Jennifer and her family. No one, celebrity or otherwise, should ever have to experience such trauma and tragedy.