jay reatard dead

[ELEVATOR]

just got back from vacation and found out. what a bummer. only met him a few times but love his records and was looking forward to more.  he always put on an awesome show live.  this is a real bummer

rip

[Richie]

A very nice remembrance from our very own Rob Vertigo:

http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2010/01/people-s-republic-of-northern-california/read-a-requiem-mass-for-me-jay-reatard-.html

[levon]

Good stuff, Rob.

[Ken Dirtnap]

It's no secret that Jay Reatard and Dirtnap didn't always see eye-to-eye on stuff over the years.

But RIP anyways, we'll miss ya.

29 is too fucking young.

[erico]

nice piece, rob.

[Maltodextrin]

A very nice remembrance from our very own Rob Vertigo:

http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2010/01/people-s-republic-of-northern-california/read-a-requiem-mass-for-me-jay-reatard-.html

This is the best thing I've read about Jay in the past few days.

[robvertigo]

Thanks folks!
It was pretty ruff to get through that thing...
I must've editied it for 4 hours after the initial writing.

Heads up:
There's a likely chance of a Bay area Reatard-rage-a-thon tribute show in the near future. Like a punkasfuck wake with cover bands, etc. Trying to see who's game right now. Seems like screaming Saturday Night Suicide at the Stork would be a good RELEASE. For me, anyways.

Psst: Go see Nobunny tonite, fools.

[caleb]

Sigh. I just listened to "Grown Up, Fucked Up" for the first time in years. That album never made me sad before.

Also, good article Rob. That Gibson House show was such an illuminating experience for me (and obviously everyone else who was there).

[SVEN]

Yep, nice write-up Rob!

Loved watching the Reatard on Retard beat-down.
Wasn't that also the Gibson's show where he busted out one of the low hanging lights in front of the stage after the first song or two?
I also remember buying beers and sneaking them to Jay and the band as they hid in the bathroom, slurping them down. Good times indeed.

RIP, Jay.
You were a true force of nature.

[Get Mugged]

They were great, that radio performance was so good. We (me & Manchovies) almost released that on CD/LP, but we were too stupid to actually pull it off. I almost had it mastered and everything. After we gave up, every time Jay would see me he would ask "Hey, hows that live LP coming?" sarcastically.

AMERICAN DREAM

[tina]

Half of me keeps thinking that this is going to come out as some weird fucked up joke, like it still doesn't seem like it could be real, even though I know it is.

[manchovies]

They were great, that radio performance was so good. We (me & Manchovies) almost released that on CD/LP, but we were too stupid to actually pull it off. I almost had it mastered and everything. After we gave up, every time Jay would see me he would ask "Hey, hows that live LP coming?" sarcastically.

AMERICAN DREAM

YOUNG DREAMERS.  

i thought jay or alicia complained it sounded bad, but that was a converted to mp3 disc--the master disc/sound/performance was pretty great if i remember correctly.  we should dig it out for the radioshow saturday.

i also had this even dumber sream to open a record store...

[Maltodextrin]

They were great, that radio performance was so good. We (me & Manchovies) almost released that on CD/LP, but we were too stupid to actually pull it off. I almost had it mastered and everything. After we gave up, every time Jay would see me he would ask "Hey, hows that live LP coming?" sarcastically.

AMERICAN DREAM

YOUNG DREAMERS.  

i thought jay or alicia complained it sounded bad, but that was a converted to mp3 disc--the master disc/sound/performance was pretty great if i remember correctly.  we should dig it out for the radioshow saturday.

i also had this even dumber sream to open a record store...

At some point this summer, I plan on coming to Buffalo and pouring some disposable income into that dream of yours.  Mighty Taco, anyone?

[gayfromvancouver]

Half of me keeps thinking that this is going to come out as some weird fucked up joke, like it still doesn't seem like it could be real, even though I know it is.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I was thinking this.

Even imagining that it somehow became a fucked up joke ...and then next thing you know, he's back and covers back from the dead by the adverts. That'd be fucking it. Best comeback ever.

[DX]

From Australia: missinglink.net.au

Our good friend Jay Reatard died this week at age 29. Missing Link have been long fans and supporters of his music, and going thru our catalogue looking at the vast number of reatarded releases we've stocked really hit home his unique combination of a hyperactive work ethic and unique song writing talent that made the scumbag punk of Reatards so tuneful and the wasted synth punk of Lost Sounds so malevolent, not to mention the countless other projects he recorded and produced up to the punk pop brilliance of his solo material.

Missing Link pushed around the Bad Times, jumped at the opportunity to co-present his first Australian tour, sweated out the struggle to get a paltry number of 7"s from his Matador blitz, waited alongside our customers in great anticipation for his singles compilations and second LP. We were excited to hear he was going to reissue the early Reatards material on his label Shattered (which turned us onto Digital Leather and the Carbonas among other shop favourites), as well as finally compile his Angry Angles material. We got a great kick out of the Final Solutions LP with an ugly bastard rocking a shirt with the Australian flag on it, as we knew Memphis understood Australian punk like few other places in the world, and our speakers still crackle from blasting his Go Betweens or Saints covers to curious customers.

It is with great sadness that we mourn this loss. We will be playing his solo catalogue on constant rotation for the next couple of weeks, and have a counter box of his CDs going very cheap for anyone who came in too late. Jay always enjoyed his time in Melbourne, and the number of people that have come into the store to pour out a liquor for him has been heartening. To everyone who knew him, to his close friends and family, to everyone who came to see his shows and freaked out on his hard-to-locate records, to everyone who made Australia a place that he looked forward to visiting again, to everyone in Memphis especially including the Goner records folk who he probably lifted his first Ramones CDs from, to everyone across the states who had their nose or heart broken, to everyone in the world who are as shattered as we are, our thoughts are with you.