The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (215 page)

Look up the word ‘undersold’ and then ask yourself why your dictionary doesn’t just display a picture of Mark Sandman, incandescent lead singer and two-string bassist with Morphine. Sandman, a veteran of several Massachusetts also-rans including the bullish, bluesy Treat Her Right, was already approaching forty by the time Morphine got their act together as a fascinating new addition to the fertile Boston altrock scene. The band eschewed guitars to offer an atmospheric, faux-beatnik sound – created by Sandman, Dana Colley (tenor sax) and Jerome Deupree (drums, shortly replaced by THR’s Billy Conway). Morphine were prolific from the off, issuing three albums in almost as many years:
Good
(1992),
Cure For Pain
(1993) and their finest work,
Yes
(1995). In these three releases, chief songwriter Sandman painted bluesy scenes of broken romances and seedy motels, inviting comparison with Tom Waits. The fourth album,
Like Swimming
(1997), perhaps over-egged the pudding, but by 1999’s (in the event, posthumously issued)
The Night
collection Morphine were back in full majestic swagger.

‘One of the sexiest bands around.’

P J Harvey rates Mark Sandman and Morphine

But, unfortunately, that was it. At the start of a European tour, which was to include Britain (where the band had become most popular), Mark Sandman collapsed two songs into a concert in Palestrina, thirty miles outside Rome. Attempts to revive the singer – who’d once survived a brutal stabbing as a cab driver – proved fruitless: Sandman died from a heart attack as he was taken by ambulance to hospital. One of three brothers who all died at relatively young ages, Sandman was survived by both parents, a sister and his partner, writer/agent Sabine Hrechdakian.

Tuesday 6

Michael Wallace

(London, 6 June 1956)

Chalice

Third World

Originally a member of seminal Jamaican band Chalice, Michael Wallace – who preferred to spell his name ‘Mikel’ in those days – enjoyed several years of fame with the band; their ‘I Still Love You’ (1981) topped the national charts for almost four months. Third World were a renowned reggae band with a number of international hits to their credit, most notably The O’Jays’ ‘Now That We’ve Found Love’ (1978) and ‘Dancing on the Floor’ (1981); Wallace didn’t join this group until 1998, when he became a touring player.

The motive behind his killing remains unclear, but it seems Wallace was driving his Nissan Sunny at around 11.30 am when he was approached by unknown individuals, one of whom shot him in the neck before escaping. He died shortly after at Kingston’s University Hospital.

Wednesday 14

Gar Samuelson

(Gary Samuelson - Dunkirk, New York, 18 February 1958)

Megadeth

Fatal Opera

(The New Yorkers)

A veteran of the New York jazz-rock scene, Gar Samuelson changed tack completely to play drums with the Dave Mustaine-led speed-metal unit Megadeth between 1983 and 1987. A persuasive character, Samuelson led the San Francisco band (briefly) down a more interesting route than the standard three-chord metal that had gone before, perhaps the first musician to add swing to extreme rock. The percussionist was in place as Megadeth issued the huge-selling
Killing is My Business
…
and Business is Good!
(1985) and
Peace Sells, But Who’s Buying?
(1986), before being unceremoniously dumped by the former Metallica man, who presumably found Samuelson’s style too cheery. Samuelson had relocated to Florida to run a studio in Orange City and was performing with his own band, Fatal Opera, at the time of his death from liver complications.

Saturday 17

Kevin Wilkinson

(Stoke-on-Trent, England, 11 June 1958)

(Various acts)

Kevin Wilkinson must have possessed one of the most enviable CVs in British pop music, yet by the end he was clearly overcome by depression. Turning professional in 1979, Wilkinson began drumming with US newwave group Holly & The Italians, coming very close to a UK hit with 1980’s ‘Tell That Girl to Shut Up’. Graduating to The Waterboys, Wilkinson could be heard on most of the group’s albums, also working with Robert Fripp and China Crisis. A versatile musician, he could also claim contributions to the recordings of American acts, most notably Bonnie Raitt and Joey Ramone. During the nineties, the percussionist toured with Squeeze, Howard Jones and The Proclaimers – but found the commitment detrimental to the home life he craved.

While it was known that Kevin Wilkinson occasionally suffered mild depression, the discovery of his dead body came as a huge shock to his wife, Marilyn, and the couple’s three children. The drummer had hanged himself at their Swindon home.

AUGUST

Wednesday 18

Johnny ‘Guitar’

(Liverpool, 4 December 1939)

Rory Storm & The Hurricanes

One of just a handful of professionals who can claim to have played alongside a future Beatle, rhythm guitarist Johnny Byrne was a founder member of Merseybeat nearly-men Rory Storm & The Hurricanes. Byrne adopted the name ‘Guitar’ as the band became popular on Merseyside. Somehow, though, they were to suffer the frustration of never having a hit – while all the other Liverpool bands around them seemed to do it in their sleep. The Hurricanes could, however, claim a number of firsts, one being that they played The Cavern before anyone else, another that Brian Epstein’s earliest production credit was on one of their many flop singles. The Beatles connections inevitably continue – The Hurricanes travelled to Hamburg with them, and then finally relinquished their drummer, Ritchie Starkey, to The Fab Four in 1962 as the latter’s greater chances of success became apparent.

On top of the pain of failure, Rory Storm & The Hurricanes also endured their share of tragedies through the years. In 1967, guitarist Charles ‘Ty’ Brian died following a post-concert collapse, and lead singer Alan Caldwell (‘Rory Storm’) passed away five years after this
(
September 1972).
Johnny Byrne – who had made many attempts to reunite The Hurricanes over the years – was in the process of completing the band’s biography when he succumbed to the crippling motorneurone disease that had stricken him a few years before.

See also
Kef Hartley (
Golden Oldies #154)

Friday 20

Byrne Bobby Sheehan

(Brooklyn, New York, 12 June 1968)

Blues Traveler