$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jan 29, 2009 12:27:35 GMT -5
I decided to give this one its own thread, as I sorta knew the person personally. I have told the tale before, and even posted about it on this board. A lead singer of a band i practically worshipped in the 80s, who I end up becoming "phone friends" with in oddball fashion many years later, has died. I feel quite maudlin about this. But I now know, for sure, what I will be blasting on my MP3 player on the LIRR road home tonight. No jokes, please. POST MORTEM Singer Dead At 40 - Jan. 28, 2009 John McCarthy, the singer for '80s Boston punk metal pioneers POST MORTEM, has died at age 40. The group's guitarist John Alexander stated, "[McCarthy] was/is one of my oldest friends. An interesting character with many great stories to tell, he will be missed."
Alexander added, "We had just finished recording the music for a new POST MORTEM record (John wrote most of the words for it.) The vocals were not done and John was planning on doing his vocals in February. His goal of making another POST MORTEM record has ended. This band was everything to him. I think we'll finish it up somehow and dedicate it to him."
New Renaissance Records last year announced the reissue of the first album from POST MORTEM, "Coroner's Office". The LP was re-mastered and also included the band's second release, 1987's "The Missing Link" EP, which was previously unavailable on CD.
POST MORTEM was formed on March 22, 1982, in the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. The definitive lineup was finally settled on in early 1985 consisting of John McCarthy (vocals), John Alexander (guitar), Mark Kelley (bass) and Rick McIver (drums).For more information, visit www.myspace.com/postmortemtheoriginal. John McCarthy is all the way on the left in photo below.
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$heriff Tom
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Groom ba ya ya ya
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jan 29, 2009 12:29:33 GMT -5
Here was the original post I made describing this guy in the spring of 2008, in our RANDOM TALES thread.
So a few years back I befriended the lead singer of a cult band I used to really enjoy in the 80s. A Boston based doom outfit. Then the friendship turned odd, I had to "break it off" and even though we have "reconciled" its not the same.
A little background. Around 2002 I was leafing through a copy of Metal Maniacs magazine, and there was a "Pen-Pal' section, where people would trade music, or meet buddies with similar tastes in bands. While perusing, I noticed a post from a "former lead singer" of said band, written in his normal quirky style you could recognize off the liner notes, talking about how he was bored, had nothing to do with his time, missed the scene, blah blah.
I took a flyer and sent him a letter. This was pre Myspace. Told him how much I liked his music, all that. A few weeks later the phone rings at home, we were staying with my parents then, and my Dad tells me what I think is a bleacher creature buddy is on the phone. This singer shared a name with Walkman John. I pick up and it takes me a few seconds to realize this John M is NOT bleacher creature John, but this lead singer, who called me looking through information after getting my "cool" letter.
Well, from there we became phone buds. We had a lot in common, both being the fathers of newborns. He was a funny guy, we would talk baseball. He was on disability, and a bored guy, who did a lot of reading and other things. It was a good time, I would call him whenever I had a minute, I remember in particular a call I made to him sitting in Yancey Park outside the Stadium waiting for the other drunks to show up for our pregame drinking.
Where the problems were was his drug habit. He never talked about it, but he would call me sometimes, out of his mind. Talking nonsense like you would not believe. I would hurry him off the phone, as he slurred about things like balloons that walk and how someone from junior high owed him $12.
The next day we would talk and in a roundabout way I would find out he did not recall that we talked the day before.
Around that time I sort of stopped calling him, and ignored a few of his calls. I always found it funny here I was not taking calls from a lead singer of a band that put out a handful of albums I owned in vinyl and cassette, and some other EPS.
To wrap, about a year ago, after 3 or more years without speaking, I realized he was now running the eponymous bands' MySpace page. When I talked with him, he did not even own a computer. I broke down and emailed him, and he emailed me back, and he was sort of curt. He must have felt spurned, in a guy-pal sort of way. I will probably email him again sometime soon, he was a fun guy!
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Post by 9 on Jan 29, 2009 14:27:37 GMT -5
That sucks, sorry. 40 is way too young to go.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jan 29, 2009 14:57:00 GMT -5
When I was talking to him he was always moaning about this or that, and in a lot of pain. Apparently his back was way shot. Again, he had a son around Emmas age. He was seperated from the Mom, which was probably for the best, and would see his son here and there. His son made him happy.
On the Blabbermouth message board cause no cause of death was mentioned people are already speculating an overdose, or even worse, a suicide. Oddly enough, they had a song called "Suicide" and their themes mostly revolved around death. With a name like Post Mortem, what do you expect. They never took themselves seriously. When I wrote them a letter around the time their stuff was new, in the 80s, they sent me a fan pack which included some salad dressing packets, and a cover from TV Guide, autographed by the band. The pic on the TV Guide was Arsenio Hall.
They had one song called I WANT TO DIE which went on painfully slow for over 10 minutes. The slowest dirge ever played by a band....it started at 1 MPH and never sped up. I will print the lyrics on here sometime, they were basic and rudimentary, but man I could rock to it. Oh, and they have a quirky song called "CAVEMAN" which includes the immortal line...
Caveman.......grinding that stone
Caveman......dinosaur bone!
I wish I talked to him on the phone more, he was a good guy, demons aside.
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Post by 9 on Jan 29, 2009 15:45:10 GMT -5
Not saying this to make light of the situation, but unfortunately, demons tend to lead to better lyrics.
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Post by Chris on Jan 29, 2009 17:10:24 GMT -5
I know you said to not make jokes, Tom...and I don't mean this as a joke.
But the irony is too much not to comment on.
He started a band and decided to call it POST MORTEM.
I have a friend who bought a motorcycle and then got a personalized license plate that reads "ERLYGRV"
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$heriff Tom
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Groom ba ya ya ya
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jan 29, 2009 20:20:17 GMT -5
Well, the entire band was themed around death, at least in the early days. But they were spoofing more than anything, the lyrics were beyond over the top. But, as I mentioned, they ended up doing songs about cavemen, and even a song called "Everybody loves the fish" where the guy was just singing that phrase over and over to a bouncy jig.
He had his demons, surely, but it saddens me to think a new album from this band was so close, when I was talking to him its all he wanted to do outside of spending time with his son.
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$heriff Tom
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Groom ba ya ya ya
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jan 31, 2009 2:04:11 GMT -5
Sorry to keep dredging this up, but I am still roaming around online and stumbling upon stuff. John and another bandmate named John were interviewed fairly recently, and this is funny stuff here - MM-What are some of your more memorable shows with Post Mortem?
John McCarthy: THE ONES WHERE PEOPLE EITHER REALLY HATED US, OR FOR SOME REASON, REALLY LIKED US.
John Alexander: Opening for Cannibal Corpse and playing an instrumental acoustic set. People hated us and wanted to kill us, you could really see the anger, it was great. Best show by far. Well, getting attacked on stage in Detriot was also great. They threw bottles at us and some people rushed the stage and took my guitar and started to beat me with it. That was almost as good as the Cannibal Corpse show.
John McCarthy: I REALLY LOVED BEER BOTTLES, SPIT, ICE, TABLES......BEING ATTACKED.....FOND MEMORIES.
John Alexander: yeah, I just loved when people hated us. I could not get into playing to a crowd that liked us.
John McCarthy: WE WANTED TO KILL THEM ALL. SO THE FEELINGS WERE MUTUAL.
John Alexander: I think I wanted them to try and fight us or something, but, most people spoke tall games and then did nothing.
John McCarthy: EXACTLY.
John Alexander: Thankfully, I am mellow now.metalmark.blogspot.com/2008/08/interview-with-post-mortem.html
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