Y’see, the Hackney brothers’ Death - circa the mid-‘70s - was courted by none other than Clive Davis of Columbia Records. Seven songs were completed for Columbia before the label asked the band to change its name, but Death refused. Davis and co. then backed out of the deal. Not to let their work go in vain, the brothers Hackney leaked 500 copies of a 45 (which they gave away for free at their shows) on their own Tryangle Records and then, after a series of concerts, promptly split up.
In the intervening years, the band’s myth grew as aficionados praised the obscure 45. Only when Death bass player and vocalist Bobby Hackney’s son began hearing his father’s/uncles’ music being played at California parties did the group consider issuing its long dormant (and, retrospectively, potentially massively influential) record …For The Whole World To See. The (short) album is an eminently listenable album that recalls MC5, IGGY & THE STOOGES, SONIC’S RENDEZVOUS BAND and THE HELLACOPTERS, each of the seven tracks espousing loud rock ‘n’ roll: both ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Victim’ (the proprietor of the one of the ‘70s’ most evil intro riffs) and ‘Keep On Knockin’’ should have/could have been classics.
“I'd say it’s a sense of joy that our music is being heard,” says Bobby Hackney, when asked how it feels to see Death’s songs come to light more than 30 years later. “Our brother David (Hackney) had said that we were doing some of the best rock ‘n’ roll that he had ever heard, and he also said on numerous occasions that he believed no one else was doing our type of rock ‘n’ roll at the time. In 1974 and 1975 the term ‘punk’ for rock ‘n’ roll didn’t exist. We always referred to ourselves as a rock ‘n’ roll band.”
Here comes the big question: why didn’t Death just change its name? The mighty Clive Davis was interested, why not simply modify the name and put out the record on Columbia?
“The name ‘Death’ came from David,” Hackney explains. “The name was to revolve around a concept of albums and rock operas that we were planning. Don Davis brought demos of our sessions from United Sounds in Detroit to New York and presented the demos to a number of music moguls in New York City, Clive Davis at Columbia being one of them. Don presented the tapes to Clive and he liked what he heard, but he didn’t like the name of the band. This is what was told to us by Groovesville Records’ offices. When our brother David heard that Clive wanted us to change the name, he replied ‘Hell No!’”
Surprisingly, there were no offers during the ‘80s or ‘90s to release …For The Whole To See. Further, Hackney is modest when Death’s possible influence is compared to that of Iggy’s crew. “The music was just stored away during the ‘80s and ‘90s. And, well, there’ll always only be one Stooges. We were just being Death, writing songs and trying to get them into the studio.”
And what about that evil riff in ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Victim’? “It was about us, really. We were young kids, psyched-out, going to shows… tuning in, ya know?”
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