I first heard of Suicide about ten years ago, though they were probably hanging out together formulating this for a good while before that … they played the Mercer Arts Center with the New York Dolls and all the glitter bands like Magic Tramps and Ruby And The Rednecks a couple of years later, but they were never really a glitter group any more than the Velvets or the Stooges were.
Lester BangsThe Sound Of NYC, 1981(From the liner notes of Suicide's 1/2 Alive, ROIR, 1981)
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August 3, 1973 The crashing down of The Mercer Arts Center Source: Narratively |
Alan Vega was wearing ripped black leather jackets with chains and razor-blades and all that long before it became fashionable, and all you have to do is take a gander at all these worthless synthesizer-art bands around now to realize both how far ahead of his time Martin Rev's approach to keyboards was, and how much more soul he's always had. It's just a real shame Suicide got so little of the credit for what others turned into piddle.
Lester BangsThe Sound Of NYC, 1981(From the liner notes of 1/2 Alive, ROIR, 1981)
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1971 | Punk music by SUICIDE (Alan Vega + Martin Rev) at NY's Crawdaddy Source: From The Archive |
What is this all about? How come I don't write fiction? All I know is my life and my perspective. This is all about the airports, the stages and the lonely boxes I live in. Rentals, temporary alliances, border to border. Life pounds me, I pound life. The critics don't know because they don't venture out.To quote Alan Vega, "What do the poets know?
Henry Rollins(From: Smile, yo'Re Travelling - 2.13.61 Publications, 2000)
They used to say that “Frankie Teardrop” is the song that Lou Reed wished he had done.
Alan Vega, 2004
(From: The Heebie Jeebies At CBGB's - Chicago Review Press, 2006)
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June 23, 1938 – July 16, 2016 Alan Vega born Boruch Alan Bermowitz Source: ZE Records |
Alan Vega passed peacefully in his sleep last night, July 16. He was 78 years of age.
(HERE the rest of the press release and Rollins' Vega tribute)