Almost inexcusably, I only just recently finished reading Michael Azerrad's fantastic Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991. It's something I should have read long ago.
The thing that struck me about the book's early chapters was how much we now take for granted about the way indie music works. Hearing punk music in small clubs is now commonplace, but it took bands like Black Flag, The Minutemen, and Minor Threat to forcibly carve out a touring trail for bands at a time when, in most of the country, that didn't happen. Imagine, then, the difficult path that a trio of African-American brothers from Detroit who played hard rock and roll and called themselves "Death" must have had in 1974. Their story is chronicled in Jeff Howlett's and Mark Covino's documentary, A Band Called Death.
"Before Bad Brains, The Sex Pistols, or even The Ramones, there was a band called Death," goes one of the film's tag lines. There can be endless arguments over where punk really started; and while that may be the angle that's being used to promote the film, that really isn't what the movie is about. Instead, A Band Called Death centers on a piece of advice that the brothers' father always preached to his boys: "Back up your brother."
In 1974, three brothers, David (guitar), Dannis (drums), and Bobby Hackney (bass / vocals), formed a band. Calling themselves Rock Fire Funk Express, they converted a bedroom in their family's home to a practice space. The band's name reflected an indecisiveness about whether to be a funk band or a rock and roll band. Upon seeing The Who when they came through town, though, de facto leader David Hackney decided that they had to play rock. It was an unorthodox choice for three African-American teenagers living in the land of MoTown. Their always supportive mother told them that they could make as much racket as they wanted between the hours of 3pm and 6pm, and that's what they did religiously.
Following a family tragedy and a personal turn to spirituality, David Hackney came up with a new concept and name for the band: Death. While he recognized the shock value of the name, David Hackney didn't intend the name to be morbid. Instead, he viewed death as a gateway to another plane of existence and he wanted the band to touch that plane through their music. But before Dead Kennedys, Napalm Death, Death from Above, even Death Cab For Cutie, the name was a hard sell to say the least.
Bobby and Dannis were willing to change the band's name in order to get a record contract, but David would have none of it. Bobby and Dannis "backed up" their brother and supported his decision. The rest of the film chronicles the lives of the brothers and their family over the next thirty-five or so years, following the recording and ultimate shelving of the Death project.
A particularly moving story comes when David, at Bobby's 2001 wedding and what would prove to be their final meeting, hands Bobby the Death master tapes saying, "Keep these safe. One day the world will come looking for them." Protesting that he's already got too many tapes lying around, Bobby Hackney ultimately agrees and stashes the tapes in his attic.
Years later, a miraculous series of events follows that leads to the release of Death's long lost album, ...for the Whole World to See, and the re-introduction of the band's music to the world.
The movie is interesting as a piece of rock and roll history and as an illustration of the way the Internet has changed the music business, but it's also a moving story about family. His brothers didn't always understand David Hackney much better than the rest of the world, but they trusted him and remained loyal. Now, when they perform as Death, they're able to give life to their brother's vision the way he always intended.
And when you hear the music, you'll be amazed that something as simple as the band's name could have kept these sounds from the world for so long.
A Band Called Death is available to stream now and is set for a limited theatrical release on June 28th.
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