peter laughner, 25 years dead

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Tue, 2001-07-10 19:58

....and noone gives a toss.

for those of you not familiar with him (and in these ignorant times i can't blame you), laughner played rhythm guitar for rocket from the tombs, and also pere ubu.

i've been keeping an eye on the music press lately in the hope that there might at least be a small snippet commemorating his death, since it seems we are treated to free posters of kurt cobain and other *dead*beats every other year.

considering that with pere ubu, laughner helped create entire genres of music, including, oh...punk, you might think this expectation wouldn't be so great.

so you might say im disappointed when not a single column inch has been dedicated to a man who burnt out his talent at 24, and left such a legacy that his styles have not even been exhausted by imitators.

instead of any long winded elegy that i could write, i'll leave you with a song he wrote for ubu with david thomas:

my baby says
we can live in the empty spaces of this life
lets fly away, the stars - they comin' all undone

my baby says
lets fly away, right into the sun
my baby says, my baby says
if the dibble come
we'll shoot 'em with a gun

my baby says
we can live in the empty spaces of this life
in the desert sands
when the devil comes, we'll shoot him with a gun
and if he shows his face...

Thu, 2001-07-12 00:47

prim fan dan grove

interesting how he chose to live in hove? it's an idea so surreal that it actually clicks nicely with how i imagine him. to think i've actually been there and not made a special pilgrimage to see him, unthinkable!

Thu, 2001-07-12 10:52

tony

Chauffeur nodig: Oh starry eyed one,i need you to help me! It started as a labyrinth and turned into a maze old pete would understand.

Sat, 2001-07-14 10:56

old pete

i dig

Tue, 2001-07-10 23:36

robert

i wasn't aware of this anniversary, which perhaps isn't surprising given what you say i recall hearing my older brother playing the first handful of pere ubu records, which would have featured peter laughner, in 1975/6. of course it was only many years later that i realised the importance of the music, and of its influence on almost everything good that has happened since sadly, there is barely a mention of peter laughner even on the pere ubu website

Tue, 2001-07-10 23:38

stromie

if you put his name into yahoo search a number of interesting pages pop up. but, you're right, not a lot.

Thu, 2001-07-26 00:43

chocolat oranj

i think, by this point, such an undertaking would be thoroughly vainglorious

Thu, 2001-07-26 15:38

Horses arse

A maize Old deaf pete?

Thu, 2001-07-26 15:39

Horses arse

A maize Old deaf pete? Sussitbute.

Wed, 2001-07-11 11:47

#10

Tony Cook

David Thomas now lives next door to some mates of mine in Hove. I see him quite regularly and he is always amazed at his continuing fame. He often talks of Laughner and the contribution he made to Pere Ubu so the guy is not forgotten by his collaborators for sure. Thomas still performs from time to time - I saw him with Peter Hammill at the Concorde in Brighton just before they pulled it down. Not a great crowd but some wonderful experimental stuff - and some awful dross - so some things never change! pip pip, Tony, The Chief Exec.

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