R.I.P. Wilko Johnson

[thequietus.com]

Not a surprise, given that he was supposed to pass a decade ago according to his doctors, but still crappy news to wake up to.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think Dr. Feelgood may have been the first band my inexplicably cool oldest brother discovered entirely via Trouser Press. He'd already spent the first half of the 70s bringing home albums by bands no one else had ever heard of yet, but import records of obscure stuff that I'd eventually understand was Pub Rock didn't start showing up until I was in 8th grade, so 1976 or so, which is probably not coincidentally the same time TP also starting coming home with him from trips into St. Louis.

Godspeed to ya, Wilko. You were one of the absolute greats.

If you haven't seen Oil City Confidential, the wonderful Feelgoods documentary, now is as good a time as any.

This half-hour concert from a British TV show in 1975 shows Johnson and the band at their peak: [www.youtube.com].

Thnx for sharing steevee… lot more raw and exciting than I expected!!

I agree with Bip. Very nice clip (except for the annoying announcer). It explains why these guys were well regarded by the early punk and new wave bands.

Not a fan, but a favorite historical factoid is that the (wonderful) Swedish pop band is named after the Dr. Feelgood song "Roxette." And they have utterly nothing in common in terms of genre or aesthetic.

Finally got around to watching that 1975 footage and the thru-line to Andy Gill and John McGeoch and others is pretty damn evident to me. Guess I gotta go get something by them now!

There's a great little box set on Parlophone called All Through the City: With Wilko 1974-1977. It contains all four Feelgood albums with Wilko on two CDs, plus a CD of outtakes and B-sides, plus a DVD of live performances from 1975. One-stop shopping! (Rhett, if I remember correctly, I picked it up at Music Millennium, the same weekend that my wife and I met you.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2023 01:22PM by Delvin.

Great - thanks, Delvin! Can't get it on Discogs for less than $50 delivered, so I may just keep an eye out for it at Music Millennium myself!