From a posting on the
http://www.deadmilkmen.com messageboard by Kathy, Dave's sister:
This morning Dave Blood is no longer with us.
David is my brother. Since the breakup of the band David has never really found his niche in life.
My brother was a smart clever and talented person. Inner peace has seemed to elude him for the last many years.
Sometime last night David chose to end his life.
He left a note that I don't know all of what it said,he was not elaborate-but he said he just could not stand to go on any longer.
Our mother passed away at the end of January and maybe David just had had enough.
There will be a memorial service in a few weeks. I will try to remember to come to this board and post it.It will be in the Delaware County area.
Please pray for the respose of my bother's soul; that he now has the peace that seemed to elude him most of his life.
I want to say that one of the shiniest parts of David's life was being a Dead Milkman and having that claim to fame.And the fans who appreciated the talent and time that went into making the band rise above the ordinary-thank you all for making my brother feel and know that he was indeed somebody. |
Also reported on Billboard:
http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/ar..._id=1000460203
For some of us, the Dead Milkmen was really the passage into punk rock and independent music. I can honestly say, as a 4th grader (!!) when I first heard the Milkmen-- it was perfectly goofy enough to appeal to a preteen-- yet as I grew older and got the satire, irony and humor of the goofy pop tunes- I can honestly say the milkmen changed my life.
Despite the fact that sonically they have little in common- being "into" the milkmen turned me on to other bands like Husker Du, the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and many others. Them, along with fear, were my first experiments into alternative cultural expression that would help me define myself as a teenager. It's cliche to say, but in a lot of ways- those records saved my life.
Years and Years later, I managed a hole-in-the-wall rock club here in Ohio. No matter what band would play, no matter what genre from hardcore to lilting alternative rock to goofy pop-- if I put on the Dead Milkmen's "Big Lizard in my Backyard" between sets- more than half the crowd would be caught signing along. It was one record that seemed to be tattooed on the brains of alternative music fans--- no matter where their searches outside the mainstream had taken them, many of them had spent some time with the Milkmen.
In the end, i guess that is the best legacy a band can claim-- to have affected someone. I know they affected me.
-Vince
