Died On This Date (November 7, 1986) Tracy Pew / The Birthday Party
themusicsover Tracy Pew
December 19, 1957 – November 7, 1986
Tracy Pew is best remembered as the bassist for late ’70s / early ’80s Australian post punk goth rock band, The Birthday Party. Although the band never achieved much more than limited cult status, it’s individual members, including Nick Cave, went on to varying levels of success after the band split up in 1983. It was then that Pew all but retired from the music business, opting instead to go to university where he studied philosophy and literature. He did resurface over the next couple of years to participate in a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album as well as one by Lydia Lunch. On November 7, 1986, Tracy Pew died of an epileptic seizure at the age of 28.
What You Should Own
Jody Reynolds had one of rockabilly’s earliest massive hits with 1958’s “Endless Sleep.” It was one of rock ‘n roll’s first “teen tragedy” songs. The single reached #5 on the Billboard singles chart and sold over 1 million copies. He followed it up with “Fire of Love” later that year. The song charted, but failed to come close to the success of “Endless Sleep.” Reynolds released several more records over the course of his career, but none were ever able to get him back up on top. He retired from the music business during the ’70s, and in 1999, he was elected to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He was 75 when he died of liver cancer on November 7, 2008.