Died On This Date (October 12, 2009) Dickie Peterson / Blue Cheer
themusicsover Dickie Peterson
1948 – October 12, 2009
Born into a musical family, Dickie Peterson knew from an early age that he wanted to be a professional musician, so he picked up the bass at thirteen and never looked back. In 1966, he helped form Blue Cheer, a San Francisco based psychedelic blues rock band that is considered by many to to be the first “heavy metal” band. Peterson played bass and sang lead in the band. In 1968, they released a heavy electric blues version of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues.” It has been called the very first heavy metal song. The song made it into the top 15 on the Billboard singles chart, making it their only hit. The band stayed together, all be it in different configurations, into the ’90s, with Peterson being a constant figure. They parted ways in 1994, reunited in 1999, and have been together ever since. Dickie Peterson died of liver cancer on October 12, 2009. He was 61 years old.
What You Should Own
Don Decker was the lead singer and main songwriter for Anal Blast, the Minneapolis pornogrind/death metal band . Formed in 1994, the band released just two albums, Vaginal Vampire and Battered Bleeding Bitch. Cause of death has not been released, though some reports indicate it may be related to a condition for which he received a liver transplant in recent years. Decker was 41 years old.
Mike Alexander was the founding bassist for English thrash metal band, Evile. The group originally formed in 2000 as a cover band called Metal Militia, and then morphed into Evile in 2004. They soon signed to Earache Records and are now considered the spark of the current thrash metal revival. Over the years they’ve shared the stage with the likes of Machine Head and Megadeth. They released their debut album for Earache in 2007 and their second in September of 2009. While touring to promote the new album, Mike Alexander collapsed the morning after a show in Sweden. He was taken to a local hospital where he died of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 32.
Darryl DeLoach was the original lead singer and lyricist for San Diego psychedelic rock band, Iron Butterfly. Some consider Iron Butterfly to be the very first heavy metal band. The group released their first album, Heavy, in 1968. It contained several songs written by DeLoach who left the band shortly after its release. The band’s next album (without DeLoach) contained their biggest hit, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” DeRoach continued to record post-Iron Butterfly, but not much is known about his more recent years. He died of liver cancer at the age of 54.
