Alan Vega obituary, Co-founder and frontman of the confrontational electronic band Suicie.
Always keen to startle his audience, the US musician Alan Vega, who has died aged 78, was believed to be 10 years younger than his true age until he released recordings to mark his 70th birthday in 2008. That year, in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, he also said he had Jewish roots, having previously claimed to have been half Catholic and partly Puerto Rican.
What is beyond dispute is that Vega has left an imperishable body of work, both as a solo artist and as half of the confrontational electronic band Suicide, which he formed with Martin Rev (real name Reverby) in the early 1970s. Initially they dabbled with free jazz, inspired by
JohnColtrane andAlbert Ayler then worked with the guitarist Paul Liebgott and later with Mari Reverby, Martin’s wife, on percussion, but by 1972 Suicide had become a Vega/Rev duo.
The first Suicide album (called Suicide) did not appear until 1977, and it set a template for their future progress by being critically acclaimed and hugely influential while failing to make any impact on the charts. Recorded in four days and utilising raw electronic keyboards, a migraine-evoking drum sound and dub and echo effects behind Vega’s howling and crooning vocals, it contained what would become several of Suicide’s most enduring pieces, including Johnny (their first single), Ghost Rider, Cheree and the 10-minute Frankie Teardrop.de.
The last of these, the grim tale of a deranged and murderous factory worker, helped boost Suicide’s public profile when it was hailed by Bruce Springsteen as “one of the most amazing songs I ever heard”. He cited it as an inspiration for his album Nebraska, particularly the song State Trooper. In 2014, Springsteen recorded Suicide’s Dream Baby Dream (a single released in 1979) on his album High Hopes, having frequently performed it in concert.
Suicide’s debut would later be judged one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
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