mp3: Death > Freakin Out

death a/k/a the brothers hackney

The brothers David, Dannis, and Bobby Hackney (seen above) were the Detroit power trio called Death. According to a recent-ish NYT article, “the teenage Hackney brothers started playing R&B in their parents’ garage in the early ’70s but switched to hard rock in 1973, after seeing an Alice Cooper show.” Hailing from the home of MC5 and The Stooges, the brothers played a brand of souped up rock and roll (call it protopunk if you want). In fact, they “preceded Bad Brains, the most celebrated African-American punk band, by almost five years.”

The band’s self-released 1976 single would seriously cost you hundreds of dollars if you wanted to take the time to track one down. Apparently, back in the day Clive Davis offered these guys a deal if they would change their name, to which David said “Hell No.” They thought they would get another record deal offer. Guess not.

Fast forward to 30 so years… Drag City got its hands on a 1974 Death demo tape found in Bobby’s attic. The label released the tape as …For The Whole World To See back in February. Pardon my French, but it’s pretty fucking awesome.

Downloadables:
Freakin Out (mp3)
Politicians In My Eyes (drag city mp3)

Drag City page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here. (Warning: Some dummy at Amazon mixed these recordings in with the metal band of the same name).
Bobby Hackney’s sons are Rough Francis.

...For The Whole World To See by Death

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