19 February 2010

That crazy dude in Austin

I feel sorry for him, and but more so for his family.

Suicide is a hugely selfish act. At the very least some poor dumb son of a bitch has to clean up after your sorry self, but leaving a wife and (adoptive) daughter to bear the onus of your actions is abhorrent. They'll probably end up changing their names and moving to Missoula Montana to avoid the stigma.

The dispute now rages – Is he a rightwing teabagging loonie or is he a leftwing cryptocommunist? I don't think either is accurate. The man was a bass player.

Bass players must subordinate to some extent. They're underaperciated but necessary. They don't get the girls. Drummers get the girls, followed by the lead singer, then the rhythm guitar. Lead guitar gets other guitar geeks, and the occasional chick saying “Ooh, you're so hot! Could you give this to your drummer?” I speak from experience here.

So, a former programming lead man with a couple of crash and burn startups behind him, moving to Austin (Texas's Music City) to hedge his bets with the possibility of musical stardom, middle age crisis, and then he goes boom. He wasn't poor. He owned the damn Piper, and the house he lived in.

Does this make him a terrorist? I don't think so. A terrorist believes in something bigger than himself, and Stack evidently didn't. His screed was a list of indignities he had suffered, and with some of them I have some sympathy. But there was no goal to be reached by his flamboyant demise. Just cocking a snook at his life in toto, as he took his final approach.

3 comments:

Enas Yorl said...

Yeah, you wish drummers got the girls. :-D

The believe real order of preference is: lead singer, lead guitar, any other guitars / bass, THEN drummer, and keyboards following up with any left over.

JC said...

After 35 plus years in all positions (yeah, I'm a multi-instrusexual), I stand by my original post. I was lead singer/lead vox for 20 years and still got the notes to pass to the drummer.

Thanks for the visit, Enos. LOve your swtuff at POWIP, and hope that Dan is doing well.

I have a brother with the same name, i.e. Dan Collins, who is a bit of an asshole. Every time I visit the POWIP site it reminds me ot the virtues I fail to exhibit. A dose of informaton and humility at the same time.

A good thing. Dan is of course in my prayers.

JC said...

Oh yeah, BTW, most of my work is as lead guitar/vox. Double on bass, drums, steel, mando and harp. Just bought a fiddle too.