There really is someone else in a worse position than you.
I'd had a very stressful morning, feeling tired and grumpy (grumpy? You? never! -anyone who's ever met me) and had just resolved to check email before heading to bed.
Chaancing on the NME website before heading there, I was saddened to read that Killing Joke's bassist Paul Raven has died in Switzerland, in his sleep at the age of only 46.
I love Killing Joke's music and though I've never met any of them, heartfelt sympathies go out to the band and Paul Raven's family.
Read more here at NME and here at the official Killing Joke site.
By way of tribute, here are two tracks that Paul Raven played on, Killing Joke's biggest hit, 'Love Like Blood' and 'Eighties' (yes, the latter was the one that Nirvana were considered to have appropriated for 'Come As You Are.' Litigation proceeded no further after Kurt Cobain' suicide in 1994). Both these tracks can be found on Killing Joke's album Night Time, which you should definitely buy.
Killing Joke -'Love Like Blood.' mp3
Killing Joke -'Eighties.' mp3
6 comments:
Only saw them play once but I still remember it well even though it was 27 years ago! An awesome band. RIP
I knew Raven a bit a few years back. We were involved in a short-lived project together that unfortunately never got off the ground. I am still in shock that he has died. He was very close with some friends of mine. I can say this, great bassist - he was also a good man, well-liked. He will be missed . . .
Crikey, I have never heard that song before. I was never into Nirvana enough to care who they may or may not have pinched from, but it would have been a difficult lawsuit to defend, from the sounds of it.
Alastair -alas have not seen them in any incarnation, but I envy those who have...
anonymous -whoever you may be, sounds like your experience was a positive one, and he seemed like a very mich liked guy.
Matthew - almost certainly, though as Jaz Coleman, KJ's frontman said, once Kurt had died, it didn't seem quite right to pursue afterwards. I guess we can only speculate about what might have been the legacy and the hostories of both bands had Kurt Cobain not died...
I'm happy to say that Raven and I have known each other for almost 10 years now. He was a very sweet guy who had a big heart. I was simply a fan of Killing Joke when I first started talking with him through E-mails. I soon met him and our friendship progressed. I'm happy to be able to say he was a friend of mine. Many fans of Killing Joke had the pleasure to meet and befriend him and we all shared the same opinion. He was a beautiful soul who will be sorely missed by many, many people. RIP, Bassman.
A lot of people seem to have been genuinely touched by Paul Raven's passing. He seems to have met with a lot of people who rated him highly as a person, as well as a musician. That's a pretty good way to be remembered.
Ed
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