RIP Dave Lepard

Frontman David Hellman (a.k.a. Dave Lepard) of the Swedish sleaze metal band CRASHDIET was found dead this morning. It has been unofficially reported that he hanged himself, although this has yet to be confirmed. More information will be available during the coming days.

CRASHDIET was a Stockholm, Sweden-based Eighties hard rock-style band whose debut album, "Rest in Sleaze", entered the Swedish national album chart at position No. 12. A video clip, dubbed "On the Road with Crashdiet 2005", was recently posted on their official web site. Check it out: Real Media, Windows Media. CRASHDIET's promotional video for the song "It's a Miracle" can be viewed at this location (Real Media).

CRASHDIET were reportedly the first "sleaze rock" band in over 10 years to be signed directly to a major company ? Universal Music. The group, whose members were said to be in their early 20s, were scheduled to make their next live appearance at Gothenburg, Sweden's Storan on January 28

a sad day indeed. They were an EXCELLENT band!

So sad when someone so talented leaves us...

That is a tragedy, great band, great singer.

Wow! I've been listening to them off and on, and they were really good. That's damn shame.

RIP, and sympathies to his family.

I don't believe this.....I was only listening to them about 5 minutes before reading this message.

RIP dude.

I am simply speechless. My heart hangs low. Why do things like this happen?

Sandi

Ive known for about 2o minutes now and im still in shock .... this fn sucks ................................
I hope the other members change there decision about breaking up the band or at least stay together and form a new one . Crashdiet had mustered up alot of momentum and had stirred up quite a hotbed from that region and it would be a shame for it to have all been for nothing . Our Genre has taken a heavy blow with this one ....... any loss is a sad one .... but its worse when they are so young and full of potential .

My condolences to the friends & family as well ... Tyg

You are exactly right. I hope the folks on this board recognize this. This was a full-on, Hollywood style glam/sleaze band on a major label, appearing in commercials, making videos, charting with record sales, etc. This a HUGE blow to glam and glam fans, even if you weren't a particularly big fan of Crashdiet.

With Dave's death, the music we love lost the best chance it's had in fifteen years to actually matter again. I'm sorry for everyone. From Dave Lepard himself, his bandmates, his fans, and all of us on this board. The glam flame just got a LOT dimmer.

I too hope that those guys will continue on under a new name with a different singer. It's unlikely that it can match the magic though. Crashdiet was a special band, and Dave was the brains behind it. I've waited over 15 years for a band to touch me like Crashdiet did, and when that band came along, poof...they are gone. I am so, so sad...

Sandi

Crikey - thats some sad news. Probably one of my favourite bands from the crop of newcomers. Rest In Sleaze gets played at least a couple of times a week on my stereo.

My sympathies go out to his friends & family.

<font color="#FF0099" size="1">[ January 20, 2006 12:14 PM: Message edited by: glamster7 ]</font>

Sympathies to his family.

I listened to their album this morning and I had this thought : "Waoow, the singer made progress since their first demos."

Their album was a good surprise...a that news a very, very bad one.

The band have announced they will not contiue.

That's an horrible news. RIP Dave & thanx for the music you created.

Thanks for that update. Even if it isn't 100% accurate, it does shed maybe a little more light. I do hope that something definitive will be released to the public at some point regarding cause of death and the circumstances. I have been scouring the net for three days trying to find anything I can on the situation. If anyone else here finds any news, please post it. Thanks.

Sandi

Mmmmm? Swedes and drugs are not synonomous at all. This is a dry country, believe me. They talk the talk so to speak. My info from Universal was that they were sent home from Japan recently cos they were not good enough live. I saw them at the Access All Areas showcase recently and I agree. Second Division totally.
We mentioned this on another thread. I think they were gonna be dropped and I think he flipped out over this. Only an opinion. With the exception of Dregen and Nicke Borg most Swedish bands are fucking second raters when it comes to living it like they talk it. You need to be match fit and nothing about CD ever made me think they were in it for the long haul. I think Universal were always looking for a quick hit and a buck. You take it badly. Its a shame.

Some fair points. For sure, bands who really want to can improve. There are millions of examples of bands who suddenly find their extra gear or hit the niche. No issue with that at all.

As for the business about Live. Again I 'm just repeating what I was told. The promotor in Japan was less than happy with the shows and sent them home. Universal then locked them in rehearsals 8 hours day with orders to sharpen it up.

As for being dropped, it was just an opinion. I have no idea what options were available to the label or the band. Its all about sales at the end of the day and if you don't sell you get dropped. I don't know what they sold but i suspect it wasnt as much as Umusic expected.

That said, the Swedes suffer terribly with this winter/dark day depression syndrome. I would never have belived it was so debilitating if I hadnt lived here.
As early as October people are rueing the winter and talking about how depressed they become during the short days. It just seemed bollocks to me. Coming from UK its dark about 3.45pm in December and January and most people don't go hanging themselves. Here in Sweden its maybe 3.20pm but loads of people top themselves.
Even my mate Tom was sat with his head in his hand last week and mumbling about how he hates this time of year and the darkness makes him so down. Its unreal how it affects people.
dave lepard could just as easily been prone to this.
Sweden has the highest suicide rate in Europe and its all becuase of the dark days.

I've never heard of Crashdiet until the news of Dave's death was posted here... seems like I might have missed out on a good band there.

It sucks when people die like that. My thoughts go out to his family and more importantly his bandmembers.

There are some really interesting things being discussed here, and I appreciate it, if only to keep the name Crashdiet in circulation.

I've done a lot of traveling in Europe (although I haven't traveled to Scandavia yet). The traveling I've done myself though has been in the summer, and it hasn't gotten dark until nearly midnight, which drives me nuts. Where I'm from, even on the longest day of the year, it's never light past 8:30 p.m. I like darkness myself, and welcome the shorter days of winter. I have heard a lot though in the past about the problems of high suicide rates in parts of the world where it's either dark almost the entire day or light almost the entire day. Regardless, it's something that certainly could have played a factor in this situation.

As far the ins and outs of what was or wasn't happening in the Crashdiet world, it's all speculation. The live video footage I've seen, some clips they sound incredible, and in all fairness, some they sound pretty bad. The album charted at #12 in Sweden, so I wouldn't think album sales would have been an issue, at least not at this point in the game. Any label who thinks they can sign a hair band that sounds like they are from 1985 just to cash in with some quick record sales is nuts. If all you want to do is cash in on quick sales for a novelty act, there are far more mass-appealing style's of music than bands like Crashdiet. If anything, signing a band like that takes a huge set of nuts.

The bottom line for me is quite simple: This sucks. Whether Crashdiet was good or not is an opinion. I happen to be of the opinion that they were the greatest glam band certainly of the last decade, and they were the best chance that any of us had at bringing the record industry back to where we want it to be. Regardless of their live presentation, the reality is that 90% of the people that ever heard Crashdiet heard them on a radio, the internet, their cd, television ads, etc. Because they played so rarely outside of the borders of Sweden, their fan base never really saw them live. We loved them because of what they were, which was a balls-out glam band...period. I was SO looking forward to going to see them in the States in March.

I can only hope that somewhere out there is another band of similar spirit and talent that another label will take a chance on. There are other quality sleaze bands in Sweden now, from Loud'n Nasty to Slowpanic Sweethearts that could carry the torch. It's unlikely though that the torch will ever again burn as bright as it was burning for Crashdiet. I believed, unconditionally, in that band...

Sandi

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I happen to be of the opinion that they were the greatest glam band certainly of the last decade, and they were the best chance that any of us had at bringing the record industry back to where we want it to be.

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<font size="4" face="Arial">I can't argue how much you liked them or what you felt about them, but I highly doubt they were the saviours of Glam. They were good, no doubt, but I have played it around "regular" people recently, and they all asked "what the hell are we listening to?" and not in a good way.

As for the quick cash in from Universal. We are in an era of The Darkness, a nostalgia/novelty band that hit gold that made a ton of money. It isn't beyond the realm of possibility for a label to sign them for that, as they were a "novelty" to some people. Anytime you are that much of a throw back, you are viewed as a "novelty".

As for things being based on the Live show, well, considering they were slated for a SXSW appearance (cool for that to happen, but hundreds of bands play it, lets not forget), and just a few months earlier than the showing they get booted from a Japanese tour for being bad live, I would bet a TON of money on it that Universal wasn't happy about it. It also could have strained them all quite a bit. If they weren't cutting it live, and there was a chance of having SXSW pulled (it is a LIVE event after-all, and if you suck live, you will not make an impression at all), and then there is a depression going on there...there is some sense in those events.

Good band, but this style has survived with the loss of many. Dave showed a ton of promise and his loss is terrible. But I ain't packing in the mascara yet...

I see where you are coming from, and can't totally disagree with any of it. I would just contend that The Darkness, for all of their finer qualities, was viewed as a novelty from the beginning because of the falsetto singing and the "over the top just for the sake of being over the top" quality of the band. As much as I like them, bands whose primary appeal is that they are "different" never have a very long lifespan. This is evidenced by the fact that after the first week, virtually nobody has bought the new Darkness cd, which is a shame because it's brilliant.

Crashdiet was VERY different from the Darkness. They were not a gimmick. They were serious. Their songs were serious, their videos were serious, and the band members were serious about what they were doing. The Darkness for the most part are just having a good time being ridiculous. In short, the Darkness makes you laugh. Either you laugh and say "These guys suck" or you laugh and say "These guys are brilliant," but either way you laugh. Whether you like it or not is based on whether or not you "get it." Crashdiet was not a "get it" band. Love them or hate them, they were what they were. Unabashed, dark, heavy glam rock.

As for your comment about "normal" people not liking it, like most things in life, it goes both ways. I'm a high school coach, and when I was driving our team to the state championships in November, I popped my Crashdiet cd into the player because we have one kid on the team who's a big 80's hair-band fan. I was curious if he would be into it. He wasn't really into to be honest, but everyone else in the van, all emo kids who are 14 to 15 years old and spend their entire life listening to Simple Plan and Blink 182, were like "WOW! Who is this?" After our trip, I ended up having to burn copies of the cd for every kid that made it to state because they couldn't afford the $40 to import it. Still, I see them walking around this little high school in Missouri singing "Riot In Everyone" to each other. To be honest, it's pretty cool.

There are a lot of kids right now of high school age who have parents who loved Motley Crue and Poison who are just starting to realize that that crazy music their parents listened to is actually pretty good. For those kids, Crashdiet could've been a Godsend, and for these kids here at my high school, they were. One of the kids was crushed when I told her the singer of the band was dead.

I agree though that we shouldn't be packing in the mascara or anything. I just really, really believed in them. There have been so many great bands from Heart Throb Mob to Big Bang Babies and on down the line who I said "These guys are great, but they have no chance of bringing it back to the mainstream." Crashdiet was the first band in 15 years that I thought had a chance, not because of their songs, but because they were good, and they were serious about it. It was all balls, no fluff. Unfortunately we'll never know what might have been.

For the most part though, you are I are in agreement [img]smile.gif[/img]

Some really interesting comments here. Regarding this winter depression. There were more Swedes killed in the Tsunami disaster than any other nationality other than those indigenous to the region. About 7000. I think that says something about the extent of this seasonal feeling that decends. If the Swedes can afford to get away they do. One of the guys in the Sunshine has just been with 30 members of his family and friends. 20th dec to 10th Jan. It says it all.

As for Universal. Its strange one. I deal with them here and i never get the feeling they look too much at long term projects. Sweden is only 9 million people in an area 6 times as big as UK and to be honest a top 10 chart placing isn't a lot of sales.
No disrespect to Crash Diet. i thought A Riot In Everyone was great track, but where as the Darkness are just giving Queen fans a new band to feel good about, I suspect Umusic had the same idea in a Crue vein.
I read sites like this and I constantly see openings. How many people post stuff on here about GnR, Pussycat, Lillian Axe, Love hate Roxx gang Pretty Boy Floyd?
If I was working at Universal I wouldnt have missed the red light here. There is a big market for some new heros but I definitely would not have tied it up to 2 or 3 albums from the start.
I would have had an option on the second one, based on sales of the first. Its my fucking job on the line based on how much money I generate.
As carl so rightly pointed out, the music business is about making money. Being in a band is about making music. There would be alot more successful band if bands got their heads around that a lot earlier.

This is possibly one of the most interesting discussion I have seen on Glitz in years.

Funny thing is that I think we are all in agreement, and the only difference is our degree on how much we liked Crashdiet. They do grow on me more and more, but I never see them hitting the "love" point.

I understand exactly where Sandy is coming from on the fan point, and Ian there is in the business still, so I see where you are.

They had promise, no doubt about it.

I also agree that The Darkness were something to laugh at, but you can't tell me that some people won't do the same towards Dave and his ratted hair on top. The lyrics and music is VERY serious, but they still had enough of an old image to make some people remember back. If they had let their look go in a more modern image, I bet they would have had a bit more success right off the bat. We know image is important, and an image is becoming again important in the mainstream. People are starting to want a look again.

I'm sorry my first message here has to wind up being about this, but here goes...

1. Yes, this is a bad day for glam, and yes, it could be worse than it looks, but let's not think all is lost, especially if the other members continue in some form.

2. "Second Division"? Maybe. (That's a Robert Fripp term, BTW; are you familiar with his writings?) Lots of "second division" bands can do perfectly well; some "first division" bands start out as second-division bands. (Ever heard the first two Yes albums?) Maybe Crashdiet could eventually have grown and matured and eventually offered something original to the genre; it's not unheard of.

Besides, would Universal in Sweden drop them based on how they did live (i.e., not on record) in Japan when they were charting in Sweden? (And I haven't heard anyone else complaining about them live, not that I have my ear to the ground very much.)

3. "Not in it for the long haul"? When words like "glam" or "Spandex" are still the Kiss Of Music-Industry Death? (Though that might be changing; I've read that Crashdiet were to make their American debut at the South By Southwest music industry convention in Austin this Spring. GRRR! Why now, Dave? I would've traveled for that--and I live in Atlanta, nearly a thousand miles away.)

You HAVE to believe in what you're doing to be a band like Crashdiet (or most of the other bands covered here, whatever you may think of them) in 2005. So I suspect we haven't heard the last of Peter, Martin, or Eric, whether together or apart. Who knows--Crashdiet might wind up as the Mother Love Bone of the glam-metal revival, rather than the Black Crowes-like position they seemed to be gaining. Not the fate any of us would've wanted for them, but better than having it all go to waste.

The Darkness is a phenomenon of sorts. Robbie Willimas manager, huge industy clout and love them or hate them, some good tunes. Again, love or hate them, some chrarisma too.I fully expected this new album to wobble but hell, look at the tour dates!
There is no doubting they can play and I think they are looking quite likely to shake the novelty. There are millions of 35 year old Queen fans driving up and down the motorways of the world selling their office supplies and the like. What's the betting they pull it no a BP station at some point and buy the new album to keep them company on the drive home? A bloody safe one, I should cocoa! Within a week they know every word and be playing air guitar solos all the way from Scotch Corner to Newport Pagnel.

Another million seller, mark my words.

<font color="#FF0099" size="1">[ January 26, 2006 01:26 PM: Message edited by: IH Rich Rags ]</font>

Okay so the comp here at work let me on...finally after many tries.
So since I made it on...I thought I'd chime in on this subject.

SXSW Music Festival is a big event....me having gone to it. It's great that all band come from around the world for this...but sadly, most bands play only 4 to 6 songs and are off stage before you can say THAT'S IT???" Because of this...bands are forgotten real quick. So a band playing SXSW Festival is really nothing.

As for the subject here.
I got a copy of Crashdiet myself...and thought of it as nothing that sparkled...I found it done already and nothing really jumped out and made me say WOW they are great. As for them sounding bad live....I never saw them, but I have been to shows where a band sounds good on cd...but live the are terrible.

Sorry to hear of another rock n roll death by suicide. Those who have died of drug-usage I say is suicide as well...though a slow suicide.
Could never understand why someone would kill themselves. Shoot me if you want, but suicide to me is the coward way of solving your problems.

On last note:
Went to see the Darkness last year and left after two songs. They were that bad.
Tiny Tim doing rock-n-roll is not such a good thing...haha.

Crikey a Raggz sighting - how ya doin Marc

SxSW is an industry junket to showcase bands to the business. Its not really aimed at fans buying tickets for gigs.
As for suicide being the cowards way out?....Which bathroom wall did you read that on?
Its civil war rhetoric.

Suicide is not steeped in wanting to die. It is about not wanting to live. They are very different things.

Nice to see you around again Amigo.

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Originally posted by IH Rich Rags:
SxSW is an industry junket to showcase bands to the business. Its not really aimed at fans buying tickets for gigs.

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<font size="4" face="Arial">Which is the number one reason why Crash would have had to have their shit together live. There would be no fanboys out there giving them any breaks, atleast not that mattered.

Well...it's nice that even my home computer let me on!...must have been me having to restore my whole computer after it was plagued with a virus.
So...it does look like it may work now...HELL YEAH!!!!...well let me not count my chickens before they hatch...haha.

IH Rich Rags...I live 2hours from Austin...and have been to SXSW Festival many times. I know it's a showcase, but I have never agreed on how they do things. You bring in BigWigs from labels...put 15 bands billed to one small club...each band burning thru 4 to 6 songs because they have a time limit. Band finishes, they grab their shit and that's it...next band...same thing over and over. I go to this always and I find it kind of a waste of time for a band looking to get interest from a label. I know I wouldn't waste my time traveling so far only to have that short amount of time to do anything. Example, a band flying all the way from Japan to do 4 darn songs. Go figure.

As for finding about suicide on a bathroom wall?...ummm ok whatever.
You saying Wanting To Die and Not Wanting To Live...are two different things???...um...HELLO????? Means the same damn shit to me...Neither makes it better.
I respect your opinion bro, but to me it is as I said... a cowardly thing to do, but as I said it's only my opinion.

<font color="#FF0099" size="1">[ January 26, 2006 07:21 PM: Message edited by: Katt68 ]</font>

SxSW. A&R don't tend to go to check out all 10 bands on an evening's bill. some people are there for one band, others for another. Just depends on who is talking to whom. I saw Crash Diet at The Access all Areas industry bash a few months back and they were OK. They weren't terrible and the crowd got their rocks off but they were not special. On another night maybe they would have really torn the place up. Who knows.
Your point about flying people around the world for 4 songs. You'll find they are spending most of the day before the gig smoozing and pressing the right buttons with said A&R. Its not just about songs and performance, its about convincing people you have the heart and the amibtion. Your label can sing it for all they like, potential label abroad often want to look the band in the eye. If you are buiying a new car you don't always take the word of the salesman do you? You wanna take it for drive and get a feel for yourself. Same thing.
If I was trying to sign a band to say a U.S label for 500'000 dollars, 5 or 6 grand on a courtesy visit for the band might be the difference between yes and no. The fact you make the effort does you a lot of good. It shows commitment and anyone putting up serious money wants to see and feel that.

As somebody who has often suffered bad depression and been suicidal, I can confirm not wanting to live and wanting to die are, in fact, 2 different things, emotions, whatever you call them. I don't know the reason for Dave Lepard's decision, didn't know the guy. Usually it's just a one little thing that takes a depressed person wanting to cross the line to the other side. If you don't want them to die, and think they may still have happiness in life in the future, go to them.Just be with them, don't matter what you say, just go. If the person has been depressed and suicidal for all their life, and can't get better. Then, I don't know ,is it better to let them die? Maybe. Often illness in the head is not taken as seriously, cos it doesn't show.I quess this could start a heavy discussion. Not sure it would be suitable for a glamrockboard?? Maybe not

Believe me...I've went thru depression myself.
All I have to say is...not once did I think of death. I do know one thing though...I got help.
I was diagnosed with Thyroid Disease where the doctors were amazed how terribly out of balance my Thyroid was. This was the reason for my depression. Now look at it this way...if I hadn't gotten help due to me having a anxiety attack and finding out the cause of depression....and say if I was all suicidal, which I never was, Then could I have just wasted away?. People...How hard is it to say " I NEED HELP"?. Three simple words SAVE a LIFE.

<font color="#FF0099" size="1">[ January 27, 2006 11:45 AM: Message edited by: Katt68 ]</font>

All power to you and your honesty does you credit. A friend of mine topped himself a couple of years back and, as you say, some people could win the lottery and still do it. Cowardice has nothing to do with it. It is rooted in dispair and not fear.
Unless you have had your head in the blackness of Satans toilet you cannot expect people to understand how it feels.

Your point is vaild Marcus but It's not blanket solution. Honesty time here. I did nothing in my life other than play in bands from being 17 to 30. Thirteen years of mostly great but ofen tough times. You nuture a mental culture within yourself that you can only rely on yourself. You get used to being let down most of the time. If its not flakey band members, its liar promotors, bullshitting managers, or machiavellian record companies trying to fuck you at every opportunity. You develop a mentality that gets yout through. Its a mentality that revolves around your own belief in yourself, your ability to deal with your own fuck ups but not with others. Without it you would get a desk job.
Unfortunately it creates that barrier when it comes to saying 'I need help' because you cannot truly believe that anyone can help you apart from yourself. Its not true but it is a fact.
You were lucky and , dare i say it, well adjusted enough, to see that you needed to do that. Not everyone can. That doesnt make them weak.

<font color="#FF0099"><font size="1">[ January 27, 2006 11:55 AM: Message edited by: IH Rich Rags ]</font></font>

<font color="#FF0099" size="1">[ January 27, 2006 11:57 AM: Message edited by: IH Rich Rags ]</font>

Yep, I can say I went thru all the band crap and left it cold-turkey...these days I could care less to be in a band. I'm happy just sitting down with my acoustic and writing a song. No bands for me anymore. It's not something I care to do in this time of life. I've done it and just moved on to newer things. Today, I'm more about picking up an acoustic guitar and writing a song that has meaning. Something people can relate to. Oh and believe me...I hear ya on getting screwed by the music biz...and bandmates as well.

Oh by the way...Nothing gets me down these days...I've learned to just move on...and look for better things. There's no use wasting time holding your head down because something failed.
Learn and move on.

<font color="#FF0099" size="1">[ January 27, 2006 03:55 PM: Message edited by: Katt68 ]</font>

First, thanks to everyone for being so civil after my first post; I feel like I was talking out of my ass a bit in a few places there. Again, thanks.

OK, a few points:

"IMAGE" AND ORIGINALITY: If we can have The Darkness, we can have Crashdiet. If we can have The Flower Kings, Anekdoten, or Anglagard (three more Swedish bands, incidentally, making '70s-style "art-rock"), we can have Crashdiet. If we can have the Black Crowes, Lenny Kravitz, Phish, Chris Isaak, Brian Setzer, the "indie-rock" scene, Wynton Marsalis, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and the freakin' Squirrel Nut Zippers, we can CERTAINLY have Crashdiet and Dave's (and Peter's, let's not forget) "ratted hair".
Really, why does '80s glam come in for slagging for being "retro" when that's what it seems *the whole culture* is about these days? *Everything's* got some retro in it nowadays, sometimes a whole heapin' helpin' of it; in their own way, Crashdiet actually "threw back" less than most other rock acts. (Remember, punk and new wave were always throwbacks of a sort.) In times like these, it's hard to know just what makes something "more modern" (unless it's got something to do with being uglier; in the wake of the '80s, officially regarded as the Surface-Glitz-Without-Substance Decade, people just don't seem to trust great beauty anymore). For myself, I actually agree that some "modernization" would be good, but rather than trying to shoe-horn something trendy into the equation, what I'd do is find a way to bring something new and original to the '80s-glam style and look--take it to the next level. I mean, it shouldn't be like glam to try to tone down for the sake of audience approval, which is what "modernizing" would usually amount to these days; it'd just work at cross-purposes.
Besides, people can see calculation; just think of all the '80s glam and "post-glam" bands that "went grunge"--how many of them made it? They might as well have just stayed as they were. If Crashdiet had tried for "a more modern image", they might've come across as *less* honest--and if they'd come across as more honest, that'd say something very bad about how we detect "honesty". At least this way they *stood out*. (Just as a matter of my own tastes, I'd much rather modernize the *music* than the "image"; as far as I'm concerned, the full-out Sunset Strip glam look, when done right, is one of the great looks of all time, and I suggest we use it.)

SUICIDE: I'm told that some people who've decided to do it are so far gone they're practically impossible to dissuade; they'll find a way eventually. Maybe; I don't know what to think here. All I can say is, some dreams are so compelling that it may be impossible to walk away from them. (DISCLAIMER: I have a personal interest here, too, but I won't go any farther than that, under orders from a higher authority, namely "Mom".)

CAREER: Going for what you can in the moment is a difficult lesson for some of us to learn; we're too wrapped up in our hearts' desire--it defines us; it'd do us a certain kind of violence just to walk away from it. We know *exactly* what we want, and we're not interested in putting forth tons of effort on stuff we don't care for just for the off-chance that we might get a career out of it. Not that I've got much company, though; "It beats workin'" probably motivates musicians even more than World Domination. Sometimes I wonder if I should've given in a bit more, admitted that "it beats workin'" is a legitimate way of looking at things, but I look back on the times I tried to do that, and every time...months, even years of effort, almost no payback. I can't sell my soul if I tried. No band, no career (despite some talent), not even really much support, because who wants an over-the-top glam dude with a jones for Serious Composing? But I have to do what makes me happy first, or else what's the point?

Oh, yeah: The Darkness is a new-wave band.

OK... What I mean is that I get the impression we're supposed to relate to them in the same way. They just happen to use, as the vessel for their Goofy Post-Modern Irony <tm>, the very styles of rock that roughly predominated when "new wave" came along, rather than the mid-'60s music out of which "new wave" was originally made. (But something about '70s rock keeps the whole thing from getting too "ironic".)

Only a few weeks ago, a lot of us here were rating Rest In Sleaze as one of our favourites of 2005. Not able to rate them on their live show, as I never saw it, I can say that album created a new buzz and made an impression on the scene that we're all here for.

A bit more info on this. My mate Tom plays bass in a band/ come side project with Crash Diets drummer. He had spoken to him in the wake of events. Apparently Dave Lepard had history of very erratic behaviour. They had been at meeting with Universal just prior to his disappearance and, although Tom wasn't specific about it, apparently DL took what was said at this meeting very badly. You can draw your own conclusions from that.