Alberto Rivera was kind enough to send this obituary for the late Florida punk legend Stevie Stiletto.

Ray McKelvey, a.k.a. Stevie Stiletto (photo by Julie Beasley)

Stevie Stiletto, the better known and public face of Ray McKelvey, passed away at home, on March 24, 2013 in Jacksonville, Florida. He had been sick with cancer.

On the surface of it, Stevie’s story is a rock and roll cliché of bad habits, bad luck, and poor timing conspiring against him, but the greater truth is this: Ray and/or Stevie, never quit.

Widely acknowledged as Jacksonville, Florida’s first punk rock band, Ray formed Stevie Stiletto and the Switchblades out of frustration. Tired of listening to records from New York or the UK and reading about his favorite bands performing elsewhere, Ray went DIY before it even had a name, and started his own movement out of the stubborn swamp grass better known as North Florida.

With various incarnations of bands he toured the US And Europe, playing with pretty much everyone. The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys, Iggy Pop, Black Flag — the list goes on and on.

In the mid 1990’s he was scooped up in the frenzy created by punk breakout acts Green Day and The Offspring. But Green Day and The Offspring were anomalies; the only ones from that time to have any notable mainstream commercial success. And Stiletto, along with all the other acts eagerly signed a year or two before, were unceremoniously dumped.

It was at this time that I personally met and played with Ray. About a dozen shows in all. Warm, funny and engaging, his stories seemed almost mythical. Yeah, I slept on East Bay Ray’s couch for a week or two, I think it was in ’84…” or “Dee Dee (Ramone) an’ me were looking for someplace that was open to get a new tattoo…”

In 2009, a documentary called My Life is Great: The Stevie Ray Stilletto Story was released. Filmed by former Jacksonville area resident and longtime fan Kevin Dunn. Dunn is presently working as a college professor in upstate New York. Dunn presents an honest and unflinching look at Ray’s immense talent and oftentimes his deeply flawed shortcomings.

Bands would fall apart, and he would start another one immediately. One band bailed on him, and with shows scheduled, he picked another exisiting band and they backed him so he wouldn’t have to cancel.

Ray was an unflappable and headstrong entertainer. And in the punk community, one of those guys that everyone has seen at some point. Somewhere, Ray’s laughing as he smashes cans of shaving cream with his celestial hammer.

-RIP-

UPDATE: There will be a Memorial Celebration of Sarah Kirsch’s life on Sunday, January 6th @ 924 Gilman St. Also, money is still very much needed and being raised here to cover a wide range of expenses for Sarah and her loved ones during this difficult time.

Sarah Kirsch passed away peacefully yesterday, December 5, 2012. She had been gaining much strength in recent weeks in her continuing battle against Fanconi Anemia. Close friends and family were together with her at her passing and we are now mourning this utterly devastating loss.

Nothing I can say in this setting can do any real justice to the impact Sarah Kirsch had on my life and the lives of so many others. She was by far the most inspiring person I have encountered in my brief time on this Earth. She was also my best friend. The experiences of that friendship, and her direct impact on my life, shaped who I am today more than any other person. She had a presence and a spirit that will be well remembered, and I will carry it with me forever.

In the truest sense, Sarah was ahead of her time, almost as if from another galaxy: her talent, vision, creativity, empathy, values, compassion, dedication, humility and unrelenting passion for life — all were truly unsurpassable, and there is no one who I could imagine holding those qualities in greater quantity, and with as much natural force, as Sarah did.

Sarah once wrote, “I believe in people. That deep within the most beaten down of us there is a will to survive, an instinct to rise above.” Though she always put her concern and belief in others first, Sarah herself had that same will to the very end.

Just this past Sunday she and I were sitting in her living room, our guitars plugged into our mini Honeytone amps… It was the strongest I had seen her in months, and it was just like our semi-acoustic songwriting jam sessions of old: playing songs over and over and over again, sharing our ideas about different parts, and singing along together. It gave her strength that day, and I’ll never forget how she laughed while we were playing from nothing more than simply how good it felt to be playing those songs with renewed confidence and excitement.

I will miss her more than anything, and my life really and truly will not be the same without her…

— Spencer Rangitsch, December 6, 2012.

Also, Robert Collins wrote in his Terminal Escape blog:

Sarah was more than a guitarist, was more than just a mere inspiration, and even though we didn’t see each other often there was an instant void. I can see the absence on the faces of friends feeling the same thing. When Sarah did things, she did them right. No fanfare, no flag waving, no celebration – just quiet determination and pure conviction. That is her influence, and to me that is her legacy. The records are great (seriously, all of them), but the impact is so much more personal and so much more intense than a few good riffs…even when the riffs are as good as these. It’s the genuine look in her eyes that tells you that everything matters, that you matter, and that what you do is important and to never stop fighting. And to never stop smiling, though I confess that one is pretty tough to pull of today. While her musical legacy is primarily associated with her life spent as Mike Kirsch, Sarah’s personal legacy transcends both gender and sound. Few people in the world of DIY hardcore have been as influential, even as important as Sarah. It’s an impact I honestly doubt she was fully aware of, and a level of genuine respect attained by only the most worthy…these are the things we should say to our friends while they are alive, but rarely do. Never stop fighting.

Sarah Kirsch bandography:
The Skinflutes (guitar and backing vocals, 1988–89)
Fuel (guitar and vocals, 1989–1991)
Fifteen (second guitar on s/t 7”, 1990)
Silver Bearing (vocals on split LP with Moss Icon, 1990)
Pinhead Gunpowder (guitar and vocals, 1990–1994)
Sawhorse (guitar and vocals, 1991–1992)
Navio Forge (guitar and backing vocals, 1993)
John Henry West (guitar, 1992–1993)
Sixteen Bullets (guitar and vocals, 1994)
Torches To Rome (guitar and vocals, 1995–1996)
Bread and Circuits (guitar and vocals, 1998–1999)
Please Inform the Captain This Is a Hijack (guitar/vocals/samples/beats, 2000–2003)
Colbom (guitar and backing vocals, 2001)
Baader Brains (guitar and backing vocals, 2005–2010)
Mothercountry Motherfuckers (guitar and vocals, 2010–2012)

Here are links to a few more pieces on Sarah Kirsch:
http://terminalescape.blogspot.com/2012/12/torches-to-rome.html
http://prankrecords.blogspot.com/2012/12/sarah-mike-kirsch-rip.html
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2012/12/rip_sarah_kirsch.php
And this excellent one by Nate Powell:
http://seemybrotherdance.blogspot.com/2012/12/in-memory-of-sarah-kirsch.html

Torches To Rome interview from MRR #162, Nov 1996 (click to enlarge)

Feel free to leave comments here or share stories and memorabilia with Spencer (srangitsch {at} gmx(.)net) to be collected for a memorial page to be posted later.  

Former guitarists of Voetsek Jef Leppard passed away two days ago as a result a motorcycle accident, and his partner Nikki is currently in the hospital in critical condition. Please read on for information about how to help and where everyone is gathering to remember Jeff:

Our community has lost a very loved/respected individual over the past 24 hours and for this we mourn, all in our unique ways. RIP Jef Leppard. Now we’re all gathering the light of the universe and sending it to Nikki Davis for a full recovery… I just left SFGH, she can not have visitors at this time/and prolly not for a couple days. Nikki’s mom Donna Lee Wayrynen Culbert and father Smiley are here with various family members. We are setting up a memorial for Jef at Lennon Rehearsal for this Saturday June 16 7-10pm. He will be cremated. Please pass this info along, they have so many friends and extended family who truly care for them…this has been devastating.

—Ami LawLess

Jef Leppard memorial at Lennon Studios
271 Dore St, SF CA 94103
Saturday June 16th 7pm
Please bring some $$$ to donate — Jef will be cremated and Nikki is facing mountings bills. This is a potluck and strictly a four-band bill.

PROUD FLESH
SMD (from L.A.)
BLOWN TO BITS
VASTUM

Donations can be made via PayPal to: page.amy.s (AT) gmail.com

And please spread the word on this. These two have helped so many of us out over the years. Now it’s our turn to pay them back in a small way.

By Dan Lactose

Kindred McCune, aka Stinkweed Malone, has left our planet. Took the warp triple-six Doom Ryde straight through our galaxy. Stinkweed was best known to punx, thrashers, vandals and dank smokers as a founding member of the pioneering Redwood City, CA, political grindcore unit, Plutocracy. He was also a founding member and leader of the long running Redwood City hip hop group Shed Dwellaz. Stinkweed was born in San Francisco and grew up on Army Street. He told me he first witnessed punk rock at the legendary Farm. Bands were playing, punks were thrashing and he was breakdancing. “I won’t conform to the norm so I perform in the orange,” he wrote. Plutocracy took grindcore in directions no one else had attempted, blending Black Panther speeches with blast beats and MC Pooh. It took a certain type of person to “get” it. Kindred and Thomas’ twin guitars had a unique and abstract sound.

At the time, I lived in Redwood City, was in a crappy punk band, made zines and bounght Earache records at Tower. I met Thomas at school, he tells me he plays in a band called Plutocracy, gives me the Progress demo and I’m blown away. I became a huge fan of everything these guys did from that point forward. When Plutocracy broke up, No Le$$ twisted wigs back even further! Electric Jungle Violence slid Sabbath style jams into grind riffs while obscure samples popped in and out. The live shows were drunken and dangerous. Stinkweed started the West Bay Koalition and dubbed himself El Presidente. He was constantly creating. He was in so many bands: Agents of Satan, Go Like This, Kalmex & The Riff Merchants, Bullshit Excuse, Shadow People, Apeshit, United Sicko Foundation, Torture Unit, the list goes on.

Plutocracy

There was a six hour radio show on KZSU called the West Bay Radio Station Hostage Situation in which he was in every band. I was honored to be a part of the Shed Dwellaz with him. I told him I could DJ and he got me a sampler so I could make beats. Together we recorded hundreds of songs on 4-track. I learned so much about how to create music both from him and with him. He taught me to be myself and not worry about what others would think. If you liked what you were doing, then do it. He hated “kritiks.” And COPS. Fuck, he hated cops.

From the way he strung his guitar strings backwards to his shower cap and pajama stage attire, Stinkweed did it his way. He didn’t have a computer or go on message boards or give a shit about what anyone else thought was cool, he was on his own trip. Whether he was writing a riff or a sixteen or texting bandmates to schedule a jam, his mind was constantly on music. The guy was the most original person I’ve ever met in my life. Larger than life, LOUDER than life. If you ever hung out with him, you walked away with a story. Right before his death he was working on new material with Agents of Satan. He was recording raps and talking about starting a new West Bay Doom Ryderz band. He planned to release a compilation next year and was trying to compile all of the tracks for it. He was working with Pelon from Immortal Fate on the release of a 1992 live session of Plutocracy and Immortal fate on KZSU. The world will be a lot different without his demonic harmonics. Launch a hog leg and puff tuff for Mr. Stinkweed.

Donations on behalf of Kindred McCune can be made to: Redwood City Education Foundation, PO Box 3046, Redwood City, CA 94064. RCEF provides music education to all students in Redwood City – grades 2 to 8

It’s with great sadness that I relay that Brendon Annesely, friend to many of us, and the prolific and twisted voice behind Negative Guest List zine and records, and the band Meat Thump left this plane yesterday. I started typing “left us” but, there could be nothing further from the truth. He was only twenty-two years old, but the mark he has left on our underground DIY culture and on those of us he shared his life with is immense.
They broke the fuckin’ mould.
—Kevin Failure

By Pedro Carvalho

Brazil’s punk scene lost one of its most talented, charismatic and all around good guys on Tuesday, September 27. Edson “Redson” Pozzi, singer and guitar player in local legends Cólera, died at 49 years old of internal bleeding caused by an ulcer.

Well liked by practically everyone who knew him personally and admired by most who didn’t, Redson was, since the early ’80s, one of the most original and influential voices in Brazilian punk. While most tried to look mean or reproduce the usual political discourse of the time, he adopted a more positive stance since the beginning, bringing to the table subjects such as ecology, pacifism and so on.

Starting in 1979, Cólera was one of the first punk bands in Brazil. Formed by Redson and his brother Pierre on drums, they were soon (1980) joined by Val on bass, forming the classic line-up that would record their best material. After almost 20 years out of the band, Val would return in the late 2000′s which gave young kids a chance to see the classic trio live.

In 1987 the trio spent about six months in Europe and became the first Brazilian punk band ever to tour abroad. Two decades later, people in Europe who saw them live back in the day would still ask me about them and sing Cólera songs to me in the original Portuguese.

Of all the classic Brazilian punk bands from the early ’80s, Cólera was the only one that never turned its back on punk or DIY ethics. While their contemporaries tried (some succeeded) to make it big by turning metal or new wave, they kept pretty much the same formula all along: energetic, melodic hardcore punk with extremely catchy choruses.

For this reason they were idolized by generations of punks all over the country who would endure live shows that could last up to three hours, always singing along to the whole thing, over 30 years after they began. Some months ago I booked Cólera on a festival and asked Redson to play a shorter set. He refused to play less than an hour and 20 minutes, “because the kids won’t let us leave.” I thought he was making it up. Turned out it was true, and they played for an hour and 45 minutes and every song was sung along by most of the kids. Almost 30 years after their “prime,” that’s how popular they were.

I can’t think of a single person in the scene who didn’t feel personally affected by Redson’s death. From gutter punks to youth crew kids, everybody loved him and looked up to him. It’s weird to imagine São Paulo without the man who wrote so many of the city’s informal anthems.

He will be missed.