SHIT.
*checks Facebook*
Fuck. It's true.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 16 July 2021 20:22 (two years ago) link
Sorry Ned. Know he means a lot to you.
― djh, Friday, 16 July 2021 20:55 (two years ago) link
Oh shit. He was part of informal hoot nights in Chicago in the early 2000s, saw him a lot in small clubs and was always genial then.
― ... (Eazy), Friday, 16 July 2021 21:03 (two years ago) link
He was just a friendly funny guy, you know? One who had done a lot and ended up in America and seemed pretty happy with it, enjoying life in LA and Chicago. Not knowing the cause I won’t speculate but he had been hospitalized and it reminds me of nothing so much as my uncle’s sudden death some years back.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 16 July 2021 21:05 (two years ago) link
It appears pneumonia and then sepsis was the cause. What a tragedy.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 16 July 2021 21:33 (two years ago) link
Just awful. I've got a couple Chicago music industry friends that are just gutted about this tonight. Met him a couple of times & genuinely good bloke.
― BlackIronPrison, Saturday, 17 July 2021 00:17 (two years ago) link
Yeah there’s a wrenching amount of posts on his FB page from Chicago folks, clearly his spiritual home. And from so many people worldwide — he never knew a stranger, it seems, and you can tell in the best way.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 17 July 2021 00:29 (two years ago) link
If there happen to be angelsI’ll swallow all my prideI’ll kiss them all and say goodnightAnd feel their words insideSinging happily in nursery rhymesOn how I lived my little life.
But it wasn't little.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 17 July 2021 03:08 (two years ago) link
Not the news I expected on this revive. Very sad to lose such a talent. Condolences to all who knew him.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Sunday, 18 July 2021 00:02 (two years ago) link
I've tried to remember Joe Cassidy. I've done my best.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 18 July 2021 19:19 (two years ago) link
That link doesn't work for me. Does this?
https://www.patreon.com/posts/life-that-was-53834871
― djh, Sunday, 18 July 2021 20:05 (two years ago) link
Working on this end
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 18 July 2021 20:40 (two years ago) link
A great tribute
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/remembering-joe-cassidy-40684867.html
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 25 July 2021 16:44 (two years ago) link
That is decent.
― djh, Sunday, 25 July 2021 20:49 (two years ago) link
https://thequietus.com/articles/30276-joe-cassidy-butterfly-child-obituary?fbclid=IwAR013iz44K0RQGktsG5ktj1LaUCIOpHh6FUn7L_NMx2El3_YdVB7ju4GAJs
― djh, Thursday, 29 July 2021 08:47 (two years ago) link
Thanks for that link. Great tribute. "Big, bold balloons of unbridled joy (even – or is that especially – when they were fundamentally melancholy) Joe’s songs appeared as if they had always existed somewhere" sums up that seeming disparity in a lot of music I love, like AMC/Mark Eitzel.
Also answers the question that felt awkward to ask: "There will be (“with my eyes closed I swear to you”) further records released by Joe. At the time of his death (15 July, 11.50 CDT) Joe had a trio of albums very close to completion – his acoustic/ orchestral Butterfly Child album, a new album by Assassins and another under a third name." There was a band name mentioned years ago, starting with a Z, like Zzaxx or Zzazz, that he was involved in, but memory's meshing that name with a Marvel electric monster and a Was (Not Was) tune.
Kate Bush news has a small article as well, with a free download link to his "Top of the City" cover.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Thursday, 29 July 2021 14:13 (two years ago) link
This Sun Times obit is quite lovely.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/29/22596221/joe-cassidy-musician-songwriter-producer-humboldt-park
― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Saturday, 31 July 2021 17:08 (two years ago) link
Gary McKendry playlist for Joe ...
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4hXUM7QeKjPienWF9H8kZZ?si=WIUYWOCSQOOVqd143jePPA&dl_branch=1&fbclid=IwAR2zL5_tft2NFHmxBccD7BIcD7oaxtz0wehCsEqIDGgYLBHV7peXZJuUiTE&nd=1
― djh, Monday, 2 August 2021 10:52 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SezwkNwu6Y
― MaresNest, Monday, 1 August 2022 11:10 (one year ago) link
His family has set up a site in memory, also with some award news:
https://softexplosives.co.uk/
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 17:08 (ten months ago) link
THANK you, Ned! The Assassins album passed by my radar, so glad to see it available at https://snissassa.bandcamp.com/album/the-year-that-never-came, as well as at the Norman Records site linked on the family site.
Appreciate the care done to display his discography. Had forgotten, if I'd known, his involvement on the Chris Connelly album, which I own and like a lot.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 21 June 2023 23:24 (ten months ago) link