Death

Members: Bobby Hackney Sr., Dannis Hackney, David Hackney, Bobbie Duncan
Origin: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Years Active: 1971 – 1977, 2009 – Present

After seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, the three Hackney brothers began learning to play music together at their family home in Detroit. Originally, David, Bobby, and Dannis Hackney formed a Soul and R&B band called Rock Fire Funk Express. However, once tragedy struck their family in the form of their father dying, they changed the band’s name to Death. The decision was rooted in how their father’s passing had deeply affected them and they sought to positively reclaim the negative connotation associated with the word as they moved through their grief and grew spiritually. The band’s music was stylistically connected to Garage Rock and Funk. However, it also contained visionary sonic elements of what would soon become known as Punk, a trait that they shared with fellow Detroit bands MC5 and the Stooges.

Record labels and music industry figures expressed interest in working with Death, including the legendary music executive and record producer Clive Davis. However, there was resistance to the band’s name. The Hackney brothers were asked to change it but they refused to compromise. Struggling to receive the recognition and success they had worked so hard for in their hometown of Detroit, Death relocated to New England, but their fortunes did not improve. However, the band was able to record several songs and released a two-song single on their TryAngle Records label before disbanding in 1977. David Hackney returned to Detroit in the early 1980s, while Bobby and Dannis stayed in New England and formed the Reggae band, Lamb’s Bread.

Death’s story could have ended there, but thanks to the independent record label Drag City, friend Don Schwenk, and the sons of Bobby Hackney, the original 1970s Death recordings were rediscovered. They were released in 2009 as the album, …For the Whole World to See on Drag City. In support of the album, Bobby and Dannis reformed the group. Their Lamb’s Bread bandmate Bobbie Duncan took the place of David Hackney, who had passed away in 2000.

In 2012, directors Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett brought the story of Death to a wider audience with A Band Called Death, a documentary about the group. Since their reformation, Death have released new recordings and toured extensively. Their most recent studio record, N.E.W. was released on TryAngle Records in 2015. No longer languishing in obscurity and with their origin story attesting to their prescient Punk sound, Death are now celebrated as Proto-Punk legends.