I don’t do RIP threads. I’ll just say it: Jeff Conolly had cancer and is dead at 69. Damn.
Jeff was one of the best, most vital musicians in the Boston club scene. He also could piss people off, which was part of his whole deal. That might be one reason his band, the Lyres, which he led since 1979 and was still an ongoing presence though not continuously, never seemed to have a stable lineup. Whether that bothered him I don’t know, but he was determined that there be a Lyres as long as he was around.
He was devoted to music, especially the local groups that flourished in America and elsewhere in the mid to late 60s, made their mark with a single or two, then faded. Murphy and the Mob, The New Colony Six, the Jujus, the Sonics, people like that. Others trolled in those waters, but Jeff really took it to heart, and whether people understood it didn’t matter. He took those influences and made a sound that was very up-to-date. Whether covering “What a Girl Can’t Do” by the Hangmen (because everybody knows you can’t trust them unless you lay down the law) or brewing up originals that promise to “take all your troubles, blow them away”, you
got the feeling this guy meant it, for better or worse.
Jeff’s early group DMZ was punky in a Stooges sort of way, and he had a yelp that would curdle Iggy’s blood. But the Lyres was where he declared he was nobody’s stepping stone, and if you felt threatened from time to time, well, he didn’t really mean it. Right? I guess. Just keep an eye on your girlfriend.
Here’s Jeff being optimistic and cynical at the same time. Neat trick. I’ll miss him.
