Devastating Blows

Pere Ubu and Ubu Projex Headlines

Daved Hild Dies

Daved Hild died from a heart attack while drivng to work on September 10. He had been working as a home health aide for the last nine years. "He was extremely dedicated and he worked very hard despite his health issues," reports a friend. "Daved also cared for stray cats just as he had for many years." A tribute will be aired and then archived on WFMU.

John Thompson Dies

John Thompson passed away July 8 2024 with a brain aneurysm. Designer and conceptualist with Pere Ubu for half a century he did as much to shape the identity of the band as any of the group’s musicians. Between 1975 and 1980, as Johnny Dromette, he opened Cleveland’s first punk record store, located in the Cedar-Fairmont neighborhood. It was called Hideo’s Discodrome. He promoted concerts and events. He backed the magazine that chronicled the city’s underground scene, CLE. He was an eager backer and doyenne. He produced and manufactured punk records by local bands such as The Pagans.

During that period John shared a house with David Thomas. Fuelled by a river of coffee, the two conceptualised, analysed and prophesied, consuming music and outre publications at a feverish pace. Guests would arrive and be drawn into a bizarre replica of the Johnny Carson show. B-grade movies were collaged and reformulated. A full size rendition of the Hollywood Squares TV set dominated the living room. He devised the Disastodrome series of concerts. “We call it ‘disasto’ so nothing can go wrong,” he explained. He devised the framework of Coed Jail.

“It was a golden period,” Thomas recalls. “We spun out the paradigm of Datapanik as the initiator of past future and present happenings. I remember the idea evolved from watching the antics of TV weathermen. There was no stopping us. Or slowing us down. Or detouring us. The reinvention of rock music from a Cleveland soul was the objective.”

John was kind and loyal. When the brother of Jim Jones refused to retrieve his body or give him a burial, John did so.

Gagarin Dies

It is with deep sadness that we report the passing of Graham "Dids" Dowdall, aka Gagarin, on June 16 2024 due to cancer. A hugely respected musician in his own right, his involvement in the Pere Ubu story over the past two decades, has been essential to the evolution of the music. During the last months of his illness, he was insistent that there would be one more Pere Ubu album. He worked on many of the songs, giving his own inspirations whenever he felt well enough to do so. He is survived by his wife and partner, Noriko. No one can explain Gagarin to you better than Keith Moliné. His words are here.

Paul Hamann (1955-2017)

Paul Hamann died September 14, 2017 in a Cleveland hospice. He was 62. Click here to go to an article.

What is the 'Pere Ubu Moon Unit'?

It’s a subset of Pere Ubu dedicated to generating new songs. Venues chosen are generally smaller, intimate spaces. Two or three members of the Pere Ubu band join David. Sometimes guests are invited. Recently, Duffy from Primal Scream sat in at the Brunswick Pub in Hove.

"Here comes trouble on Big Beat Street," David Thomas says. "The beginning of the next Pere Ubu adventure. The Pere Ubu Moon Unit makes songs that never existed before and will never exist again, songs orchestrated by the subconscious, and liberated from the cult of personality."

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Albums

Pere Ubu Live Albums 390º Of Simulated Stereo (1981) The Shape Of Things (1976) Manhattan (1977) In The Shadow Of The Aeronautical Shot Peening Co. (1977) London Texas (1989) Apocalypse Now (1991) By Order Of Mayor Pawlicki (2020)

Special Projex

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The Pere Ubu Pirate Flag

Pere Ubu is a pirate ship, an entity comprised of equals dedicated to expediting the ship’s purpose. “Land ahoy! Loot, pillage!” Once the job is done, share out the spoils equally to every man, woman or boy onboard, regardless of race, age, sex or capability, and move on to the next destination. This ‘job’ was no different from the work of governments, merchant ships and privateers - in modern terms, corporations, unions and ‘rights’ organizations. “Ship ahoy! Loot, pillage!” A facade of laws and rhetoric legitimized fleets of galleons laden with the gold stripped from native peoples. Laws and rhetoric were contrived to funnel profits to fat cats. Pirate captains led by consensus and could be voted in or out. Sailors in the legitimate world, often kidnapped, received a pittance and were, effectively, slaves, harshly treated. Pirate flags, each unique, displayed coded messages - for example, 'Time is running out. We won't kill if you don't resist.''