Even if you’re a diehard punk rock fan, there’s a chance you’ve never heard of the proto-punk band Death. And that’s because this outfit didn’t get the attention they deserved until the late 2000s and early 2010s, decades after they recorded their first albums in the early 1970s.
Thanks to a fascinating documentary from 2012 and hard work from the band’s remaining members, Death’s music made it to audiophiles around the globe. And some believe that this garage rock outfit from Detroit had been making punk rock music several years before their contemporaries across the pond did. Could Death have been the world’s first-ever punk band?
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Obviously, we can never know who “did punk rock” first. But one can’t deny that Death was an early iteration of the genre. And it’s crazy that nobody was paying attention back in the early 1970s.
A Band Called “Death” and the Documentary That Showed Them to the World in the 2010s
Death, at least its early iteration, was formed after three brothers named David, Bobby, and Dannis Hackney watched The Beatles perform live on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. With a guitar found in an alley, David learned to play, and his brothers soon followed his lead. Early demos from the trio can be traced back to 1971. Following their father’s death in an accident, they decided to perform under the name “Death.” David, specifically, wanted to change the meaning of the word in his grief.
“[David’s] concept was spinning death from the negative to the positive,” said Bobby Hackney. “It was a hard sell.”
Today, Death is believed by many to be one of the first punk bands to exist. And without a doubt, they were the first punk band composed entirely of African-American musicians. Sadly, things wouldn’t be easy for the outfit.
Where Are the Members of Death Now?
After recording a number of songs and records from 1975 through 1977 without much traction, the brothers ended their band. They would form a gospel outfit in the 1980s, and much of Death’s legacy would be left behind.
That is, until the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Copies of the track “Politicians In My Eyes” and other songs, plus the band’s story, began to circulate among vintage music collectors on the internet. Many copies were being sold for hundreds of dollars because of their rarity. Word made it to Drag City Records. The label would later work with the brothers to re-release several of their albums. Drafthouse Films would then release an independent 2012 documentary about the band’s formation, titled A Band Called Death, which would further expose to band to a wider audience. I highly recommend watching it.
Sadly, David Hackney passed away in 2000 from complications related to lung cancer. Bobby and Dannis Hackney currently live in Vermont, and both lead the reggae outfit Lambsbread. Dannis is also the drummer of the funk-rock band The Aerolites.
Death’s last release was a split in 2023 with the band Rough Francis, the latter of which was famously formed by Bobby Hackney’s three sons. Interestingly enough, the new generation of brothers (Bobby Jr., Julian, and Urian) had no idea about their father and uncles’ early proto-punk outfit when they became interested in punk as children.
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