As the internet buzzed out-of-control over the Wayne Knight hoax of 2014, rock 'n' roll quietly lost a true original and proper sonic dissident with the unexpected passing of Scott Asheton, a founding member and the percussive thunder of the Stooges.
Asheton's death is being attributed to an undisclosed illness. However, the 64-year-old drummer suffered a serious stroke in 2011 that removed him from the drum throne for quite a while.
Irreverence is an important part of punk-rock; after all, how can one pose a threat to an establishment it respects? However, the Stooges are the exception. Having been extolled by everyone from Henry Rollins to David Bowie, and even the most disenfranchised and jaded of punk fans are forced to revere the (FUCKIN') Stooges.
The legacy and impact of the first 3 Stooges records is not something that is easily exaggerated nor really explained. If you're a rock 'n' roll fan in any capacity, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with these albums. They are the blueprints of punk-rock, they are the schematics of how to effectively hone your music into a weapon, and they are the artifacts of an energy that under absolutely no circumstances will ever be recreated. And they would be absolutely nothing without the locomotion of Scott Asheton's visceral, animalistic drumming.
From the bombastic reports of tom drum that open up "1969" to the crash and bash of "Search and Destroy," Asheton's immediacy and power is the cornerstone of punk drumming. And in a time when we're losing the Scott Ashetons of the world at a staggering rate, we implore you to find some time today to crank up some Stooges and honor the man's passing with a disturbance of the peace.
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