Mark Linkous (1962-2010)
Oh the power of a major label marketing campaign. Yes, even an indie kid like me succumbed to them in my youth. In 1992 Parlophone sent me a postcard suggesting I might like the debut EP by a new band of theirs called Radiohead. I bought it for 99p and never looked back. Four years later Parlophone sent me another postcard suggesting that the debut album by another new band, Sparklehorse, might tickle my fancy. As the postcard alluded to Radiohead’s admiration for this new band, I thought it was worth a speculative purchase (this was of course before the days of the free 24/7 listening post on the internet). Again, I never looked back. Sparklehorse and Radiohoead ended up collaborating on a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”, and I think it’s a pity no smart alec at Parlophone sent me a postcard about that.
And so, I’m afraid that’s the only gag in today’s blog entry by me. For it was with great sadness that I learnt that last weekend Mark Linkous, the heart of darkness that drove Sparklehorse, took his own life. I still can’t quite believe he’s done it, even as I write this. When Elliott Smith killed himself in 2003 I felt a similar sense of shock and upset. Yet I have to admit that in the case of Both Smith and Linkous, there was a thought that ran through my mind along the lines of “it’s not a total surprise“. But I do need to qualify that statement by saying that I didn’t know either man personally, and it is only based on what I knew of their music, on record and live, that makes me think that way.