Australian punk-rock drummer, singer and songwriter James Baker, 71, died of cancer on May 5. I must admit I had never heard of Baker till he died, but I am hugely entertained by the names of the bands he played (and recorded) with: the Victims, the Scientists, Hoodoo Gurus, Beasts of Bourbon, the Dubrovniks, the Painkillers (my favorite band names in ‘80s New York were the Mommyheads, the Dead Milkmen, and Shirley Temple of Doom). Baker’s career began in 1973, and by 1980 he was one of the stars of the Australian punk scene. The Guardian wrote that “Baker’s glam-and-garage drumming is key to the sound of the Gurus’ 1984 album Stoneage Romeos, one of the most celebrated debuts in Australian music history . . . Baker was loved for his looks, his irrepressible enthusiasm and insouciance, more than his musicianship.”
The James Baker Experience: the genuinely delightful “Born to be Punched” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J05xaIulxTo
