News emerged yesterday that Fred Smith died on Thursday at the age of 77, having fought an unspecified illness for some time. Fred Smith (not to be confused with legend of the Detroit scene Fred 'Sonic' Smith) was born in New York City in 1948, and played with many notable New York bands of the 1970s and 80s. He got his start in the early 70s in Angel and the Snake , with Debbie Harry , Chris Stein and Billy O'Connor. They played two gigs in August 1974 under that name, bu

I needed an idea for a jump off point for the next Six Degrees of Kevin Shields - and then sadly, last weekend it became clear who was...

A few weeks ago, the music world paid tribute over two epic concerts to the life and legacy of Taylor Hawkins. In a twenty five year...