A Band Called Death

A moving and rocking tribute to one of the pioneering Rock bands, "A Band Called Death" is a celebration of the power of family, brotherhood and great, timeless music. In early - 1970s Detroit three black brothers inspired by the Rock bands of their time decide to form a group where they eventually changed music forever. Jamming up a compelling mix of Hard Rock, Funk and Soul with a then unheard of sound called Punk the Hackney brothers raised up a storm infuriating neighbors and challenging the music establishment with their then controversial band name and music. This rockumentary features the band's origins growing up in a musical family and how they differed with the black community of the time with their choice of music. Their experience with tragedy at an early age and their disappointments with the setbacks they experienced brought the band to an end culminating with the death of one of the brothers. But fate and posterity have a funny way of meting out justice and through the surviving band members' children the group's music was rediscovered and released for a whole new generation and future ones to rock out to and enjoy. The documentary includes priceless footage and images of the stellar power trio in their prime and what followed and features interviews of the brothers and their family with individuals associated with their story. Henry Rollins, Kid Rock, Elijah Wood (!) and others add their appreciation of the seminal band. After listening to "...For the Whole World to See" for the first time I knew the band was special and they were an instant fave who I'm going to appreciate and enjoy for life. The band proved and showed with their music the warmth, power and energy that Rock's liberating force can bring and why it was and still is the greatest and most important genre in all of music. A tale of promise, tragedy and triumph "A Band Called Death" is a testament to the power of art and spirituality in overcoming the trials and tribulations of life and their deep and lasting effect in humanity as a whole.

Write this one up as fiction and no one would buy it. Three black brothers in Detroit back in the early seventies. Their parents come into a chunk of money and buy their music-loving kids the classic bass/guitar/drums rock configuration. David, the band's guitarist and de facto leader, decides that if he can play chords like Pete Townsend and solo like Jimi Hendrix, he'll be capable of making an all-powerful sound. And as with so much of what David proclaimed, he was right.

This movie feels like a pure rock and roll myth, and like all myths, it has its tragic act. The band called Death independently records an amazing album, but they never get the major push they were hoping for. Their extreme (at the time) name is a constant stumbling block. After a long string of rejections, Death hears word that Clive Davis might sign them - but only if they're willing to change their name. Brothers Bobby and Dannis are willing to make the change in a heartbeat, but David - an uncompromising visionary on every level - dismisses the idea without even a moment's consideration, seemingly dooming the band to permanent obscurity.

Eventually the other Hackney brothers move on without David, evolving their sound into a reggae act. In 2000, David ominously delivers their earlier recordings to his brother, telling him to keep them safe because "the world's going to come looking for the Death master tapes someday." He wasn't wrong on that one, either, or this movie wouldn't exist.

As a documentary, "A Band Called Death" is extremely well made. The Hackney brothers provide lively interviews, as do other family members and people connected with the band. Black and white photos from their well-documented studio sessions fill in the visual pieces that home video would handle in a more modern story. The film is paced well, and even though by its very existence you'll realize that the band and its music were ultimately vindicated, there are many nice surprises along the way.  If you're into music (especially hard rock, punk, hardcore, or thrash) and immersive documentaries like "The King of Kong" and "Capturing the Friedmans", you'll need to check this one out as soon as you have the chance.

This film is about more than music, Band names or 'firsts'. "A Band Called Death" is about FAMILY, FAITH and BROTHERHOOD. Loved every frame.

In recent years there seems to have been a cycle of music documentaries about musicians of whom success has eluded. In Anvil: the Story of Anvil we have a band who have had extremely limited success over a very long period, in Searching for Sugarman we have an artist who had extremely minor success and then disappeared only to be rediscovered a quarter of a century later to great acclaim and in 20 Feet from Stardom we have the story of singers whose work we hear everywhere but of whom remain unfairly obscure. A Band Called Death contains elements of all of these documentaries, except in this one the band didn't even release an album until 35 years after their initial demo.

Death were a Detroit proto-punk band. Not only that but they were an all-black proto-punk band, which makes them very unique. There were very few black musicians operating in this area of music back in the 70's. Its details like this that makes their story all the more unusual. Having heard their music, I have to say it was pretty good. Forget proto-punk, this stuff sounded more like post-punk. Its combination of aggression with tight highly skilled musicianship was certainly ahead of its time and sounds more like the more expansive alternative rock that followed in the wake of the punk years. I suppose, looking back on it, being so ahead of their time was one of the problems the band had in getting a record deal. Likewise, their name was a major handicap. Band leader David Hackney conceived of the name and insisted on it being retained at all costs. This of course led to the group losing the one record contract they were offered. It is testament to David's principles but it does seem like a self-defeating stance, as it's the music that counts most, the name is so much less important and we are left wondering what could have been. Of course, a name like 'Death' and music such as theirs is entirely in-step with today's contemporary alternative rock, which is why they were rediscovered to such fanfare. It's great to see them finally have their time in the sun.

The two surviving brothers are genuinely good blokes and we learn most of the story of the band from them. Their brother David died some time round about the year 2000 of lung cancer, so there is a bittersweet nature to the band's late acceptance and success. David was the main visionary of the band. He was a dreamer. It is sad that he never saw the band achieve its long-overdue success but until his dying day he always was convinced that one day people would come looking for their music. And he was proved correct. The film perhaps falls a bit short in detailing the Detroit rock scene of the time. It almost paints a picture where Death were the lone purveyors of this kind of confrontational rock music. This makes them seem more unique but it would have been good if the documentary at least acknowledged fellow Detroit pioneers such as The Stooges and The MC5. It would have put the band and Detroit itself into a bit more historical context. Also, it would have been interesting to know if they had a local following at the time and played any gigs. But, despite these minor issues, the film is still very successful because these guys were genuinely good and it's not a rose tinted spectacle affair. The film also functions as a mechanism for their music to reach an even wider audience and this in itself is a good enough reason for its existence. But the main thing is that now Death have been added to the rock family tree as an important precursor to punk and alternative rock. Even if, in the final analysis, none of that changes the fact that 'Death' is still a terrible name for a band

David, Bobby and Dannis Hackney are not legends in the world of punk rock, and it's a shame they are not a part of the punk rock lexicon. While they are not necessarily the progenitors of punk rock, they were raucous and loud enough to predate other well known bands like The Ramones, Iggy and the Stooges, Sex Pistols, The Damned and many, many others. It's unclear how influential they would have been, but it is clear they had a boat load of talent.

While one might think the story of a lost band would be the theme of the film, it actually turns out to be a story about family. The Hackney brothers stood together though a lot of problems, whether it was due to the strange dislike to their name, the racial politics of being a African American rock band in Detroit, the eventual pushback they got for morphing into a Christian rock band or just the division between the virtuoso guitarist David and his two more pragmatic brothers Bobby and Dannis. The family is front and center in the whole documentary, because it was ultimately a younger generation of Hackney's that helped the world discover their music.

You see, the three sons of Bobby Hackney helped bring the music to the masses, and now the band has a much bigger following than it ever had. It continues the element of how important family was to the band's dynamic, even after the loss of David Hackney in 2000.

The documentary wasn't able to follow the brothers post life after 2012, but they recorded another album and continue to bask in the positive fall out of the band's reemergence. Needless to say, this is a nice documentary about music, family and life.