Hermanus “Herman” Brood (November 5, 1946 – July 11, 2001)

-


Pronounced “Hairmon Broat”, Herman Brood has been called “the Dutch personification of sex, drugs and rock and roll,” “the Dutch Elvis” and was named by the Dutch Broadcast Foundation as “The Netherlands’ greatest and only rock star”. He was born in Zwolle, Netherlands and started playing the piano at the age of 13. In addition to being infamous for his self-indulgent lifestyle, he was also known for being a painter, writer, poet and performer. His influence in Holland was so pronounced that he was the subject of multiple biographies, documentaries, books, and a biographical movie, all highlighting his art and photographs of his rock and roll career.

Brood also struggled with multiple addictions: heroin, alcohol, speed, gambling, and sex. He was quite outspoken about his habits and not ashamed of them.  According to friends, he rarely slept (on average 2 hours per night) while he spent his waking hours doing drugs, playing music, being engrossed in his art or writing, having sex, and being social at bars with others.  He experimented with every drug he could find before realizing that speed and alcohol created the perfect balance for him mentally and physically.  One of his most famous drug experiments was combining heroin and LSD, which he preferred to take regularly when he entered major depressive episodes. Brood made multiple attempts at sobriety and at one point was in the same rehab facility in London as Tom Waits. 

His initial musical influences were Fats Domino and Little Richard. In 1975 he formed his first band, The Moans, which was later changed to Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers. After that he joined the Dutch blues combo called Cuby and the Blizzards and was ultimately fired by the record company due to his drug use. After a long stint of depression, he began to experiment with singing and songwriting. In 1976 he formed a band called  Herman Brood & His Wild Romance, which earned an American Top 40 in 1979 with the hit “Saturday Night”.  During this period of time he went on tour as the opening band for The Cars, The Kinks, and Foreigner. 

Brood entered art school when he was 17, yet never became serious about it until the 1990’s with his pop-art style of painting. Brood found more critical and financial success as an artist than as a musician and was quite well known within the Amsterdam art community; since his death his paintings have increased substantially in value.



Brood had a high sex drive and claimed to have started seeing prostitutes since the age of 15 and continued to do so throughout his life. Even though he was married, he still maintained a girlfriend, his most famous being the German singer Nina Hagen.

Years of drug and alcohol abuse took a serious toll on his liver and kidneys which caused him to spend the last year of his life in poor health. Although he cut down substantially on his drug use, he became increasingly depressed at his inability to stop altogether.  Brood jumped from the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel at the age of 54.  Thousands of people lined the streets in Amsterdam during his funeral procession. The 2nd floor art studio he worked out of on Spuistraat in Amsterdam has remained untouched since his death.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Per “Dead” Ohlin (January 16, 1969 – April 8, 1991)

-
Image
Born Per Yngve Ohlin (sometime was referred to by friends and family as Pelle), he was later known for his stage name, Dead. Ohlin was born in Stockholm, Sweden and suffered from sleep apnea as a child. There are varying accounts as to how his spleen ruptured when he was 10 years old; some sources state he was in an ice skating accident and other suggest that the cause was from being beaten so horribly due to bullying at school. Regardless of how it occurred, he was taken to the hospital and was for some time clinically dead. The incident greatly affected him afterwards as he became obsessed with death and dying. It has been suggested that Ohlin had a rare mental disorder called Cotard’s Syndrome, in which the afflicted person believes they literally or figuratively dead; in Ohlin’s case this most likely stemmed from the trauma he experienced. Ohlin struggled with depression throughout his short life, which caused him to withdraw further into himself and display behavior t
Read more

Jeff Ward (November 18, 1962 – March 19, 1993)

-
Image
Originally from Chicago, Jeff Ward drummed for a number of bands including the Revolting Cocks, Nine Inch Nails, Lard, Ministry, and Low Pop Suicide. Ward grew up with a family of musicians. His brother Jason played bass and his father was also a drummer.   While living in Phoenix he was in a metal band called Coven of Thieves, which he joined a year before his death.   According to Dan McGuinness, Coven’s lead singer, Ward was frustrated with how he was treated in the music industry. “Jeff wasn’t the kind of guy who would hold a grudge against people; he would still show up and play on a session if he was asked. But he’d say, ‘I can’t believe I have to call and ask for royalties.’ That was a big thing for him: that he would have to track people down just to get paid. I think it’s kind of indicative of the music business in general. It’s the kind of business that can eat you alive.”   Ward struggled with heroin addiction and became discouraged over his inability to quit.  
Read more

Dave Rubinstein (September 5, 1964 – July 3, 1993)

-
Image
Dave Rubinstein grew up in Forest Hills, Queens and co-founded the punk band Reagan Youth along with his friend Paul Bakija, who played guitar. They both attended the same high school in Queens (Forest Hills High School) as the Ramones did. Rubinstein later became better known for his stage name, Dave Insurgent.   After graduating high school, Reagan Youth released their first EP and toured the US with bands such as the Dead Kennedy’s, Beastie Boys, The Misfits, and Bad Brains on the Rock Against Racism tour. They were an influential band in the NY punk and hardcore scene and regularly performed at CBGB’s, even when they were still in high school.   Their music was sarcastic and political; they used KKK and Nazi Party imagery on their albums and sometimes wore authentic uniforms from the two hate groups on stage. Rubinstein was quite vocal about his views about being anti-racist and anti-fascist. Several members of Rubinstein’s family were holocaust survivors.   By the l
Read more