Darby Crash
Darby Crash |
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Darby Crash (born Jan Paul Beahm) (A.K.A. Bobby Pyn) (September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American punk musician who, along with long time friend Pat Smear (born Georg Ruthenberg), co-founded The Germs.
Early life
Crash had a troubled childhood: The man he grew up believing to be his biological father left the family and his older brother died of a drug overdose. When in his teens, his sister revealed in an argument that his biological father was really a Swedish sailor named William Björklund. Crash attended IPS (Innovative Program School), a school within University High School in Los Angeles. The IPS program was a notoriously free-form academic program that combined elements of est and Scientology.[1]
Before the Germs, he and Pat Smear called themselves "Sophistifuck and the Revlon Spam Queens," but had to shorten this name because they didn't have enough money to put the full name on a t-shirt. For a short period up until the acclaimed Whiskey A-Go-Go gig, Belinda Carlisle was a member of the band. She appears on the first track of the live CD, where she introduces the band as "sluts".[2] After a short stint under the name Bobby Pyn, he changed his name to Darby Crash. The Germs became an important Los Angeles-area punk band, known for their chaotic live shows. The Germs soon dominated the L.A. punk scene. They can be seen in the 1981 film The Decline of Western Civilization, directed by Penelope Spheeris. Crash discussed taking drugs onstage to avoid feeling injuries from fan violence and "creeps out there with grudges".
Later life and suicide
Shortly after the Germs split, Darby and Pat went on to form the short-lived Darby Crash Band. Circle Jerks drummer Lucky Lehrer joined the band on the eve of their first (sold-out) live performance, when during soundcheck, Darby kicked out the drummer they'd rehearsed with. The band, described by Smear as "like the Germs, but with worse players", played only a few gigs to lukewarm reaction before splitting up.
Shortly after that, Crash contacted Smear about a Germs "reunion" show, claiming it was necessary to "put punk into perspective" for the punks on the scene. However, Smear has said Crash told him privately he wanted to earn money for heroin with which to commit suicide. Since Darby had described this scenario many times in the past, Pat did not take him seriously.[3]
On December 3, 1980, an over-sold Starwood hosted a final live show of the reunited band, including drummer Don Bolles. In spite of Crash's favorite LA band X not showing up for their opening gig, the Germs played what was, by all accounts, one of their best shows ever. [citation needed] At one point, Darby told the amazed kids in the audience, "We did this show so you new people could see what it was like when we were around. You're not going to see it again".[3]
Crash committed suicide 7 December, 1980, at age 22. Unreported at the time, Crash had overdosed on heroin in a suicide pact with close friend Casey Cola, who ended up surviving. She insists that he did not intend for her to live, nor did he change his mind at the last minute and intend for himself to live. As he lay dying, he attempted to write "Here lies Darby Crash" on the wall, but did not finish. Outside the world of Germs' fans, news of Darby's death was largely overshadowed by the murder of John Lennon the next day. A local news station mistakenly reported that Darby had died from playing a game of chicken with sleeping pills; he took too many sleeping pills.
What We Do Is Secret
Crash and The Germs are the subject of the 2007 biopic film What We Do Is Secret which stars Shane West as Crash and Bijou Phillips as Lorna Doom.
References
- ^ Mullen (2000-12-27). "Annihilation Man; How Darby Crash lost control. Of the Germs. Of Circle One. Everything". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
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