Weekend Wildcard - Freakin Out by Death

This Weekend's Wildcard is brought to you by another band that will be playing at Hopscotch tonight. This is Freakin Out by Death off of their debut 1975 album ...For the Whole World to See. This protopunk band was 3 black brothers from Detroit; David, Dannis, and Bobby Hackney.

While the album was recorded in 1975, it wasn't officially released until 2009 when the band was rediscovered by record collectors and the band members' children. Death was offered a record deal in the 70's but the record company demanded that they change the name of the band. When the brothers refused, the record company wouldn't sign them.

The band pressed a few copies of the album on their own but ultimately never made it. About 30 years later, record collectors came across these rare records and suddenly the songs were being played in underground clubs and eventually one of their children heard it and recognized his father's voice. This lead to the record finally being released by Drag City records in 2009.

David Hackney, the guitarist and creative leader of the band, prophetically stated that his music would not be appreciated until after he was gone. David died of lung cancer in 2000. (RIP) An outstanding documentary of the band's incredible story is available on Netflix titled "A Band Called Death".