In a rather odd coincidence, Pencil Storm received both of these In Memoriam blogs on the same day; one from JCE in Virginia and the other from Nick Jezierny in Idaho. Both expressed the idea that the the passing of the musicians in question might not be newsworthy given their limited command of true fame. But we here at Pencil Storm believe that ANYONE who meant enough to our writers and readers deserves to be remembered along with the superstars.
At Pencil Storm, all rockers are born equal, and leave this life the same way. John & C.J. R.I.P.
John Slaughter
John Slaughter passed away sometime on or about April 19, 2024. John was a drummer in a band from Charlottesville, VA called 98 Colours. The band was active in the 1980’s, playing mostly local gigs, but also all over Virginia and North Carolina. 98 Colours had the distinction of opening shows for some of my favorite bands, notably The Replacements, The Neighborhoods and Jason & the Scorchers. The band at times added a second guitar player, but none of them lasted the duration. Primarily it was a three-piece with John holding everything down behind the drum kit. He was a hell of a drummer. After the band activity dwindled, John became an amazing chef and opened his own restaurant called The Moon Dance, which had a long run of success.
I knew John and considered him a friend, although I cannot say that we were extremely close, and I have not kept up with him over the years. Nevertheless, he touched everyone he knew, including me. I had the good fortune to be a roadie on a run of shows that covered Greenville, NC, Raleigh, NC and Winston-Salem, NC. The band had no van, so we took three cars, each with two passengers and as much gear and beer as we could pack in. John was my riding partner, and we had some long and great conversations on that trip. He was easily one of the coolest guys I have ever met. R.I.P. my friend. You will be missed by so many.
JCE, or John to his friends, is 61 years old and lives with his wife happily in rural VA about an hour and half outside of D.C. He went to college at the University of Virginia and lived in Charlottesville, VA for close to a decade. His times running around with the band 98 Colours are truly some of his fondest memories.
C.J. Snare
Once again, a musician in a (I hate this term) hair-metal band passed away without much fanfare.
Firehouse singer C.J. Snare recently died and his death barely registered outside of the band’s social media accounts and those of other bands from that era who fondly remembered Snare.
Firehouse was an ‘80s style melodic hard-rock band with several strong power ballads that didn’t debut until the 1990’s. Its self-titled debut record put the band on the map and showcased Snare’s voice. The band toured with Warrant and Trixter the next summer. The second single from the debut, “Love of a Lifetime,” reached No. 5 on the charts and was co-written by Snare.
Yet his death went relatively unnoticed despite Firehouse landing on the Adult Contemporary charts, reaching No. 20 with “I Live My Life for You” in 1995. That song also made No. 14 on the Mainstream Top 40 and No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Remember, in 1995, most bands in Firehouse’s genre were getting nowhere or were gone. In a way, Firehouse crossed over and survived the grunge wave and kept thriving, especially in Japan.
The band released eight studio albums and a live album and still tours, using a substitute vocalist while Snare was unable to perform.
Snare’s death made me think of a column that Chuck Klosterman wrote for the New York Times in 2002 about how musicians from the ‘80s aren’t taken seriously. He used the death of Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby as the example, comparing the coverage that Joey Ramone’s death received. It’s a great read but behind the NYT’s paywall. If you want read some snippets, scroll down on this blog and you’ll get the gist of Klosterman’s piece.
I saw Firehouse perform four times (three in Ohio and once in South Carolina) and was hoping for a fifth, but the band never made it to Boise after I relocated here in 2001. Snare had a great voice and the band sounded great live. I’ve read interviews with other band members that the vocals we heard live were just that – no tapes or piped-in backing vocals to fill out the sound.
Listen to “Overnight Sensation” from the debut album to get a great example of Snare’s vocal prowess. He hit that scream every time as the band often opened its shows with that tune.
RIP, C.J.
Nick Jezierny is a graduate of Ohio University and a former newspaper journalist who worked at papers in Connecticut, Ohio, Texas and Idaho. He resides in Garden City, Idaho, and is fascinated by all things music, mostly because he has zero musical skills minus his spot-on karaoke version of Tommy Tutone.