R.I.P. Paul Raven, Bassist for Killing Joke, Prong and Ministry

I thought I’d give a quick bloggy salute to Paul Raven, who died from a heart attack on October 20th in Switzerland.

Raven played with Killing Joke during their most successful period, contributing low notes to the albums Fire Dances, Brighter than a Thousand Suns and Night Time, on which the classic 80’s alt-rock/goth anthem Love Like Blood appears. I remember when my buddy George heard this tune at a Toronto dance club for the first time; he was so taken with it that he bought Night Time the very next day. Here’s the video:

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Here’s another track from Night Time: Eighties. Many rock pundits believe that Nirvana borrowed its guitar riff and incorporated it into their song, Come as You Are:

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I wore out two Night Time cassettes in the ’80s and finally bought the CD. It’s that good.

Raven later joined Prong, playing on the albums Rude Awakening and Cleansing, which featured the closest thing they had to a hit: the woefully underappreciated single Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck. During my DJ days at Clark Hall Pub, as soon as Raven’s opening bass notes from this song came on, the moshing would begin in earnest. Here’s the video:

Can’t see the video? Click here.

Rest in peace, Mr. Raven, and thanks for the great tunes.