Dickie Peterson -Blue Cheer-
Truly one of the greats. Invented Heavy metal music–super important in the music world . Legendary, without equal.

R.I.P. Dickie. Thanks for the kick ass music. Vincebus Eruptum & OutsideInside should be in everyone’s collection.

Dickie would joke about how “Blue Cheer snuck in the back door” at the rock n roll hall of fame ceremony thanks to Michael Anthonys comments about the importance of Blue Cheer making him become a bass player.

Its time they get inducted proper.

RIP Dickie. You were a gem of human.

1%

no one like Dickie.
RIP.

Blue Cheer forever

Brendan Mullen’s life changed the status of music and culture in LA forever.

RIP Dickie – you were one of a kind and will be greatly missed.

Well when we hear that next crack of thunder, we’ll know who’s behind it…Rest in Peace Dickie

Rest in peace, Dickie Peterson. Rolling Stone, you guys will probably never induct Blue Cheer into the hall, but that’s a true shame. They do fit the criteria:

Influence: Geddy Lee of Rush, Monster Magnet, Mudhoney, Smashing Pumpkins, Michael Anthony of Van Halen, The Melvins, and many more.

Innovation: One of the first if not the first heavy metal band and the first in the stoner rock subgenre.

Yes, they may have only had one top 40 album, but the hall is not about hits. It’s about I&I. I do please hope you will take this into consideration.

Im shocked reading this today…
I knew both Brendan & Dickie.

My band had the fortune to open for blue Cheer
a few years ago in Hollywood.
Alsways a big influence.
My Fathers band’s in the 60’s opened for them too!

Then brendan…after Acid rock, I became heavy into Punk rock during phase 1 circa ‘77-82.
the masque scene was what you aspired to as a young L.a. punk band .

I worked w/him severl times in the last few years on his book/ magazine projects & was surprised what a down to earth Scottsman he was. not the whacko punk club character
that we all heard about back in the day.
very Archive conscious & meticulous about dates/detail etc.
He still loved the music & the independent l.a. scene

Bad week for Pioneers.

I feel a loss hard to explain. I just turned my 19 year old son onto Blue Cheer last year. Dickie you are the bassist.

Brendan Mullen’s influence is seismic! Many of our greatest bands wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Brendan. And, many of our greatest bands would exist in vastly different(what’s another word for “inferior”?)versions if Brendan hadn’t been there at the crown of their many creations. For example, John Doe saw D.J. Bonebrake drumming for a band(Eyes) while hanging out at the Masque, and immediately called Billy Zoom to inform him that he’d found their drummer. Can anyone imagine X playing without Bonebrake? There are hundreds of stories like this.

Many bands we all know and love got their first chance at an LA gig when Brendan booked them into the Lingerie(I met Andy Warhol there!). Sure, they would have played LA sooner or later when more people(like the 8-balls booking the Roxy or the Troub)were aware of them two or three years down the road, but Brendan sped up the process. For another example, Flea and Anthony walk into Brendan’s office, put a crude tape into an even cruder boombox. Brendan likes what he hears, and the very next month books them as the opening act for the legendary Bad Brains. Everybody in LA is there to finally see for themselves what these Bad Brains guys that they have heard so much about are like live(incl. several record execs from major labels). The next week an exec from the audience signs the RHCP to EMI, they go into the studio to record “Grandpappy du Plenty” and the rest is history. Sure, it was a long, slow climb to the top, but without Brendan, it would have been much longer, and much slower.

Plus, Brendan was a shot in the arm to the careers of many great artists that were being overlooked and passed by. I’ll never forget seeing Sun Ra and his Arkestra at the Lingerie in 1981!They hadn’t played LA in years. The logistics of getting those guys from New Jersey to LA? No way he made a profit with that show. A year later I was backstage at the Lingerie hanging w/ his headliner when I told my NYC gf, in town for a visit, to pull out the joint she’d expertly rolled before we left for the show. She said let’s smoke it when we get home. I replied, “Honey,we’re standing here talking to Etta James, pull out that cigareet and hand it to Ms. James! I have a lighter right here.” R.I.P. Brendan, laddie!

I photographed Blue Cheer in 1968 at the Miami Pop festival and am currently working on a documentary on the same subject.On Augest 18 of 2009 Jack Connell, The producer of the doc and I had the privilage of diong an audio interview with Dickie Peterson I would like to share a quote. “There is a thing that has happened in music over the years that says, if you like rap music, and i like heavy metal music, we can’t be friends, and to me, this is the exact opposite of what music is supposed to do.
Music is supposed to bring us together, you know, you don’t have to like the kind of music I like, to like music. You don’t need my approval, you know, you need your own.
Don’t try to be cool, it’s the most un-cool thing you can do. Cool is cool, when you try to be cool, you ain’t cool.” Dickie Peterson. Dickie, you were the coolist.

Farewell Dickie. Thank you for 40 years of incredible music, all of it without compromise and from the heart. You will be missed.

Helvis

You got that right

Brendan got the job done. He made things happen. It was his energy that made gigs happen, made X happen, made Jr Walker & the All-Stars Happen [also at the "Club Underwear]

Besides his hilarious side bar commentaries, his brilliant wit & exhilarating personality, & his librarian dedication to documenting LA punk rock history, he was an amazing man of great spirit. One of a kind.

Ciao, Brendan. I love you & will miss you forever.