Linnea Sturdy
R.I.P. (1991-2021)
I remember the first time I saw Bad Movies, it was at the Midway, of course.
I really enjoyed their set and at the end of the show their singer, Linn, was around the corner of the bar from where I was sitting.
I don’t have a photographic memory but when a conversation hits strong with me, that’s when the cellphone in my mind hits “video record” and I remember at least part of the conversation forever.
I recall her being very friendly and open, and as I came to know her better, I found out she was always like that.
In complementing her singing voice, I asked her if she was a trained singer, as being a musician myself, I had taken singing lessons, too.
She confirmed that she was, and told me that her mother had been a singer in cover bands during the eighties, much like, as I told her- I was a bass player in those types of bands during the same time.
As I got to see Bad Movies playing live more and especially, when I reviewed their release, “Take One,”- I became a big fan.
From my “Take One” review: “So this is punk like punk was before hardcore …I do call this guts and emotions played and laid upon the edges of a disk that explodes like a hand grenade into your mind, heart and soul.”
Colman Burns-Takki, the guitarist for Bad Movies, also passed last month. I first got the word, of both of their deaths, from a post on Facebook by Taylor, who had been the drummer in their band.
And though, I’m saddened by Colman’s passing, I didn’t know him personally, that well. I did know him as a very good punk guitarist and drummer, while it seems that people who knew him a lot better, speak of him as a great guy.
Linn had a wonderful voice, combining the technique of a “good singer” with raw, emotional punk vocals. I once described her as a mix of Gwen Stefani and Courtney Love. Plus, she was an essential part in the songwriting for the band and also, had a great exciting, stage presence.
I believed in the passion and wildness of how she, and all of Bad Movies, performed. Never perfect, and always riding a tightrope treacherously, balancing on a thin, taut wire where excitement and thrills could easily topple over into disaster and chaos.
“Teetering on the edge of brilliance and destruction” is how I once described them playing live.
I do recall an early conversation I had with Colman where I tried to convey this thought, probably inarticulately, and at first he became perturbed.
“No, this is what I think makes your band so great,” I explained to him, seconds before he would’ve pummeled me into unconsciousness. (The second part of that sentence is so untrue.)
But what is true-
Nothing bores me more than a punk band that is so tight and precise that it sounds like studio musicians playing punk rock to me. I love and respect many proficient musicians but to play punk like that- is just the antithesis of what the music means to me.
The bands that I have covered in the last ten years that have made me feel the most like I was seeing a band back in ’77, and not like a recreation but effectively, taking the spirit, the feel, the emotion of those classic punk bands and making it their own are- Damn Broads, The Lost City Riots and Bad Movies.
One of my last texts with Linn involved her reaction to my item about Patti Smith’s “Gloria.” She said how much inspiration she took from her and how much she enjoyed seeing Patti get inducted into the Rock’N’Roll Hall Of Fame.
(An institution I’m not a fan of BTW. I once was in Cleveland, just a few blocks away, and I passed up going there.)
Linn said that if she ever got inducted into that place that she would be sure to thank me for all the praise and encouragement that I had given her.
I did think that was an unrealistic comment, but I appreciated her saying that and believed that she would do that, if she ever got there.
But it’s much more unbelievable to me that I won’t see Linn again.
I’d like to change this story in my mind.
I’m gonna believe that Linn never returned from Sweden, where she was working as a marine biologist, and continued enjoying the work that she did there. And that she started an indi rock band called “Good Flicks”
that became quite successful, world-famous, in fact.
We kept in touch over the years, and even though her band toured the world she somehow, never made it back to Boston.
And damn! She did eventually get inducted into the Rock’N’Roll Hall Of Fame and she did thank me!
But by then, I had long checked out of life, long ago.
I’m gonna stick with this story ’cause you see, it makes a whole lot more sense to me, especially the part, and I’m sure you’ll agree- her being around after my demise instead of me writing about hers now.
So you see, I understand she has her work in Sweden. That she is very busy with her new band. Boy! Do they sound great!
And even if I never see her again in Boston. I’ll always, always remember and know- how talented she is, how fun she is, how much she makes me believe in her and ultimately, in life itself.
And though, I still hold out hopes of seeing her again, I’m not quite sure that will ever happen.
Sometimes one regrets when someone’s passed of not telling them how much they meant to them. I have none of these regrets with Linn. She was one of my three punk daughters from the scene, the young ladies I feel the closest to, but now I guess, that number is down to two.
I’m not sure of any after life, but if there is, I imagine her not being surprised at this praise, but laughing her head off at it, at the same time, and that’s more than okay with me.
When I see such a talented and wonderful person such as Linn not make it very long in this world, it just reinforces to me what a terrible world it is that we live in.
And that makes me sad.
But when I think of how our life includes such wonderfully aware, brilliant, creative folks like Linn, then it makes me feel a whole lot better.
In a world, an existence, that I often find cruel and unfair, that I disagree and dislike so much about it-
The joy and privilege of meeting and knowing the many young people, such as Linn and Colman, in the last ten years of this website, makes it all the worthwhile for me- has made it what I consider, the best years of my life.
So my experiences with Linn and really, all of you reading this- has made me very glad to still be around to experience it.
I wish Linn wasn’t on tour so much. I wish that Linn was here. I wish we could hang out, once again, at the Midway.
But I ought to accept the possibility of her not showing up there ever again.
I’ll miss her nerdy laugh, her joyful, goofy presence, her warm smile and her incredible talent.
But I’ll always have the memory of her unique and wonderful soul.
(Slimedog)
