RIP RICH McLOUGHLIN

I apologize for the double newsletter dump today, but I think most of us will agree it is warranted….

Like many others, I woke up this morning to the news that Rich McLoughlin who was in the band Killing Time and/or Raw Deal passed away. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, bandmates, and all those who were close to him. 

When I first heard the Raw Deal demo as a sixteen-year-old, I loved the music but could not relate to most of the lyrics. Don’t get me wrong, as a pipsqueak who couldn’t fight, I had my fair share of being disrespected and constantly on the brink of frustration. But the force of the music and Anthony Communale’s vocal delivery made me feel they were putting across a very ‘grown-up’ version of contempt that I felt not privy to as a kid. 

But as a grown man stuck in a dead-end job with no prospects and only music as a solace, the Raw Deal demo took on a whole new level of meaning. When the concept of making a change that I relied on when I was younger had faded away, songs like “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “My Reason” resonated in a way they never had before. And recently, I have been listening to the demo more frequently. Blame it on the lockdown or my dwindling physical and mental wellbeing and the anxiety it manifests or being surrounded by the extra-chromosome having population of Long Island or just feeling like no one gives a shit about me or my condition. (Jeeze, is this about Raw Deal or the friggin’ Smiths?) As I get closer and closer to 50, it becomes crystal clear playing by the rules has gotten me nowhere. Maybe it’s finally time I set some rules? 

Yo Rich: Thanks for the sonic balm to soothe the skin that we all scorched by living life. Unlike other bands of my youth, the music you helped create gained meaning and strength as the years went by and will last well into eternity or armageddon (whichever comes first)