The legendary Beasts of Bourbon and Hoodoo Gurus drummer passed away after a long battle with cancer.
The Australian music scene is in mourning as the news broke that legendary drummer James Baker lost his battle with cancer on May 6.
A veteran musician, Baker provided the backbeat for generations of rock and punk bands, playing with the Victims, Hoodoo Gurus, Beasts of Bourbon, the Scientists, the Dubrovniks, the Painkillers, and more. It’s easy and perhaps trite to describe a recently deceased musician as someone who embodied rock and roll, but Baker really did – if you’ve ever gone to a gig in Perth, odds are good you’ve been in the same room as James Baker. If you’ve been to two gigs, the odds jump to 100%. He was a scene fixture, part of the furniture, a man who reveled in rock and delighted in all its messy glory.
A statement from his publicist follows.
It is with heavy heart that we say that James Baker, the King of the Perth Big Beat, the godfather of Perth Punk and Australia’s Garage Guru passed away around 7:30 last night at home in Perth.
It was no secret that James had been suffering from terminal cancer for some time, but he did his best to hold it at bay which enabled a final go round from the Victims – the band he formed with fellow Hoodoo Guru Dave Faulkner in ’77 – and a couple of last tours as well as a new album from the Beasts, the band he co-founded in ’83. He also joined the Gurus on stage in Perth in December. He released his first solo 12″ record ‘Born To Rock’ – his first solo release since 1985’s legendary “Born to Be Punched”/”I Can’t Control Myself” single – in May last year, and a newly recorded single with Dom Mariani as recently as January of this year.
With a CV that reads like a who’s who of Australian rock’n’roll greatness – in addition to the Victims, Hoodoo Gurus and Beasts of Bourbon, James co-founded the Scientists, the Dubrovniks, the Painkillers and more – James was also a genuine tastemaker and style influencer. He was a man who LOVED rock’n’roll, and who shared that love with everybody. And he was loved. He was so loved.
Coming into the world on March 7, 1954 – appropriately around the same time that rock’n’roll was also busy being born – James caught the bug early. In his late teens he was a member of two short lived bands Black Sun and the Slink City Boys – influenced by the Stooges/MC5/Alice Cooper axis and the New York Dolls respectively – and then in ’76, a US and UK sojourn in ’76 put James in the thick of punk’s early days. Having brushed shoulders with various members of the New York Dolls, Ramones, Dictators, Damned, Sex Pistols and the Clash, he returned home to help form one of Perth’s original punk bands the Geeks before writing himself into history with the Victims and the rest of it.
James is survived by his wife Cathy, daughters Lorna and Faye and sister Barbara, and his unborn grandson who will be arriving on the scene in the next week or so.
Our thoughts are with James’ family and loved ones.
