My mom called this morning and told me to look in the obituaries. When I looked, I found that one of my friends from high school had died. This was during a time of my life when most of my friendships were based on music preference, and the music I preferred was heavy metal and punk. Nearly every weekend we would pile into a car and drive to some little shithole venue in S.F. or Berkeley to experience loud music. I say "experience" because mere listening was only one aspect of a multifaceted picture. A good time was only had if one emerged from the experience drenched in sweat, covered in minor bruises, and with the smell of leather and cigarette smoke permeating clothing and skin. Mike Sammon was almost always there, silently and steadfastly making the trip to nearly every show I went to. He was relatively soft-spoken, as are many people into extreme, cathartic forms of music, so he was often in the background, but he was part of our little group for a number of years. I've already sent out e-mails to a few other people, and gotten one phone call this morning.

Umlaut has already posted his reaction here. Scroll down for some additional words by me. There's a link to his obituary too.

Currently listening to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal - '79 Revisited double cd compilation. As I type, Girlschool's "Demolition Boys" is playing. A fitting tribute, I think.