ROGER, WILKO, OVER AND OUT
It’s another sign we’re getting old that one of the biggest (and happiest) miracle recoveries of 2010s deadpooling is no more. In 2013, guitarist Wilko Johnson announced that he was refusing treatment for terminal pancreatic cancer, and his surprise endurance into 2014 made him a canon cert for what seemed a bountiful DDP year. Only it turned out that his inoperable cancer was operable, and much less aggressive than previously feared. He gave cancer his trademark bug-eyed glare, and underwent major surgery that gave him an extra decade of life.
It was a reprieve we all could cheer on, both on the talent and the person. He took up guitar in his teens, citing the Shadows and especially Johnny Kidd & the Pirates as influences, but his career properly launched in the early 70s upon forming pub-rock greats Dr. Feelgood. Fronted by Lee Brilleaux, Johnson was integral to the band’s back-to-basics R&B sound with his uniquely choppy guitar style. Their first two studio albums paved the way for punk and influenced the likes of the Ramones and Blondie. However they were most in their element on the stage (their only No. 1 album, Stupidity, was recorded live), gaining renown through their intense performances where Johnson was again key, ominously wandering about while deploying his stare and sometimes pretending his guitar was a machine gun.
Fractious relations between Johnson and Brilleaux led to the former’s departure from Dr. Feelgood in 1977. After briefly joining forces with Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Johnson largely toured as his own Wilko Johnson Band for his remaining decades. Though his recognition long paled next to his influence, a 2009 documentary sparked a renewed interest in his music, and led to a Game of Thrones role where he put his stare to good use as mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne.
Then came the cancer. His admirably Zen approach in the face of death was reflective of one of the nicest men in the music business, who behind the threatening stage persona was a soft-spoken chap with passions for Anglo-Saxon poetry and astronomy. He recorded the album Going Back Home with Roger Daltrey, which had all the makings of a strong last hurrah. Then it wasn’t a last hurrah at all! He rode this wave of acclaim into his unexpected second wind, continuing to tour to sound reviews until weeks before his death.
Wilko Johnson was 75 and the last standing of the 2014 dud triumvirate with Sam Simon (d. 2015) and Valerie Harper (d. 2019). While the Simpsons guru and the headscarved sensation remained on the Drop 40 until their eventual deaths, Johnson hovered around the high single digits by the 2020s. Six teams picked him this year, including first hits for William Hague’s Special Friend and DDP Tofoa Former Picks in the Elderly Nursing Home.
And are any 2014 competitive teams now on the clean sweep following his death? Yes. Drunkasaskunk’s team, the runner up, are now all dead, but Ritchii Kara, Ryan Buell etc. continue to be a drag on most others.
Wilko Johnson
12 July 1947 – 21 November 2022, aged 75
6 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 7 POINTS)