...Opened up Facebook this morning at 3:45 to some sad news posted by Terry Anderson. Jerry Williams of Raleigh's Cigaretz has died, just a few days shy of his 62nd birthday.

For many, myself included, the Cigz was their first live exposure to a real punk band. Playing countless gigs at the Free Advice the Cigaretz certainly made a name for themselves and carved out a nice fan base. Their lone DIY LP is classic! Yet it doesn't quite capture all of the noise and intensity of seeing them live.

How important were the Cigaretz? Read Sam Hick's 1998 article "How North Carolina Got It's Punk Attitude". Go read it now... The three paragraphs devoted to th' Cigaretz might put it in perspective. It also details a bit of Jerry's life after th' Cigaretz which had to be quite exciting at times.

I saw them a number of times during their heyday. But one show I didn't see was one where they opened for Arrogance in Chapel Hill at The Town Hall. That show is a bit Woodstock-esque in that more people remember being at that show than the place would ever hold!! I believe it was Byron that turned one of the stage monitors speaker side up, filled it with cereal and milk and ate out of it. Hopefully someone will recall that story and it's repercussions.

Rest in peace Jerry. Your fans and friends love and remember.

I'll try to play more tunes from the LP starting tomorrow on Comboland Radio.

Below are additional links for information on Jerry Williams:


The first is from Beastiemania, a site devoted to The Beastie Boys, who Jerry worked with and recorded.
http://www.beastiemania.com/whois/williams_jerry/

Next is an obit from The Punk Vault.
http://www.punkvinyl.com/2010/09/20/r-i-p-jerry-williams/

Here is Jerry's MySpace page.
http://www.myspace.com/jaydublee

This is an old article from 2004 but scroll down to the heading "Best local record hunter's captured prey:". Read for yourself to see this authors selection, as if you can't guess.
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/music-and-clubs/Content?oid=1191951

David Menconi wrote an article about a website that claimed Miley Cyrus ripped off th' Cigaretz "Apartmentalivin".
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/category/tags/Fly-on-the-Wall