Mick Farren

Mick Farren’s restless path through music, letters, and cultural provocation earned him a reputation as a true polymath. He first surfaced as vocalist and founder of the British psych-rock outfit the Deviants, then departed the group in 1969 to join the proto-punk ranks of the Pink Fairies. Shortly afterward he launched a parallel career in print, contributing regularly to the weekly New Musical Express. In 1970 he staged the Phun City Festival, an event that earned him lasting goodwill with the Hells Angels. Seven years later he returned to recording with the Stiff Records solo album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money, an effort some listeners regard as his finest individual statement; the sessions featured Chrissie Hynde alongside Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson.

Although Farren’s literary output—most notably the long-running DNA Cowboys sequence—remained steady, his musical projects grew sporadic yet continued to draw in key figures from the rock underground. After relocating to New York City he revived the Deviants name in 1984, enlisting former MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer and ex-Pink Fairies members Larry Wallis and Duncan Sanderson to document a London performance as the album Human Garbage. He and Kramer next teamed for the 1987 Don Was-produced EP Who Shot You, Dutch? and the 1991 release Death Tongue. New York musician John Collins joined the same circle for further Death Tongue work, after which the project Mick Farren’s Tijuana Bible issued Gringo Madness in 1993.

Once Farren settled in California he recorded the live collection The Deathray Tapes with Jack Lancaster; actor Brad Dourif and Wayne Kramer appeared as guests. Occasional new recordings followed, including the 2002 album Dr. Crow issued under the revived Deviants banner alongside Kramer, and the 2005 set To the Masterlock Live in Japan 2004, which paired Farren with various Japanese players. In 2007 he released Who’s Watching You?, roughly his twenty-third album. Farren collapsed onstage during a Deviants concert in London in July 2013 and died at the age of sixty-nine.