First, a letter I received from John Carlucci..... Thank to Zane Arillotta (and whoever her source was!) for the following info: Born Richard Elerick in Covina, CA, Rik L. Rik a co-founder of the obscure but influential first wave L.A. teen punk band F-Word died last Friday (6.30.00) surrounded by his family & fiancee after a six-month bout with brain cancer. He was 39. F-Word was co-founded in 1977 by lyricist-singer Rik with guitarist Paul Sercu (formerly Dim Wanker) both from West Covina. Together with the Zeros from Chula Vista, F-Word was one of the two youngest bands from the Masque first wave. Younger even than the Germs, F-Word were skinny little 16-year-old outer suburban high school kids who made their debut at the Masque during Fall of �77 when they blew out the art-damaged 20-something skeeks, the trust-funded authority rebels with abusive personality disorders, the glitter rock folks & the street people off Hollywood Boulevard; the poets, addicts, drunks, thieves, prostitutes, Scientologists, the child molesters & the murderers, even, who mingled un-judged or unrecognized by the underground art world, the anglophile fanzine scribes & the Westside Uni High late-teen crowd. Titled Like It Or Not F-Word�s only full-length album was recorded live & put out against the band�s wishes by their manager early in �78. Whatever its sonic shortcomings it lays claim to being the first Class of �77 indie punk album in L.A. County. Rik�s subsequent tracks on the Beach Boulevard compilation (Poshboy Records, 1979) are also essential for connecting the early transitional L.A. to O.C. punk dots. Along with the Simpletones from Rosemead & the Crowd from Huntington Beach, F-Word originally helped to spread the anybody-just-do-it punk gospel from inner Hollywood clique-ishness to southland outer suburbia by late �77, early 1978. Although virtually ignored by critics F-Word inspired others their age to form bands, among them the first wave of Fullerton, O.C. teen punk bands such as the Adolescents and Social Distortion, as well as Red Cross from the South Bay. Known for performing barefoot, Rik also frequently walked around L.A. shoeless and sang in a voice which was frequently compared to Iggy, especially in the baritone range. Recently Rik had been working for Pierce Brothers funeral directors & had just been promoted. He is survived by a brother, sister and fiancee, Kipling. (Brendan Mullen)
Picure linked from: http://www.track16.com/special/images/rik.jpeg
Hi LaDonna,
Rik L Rik was my friend and the singer in my latest band, The Celestials. We go back many years, I played in his band in the early 80's, when I first left NYC for Los Angeles, way before I was ever involved in the Fuzztones. Rik was one of my best friends and I'm devestated by this. Sadly, we were working on a recording project when he took ill. We only finished one song, a cover of Elvis Presley's "The American Trilogy". It will be released by the great Punk Rock label, Posh Boy. There will be a memorial service for Rik at the Pierce Bros. Valhala Funeral Parlour in North Hollywood, on Wednesday, July 5th, at 6pm.
Take it easy, John Carlucci
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