Brian K. "Booger" R.I.P.

Brian "Booger" K.

Brian died this week. We Crusties will miss him so very much.

Brian started this band along with Tim Cole, Mark Doc-O-Rock, and Paul N.
Washday joined us shortly after the start of the band, and a few other guitar players jumped in along the way, including Skip Wagner, and Paul Terrien from Beatallica.
Without Brian, or "Booger" as he was known to some, this band would never have started.

He had loving parents that allowed us to play music in their basement. Lenny, his father, drove us around in his van, his mom thought we were funny kids, and they loved their son very much.

In 1983, Doc-O-Rock was putting a band together and we replied to a flyer that Brian had posted at UWM. Doc-O-Rock and I found Brian's house, just by following his guitar. It was so freaking loud that we could hear it from the bus stop, and once we got to the porch, we knew that this was our guy.

I can't think of a time when I was ever mad at Brian. He was a good soul, with a flair for showing up anyone who thought that they were the real deal in the punk scene. I fondly recall a time at a M*otherF*ckers show where I had to warn him one last time to keep his pants on. He didn't, and the club shut him down.

As a Crustie, his melodic hardcore was the foundation of our songs.
He would give me cassettes of his home recordings that were so off-the-wall that I would sometimes have to stop the tape, just to laugh it off.

Brian used his own skin as a test canvas while he learned to tattoo. If you took some time to look at his large frame, you could see the progress as he learned how to apply ink and color. One time, he described a "best day ever." He was in New Orleans, and he found some great food, had a great smoke, and got a great tattoo. That simplicity is something we should all take a moment to reflect upon.

Yea, I'm mad that he didn't keep up with his health, but Brian was not one to slow down. I don't think any of us could see him making fruit smoothies, and going to a bible study class after he found god. That wasn't going to happen. Brian burned bright, fast, and loudly.

He is survived by his daughter, and many friends.

Paul N. - The Crusties.