Derf Scratch
| Derf "Fred" Scratch | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Frederick Charles Milner III |
| Also known as | Derf |
| Born |
30 October 1951 Monmouth, New Jersey |
| Died | 28 July 2010 (aged 58) Camarillo, California |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Bassist |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, vocals, saxophone |
| Years active | 1976–2010 |
| Associated acts | Scratch, Derf Scratch and Friends, The Werewolfs. |
Derf "Fred" Scratch (born Frederick Charles Milner III, October 30, 1951– July 28, 2010) was best known as the original bass guitarist for, and a former member of, the punk rock band Fear.
Scratch played bass for Fear since the band's formation in 1977. Scratch met John Belushi during this time in Los Angeles. Belushi loved Fear and was their biggest booster; the two became good friends and cocaine abusers; this period is well documented in the Bob Woodward book Wired: The Short Life And Fast Times Of John Belushi, a biography of the comedy actor.
Belushi got Fear a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live that essentially ended in a semi-planned melee, an appearance that is often cited as the origin of moshing.
After their Saturday Night Live appearance, they recorded their debut album The Record, now a classic punk album. "The Record" was the first of its kind and sets itself apart from other punk recordings of that era, in that the production value was incredibly high for this type of recording. The album was recorded and engineered at the same studio that Fleetwood Mac was recording at and was given the same attention and technical talent that was given to this major super group. Scratch not only played bass on most of the record, he played saxophone on the song "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones" (while lead singer Lee Ving played bass, as they had been doing the song live). Scratch also co-wrote one song with Ving on the album, "Fresh Flesh", and wrote and sang lead vocal on another, "Getting The Brush" which was about his struggle to get his songs put on the album the Record, Derf claimed that Lee would use up all the record space with his songs as 70% of the publishing and royalty proceeds went to the writer of the song, leaving only 30% to split with the rest of the band members. Scratch was also seen with the band in the movie The Decline of Western Civilization and on an episode of Casey Kasem's syndicated America's Top 10 TV show where his band took first place receiving a "Gong" trophy.
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