26/04/2024
Last week we lost Eddie Sutton. The dynamic and iconic frontman of the most brilliant bands to every grace a stage... LEEWAY. I've been amazed at the outpouring of love, respect and admiration that countless members of bands, and of the music scene since his passing, and I've wondered how I can even add anything about how amazing Eddie is and was... so I thought I would just try to summarize some of my thoughts and memories and experiences.
It's hard to put into words, what life was like back in the day. How different things were. There was no internet. There was word of mouth. An old friend of mine was a devout metal Head, and he went to see OVERKILL at THE RITZ in NYC... He came home blown away by the band who had performed that night. He talked about the frontman of the band being unlike anything he had ever seen. He was in a Skeleton outfit, jumping off of everything, going wild and he had a swagger that was infectious. You would LOVE them he said. He also said it was like the heaviest thing he had ever heard, but it also had a hip hop feel. Im like (!!!!!) I somehow figured out the name of their album "Born To Expire" and in what is a sad commentary on their incompetent record label, I made around a dozen different trips from Queens to Manhattan.. desperately trying to purchase this album. NO DICE. I even stopped at NUMBERS in Jackson Heights on the way there or back as well. And hit up BREAKDOWN records in Bayside. I hit all the Manhattan spots. Tower Records, Sounds, Bleeker Bobs, And others I'm forgetting. NO ONE HAD IT. In desperation I even tried to have an employee of THE WIZ order it for me. After all they were on PROFILE fu***ng records alongside RUN DMC. Why can't I find this record? Finally... One day, my luck paid off at SOUNDS and I bought my copy of Born To Expire. I brought It home and nothing has been the same since.
Life has a lot of changes, BUT one thing that was a constant for me was LEEWAY. I never stopped listening to their music regularly. Even to this day. What I heard on that record was everything my friend had described, and more. It was PERFECTION. The sound. The Art. The Lyrics. THE VOCALS. The SONGS! Holy F**k man.
I got more immersed into the NYHC scene and the deeper I got, the more of an Icon Eddie was. My friends and I would talk about him, imitate him, and were just totally enamored with him. Seeing him was like a celebrity sighting. We would watch him on stage punching people in the face during D.R.I. concerts on Home Video like, is there anything this guy can't do?? Getting to see him perform live was something I did as often as possible, whenever I possibly could. i still remember, they played L'amour's the night before I graduated high school. I was like "ahh i better not even try to go, gotta get up hella early for graduation". I was having serious doubts about my decision which were only magnified when a bunch of kids in my class walked into graduation, made a beeline to me and told me they came straight to graduation from the leeway show. KINGS. All of you.
With the intimate nature of the hardcore scene and the vibe of brotherhood and because of many great people who looked out for me, I got to meet people like Eddie, which to me was on the same level as meeting one of the beastie boys. Over time we became friends and some of the fondest moments of my life were because of Eddie. I used to run a indie record label and we would have these BBQ's in my yard with the band members and our homiesthat were pretty cool.. But never were they cooler than the time I invited Eddie over and he spend the day snacking and sipping and regaling us with stories. (along with fellow queens legend Danny Lilker) It's hard to put into words and to explain how much I and a lot of my friends and essentially everyone in the music scene respected Eddie for being a world class frontman. A performer on a whole other level.
Another time LEEWAY was playig The Ritz. This time opening for MOTORHEAD. I ended up riding with Eddie down to the show(WAT!!!), and got my own backstage pass(!) to hang out with him and the band (All world class dudes) and meet Motorhead, and stand stageside to watch both LEEWAY and Motorhead. Writing these sentences out, even i'm like how can this be true.
So how can someone be in one of your all time favorite bands, and then you can become friends with them and hang out with them? only in NYHC. Over the years i feverishly consumed Leeway and saw than as often as I posisbly could. I bought every album and wore them the f**k out and still kept playng em. Will never grow tired of their greatness, will never forget the musical and personal contributions Eddie and the Band made to my life. Honored to know you and hang while you were here.
Eddie was pure charisma. Eddie was pure talent. Eddie was the natural amalgamation of styles that occurs in Queens NY. Authentic as f**k. Quick witted. Never Forgotten.
Eddie was loved by his family and friends and fans and together we will all always honor his memory. He sang about "no heroes" but he was a hero to so many. He wore his heart on his sleeve and he shared his triumphs and his struggles so we could all grow from his experiences.
One small homage to Eddie is something I have included in my commentary work, where I will sometimes use the following phrase which is a direct leeway lyrical copy
"Go For Broke! Do what you gotta do!!! you know what i'm saying!" when describing the action and thats a tip of the fitted cap to the icon of swag and sound.
THANK YOU EDDIE. Rest In Peace and I cant wait to hear the jams you been working on when I get to see you again.
All Hail The Kingpin.
