Blondie, Thurston Moore, Jim Jarmusch, and more pay tribute to Suicide's Alan Vega

Saturday, Alan Vega, one half of legendary punk and electronic duo Suicide, died at 78. His influence extended wide with many eclectic acts paying their respects through covers and tributes, like ones from Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, MGMT, and former Majical Cloudz singer Devon Welsh.

There have been lots more, including some of Vega’s contemporaries. Blondie posted the above picture on Facebook of singer Debbie Harry eating in a diner with Vega and other Suicide member Martin Rev. Then there’s Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz who retweeted an old CBGB flyer featuring Suicide (and Ramones and The Cramps…what a week!):

There’s also filmmaker musician Jim Jarmusch:

The New York Times’ Jon Pareles wrote a great tribute/obit which talks about just how dangerous a proposition it was going to see Suicide in the ’70s:

“We almost got killed. I love that reaction,” Mr. Vega once reminisced about Suicide’s debut at the Boston nightclub the Rat. “I’d say one half wanted to kill us and one half loved us.”

A notorious 23-minute show recorded in Brussels in 1978 turned into a riot; Suicide released a recording of it. Suicide’s music would later be more widely tolerated, recognized as a precursor of electronic dance music and industrial rock.

He was one of a kind. A few more tributes and goodbyes:

https://twitter.com/ZOLAJESUS/status/754508869808885760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/therealelp/status/754573351289556992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/jetfury/status/754585122914103296