The tragic death of Chuck Mosley has left all Faith No More fans devastated, numb and bereft. Chuck was the voice of Faith No More for most of the 1980s, and in many ways the personification of the the raw, untamed and brash band spirit.
I did not know Chuck. Unlike many fans, I did not get the chance to meet him in person. But I spoke to him by phone and email. And in recent research I got to appreciate profoundly his role in the band’s creation and evolution and early success. I attempted to capture this contribution and legacy and this spirit and essence over many pages and many months. But today, despite darkness and despair, the band, his band, succeeded in capturing that essence in pitch perfect fashion in a few hours, in a few lines:
It’s with a heavy, heavy heart we acknowledge the passing of our friend and bandmate, Chuck Mosley. He was a reckless and caterwauling force of energy who delivered with conviction and helped set us on a track of uniqueness and originality that would not have developed the way it had had he not been a part. How fortunate we are to have been able to perform with him last year in a reunion style when we re-released our very first record. His enthusiasm, his sense of humor, his style and his bravado will be missed by so many. We were a family, an odd and dysfunctional family, and we’ll be forever grateful for the time we shared with Chuck.
Chuck – charismatic, boisterous, quick-witted – was a natural front man. He joined Faith No More in 1983. The band wanted a presence for live shows rather than a voice for recordings. And Chuck delivered: he was part poet, part punk preacher, part precarious performer, all attitude.
His devil-may-care demeanour was a little deceptive. He said of his introduction to Faith No More: ‘I was really nervous. And I remember being in awe of this sound because I hadn’t heard anything like it before. It made me nervous because I didn’t know what to do with it. You know what I mean? That was where the rapping came from.’ That’s the origin of rap-rock. Punk attitude, unfamiliar music, improvisation — allied to having little chance to rehearse with the rest of the band based down the coast in San Francisco — led to chanting and ranting and, eventually, when things calmed down somewhat in the studio, to rapping: ‘I was just like screaming to the beat, like ranting. Not rapping, but ranting.’
Chuck was also an accomplished lyricist, capable of devastating self-awareness and of expressing delicate and personal emotion. And equally adept at penning party anthems and catchy chatter. He hit his lyrical and vocal peak on ‘The Crab Song’, probably the most personal and romantic song in the Faith No More oeuvre. It is the perfect embodiment of how Chuck’s bratty rap could perfectly complement Faith No More’s music. Lyrically, he evokes every emotion in a doomed relationship arc: love, yearning, frustration, anger, hatred, regret. Or, as Chuck has himself said: ‘Getting broken up with, thus turning from a sad little love monkey into a raging psychopathic, blood-lusting, sociopath of a serial killer, inflicting the pain in your heart upon everyone who has the misfortune of crossing your path….theoretically speaking…per se…a real bloodbath…..then turning back into a sad little love chimp oh so regretful of what you’ve done.’
Now I know why everything turns grey, but it’s our own world we paint
And I want the brightest, I want flourescence every day and night
Deepest sympathy to the band and all who were close to Chuck. A special word for his dear friend Douglas Esper, who went beyond the call of duty to ensure that Chuck got the recognition he so richly deserved in recent years.
Heartfelt sympathy to Chuck’s long-term partner Pip Logan, his two daughters, Erica and Sophie, and to his grandson Wolfgang Logan Mosley.
I read the interview you did on one of the FNM facebook sites…pretty cool, I’m very excited about the book! Can’t wait to pre-order!
YouTube has the Cement videos for Shout and Pile Driver, pretty cool.
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It’s Thanksgiving here in the USA, so:
Thank you Adrian for this great website and soon to be published “Small Victories”.
Thank you KingCol for giving me someone to talk to on here!
Thank you to Adrian’s family for letting him have this obsession which I know takes time away from other things.
Thank you to Chuck’s family for letting him hit the road the last few years to live his musical life and letting his fans see him again.
Thank you to Doug and his family for be the driving force behind all the output from Chuck this last almost decade (and for loaning out Doug for the road).
Thank you Primitive Race for having the good taste to give you vocalist slot to Chuck…I’m really enjoying the album.
Thank you Matt Wallace for your lifetime’s work with Chuck, FNM, and I particularly love the hell out of those Glorious Din albums.
Thank you Mike Bordin for somehow staying in good enough shape to be able to play those WCAL and IY songs in 2016 like he’s still Animal from The Muppets.
Thank you Roddy for supporting Chuck, for staying healthy, for giving the world a few new operas (hope those of us who are poor or taking care of family and can’t travel get a chance to see/hear them sometime), and for the upcoming Imperial Teen album.
Thank you Jon for those excellent additions on the Rocket Moth songs and for mastering the FNM Chuck years catalog (and especially for nailing that Anne’s Song solo).
Thank you Patton for the creepy as shit 1922 music, teaching me who Connie Converse was, and for perhaps your best lyrics ever on DxCx. Advance thank you for one day in the future learning to love Live Albums and releasing some official live recordings from your many excellent bands.
And Thank you Bill for CAF’s Elipse which is my favorite record of the year, for leading me to so much non-FNM music over the years, and for having more FNM music at least on the brain for the future. And Thank you to Mrs. Gould for making Bill clean out the basement so we have the WCAL re-release still to enjoy! Would you now please make him remaster some of those early live shows for release?!
Very sad news. RIP Chuck!
Thanks for the nice write up.
Go raibh maith agat
Thanks Ben. Wonderful tribute
Here’s and addition to my previous post: I am beyond shocked and saddened by the death of Chuck Mosley. With all the positive turns recently….a movie, a 2nd band, a solo album, consistent tours, a re-release coming….I was so excited for him and future music. Addiction is a horrible thing, I don’t know what addiction they are referring to, I knew about cigarettes and some alcohol, but this is just terrible. He was one of the kindest, funniest people I’ve ever met. He was certainly in the running for the most interesting person that I’ve ever met. Many people love FNM for various reasons…I became a fan because of all 5 pieces that made up the Introduce Yourself album. 5 guys giving it their all. For me it is still their best album. I’ve been a Chuck fan ever since. Cement isn’t for everyone, but for me they were great. VUA’s lone official album for me is the best work any member of FNM has done outside of the band as a solo artist. And Demo’s 4 Sale is equally good in a different way. Primitive Race’s Soul Pretender is growing on me every day. I love his Indoria songs What I Feel, Ode to the Road, and especially Bella Donna. Hard Drivin’ Rock tune is the best hard rock song I’ve heard in years….I love Sol Invictus, but none of those songs rocked as hard. And Ericalution is just brilliant….too brilliant for most people to get I think. More than anything, I wish Bad Brains would release whatever exists of Chuck fronting them….that would have been great to hear more of. I’m so sorry for his closer friends and family…they have lost a really wonderful person. Thank you to his family for loaning him to us on the road so often, to Doug for being such an advocate and Enabler of the good kind, thanks recently to EMP Label Group for helping Chuck stay in the making and playing music business, and thanks to the other fans who have always looked past the too easy 1-liner criticisms to see the person and the talent that was Chuck Mosley. Through lots of gaps in his musical career, we have helped keep a buzz and interest around hearing Chuck make music again, now we have to help him be remembered as a unique innovator and the nicest guy in the music business.
I can only assume benrum left the last message on previous thread (name didn’t appear on my device) but it’s really only him and me left checking up regularly for updates…”twas a nice comment anyway…
Alice in chains nutshell lyric sums it up “if I can’t be my own , I’d feel better dead”
King for a day song fits perfectly for chuck too
Yeesus Krist !!!!!!