THE WORLD JUST WASN'T MEANT FOR ONE AS BEAUTIFUL AS BUCKLEY FRIPPS

Buckley Fripps, date unknown

I knew Buckley Fripps.

Bucky and I go way back - long before the drugs and the booze and the Cousins of Helos.

Bucky wasn't always such a mess but like lots of talented people, he couldn't handle the demands the real world exacted from its most consecrated citizens. 

We'd go fishing together at Tioughnioga Lake and Butternut Creek and nothing seemed to please him more than gnawing on a blade of Kentucky Bluegrass while watching the sun rise over the Tully valley.  

Then came the record deal and his life began to spiral out of control. I think the turning point came when the Cousins of Helos opened for Alkyd in Watkins Glen (not to be confused with the Middle Eastern band El-Khid). It was 1984 and it was easier buying a kilo of cocaine than getting your car washed. 

The rest is such a sad cliché there's no point going over the fine points of his decline. Suffice it to say that by the late 80's and the proliferation of androgynous pop groups like Duran Duran and The PetShop Boys, the public was tired of COH's earnest sound. Bucky got into one bad fight too many and ultimately disappeared into folk/rock oblivion .  

I prefer to remember my buddy Bucky for his great music, particularly the incredibly moving song Freud's Vienna.