Mikey Dee, 1962 --2003
The last time I saw Mikey Dee before he suffered his stroke, we had an argument about a local band he liked more than I did, but I think he offered to buy me a beer anyway. I felt pretty sure I'd run into him at some other gig a few nights later, when heÕd have a few more choice bits of local rock gossip and the names of a couple more bands I needed to check out. He was one of the few people I knew who managed to hit more clubs than I did, to find out first when somebody got signed or dumped by a record label, and to listen to stacks of demo tapes without getting paid for it. Mikey Dee loved the local scene, and the local scene loved him right back.After a long struggle, Mikey Dee Linick, just 40 years old, passed away early Sunday morning. He'd been hospitalized for more than three years after suffering a brainstem stroke following surgery for a congenital heart defect on February 7, 2000. An e-mail statement issued by his friends Adam Lewis and Eleanor Ramsay and posted on Mikey's Web site said that he had been weakened this winter from several bouts of pneumonia and that that had left him resistant to antibiotics. Although his illness was long and frustrating and left him unable to speak or walk, Mikey fought hard and made considerable progress, and many on the local scene were holding out hope for a recovery.
Mikey's passion for local music found a number of outlets. He wrote frequent pieces for the Noise, did publicity with the Planetary Group, played drums in the band Butterscott, appeared in a few Boston Rock Opera productions, produced shows at the Kirkland Cafe, and did the Wednesday-night Tufts-based WMFO 91.5 FM radio show On the Town with Mikey Dee, which has continued under his name. The extent of his popularity became clear during his illness as friends and musicians came together on his behalf. A series of tribute/benefit shows over the past three years featured virtually every headliner in town; Letters to Cleo played their final gig during the first string of benefits, and his all-time favorite band the Barnies reunited. Shows staged in 2000 and 2001 under the title "For the Benefit of Mr. Dee" raised more than $75,000 for the Mikey Dee Musicians' Benefit Trust. Mikey was given a Hall of Fame honor from the Boston Music Awards; the ska band the Allstonians recorded an instrumental number named after him. His musical pals kept him stocked with videotapes of the shows he missed, and he made it into town for a number of shows - even getting invited on stage when the Sheila Divine played at the Hatch Shell two summers ago. Although confined to a movable hospital bed, he turned up most recently at last month's Boston Rock Opera anniversary show at the Middle East.
A few hours after his death, the Web site mikeydee.com was already heavy with tributes from writers, DJs, musicians, and fellow fans; Corin Ashley of the Pills wrote, "Nobody has ever loved Boston music as much as Mikey." Expect details of tribute shows to be finalized in the coming weeks.
There will be a nondenominational memorial service to celebrate the life of Mikey Dee at the Main Chapel at Marsh Chapel at Boston University, 735 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA on Monday, July 14th at 7PM. Reception to follow at The Paradise, 967 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA. In lieu of flowers, tax deductible donations can be made to The Mikey Dee Musicians Benefit Trust, 580 Harrison Avenue, 4th floor, Boston, MA 02118
For further information, contact Adam Lewis at (617) 275-7665 or adam@planetarygroup.com.