Farewell, Ron S Peno

Ron S Peno, the compelling self-taught singer of Died Pretty, died on Friday night, 11 August, at his home in South Yarra, Melbourne.

Peno was diagnosed in February 2019 with oesophageal cancer. In 2021 it had spread to his brain.

He formed Died Pretty, originally called Final Solution, in Brisbane in 1983 with Frank Brunetti on keys and Brett Myers on guitar. Colin Barwick on drums and Jonathan Lickliter on bass filled out the band, which was later based in Sydney and went through several line-up changes.

In the early days, the band were “a little chaotic,” Peno once said, with a sound that borrowed from The Cure and The Doors and a black-clad aesthetic that recalled Jesus & Mary Chain and Suicide.

Doughboy Hollow, released in 1991 and featuring the singles D.C. and Sweetheart, is considered the band’s showpiece. It earned the group three ARIA nominations, a high-point in terms of their broader profile.

The band released eight albums before breaking up in 2002.

Peno was due to release a new album, his fourth, with his most recent band, Ron S Peno & The Superstitions, this year.

He also made several albums with Kim Salmon under the moniker The Darling Downs.

Died Pretty bandmate Brett Myers told ABC News: “He was born to be a singer. I never really worked with anyone else like him. “He was unpredictable, and contrary and just burned very bright and I don’t think we’ll see anyone else like him again.”

Peno was 68.

 

Kate Foulds writes about D.C.

It wasn’t a large drop to the ocean from where the Volvo precariously balanced.. but Died Pretty’s D.C. played on …

Stephen Andrew writes about Everybody Moves.

Tonight, the song sways with a reptilian rhythm that snakes its way into my limbs and torso. As the tune pours itself over me I feel deep relief – relief  that I am alive after the car accident that broke my neck, and relief that I can still move.

 

LM