Leaving Normal: Poison Idea’s Pig Champion
Ricecooker note: To the connoisseurs of early 80s American hardcore punk, we have lost another “unlikely” hero,”The King of Punk”, one Tom Roberts AKA Pig Champion. He was 47 years old. By the way, Poison Idea released an EP called “Fuck Ian MacKaye” back in 1989, just like Pussy Galore did with their song, anyway, I’ve met Ian and I must say, I wouldn’t fuck Ian, not in a million years!
from: Barfly Mag:
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
R.I.P. Thomas “Pig Champion” Roberts
Posted at 08:06 PM
Posted by Miss Jen Lane
Thomas “Pig Champion” Roberts, guitarist for Poison Idea, died at his home in Portland, Oregon, Monday night. A founding member of the seminal punk band, he continued to appear with Poison Idea throughout the late nineties and into the new millennium, despite officially quitting the band in 1993. Variously described as “spectacularly fat”, and “the single largest man in hardcore history”, Roberts crowned himself “Pig Champion” after hitting an impressive 450 lbs. on the scales. The highly regarded guitarist was revered by a devoted following worldwide. Fans and friends alike will feel the loss keenly.
The following links are to profiles and histories of Poison Idea:
Poison Idea@rockdetector.com
Poison Idea@Wiki
Poison Idea@PunkVinyl
Poison Idea@TrouserPress
For those who have never heard of the amazing POISON IDEA:
download the whole Pick Your King EP from 1983: 7inchpunk
Sad to hear about that. Another unsung hero of all times. See another history of him here: http://www.fatwreck.de/uksub.html
Yes, you might even see he was in the band with Dave Dictor of MDC. Rest in peace, brother.