Life, Sex & Death aka LSD were one of rock’s most interesting, strange and short-lived stories. It’s hard to find a lot information on the band, but we do know that their singer “Stanley” was apparently a homeless guy they got to front the band after finding him playing in the streets. That’s one version of the story. We know it was a gimmick created by Chris Stann, who became “Stanley”, a Tom Waits lookalike who dressed and literally acted like a street person. I’ve read stories where he would hang out in and by the dumpsters at shows, and wander aimlessly through the audience before shows.
Chris Stann took this character to Professional Wrestling Kayfabe levels and beyond. Sadly they only put out one album, “The Silent Majority” in 1992 with Stanley at the helm. Life, Sex & Death had the foresight to see grunge was on the way in. A few years earlier they were a full-blown 80’s Hair Band. You can see a poor quality video HERE to see what they were before the transition.
“Silent Majority” was actually a brilliant album that blended the genre’s to create it’s own entity. The problem was that the gimmick may have actually overshadowed the music. “Tank” was actually one of the more simple strait-forward songs on the album, there’s a ton of amazing material here that show this band was actually super tight and able to go in many different directions.
LSD has a cult following to this day, but little is know of Chriss “Stanley” Stann anymore. Guitarist Alex Kane is still around and has played alongside Marky Ramone and has been in bands like Antiproduct and Enuff Z’ Nuff. He’s actually a monster player who can put most to shame, he just never his the super stardom he deserves.
LSD will remain one of those great stories of Rock N’ Roll that could never happen again.
