Dave Schulthise, the bassist of the ’80s pop-punk band, the Dead Milkmen, committed suicide on March 10. He was 47.
The Philadelphia-based group formed in 1983 and built its fan base in the city’s underground scene. Their 1985 debut, “Big Lizard in My Backyard,” featured the cult-classic single “Bitchin’ Camaro.” Three years later, the Dead Milkmen released “Punk Rock Girl,” which became an MTV favorite and hit the Top 20 on the Billboard charts.
Shortly after the release of their 1990 album, “Metaphysical Graffiti,” the band’s label Enigma Records went bankrupt. The Dead Milkmen signed with Hollywood Records and recorded two more albums before breaking up in 1995. The group released “Now We Are 20,” a retrospective of early and rare recordings, and the video compilation DVD, “Philadelphia in Love,” last year.
Schulthise, who was known as Dave Blood, suffered from extreme tendonitis in his hands and was forced to quit playing bass. He graduated from Temple University and studied economics at Purdue University before joining the group.
After the band’s breakup, Schulthise became passionate about “all things Serbian.” He studied Serbo-Croatian culture at Indiana University and moved to Serbia in 1998 to teach English and write historical fiction novels, but was forced to return home when NATO began bombing the former Yugoslavia.
March 11, 2004 by
Dave Blood
Categories: Musicians
i was lucking enough to experience many dead milkmen shows in austin. Dave signed a sticker that they had thrown out to the audience. i put the sticker on my bass at home and showed it off proudly. those were the best shows that i remember. the members of the band would always hang out and talk to us wide-eyed little punks. i will never forget how much it meant to our little garage band.
To tell you how much this band means to me, I’ve had this e-mail address long before Dave’s passing. Some of my happiest memories are of attending Milkmen shows. They were the nicest, funniest guys you could imagine, and truly loved their fans. I am crying as I write this. You are missed, Dave.
I’ve been a fan of the Dead Milkmen since I was 12. I feel like I lost a close friend, hearing the news that a member of the band I admired most as a child took his own life. Dave’s bass riffs live on through Dead Milkmen records, videos and memories! Hey Rodney, you never wrote me back, you really let an old time fan down however I forgive you being busy these days with Burn Witch Burn.
Dave Yablonsky