Sad news to report. Former GaragePunk Podcaster Bob Thurmond (co-host and producer of the Snake Alley podcast) passed away this past week. Police were called to his house early this morning by his landlord after he hadn't been seen in several days, but his Jack Russell Terrier was still penned up in the back yard. They found Bob inside and estimated he'd been dead for four or five days.

I first met Bob back in the late 1990s when he'd call me up on KDHX during my radio show and talk about music and cars. In addition to punk/rock'n'roll, baseball and B-movies, he was a cheap guitar aficionado and a big fan of muscle cars, and had an old GTO at the time. I'll never forget the first time he called me at the station; he was telling me about his car and then he said "hang on," hung the phone outside the window, ran out to the driveway and revved the engine for me so I could hear it. That was how I first came to know Bob. Later, he got the idea to resurrect an old '80s St. Louis punk 'zine that he'd helped publish called Head in a Milk Bottle, and he recruited me and a few others to help revive it with two issues that were published around 2001. A third issue was completed but never made it to the printer, unfortunately. Up until last year I was still trying to track down the original article files from that doomed third issue in an effort to post it online, but Bob couldn't find the disc. Bob was also the guitarist in an old St. Louis hardcore punk band called White Suburban Youth who would later evolve into Ultraman. He produced the Snake Alley podcast from August 2005 thru March 2007 and was one of the most entertaining podcasts on the early days of "GaragePunk.com Pirate Radio." Bob was also a pretty close friend. We hung out often over the years (although not as much lately), went camping together a couple of times and I helped him through a rough spell in his life after he and his ex-wife split up and he was suffering from depression and battling alcoholism. We're not sure yet of the cause of death, but the police suspected heart attack. I'm not sure exactly how old Bob was, but I believe he was in his late 40s. Definitely too young to go. We'll miss you, Bob. You were one of a kind. Rest in peace.

Above (video and photo): Bob in White Suburban Youth circa 1985/'86.

Bob with a big-mouth bass that he caught before throwing it back in the river.

Bob with Tom Quistorff on a campout in 2005 (I think).

Bob with a bottle of Schlafly Pale Ale, Feb. 2006.

Sorry to hear this Kopper.