I was standing in my parents house in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania watching WHTM TV getting ready to go to work and watched the suicide in real time, replayed several times and then the station went dark on my TV. My dad had a business that was a large advertiser on that station. I remember my father being so mad about the replays of the suicide that he pulled a huge ad advertising buy from the local station and national network. I can't believe the level of detail your story has. I've seen and heard the story reiterated since I was about 22 years old. What a crazy Valentine's Day story to read. I'm very into rock history, but never knew or maybe just don't remember the correlation speculation with Cobain's suicide. All my friends back in the day knew that the Filter song was about Dwyer. Great article , Sonny! Unrelated to Dwyer--Happy Valentine's Day to you.
I didn’t see the original broadcasts. But the footage made its way to the “Faces of Death” series which I saw while on the road with a band of my own. I’d heard the rumor that it was about Kurt. I was unaware of the connection to my home state (I live in northwestern PA). Did not expect to read this today, ha. Great piece.
I remember hearing that this song was about a politician getting shot but I assumed it was an assassination, not a suicide. Funny thing is, if this same scenario happened today, he'd probably get away with it unless he pissed off the wrong people.
I'm not sure of chart positions and all, but Filter also had that Take A Picture song which was a completely different vibe but really really good also, and while I don't know if it qualifies as a hit it still gets airplay.
I can't imagine what it felt like for Patrick to see that on TV especially at that point in time when they didn't really show stuff like that on air. I saw footage of someone jumping out of window of the WTC on the news on 9/11 and it's always stuck with me.
You’re right about Take A Picture. It did do better on the charts. I guess Hey Man Nice Shot was such a big song with me and my friends that I figured it was more popular. Whoops. 😅
I know the 9/11 footage you’re talking about. I saw it too. So did the great novelist Don DeLillo, who was so shaken by what he saw, he wrote a book called Falling Man.
Interesting I didn't know that about DeLillo. Might have to hunt that one down because I've never forgotten that footage and the amount of sheer desperation that must have led that person to do that.
"Funny thing is, if this same scenario happened today, he'd probably get away with it unless he pissed off the wrong people."
I was thinking something along this same thought when I was reading this. Except they'd get away with it no matter what. Seems like you can barely manage to piss off people about fraud and graft these days. Exhibit A: Minnesota. It's so blatant and pervasive, and it affects everyone who pays taxes, and not just residents of MN. But no one is held accountable. At least back in Dwyer's time, there was enough societal integrity left, even after Nixon & Watergate, to call him to account. How he responded, and the insanity of the news to just let it play out are separate (but still pretty crazy) issues.
There aren't a lot of rich and powerful people willing to stick their necks out for the people in Minnesota, which is why even though it affects a lot of people, it doesn't affect the kind of people who have expensive lawyers who would give the perpetrators pause. And it actually says a lot that all the pushback the populace has done RE the Epstein files has gone anywhere considering how many rich and powerful people are implicated. But that's taken a long time. If Jeff Bezos demanded the Epstein files be released unredacted tomorrow, even if it didn't happen immediately, there'd a lot of sweaty brows on the Hill.
Sonny, I’ve said this before, you’re an excellent all-around Journalist.
You bringing this up completes a portion of my “loose ends”. I was in my early thirties, when this happened, and it’s lingered in my mind since then. To me it was a total conundrum; for being complicit with his actions via the bribery and the ultimate solution. He appeared that he was offered something versus coming up with the idea himself and that “haunted” me until I read your piece. The man had a conscience albeit after the fact but nonetheless he displayed his true self in his final use of kinetic energy.
I live in Lower Alabama but I have traveled the entire country and caught your use of the Primanti Brothers sandwich… such an experience being at the one downtown Pittsburgh, on a Friday night! I am sure it was a patron that conducted the dirty deed but when we left the place… a Primanti glass magically turned up, in the wife’s purse, unfortunately the freshly poured 90 Minute IPA was completely drained reinforcing “you can’t always get what you want “.
Thank you very much, I.P. I’m humbled by and grateful for your very kind words.
I agree with you that Dwyer had a conscience. From what I understand, he was a good friend, a savvy politician, and a loved and respected family man. But $300K is a lot of scratch. He was only human and temptation got the better of him. I’m kicking myself now for not including it in the piece, but I believe his motivation for doing what he did is because dying in office enabled his widow to collect full survivor benefits ($1.28 million in 1987 money). It was the biggest death benefit payment in the state at the time. Had Dwyer lived and been sentenced, his widow would’ve gotten zilch.
I’d also like to add that I’m thrilled you got the Primanti reference! And a 90 Minute IPA sounds delicious right about now. Too bad it’s only 9:20 a.m. in my neck of the woods. Maybe an early lunch…
Great post. Never knew about this story at all, nor the Filter song. But I'm a near-boomer, so I stopped paying attention before a lot of the grunge era got going in earnest.
A little extra: 30 years ago this coming May, I was out at Dealey Plaza in Dallas to get a publicity photo for an upcoming magazine column. At that time, I was living in downtown and had lived in the Dallas area for a decade, but had never come out to Dealey Plaza before then. At the time, the original white picket fence as mentioned in the Warren Report, the one where allegedly at least one other shooter had been seen, was still up, but not for long: it was later dismantled and sold off in pieces to collectors. I still have the photos of the back of the fence, where visitors had scraped and carved appropriately snarky commentary for the last few years as the fence slowly fell to dry rot, and one of the most prominent bits of graffiti involved four words: "Hey Man Nice Shot."
I watched this happen live on television. Later on, it took me a while to realize the song was about Bud. That made me crack a smile. The whole thing was bizarre.
I was standing in my parents house in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania watching WHTM TV getting ready to go to work and watched the suicide in real time, replayed several times and then the station went dark on my TV. My dad had a business that was a large advertiser on that station. I remember my father being so mad about the replays of the suicide that he pulled a huge ad advertising buy from the local station and national network. I can't believe the level of detail your story has. I've seen and heard the story reiterated since I was about 22 years old. What a crazy Valentine's Day story to read. I'm very into rock history, but never knew or maybe just don't remember the correlation speculation with Cobain's suicide. All my friends back in the day knew that the Filter song was about Dwyer. Great article , Sonny! Unrelated to Dwyer--Happy Valentine's Day to you.
Thanks, Andrea! I know there were plenty of angry parents that day. Good on your dad for taking a stand! And happy Valentine's to you as well.
I will never listen to this song without thinking of this. Really changes it.
Same here. I think about that clip every time. All it takes are the track's first few notes.
I didn’t see the original broadcasts. But the footage made its way to the “Faces of Death” series which I saw while on the road with a band of my own. I’d heard the rumor that it was about Kurt. I was unaware of the connection to my home state (I live in northwestern PA). Did not expect to read this today, ha. Great piece.
Yes, great piece. I watched the Faces Of Death videos also. I wouldn’t want to watch them again because of the animal footage.
Amazing piece Sonny!
I remember hearing that this song was about a politician getting shot but I assumed it was an assassination, not a suicide. Funny thing is, if this same scenario happened today, he'd probably get away with it unless he pissed off the wrong people.
I'm not sure of chart positions and all, but Filter also had that Take A Picture song which was a completely different vibe but really really good also, and while I don't know if it qualifies as a hit it still gets airplay.
I can't imagine what it felt like for Patrick to see that on TV especially at that point in time when they didn't really show stuff like that on air. I saw footage of someone jumping out of window of the WTC on the news on 9/11 and it's always stuck with me.
Thanks, AJ!
You’re right about Take A Picture. It did do better on the charts. I guess Hey Man Nice Shot was such a big song with me and my friends that I figured it was more popular. Whoops. 😅
I know the 9/11 footage you’re talking about. I saw it too. So did the great novelist Don DeLillo, who was so shaken by what he saw, he wrote a book called Falling Man.
Interesting I didn't know that about DeLillo. Might have to hunt that one down because I've never forgotten that footage and the amount of sheer desperation that must have led that person to do that.
"Funny thing is, if this same scenario happened today, he'd probably get away with it unless he pissed off the wrong people."
I was thinking something along this same thought when I was reading this. Except they'd get away with it no matter what. Seems like you can barely manage to piss off people about fraud and graft these days. Exhibit A: Minnesota. It's so blatant and pervasive, and it affects everyone who pays taxes, and not just residents of MN. But no one is held accountable. At least back in Dwyer's time, there was enough societal integrity left, even after Nixon & Watergate, to call him to account. How he responded, and the insanity of the news to just let it play out are separate (but still pretty crazy) issues.
There aren't a lot of rich and powerful people willing to stick their necks out for the people in Minnesota, which is why even though it affects a lot of people, it doesn't affect the kind of people who have expensive lawyers who would give the perpetrators pause. And it actually says a lot that all the pushback the populace has done RE the Epstein files has gone anywhere considering how many rich and powerful people are implicated. But that's taken a long time. If Jeff Bezos demanded the Epstein files be released unredacted tomorrow, even if it didn't happen immediately, there'd a lot of sweaty brows on the Hill.
"Take A Picture" is supposedly about Patrick getting blackout drunk on an airplane.
That would track given what the song's lyrics are lol
Thanks. Also, can’t forget Steve Albini: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budd_(EP)
Definitely. I toyed with the idea of including him, but decided that Albini deserves a post of his own.
Very fair. Look forward to it.
Sonny, I’ve said this before, you’re an excellent all-around Journalist.
You bringing this up completes a portion of my “loose ends”. I was in my early thirties, when this happened, and it’s lingered in my mind since then. To me it was a total conundrum; for being complicit with his actions via the bribery and the ultimate solution. He appeared that he was offered something versus coming up with the idea himself and that “haunted” me until I read your piece. The man had a conscience albeit after the fact but nonetheless he displayed his true self in his final use of kinetic energy.
I live in Lower Alabama but I have traveled the entire country and caught your use of the Primanti Brothers sandwich… such an experience being at the one downtown Pittsburgh, on a Friday night! I am sure it was a patron that conducted the dirty deed but when we left the place… a Primanti glass magically turned up, in the wife’s purse, unfortunately the freshly poured 90 Minute IPA was completely drained reinforcing “you can’t always get what you want “.
Again, great writing!
Thank you very much, I.P. I’m humbled by and grateful for your very kind words.
I agree with you that Dwyer had a conscience. From what I understand, he was a good friend, a savvy politician, and a loved and respected family man. But $300K is a lot of scratch. He was only human and temptation got the better of him. I’m kicking myself now for not including it in the piece, but I believe his motivation for doing what he did is because dying in office enabled his widow to collect full survivor benefits ($1.28 million in 1987 money). It was the biggest death benefit payment in the state at the time. Had Dwyer lived and been sentenced, his widow would’ve gotten zilch.
I’d also like to add that I’m thrilled you got the Primanti reference! And a 90 Minute IPA sounds delicious right about now. Too bad it’s only 9:20 a.m. in my neck of the woods. Maybe an early lunch…
I was wondering what a Primanti sandwich is/was. Thank you for connecting the dots.
I knew part of that story but you filled it in nicely as per usual. Thanks.
Great post. Never knew about this story at all, nor the Filter song. But I'm a near-boomer, so I stopped paying attention before a lot of the grunge era got going in earnest.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.
A little extra: 30 years ago this coming May, I was out at Dealey Plaza in Dallas to get a publicity photo for an upcoming magazine column. At that time, I was living in downtown and had lived in the Dallas area for a decade, but had never come out to Dealey Plaza before then. At the time, the original white picket fence as mentioned in the Warren Report, the one where allegedly at least one other shooter had been seen, was still up, but not for long: it was later dismantled and sold off in pieces to collectors. I still have the photos of the back of the fence, where visitors had scraped and carved appropriately snarky commentary for the last few years as the fence slowly fell to dry rot, and one of the most prominent bits of graffiti involved four words: "Hey Man Nice Shot."
Well, that was all entirely new to me, both the song and the event that inspired it, Sonny, but I was hooked. Absolutely fascinating, thank you.
Thanks, Sheila! The song was pretty popular within my circle of friends. I think maybe you were deep into thrash at the time? Either way, crazy story!
Ha, sounds likely, that time was a big blur!😜
What a story!
I watched this happen live on television. Later on, it took me a while to realize the song was about Bud. That made me crack a smile. The whole thing was bizarre.
A classic song. Absolute rage banger