BLABBERMOUTH.NET
MEGADETH's
Dave Mustaine has paid tribute to vocalist/bassist
Burke Shelley of legendary Welsh rockers
BUDGIE who died on January 10 at the age of 71.
Earlier today (Saturday, January 15), the 60-year-old
Mustaine took to his
Twitter to write: "I heard
Burke Shelley passed away. I am saddened at our loss of a really great musician. I wish I knew him. I'd say, 'Thank you for your life, your inspiration, and your music.'"
Mustaine has mentioned his love of
BUDGIE on a number of occasions in the past, including in an interview with
Kerrang! when he recalled how he landed a gig as
METALLICA's guitarist in 1981. "I called up
Lars [
Ulrich,
METALLICA drummer] after seeing the ad in
The Recycler and told him I listened to
MOTÖRHEAD. I also said I liked
BUDGIE and [in a mock Danish accent] he answered, 'You loike fockin'
BODGIE, man?' He sounded excited about that. So I met him at his house in Newport Beach, and it was a lot of fun. I was in the garage where everything was set up. I was warming up and the guys were in the other room listening. Eventually I got tired of waiting for them, so I went in and asked if they were ready to audition me. They told me, 'No, you've got the job.' So I was like, 'Awesome! Okay, let's go.'"
METALLICA was one of several high-profile groups which covered
BUDGIE classics over the years:
"Crash Course In Brain Surgery" appeared on 1987's
"Garage Days Re-Revisited", and
"Breadfan" was the B-side to the
"Harvester Of Sorrow" single in 1988.
Ulrich also paid tribute to
Shelley, writing on his
Instagram: "Thank you
Burke for everything you did for heavy music and much next level appreciation for co-writing and creating two songs that
METALLICA were honored to record over the years,
'Breadfan' and
'Crash Course In Brain Surgery'."
Two years ago,
Shelley said that he was suffering from aortic aneurysm — a dangerous and abnormal swelling of the main artery that supplies blood to the body. He was also batting Stickler syndrome, a genetic disorder that can cause serious vision, hearing and joint problems. At the time, he told
Wales Online that he turned down surgery because of the risk that it would cause irreparable spinal damage.
"I want to live what life I have left and not be crippled," he said. "I've got faith in God and have no worries about where I'm going. So I'll just go when He decides to take me and, in the meantime, I'll carry on doing what I want to do. Simple as that."
Shelley said the surgery he had in 2010 for aortic aneurysm resulted in damage to his diaphragm, leaving him unable to sing properly.
Often thought of as a cross between
BLACK SABBATH and
RUSH, the underappreciated outfit has influenced countless acts, despite enduring countless line-up shifts throughout their history.
The group originally formed in 1967 in Cardiff, Wales, comprised of
Shelley (vocals, bass),
Tony Bourge (guitar) and
Ray Phillips (drums), and by the early 1970s they'd inked a deal with
MCA Records.
This early lineup remains
BUDGIE's most definitive, due to the fact that it spawned three of the group's finest albums — 1971's self-titled debut, 1972's
"Squawk" and 1973's
"Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" — while the group's quirky song titles became somewhat of a trademark for the trio (such ditties as
"Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman",
"Hot As A Docker's Armpit",
"In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter's Hand" and
"You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk").
Despite building a sizeable following in their homeland (while never breaking out of cult status stateside),
Phillips left the group prior to their fourth album, 1974's
"In For the Kill!", replaced by newcomer
Pete Boot, which would in turn set off a flurry of steady lineup changes over the years for the group (the only constant
BUDGIE member from the beginning was
Shelley). Further releases were issued throughout the '70s, including 1975's
"Bandolier".
Shelley and company would remain together for a few more years before splitting up quietly by the mid-'80s. But almost as soon as they disbanded, groups began covering
BUDGIE classics, including
IRON MAIDEN (
"I Can't See My Feelings"), while back in its early club days
VAN HALEN was known to cover the title track from
"In For The Kill!"
