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Former POISON IDEA Guitarist PIG CHAMPION Found Dead
- Feb. 1, 2006
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Thomas "Pig Champion" Roberts, guitarist for POISON IDEA, died at his home in Portland, Oregon, Monday night (Jan. 30). He was 47 years old. A founding member of the seminal punk band, he continued to appear with POISON IDEA throughout the late Nineties and into the new millennium, despite officially quitting the band in 1993. Variously described as "spectacularly fat," and "the single largest man in hardcore history," Roberts crowned himself "Pig Champion" after hitting an impressive 450 lbs. on the scales. The highly regarded guitarist was revered by a devoted following worldwide. No further information is available at this time.
According to the Taang! Records web site, POISON IDEA was formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon by frontman Jerry A., Roberts, bassist Chris Tense, and drummer Dean Johnson. The group debuted three years later with the EP "Pick Your King", cramming 13 songs into a 16-minute time frame; the "Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes" EP followed in 1985, fine-tuning the band's blistering sound and fatalistic worldview. Thanks to their notoriously insatiable diet of drugs, alcohol, and junk food, the members of POISON IDEA all ballooned past the 300-pound mark by the time of the 1986 full-length "Kings of Punk". Tense and Johnson were then dismissed from the lineup, although the former returned in time for 1987's "War All the Time", recorded with second guitarist Eric "Vegetable" Olsen and drummer Steve "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford; Tense was then replaced by bassist Mondo for 1988's "Filthkick" EP. Both the "Darby Crash Rides Again" and "Ian MacKaye" EPs followed a year later, another period of roster tumult which made way for the addition of guitarist Kid Cocksman (soon replaced by Aldine Striknine) and bassist Myrtle Tickner. POISON IDEA returned in 1990 with "Feel the Darkness", with a series of live releases (the "Official Bootleg" EP, the "Live in Vienna" EP, and the "Dutch Courage" LP) preceding 1992's "Blank Blackout". A collaboration with Jeff Dahl appeared a year later, concurrent with the covers album "Pajama Party"; however, in the wake of Pig Champion's subsequent departure POISON IDEA disbanded, releasing their June 6, 1993, farewell gig at Portland's La Luna as "Pig's Last Stand".
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COMMENT |
posted by :
2/1/2006 12:32:12 AM
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bummer
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COMMENT |
posted by : Some Kind of Monster
2/1/2006 12:38:20 AM
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"Pig's Last Stand"
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COMMENT |
posted by :
2/1/2006 12:59:34 AM
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that sux
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COMMENT | that sucks
posted by :
2/1/2006 1:07:23 AM
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rip
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COMMENT | Gee, lemme see if I can figure this out...
posted by :
2/1/2006 1:39:20 AM
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Former POISON IDEA guitarist Pig Champion (real name: Tom Roberts) was reportedly found dead. Thanks to their notoriously insatiable diet of drugs, alcohol, and junk food, the members of POISON IDEA all ballooned past 300 pounds. Roberts tipped the scales at an impressive 450 pounds.
More details will be announced as they become available.
*****************************************************
OK!! I got it - His diet, drug and alcohol abuse, and morbid obesity PROBABLY had something to do with his death. Wonder if they'll bother with an autopsy? Anyway, cool band. Grew up in Portland, these guys were local legends. Punk for metalheads who don't normally like punk.
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COMMENT | sad to hear this
posted by : electric doom
2/1/2006 1:41:09 AM
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Poison Idea were a great band and a lot of fun to listen to. They were the inspiration for plenty of hardcore bands that would follow them and never broke in any way to the mainstream for any reason, staying strong to what they were. It's too bad that Pig had to go like this. While it was his own undoing, it is still beyond horrible to see this happen.
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COMMENT | hardly surprising
posted by :
2/1/2006 1:52:04 AM
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but sad anyway. Poison Idea kicks ass
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COMMENT | this sucks
posted by :
2/1/2006 4:19:50 AM
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"pick your king" fuckin rips...
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COMMENT | bummer
posted by : Brutal Judgement
2/1/2006 4:47:26 AM
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Great guy and guitarist. And great band. Bummer.
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COMMENT | ...
posted by :
2/1/2006 4:56:47 AM
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I'm amazed he'd lasted this long.
Great punk guitarist.
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COMMENT |
posted by : En_Gris
2/1/2006 5:08:18 AM
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Well he was an addict, and was or used to be homeless, go figure..
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COMMENT | thanks Tom
posted by :
2/1/2006 5:14:53 AM
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Poison Idea were very popular in Australia especially in Melbourne, the local radio station played there albums all the time.
they influenced alot of bands here.
listen to the drumming on the dutch courage cd, it amazing.
thanks for the wicked hardcore Tom
God bless you
Paul Jones
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COMMENT | R.I.P
posted by :
2/1/2006 6:14:20 AM
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Shit I can't beleive another great has bitten the dust. The world has just got over the deaths of Dime & Piggy. I was hoping he'd ger his fat arse on plane a the next Poison Idea came to the UK. At least his fate won't be the demise of the band. He was a big guy who was said to have an equaly big heart. R.I.P.
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COMMENT | R.I.P.
posted by :
2/1/2006 6:41:53 AM
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Pig Champion rocked big time... Rest in Peace brother!!!
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COMMENT | NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by :
2/1/2006 6:58:38 AM
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A true legend, a truly great guitarist.
Poison Idea are one of my favourite band.
Rest in Peace brother you will be sorely missed but you want be forgotten.
Now Playing: Poison Idea "Plastic Bomb" in Memory of Pig Champion.
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COMMENT | Really tragic news :(
posted by :
2/1/2006 7:21:44 AM
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I've got most of their stuff, I love the band and he was truly a legend and a great guy to boot not to mention a killer composer and guitar player!!!
May he be free!!
NP: Poison Idea "Forever and Always" You won't be forgotten brother..
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COMMENT |
posted by : loser
2/1/2006 10:07:54 AM
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... NOOOOOOO!!! this guy cracked me up! that, and Pick Your King was on my regular rotation, the Reign in Blood of Punk ...
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COMMENT | rest in peace tom.
posted by :
2/1/2006 11:20:30 AM
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the bulls are grand as the side of the sun, and although they kill them for
the stale crowds, its the bull that burns the fire
and although there are cowardly bulls as there are cowardly matadors and cowardly men, generally the bull stands pure and dies pure
untouched by symbols or cliques or false loves
and when they drag him out nothing has died
and the eventual stench is the world c.b.
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COMMENT | damn
posted by :
2/1/2006 11:23:10 AM
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One of my memories that will last forever is the D.R.I., Poison Idea, Painted Willie, Melvins show I saw back in '87 at the Crescent Ballroom in Tacoma. Pig and Jerry were so fucking huge and hilarious. What a great time.
Sadly, they just don't put on insane rock shows like that anymore.
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COMMENT | RIP
posted by :
2/1/2006 12:58:34 PM
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wow. Only got to see them once, but it was great. I can't believe it. Always been one of my favorite punk bands.
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COMMENT |
posted by :
2/1/2006 1:22:54 PM
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"Variously described as 'spectacularly fat,' and 'the single largest man in hardcore history,' Roberts crowned himself 'Pig Champion' after hitting an impressive 450 lbs."
Unless you've never heard of Poison Idea many people would still believe that Vince Neil is the fattest person in the history of the world. Ever.
That said, I'm surprised that we're only hearing about Pig Champion's death now giving how morbidly obese he was. Sucks that not even Cronos' fitness tips could save him though.
R.I.P. Tom.
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COMMENT | Dead Stare
posted by :
2/1/2006 2:27:10 PM
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Right on!
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COMMENT | GODS
posted by :
2/1/2006 2:38:48 PM
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they were the shit and will always be punk gods to me. changed my style of music for the better!
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COMMENT | One of the great
posted by :
2/1/2006 3:36:01 PM
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sad sad sad. Why does the good ones go? I think P.I. was/is one of the best and most influential HC/punk band of all times. they were the US Discharge. possible one of the most important bands of all time?? I ones sat next to pig in a couch back stage in SWEDEN on there farewell tour in 93- that show is one of the five best shows I ever seen and I seen a lot of shows i tell u that! crazy days back then -we saw ém in copenhagen too the next day. I spent most of the backstage time talking to slayer hippy and mondo and they truely were an alko and drugged out bunch!!
RESt in peace bro may u be burried with your sawed of Ice man and marshall stack-
to honour pig put on some of his songs like the badge, mario the cop ( he didn´t like Authorities)...
or listen to the immortal solo on kick out the jams on doutch courage...
with respekkt!! rip
ola
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COMMENT |
posted by : Viking Christ
2/1/2006 4:16:00 PM
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Fuck, that sucks. With his lifestyle and size, though, its not exactly a shock.
"Pick Your King" is fucking brutal. One of the best hardcore records ever.
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COMMENT |
posted by : burns1059
2/1/2006 8:05:27 PM
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Rest in Peace brother
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COMMENT | the view from portland
posted by :
2/2/2006 1:58:29 AM
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I wish to god I was posting to say this story isn't true. Unfortunately, it is. I was a roadie for PI and Tom was one of my closest friends. He was a warm, sweet, generous man in addition to being a rip-ass motherfucker of a guitar player. It kills me that he's gone, I spent the day cleaning out his room, and it was the worst job I've ever undertaken.
I'd like to thank everyone posting here for the respect shown to him. He appreciates it too...somewhere
RIP, brother- we will not see your like again
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COMMENT | Tom Pig Champion - Forever a King of Punk.
posted by :
2/3/2006 2:37:53 AM
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I was really bummed when I heard the news on Brandon's "Drinking From Puddles" radio show on KBOO.fm last night. Today I dug up an old interview I did of the band way back in 1992. You can read it here if you want to:
http://paperbackjukebox.com/PoisonIdea/
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COMMENT | Mightiest of the Mighty
posted by :
2/3/2006 7:35:50 PM
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I guess a lot of us knew this day would be coming. Not a complete surprise, but sad nonetheless. Like anybody else that grew up in PDX in the 80's and was into hardcore, I grew up with PI- one of the mightiest bands to ever walk the planet.
I've had friends that have moved here from other parts of the country and we'd have drunken debates long into the night about who the best bands of all time were. The out of towners would all say, "yeah, PI's ok, but they're not all that..."
Which would prompt a slurred tirade from any one of us locals.
Its one thing to put on Kings of Punk or Feel the Darkness, or just about anything else PI ever recorded, and listen to some of the best hardcore ever recorded. But to really KNOW what the PI experience was about, you had to see 'em live.
You had to see Jerry A blow fire on stage at the Pine St. Theater, with Tom Pig on stage next to him- with a Marshall Amp that just blew doors of anybody else's gear.
When you're 17, 18 and lived in what was back then a much different PDX, PI was the coolest thing ever. PI helped a lot of us form an identity.
My 'in' to get to know PIG was thru Slayer Hippy. After being mystified by those guys for a couple of years- they already seemed larger than life by the time Kings of Punk came out- it was pretty amazing to get to know Tom Pig.
Not only did he turn me on to a truckload of cool music, he also turned me onto reading Charles Bukowski and Henry Miller.
The guy was big, but he was deep also.
There was always a lot more to the guy than ever came across just by watching his band play live.
He had heart too, its really cool that lots of people are chiming in with memories of him that foster that image.
One story that comes to mind:
I drove PI up to Tacoma for a gig at the Community World Theater back in '87 or '88. The gig wasn't so hot and everybody was kind of bummed. I was beat and had to drive back. We pull into a Chevron outside FT Lewis and Tom and I sneak off to the mens' room and he shared the last bit of coke that he had with me, apologized for not having more and gave me a pretty dang genuine thanks for helpin' get them up to the gig-he didn't have to, and I certainly didn't expect it, but that's the kind of guy he was.
I got way too many memories of Pig and crew to keep rambling on here. Maybe I'll see some of you around and we'll tip a few in his honor.
Cheers, Tom.
PS:
My Top 5 PI tunes
5) Feel the Darkness
4) Pure Hate
3) AA
2) Laughing Boy
1) Made to be Broken
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COMMENT | Tom Roberts
posted by :
2/3/2006 8:55:23 PM
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Sad news.
Tom "Pig" Roberts passed away on Tuesday January 31st.
As quoted by his sister Lynn:
"The music must be awesome on the other side, and now they've added one more to the band."
Portland looses another legendary person in the entertainment industry this year. He will be missed.
I too grew up in the 80's watching this band.
Those were awsome times!
cat
Dragon Photography
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~catmoonxyz/
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COMMENT | wake for tom
posted by :
2/3/2006 11:18:54 PM
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Hey:
Thought I'd mention to those of you who have been posting from portland that there will be wake for tom tomorrow, saturday february 4 immediately following the service (which is at omega funeral and cremation, 223 SE 122nd- 1:00 pm) at sabala's on 38th and hawthorne or thereabouts. The service is for family and friends- if you knew tom, come on down. If he owed you money, join the club. The wake is for the public and anyone who knows what a terrible loss this has been and what kind of a monster, ripping, soulful legacy of music our boy left behind.
Jason Sabala can't be thanked enough for his kindness in putting this on. Also- the tribute on the Marquee is a good touch. Thanks Jason, and keep a cold one ready for me.
Chris (Doc)
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COMMENT | Sorry to hear of the passsing pig
posted by :
2/14/2006 3:00:26 PM
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Out of all the times i got to see Poison Idea , I never got to meet or talk to Tom . I remember him taking money for the show and stamping hands outside the Satyricon, and seeing the band play at the long dead 13th Precinct . Didn't know his habits , or any of that shit. But I was lucky enough to be turned onto pick your kings as a teenager , and to see the original lineup a handfull of times around that rainy fuckin city . He was part of the most in your face frantic punk band ever assembled.
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COMMENT | a good friend gone
posted by :
2/19/2008 12:30:00 AM
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I was Tom's riimmate for the last ten years of his life. In fact, I inherited his bekived catm Gloria. Tom passed away from a serious kidney infection and too many 40 ouncers. I think he died about 1:00AM on January 31, 2006. I think he knew he wouldn't last much longer. But I want to remember the great times he and I had over the years. I knew Tom well since 1981. He was one of the most generous spirits ever. He was totally chivalrous and caring. In all the years we lived together, we never had an arguement or fight. He loved my dog, Bandit and that meant a lot to me. Rest in peace, buddy. You earned it.
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COMMENT | A good friend gone
posted by :
2/19/2008 8:36:27 PM
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I was Tom's roommate for the last ten years of his life. In fact, I inherited his beloved cat, Gloria. Tom died about 1:00AM on January 31, 2006. He died from a severe kidney infection and too many 40 ouncers. But I prefer to think of the good times. Tom was the most generous of spirits. He was totally chivalrous. I knew Tom well since 1981. Rest in peace, buddy. You earned it.
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