Derf Scratch, original bassist (and saxophonist on “New York’s Alright If You Like Saxophones“), has died. The OC Weekly reports that Scratch died after a long battle with an unspecified illness. As pointed out by Pitchfork, nobody knows what he died of or even when he was born. My guess is that he was about 50 or 60-ish.

Scratch performed with Fear from 1977 to 1982, and was present during their essential recording (The Record) and their most infamous performance, SNL‘s Halloween episode in 1981.