Tim Haslett Found Dead
Incredibly sad news out of Michigan today. Tim Haslett, a fixture in the Boston music scene for years, was found dead in his MSU apartment late last week. I had the pleasure of knowing Tim a bit, and always greatly enjoyed talking to him, even if he completely lost all concept of time when letting loose on a topic that interested him, and wound up eating your entire afternoon.
I met Tim at a failed startup called iCAST.com, an “entertainment portal”, where he was enlisted to drive coverage of rap and dance music. He had been working for Spin (I think), his knowledge of music was encyclopedic, and his way of speaking was both weird, witty, deadpan, and always surprising. He could be absolutely hilarious.
Naturally, due to the fact that this company had no point, and was spending millions to prove it, we both found ourselves out of a job in short order. I wound up at another startup, and Tim took a job as a buyer for the great, short-lived Other Music franchise in Harvard Square. This allowed him to talk music pretty much 10 hours a day, to the benefit of the music-buying public that was really into obscure stuff, or at least curious.
I should add that he was a huge music fan without being a music snob in the slightest. So if you had no idea who, say, Peter Brotzmann was, Tim would be excited to turn you on, not mortified at your bottomless musical ignorance (as is usually the case with the NYC Other Music).
Other Music went out of business after 9/11, and Tim started turning up at Twisted Village, another wonderful music shop in Harvard. My most vivid memory of him was when I walked in one Saturday and struck up a conversation. By that point we were friendly enough that many of our conversations quickly devolved into abject absurdity and lies for our own amusement (if you can think of a better way to kill a Saturday…).
When I walked in this time, Tim grabbed me and said, “Hey, Joe, great. I wanted to talk to you about something. Listen, so I came into this shipment of fire damaged waterbeds and I’m having a really hard time unloading them…”
This speech went on for about five minutes, and was executed so earnestly that after a while I began to wonder whether this maniac really had bought a load of charred waterbeds.
I hadn’t seen him in ages, until about a month ago in New York. I was raiding the Other Music in Manhattan when I turned and saw him standing there, talking to four people at once. We caught up a bit, said we’d stay in touch, but, as these things often go, never did.
Though he had left Boston a while ago, this really is a heartbreaker. He was a unique and wonderful guy, and he’ll be badly missed.
More: David Day at the Dig posts his thoughts.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Thanks for your words, it seems many of us have similar experiences with this wonderful human. I shared my own here. http://www.moodmat.com/?p=692
March 19th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Hi there from over the pond. He have just heard about the tragic death of Tim Haslett.
Tim was like a member of our family back in the 1980s when he was at Burford School England with our son Christopher.
When the family returned to the USA Christopher lived with the Hasletts in Boston in his gap year. At this time another tragedy hit the family when Tim’s father took his own life an event that left a lasting impression.
Tim often stayed with us and was a real fun character. He will be greatly missed. Incidentally Tim’s mother Nancy could trace her ancestory back to the Pilgrim Fathers having arrived in the New World aboard the ship Anne.
Best regards from Corfe Castle in Dorset.
Nigel & Gillian
0044 01929480219
PS we are about to go off to Oz for six weeks but can access our emails via mailzone.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Tim was my first friend at Sacred Heart Jr. High School. I remember the funny stories he would tell along lines of the water bed story in this blog. When I would visit his house one of our most popular activities was to mix DJ tapes. At the time Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” had been released. I remember his passion for music even then and he had greatly influenced my musical tastes. I am deeply saddened by his loss and offer my condolences to his family. God Bless.
John FX Baker
Plymouth Ma.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Tim was a great guy, and we had many good times and laughs at Sacred Heart. John mentioned Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, and it is funny as whenever I have though of Tim thru the years, I also instantly associate him with that piece of work. He was always light years ahead of us back then, too.
Back in the early 80’s, Tim moved back to England. He bought my Schwinn BMX bicycle before he left (apparently no one had BMX bikes in England at the time). In his words, his BMX bike was the envy of the neighborhood, and within a few years BMX bikes were readily available. It would not surprise me one bit if Tim was solely responsible for creating the BMX bike fad in England, as he said every kid wanted one after they saw his.
Tim was a genuine person and touched many lives in a positive way. The world needs more people like him. I wish to offer my sincerest condolences and prayers to his family and friends. Rest in peace, my friend.
March 20th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
WZBC pays tribute to Tim:
today 3/20 at 6pm and 7pm on Flyweight and Rare Frequency
sat 3/22 (actually 3/23) 1am on QE2
and monday 3/24 5-7pm
tim’s co-host brian coleman tributes tim in their old time slot
WZBC 90.3FM http://www.wzbc.org (streaming)
call-in 617-552-4686
Memorial services are Friday 3/21 at 3pm at Cambridge Friends’ Meeting House
and Enormous Room Tribute event Monday night as well….
it’ll be a scorcher!!
March 20th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
http://wzbc.blogspot.com/2008/03/tim-haslett-1966-2008-tim-haslett.html
sign our blog for tim…..
March 21st, 2008 at 5:00 pm
He dedicated himself to fighting white supremacy & he sustained himself through *severe* depression through that commitment and through a deep lovely passionate relationship to music without which life wasn’t worth living.
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
Tim was a wonderful human being. I am so sad to hear about his death. I loved his sense of humour, his love of music, his creativity, his passion for social justice, but most of all I loved his heart. He has left a lot of broken hearts.