Died Pretty singer Ron S. Peno dies aged 68
By Glenn A Baker
RON S. PENO: 1955-2023:
Ronald Stephen Peno ranked high in that community of rock performers who commanded a loyal and devoted following in the strata of underground music. No commercial radio airplay and hits, no Countdown spots, no mainstream awards, no screaming hordes but a live circuit of mostly inner-city pubs and highly regarded alternative albums. More Triple J than Triple M it has been observed.
Ron Peno was born in Gosford in 1955. He attended secondary school in Narrabri where he had a band he named Virgin Frogs. He later explained, “My friend Warwick Fraser and I were at school in Narrabri, and we sent it to ‘Sound Blasts’ (music column.) to see if they’d print it; a very left field thing to do.” Drummer Fraser (later to find prominence in Blackfeather) and Peno would cross paths again, when he joined Ron’s band Died Pretty in 1992.
Always admired by his peers as a charismatic, versatile vocalist, with his magnetic charisma manifested in his on-stage writhing/dancing had no trouble throughout his career being an enigmatic drawcard. He formed the Hellcats in Sydney in 1976, as “a tough New York Dolls-inspired cover band” according to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane. Peno attempted songwriting with partner Charlie Georges, “I tried to write something but nothing came of it. I don’t know why – we’d have a verse or a chorus, but it never went beyond that.” They supported shows by local Detroit rockers, Radio Birdman. Peno reflected, “I think The Hellcats only lasted about three or four months, but in that time we played gigs with them.”
Died Pretty’s Ron Peno unleashes at Melbourne’s Cherry Rock festival.
Peno relocated to Brisbane and, in 1979, he formed a hard rock band, The 31st, with guitarist Mick Medew as co-lead vocalist. They were joined by later Hoodoo Gurus founder Brad Shepherd on lead guitar in mid-1980. This time the songwriting flowed a little easier and Peno and Medew co-wrote Igloo and Stand Alone for the group. Peno explained that Igloo actually came from him reading Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. “I dunno, one of those silly things I was going through when I was young. The black-and-white, positive-negative thing – optimism and pessimism.” McFarlane observed “They were roundly disliked on the close-knit, post-punk [that is, post Saints] inner-city Brisbane scene.”
Peno, as Ronny Pop, with Charlie Georges on lead guitar, briefly joined the Frozen Stiffs. In early 1981, after The 31st disbanded, Peno and Medew formed Screaming Tribesmen, which performed Igloo and Stand Alone. That group disbanded in 1983 and Peno formed Final Solution, with Frank Brunetti on keyboards and Brett Myers on lead guitar. Both had been members of Brisbane outfit The End who had caught Ron’s eye and caused him to utter that they were great but needed a great lead singer, and he was the man they needed. Consequently, after five gigs in Brisbane the band relocated to Sydney. It has been said that “No one in Ron’s new group actually liked Died Pretty as a name, but they didn’t dislike it either.” So it stayed ... for the next twenty years.
Ron Peno in action.
Died Pretty signed with independent label Citadel Records and went into the studio with in-house producer Rob Younger to record their April 1984 debut single, Out Of The Unknown. The track was co-written by Peno and Brett Myers – the group’s mainstays. Younger was their initial drummer. Their first album, Free Dirt, was released in 1986. A European tour followed, and they signed to British label Beggars Banquet for overseas distribution. As a result, their second album, 1988’s Lost, made it into the Italian charts. Died Pretty recorded their third album, 1990s Every Brilliant Day, in Los Angeles.
The fourth album Doughboy Hollow, recorded back in Sydney, finally gave them degree of the popularity in Australia that they had enjoyed in Europe. The album was hailed as “brimming with passionate, dramatic and alluring musical vistas”. It was produced by acclaimed Englishman Hugh Jones and would be listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. Its singles, despite being described as “near-perfect pop”, did not achieve mainstream chart success or airplay but after years of only making the alternative charts they entered the Top 20 of the mainstream album charts and were nominated for an ARIA award for best independent album. There were problems with distribution so Died Pretty signed to Sony for two albums, 1993’s Trace and 1995’s Sold. The former, released internationally, featured a more polished production with leaner, more rock-oriented songs.
Both albums did well by their standards but not by Sony’s. A senior figure there had also been disappointed by the band during a live showcase, and they were dropped from the label’s roster in 1996, returning to Citadel. The two albums from this next period would be the last of their career. Using My Gills As A Road Map and Everydaydream, marked a move away from rocky post-punk and towards Kraftwerk-style electronica. A best-of collection was released in 1999, titled Out Of The Unknown.
L-R Max Sharam, Kim Salmon, Dave Graney, Mick Harvey, Ron S. Peno, appearing in the Bowie in Berlin tribute show.
After riding the wave of staunch cult success for two decades. Peno and Myers officially pulled the pin on these Aussie indie darlings in 2002. In 2008 Died Pretty reunited to perform Doughboy Hollow, their most popular album, in its entirety as part of All Tomorrow’s Parties Don’t Look Back series of concerts to coincide with its re-release. It later resulted in a double album Live At The Forum 2008.
The compact Peno still had a considerable, loyal following and he initially teamed up in 2004 with another indie luminary, Kim Salmon for a dark alternative-country outfit, Darling Downs. He also spent time with Brett Myers’ group Noises and Other Voices in 2006.
But the vehicle his followers were waiting for was Ron S. Peno & the Superstitions, who debuted with the first of three albums, Future Universe, in 2011. By the time of the third, 2013’s Guiding Light, which was described by a reviewer as “a punchy platter combining hip shakers, alt-country drivers, and bruising ballads”. You can also hear a whisper of Bowie hovering over the album, “There’s a couple of Bowie references throughout” Peno admitted, “he’s obviously an artist that I absolutely worshipped and was heavily influenced by. In Dreams of Leaving the ‘Oooowwwooowwwooww’, was my attempt at a Bowie-esque vocal thing: an homage to him.”
This time around, the songs were a collaboration with Cam Butler, and it was mostly sold online, as was Future Universe and Anywhere And Everything Is Bright. It was touted as “the purest expression of the band’s sweeping, propulsive chamber rock to date. In recording these eight stirring journeys into the realms of uncertainty, remorse, restlessness and yearning, Ron S. Peno and the Superstitions brought the passion and grand atmospheres of their renowned live shows into the studio. The result is an album that’s urgent and unabashedly emotional, yet also exquisitely refined.”
By rights, it should have been a resounding success, but Peno was cautious. “I thought the transition from forming Died Pretty to forming another band would be easy, but it hasn’t been,” he mused. “It’s been like starting over again. I had this silly idea that with Died Pretty being quite established, I’d form another band and we could do the festival circuit and it’d be cool, and we wouldn’t have to do corner pubs. But that’s all we’ve done. One minute I was performing to 1500 people with Died Pretty, and the next minute I’m playing to 20 people at the corner pub. I just didn’t think I’d be starting all over again. We love music so much, we love writing songs, we love performing, so that’s what keeps us going, otherwise you’d just fall in a crumpled heap. But I’m from that ’70s thing where you’ve got to put on a show. A show’s a show. You must separate yourself from the audience, you can’t just walk in from the bar. It’s a performance and you want to bring the audience into a world that you’re creating.”
Ron Peno of the band Died Pretty performs on stage during the Big Day Out 2009 in the Gold Coast Parklands, 2009. Credit: Getty
Although writers used words like effusive, charming, debonair and intense and said things like: “The man’s a living legend and he’s a barnstorming, mesmerising demon whenever and wherever he performs, even if it is just down the road,” the lack of profitable bankable, success was overwhelming. It told a story known to every working musician in the country outside of the major commercial league, particularly following years of lockdown. Peno himself promotionally gave it everything he had, “I think it’s a corker and it’s the strongest work I’ve done since Doughboy Hollow. The production and the mix; everything just came together.”
In March 2016, the band played across Australia as part of A Day on the Green concert series, alongside Hoodoo Gurus and Sunnyboys. They also played some headline shows in clubs. Then in mid 2017-they undertook a joint national tour with Radio Birdman.
Ron S. Peno fronted Died Pretty over four decades.
On February 14, 2019, it was announced that Peno had been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and that all upcoming Died Pretty shows would be cancelled while he underwent immediate treatment. A further message on the band’s Instagram page stated that he “stands strong to beat it.” Ron underwent multiple treatments and major surgery, where the tumour in his oesophagus was surgically removed, followed by a long rehabilitation period stretching into 2020. This allowed a burst of creativity. A fourth album, Do The Understanding from 2021, was the most sophisticated Superstitions album to date, hailed for its “uplifting song craft and ecstatic live performances, casting an intoxicating rock ‘n’ roll spell around their magnetic frontman.” The band officially returned to the stage with a performance at the Factory Theatre in Sydney on 17 April 2021.
Unfortunately, in early 2021, the cancer was discovered to have moved to his brain. In June 2023 Support Act, the music industry’s charitable organisation, sent out messages seeking financial support, advising all that “Ron’s beloved wife Charity continues to be his primary carer, however, she is struggling to maintain an income, provide around-the-clock care and keep on top of living costs.”
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