Fred Cole Of Dead Moon To Undergo Emergency Heart Surgery

One of the most influential garage rock figures of the past couple of decades, Fred Cole, is very unwell, it has been announced today.

On the website for their band Pierced Arrows, which he formed with his wife and long-time collaborator Toody in the wake of their seminal band Dead Moon, the couple explain that Cole will be undergoing emergency heart surgery due to clogged arteries, which will mean they are off the road for a minimum of six months.

“Our worst nightmare has come true,” their statement reads. “Over the last couple of weeks Fred has had problems with his heart. We didn't want to make any decisions until the tests were all finished & we consulted with his heart doctors. Now we know that he has 80-100% blockage in his arteries and must have emergency open-heart surgery for a bypass.

“This is very major surgery and will be at least 6 months for recovery, maybe even a year. Obviously, this means we are forced to cancel all tours, shows, pending offers etc. for both Pierced Arrows & Dead Moon & Fred and Toody unplugged.”

Cole has been releasing acclaimed garage rock music for 50 years now; with bands like The Lords and Deep Soul Cole he honed his early skills, before his band The Weeds – who later became The Lollipop Shoppe – became hugely popular in underground circles. The Weeds' It's Your Time appears on volume eight of the Nuggets compilation.

The Coles formed Dead Moon with drummer Andrew Loomis back in 1987, spending almost two decades touring the world playing dark garage-punk music with dark country-tinged elements thrown in. That band split in 2006, after which Pierced Arrows was formed. 

Dead Moon, and particularly Fred and Toody, are the subject of an excellent 2004 documentary entitled Unknown Passage: The Dead Moon Story.