Oliver Joseph Nanini (1955 – December 4, 2000) was an American rock

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

, most famous for being the percussionist and a founding member of new wave group

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV ...

during their heyday in the 1980s. He was known for playing with pots, pans, and other objects. This arrangement can be seen in the motion picture '' Urgh! A Music War'' in which Wall Of Voodoo performed a live version of the song "Back In Flesh" from the '' Dark Continent'' album, and also later in the video for the hit single " Mexican Radio". Along with

Stan Ridgway Stanard "Stan" Ridgway (born April 5, 1954) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums. He was the original le ...

and

Bill Noland William D. Noland (born April 1, 1954) is an American musician, composer, and producer best known for his membership in the rock bands Wall of Voodoo and Human Hands during the late 1970s and '80s. Human Hands Noland was a founding member of ...

, he left the band after their performance at the US Festival in 1983. Nanini went on to become one of the co-founders of the neo-traditional band The Lonesome Strangers and played on their first record, ''Lonesome Pine''. He was also the drummer for numerous 1970s punk bands, including

Black Randy and the Metrosquad Black Randy and the Metrosquad was an American punk rock band from the late 1970s and early 1980s in the Los Angeles punk scene. They gained notoriety not only for their surreal and smutty sense of humor, but also for their amalgamation of pro ...

The Plugz The Plugz (also known as "Los Plugz") were a Latino punk band from Los Angeles that formed in 1977 and disbanded in 1984. They and The Zeros were among the first Latino punk bands, although several garage rock bands, such as Thee Midniters a ...

, and Bags. Before his death, he was a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

for Dangerhouse Records recording with many bands, notably recording with the band

Sienna Nanini Sienna (from it, terra di Siena, meaning "Siena earth") is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown and is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown and is calle ...

during the 1990's, Nanini and his fellow musician, known only as Lamb Cannon, believed the "Los Angeles club scene" was "disgusting" and decided to commit to a

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

act, via the album

Pants down time Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and dr ...

, released after his passing. He was born in Japan in 1955 to a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

military family. Nanini died at his

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

home on December 4, 2000, of a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

, at age 45.

References

1955 births 2000 deaths Musicians from Los Angeles American rock drummers Punk rock drummers Deaths from intracranial aneurysm American people of Japanese descent 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians {{US-drummer-stub