Dave Riley

Dave Riley is most well-known as the bassist for Big Black. Dave's first Chicago punk band was Savage Beliefs, and he also performed with End Result. Riley suffered a stroke in 1993 and passed away from lung cancer in late 2019. Riley documents the period immediately after his stroke in a well-written blog.

Facts

• Moved to Chicago in 1982, from Detroit
• Played in a Detroit band called Static for about two weeks, with John of Negative Approach
• While in Detroit, he worked as an audio engineer for bands such as Parliament
• Steve asked him to join Big Black in 1984, finally started practicing in February 1985
• First time he met Santiago Durango was in the Cubby Bear bathroom while Durango was throwing up.
• Produced End Result's 12" EP Ward
• Riley has written many short stories and released one book - Blurry and Disconnected
• After Big Black, Riley was in Bull and Miasma of Funk
• In 1990 he played bass, piano and percussion on the Algebra Suicide album Alpha Cue

External Links

• Article discussing Riley's death
• Riley's blog
• Site featuring Riley's books and CDs
• Buy Riley's book at Contortmedia