Obit for Jani Lane

Heard the news about Jani Lane yesterday; the former Warrant lead vocalist was found dead in a motel room in Woodland Hills, the latest casualty of the music industry machine.

He was not a happy man. He complained loudly and bitterly about the commercial exploitation of his song, "Cherry Pie", which became a meme that was the bane of his existence, and in his mind, the death of his career as a serious artist.. Never mind that "Cherry Pie" was the only Warrant song that I ever liked, because it was catchy, fun and deceptively simple in the way that only a skilled musical craftsman can deliver.

"Cherry Pie" didn't take itself seriously, whereas "Uncle Tom's Cablin", and "Heaven" did. "Where The Down Boys Go" was "Bye Bye Love" by the Cars with different lyrics. How could they get away with that, I often wondered. In an era of cheese, Warrant was less cheesy an Poison, for example, but a whole lot less fun. Until "Cherry Pie"... Wherein Lane penned a perfect pop song, no mean feat.

Lane lost control of his vision, his career, and apparently, a whole lot more. He turned to alcohol, which seems to be the answer to all of life's problems. Born John Kennedy Oswald, a most unfortunate moniker, he lived up to the name and pretty much did himself in. Another artist might have had taken a novelty hit like "Cherry Pie" in stride, rather than resenting it. One needs to take whatever successes we can get. Fate can be a capricious little bitch.

Lane was 47.