Scott Kempner, guitarist and founding member of proto-punk legends The Dictators, The Del-Lords and more, died on Wednesday at a nursing home in Connecticut from complications from early-onset dementia. (Via Variety.) He was 69.
Born February 6, 1954 in the Bronx, Kempner formed The Dictators in 1974 with Andy Shernoff, Ross the Boss, Stu Boy King. Kempner’s nickname was “Top Ten” due to his obsessive record collecting. The next year they released their debut album, The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!, the next year and is one of the building blocks on NYC punk. The band, which would soon include Dick Manitoba full time, continued through 1980 and would reunite a number of times starting in the mid-’90s.
After The Dictators, Kempner formed The Del-Lords who slid in with dusty, twangy cow-punk scene, and also played in The Brandos, Little Kings, The Paradise Brothers and more.
Rest easy, Scott.
