In Memorium: John Curry (1958-2026)
This week, the hi-desert creative class lost a vital scholar: The multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/aesthetic wizard John Curry, who passed away on Sunday, August 9 at his Joshua Tree home, survived by his wife Gloria and daughter Anabel. Reporter Gabriel Hart looks back at the exceptional life of the punk rock pioneer who found his home among us in the hi-desert where he continues to leave his mark.
Curry was an early architect of L.A. punk as the frontman for the short-lived but influential Flyboys, who helped bridge the gap between glam and punk rock in 1975 before the term “punk” was fully established. The neon-outfitted Arcadia-based four-piece, whose mission statement was “play fast, jump around” according to Curry, would release their 12” EP on the fledgling Frontier Records (who would follow that first release with debuts from Redd Kross, Suicidal Tendencies, Circle Jerks, TSOL, and other punk rock mainstays). Last April, Frontier released the retrospective “The Complete Flyboys 1978-1980.”
After performing in the original version of Chris D.’s Flesheaters and leading the post-punk outfit Choir Invisible, Curry did a brief but memorable stint in the Latino punk band The Plugz in 1981, where he would write the music to one of their most iconic songs, “Better Luck.” Curry re-recorded the song in its original arrangement and released it under his own name in 2025.
“It was essentially a love/location song, like a lot of songs I write,” said Curry.
While his music career would segue into a long tenure as Art Director for the L.A. Weekly, Curry continued to expand his musicianship in projects like Polar Bear (with Eric Avery of Jane’s Addiction), and later in The Edwardo Show, where he reunited with his Flyboys bandmate Scott Lasken playing 1920-30s pop through the lens of glam rock.
Curry would move to Joshua Tree in 2020 where he would continue writing, recording, and performing his solo material. His “Hopium” EP (2024) was recorded at Pat Kearns’ Goat Mountain Recording studio and his “29 Sessions” (2023) featured local folk chanteuse Rosa Pullman and members of Los Panchos Tones. A sturdy accompanist, Curry was a founding member of the experimental group The Joshua Trio alongside Victoria Williams and Ron Therrio. With his hands consistent in local arts, Curry assisted layouts of local literary magazine Beyond the Last Estate and contributed to the soundtrack of the Time Trials drag racing documentary, produced and directed by local filmmaker Cole Coonce.
“In John’s life in the Morongo Basin, one found that same spirit that made L. A .so exciting in the early punk rock days. He was chock-full of creativity, gumption, and the DIY ethos to keep expanding one’s body of work,” said Coonce.
In Curry’s last interview in Razorcake magazine in May, he spoke with immense gratitude of the hi-desert:
“The community up here is killer… I feel like I have more friends now in my life than I ever have. People like you, love you, and care about you… I can’t go to an opening, a restaurant, or a club without seeing ten people I know. It’s like, ‘Wow, this is my home,’” said Curry.
