PHILADELPHIA – Dave Schulthise, known as Dave Blood during his career as the bassist for Philadelphia punk icons the Dead Milkmen, died Wednesday. He was 47.
Schulthise died at the home of friends in Westchester, N.Y., said his brother, Joe Schulthise. His sister, Kathy, wrote on the band’s Web site that he committed suicide.
“He left a note that said … he just could not stand to go on any longer,” Kathy Schulthise wrote.
In 1983, Schulthise formed the band with singer Rodney Klingerman, known as Rodney Anonymous; guitarist Joe Genaro, known as Joe Jack Talcum; and drummer Dean Sabatino, known as Dean Clean.
Known for their silly lyrics and fast playing, the Milkmen toured incessantly, driving around the country in a converted ambulance. Their releases include “Big Lizard in My Backyard” (1985), “Beelzebubba” (1988), and “Metaphysical Graffiti” (1990). Their hits included “Punk Rock Girl.”
Before becoming a musician, Schulthise went to Temple University and Purdue University, where he was a Ph.D. candidate in economics. He also had studied Serbo-Croatian culture at Indiana University and moved to Serbia in 1998 to teach English, but returned home to live with his parents in suburban Ridley Park during the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia.
Schulthise had been depressed since his mother, Margi, died of cancer in January, his friend Sheila Sullivan said.
