Gloomy Tunes: Jan and Dean, “Dead Man’s Curve”

A couple of great musicians—Ludwig van Beethoven, Alex of “A Clockwork Orange’s” favorite composer, and Nikki Sudden, a gentle, if tragic figure lost in a sea of scarves as he tried to be the Keith Richards for the post-punk era both in the Swell Maps and his solo albums—celebrate their death anniversaries, but there was really only one choice for Gloomy Tunes: Jan Berry, whose “Dead Man’s Curve,” a classic “teen tragedy/car crash” tune—this time from the point of the driver—  written by Berry, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, Roger Christian, and Artie Kornfeld that was a Top Ten hit for Jan and Dean in 1964. It was based on a real spot, not far from Wilson’s house in Bel Air.

It was also strangely prophetic: in 1966, Berry got into an awful crash on Sunset Boulevard, not far from the real Dead Man’s Curve. He survived, but it was a year before he was able to step into a studio.

Steven Mirkin

Steven Mirkin’s diverse career has taken him from politics to pop culture to high art, offering him a front row seat to some of the most fascinating events and personalities of our time: writing speeches, fundraising appeals and campaign materials for Ed Koch, John Heinz and independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson; chronicling the punk/new wave scenes in New York and London; interviewing musicians such as Elton John, John Lydon and Buck Owens; profiling modern masters Julian Schnabel, Paul Schrader and Jonathan Safran Foer; and writing for TV shows including 21, The Chamber, Let's Make A Deal, and Rock Star: INXS.