RIP Tom “Pig Champion” Roberts
RIP big man. Not a lot of info, but it’s been confirmed that larger than life Poison Idea co-founder and guitarist Tom “Pig Champion” Roberts passed away January 30, 2006. Odd, people were questioning whether or not Pig and others were still alive over here. Here are a couple of my favorite Poison Idea tracks. For those interested, the Darby Crash Rides Again and Filthkick tracks are here:
Poison Idea - Pure Hate.mp3
Poison Idea - Time to Go.mp3
Poison Idea - Laughing Boy.mp3
Poison Idea - Lifestyles.mp3
Poison Idea - Nothing Is Final.mp3
Poison Idea - Getting The Fear.mp3
Poison Idea - Just To Get Away.mp3
Poison Idea - Crippled Angel.mp3
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“Former POISON IDEA Guitarist PIG CHAMPION Found Dead - Feb. 1, 2006
Thomas “Pig Champion” Roberts, guitarist for POISON IDEA, died at his home in Portland, Oregon, Monday night (Jan. 30). A founding member of the seminal punk band, he continued to appear with POISON IDEA throughout the late Nineties and into the new millennium, despite officially quitting the band in 1993. Variously described as “spectacularly fat,” and “the single largest man in hardcore history,” Roberts crowned himself “Pig Champion” after hitting an impressive 450 lbs. on the scales. The highly regarded guitarist was revered by a devoted following worldwide. No further information is available at this time. “
it’s true… I have from an impeccable source close to Tom. This is no joke.
definately a loss.
I’d hate to bring this up now but he owes me $200… oh well
Sad…nice post though. Truely, one of the best punk bands…ever.
i remember the first time i heard Poison Idea….it was from a comp on triple x records and it was the song “Desecrate”….it was the best song on the cd. Thought i’d share a good memory.
I saw them on tour in Germany in 1993. Pig Champion was so large he had to sit down in a chair to do the gig … he truly was a punk original.
iam now officially an old man
Pig ChampionDeath of a Rat
author: Jim Goad
Tom “Pig Champion” Roberts (the fattest one in the
picture), guitarist and founder of Portland’s most
famous punk-rock band (that’s not saying much, I know)
Poison Idea has FINALLY been found dead at age 47.
I’ve yet to see any confirmation of the CAUSE of his
death, but it MAY have been related to the fact that
whenever I hung out with himwhich used to be a lothe
was either smoking crack, drinking malt liquor, or
shooting heroin…CONSTANTLY. The first night I met
him, there was literally not a MOMENT over the span of
six hours where he wasn’t either ingesting intoxicants
or preparing them for ingestion.
Poison Idea, particularly Pig, made loud noises about
how anyone who snitched on another man should be a
dead man, how corrupt “The Badge” made people, and how
we’d turned into a “Nation of Finks.” He even recorded
an album with the singer of the band Millions of Dead
Cops. Being a “solid criminal” was a huge part of
Pig’s public persona.
Fine.
Too bad that in practice, Tom Roberts was a police
informant. I should know.
The incidentrevolving around when my psycho mistress
smashed a rival in the head with an axe handleis
dealt with in Shit Magnet. It wasn’t until I was
jailed and handed a stack of police reports by my
lawyer that I saw the name “Tom Roberts” listed on a
report, alongside the address where I knew Pig
Champion to be living. He had spoken to police about
the incident.
I’ve been thinking about possible reasons for why Pig
turned into Rat. The girl who got hit with the axe
handle was a friend of his. Pig was the one who played
matchmaker with me and her for our ill-fated one-night
tryst. Maybe she encouraged him to help with the
investigation. I never said he CALLED the police. But
he definitely TALKED to them. There can’t be TWO “Tom
Roberts” who lived at the same address who would have
known anything about the crime, right? Imagine how I
felt when I was behind bars and finally read THAT
police report….THANKS, Pig!
I did a brief search of “Pig Champion” and the word
“dead.” From all corners, it’s “what a great
guitarist…” “…what a shame,” etc. And that’s all
fine. I wouldn’t want to mess with anyone’s “fond
memories” or whatever.
But amid all the eulogies, there was not a PEEP about
“lifelong pathetic junkie” or “hypocrite who betrayed
his own loudly stated values.” Try for a moment to put
yourself in my position. Every time my name arises,
it’s Nazi wifebeater, bibbety bibbety boo…the
complete opposite of what happens with Pig and most
others whose shortcomings don’t fall within the realm
of the Currently Forbidden. “Hypocrite” and “junkie”
don’t cause people to gasp as much as “racist” or
“misogynist.”
Where I’m standing, a person causes much more
measurable damage to themselves and those around them
by being a lifelong heroin addict than by being
someone who has slapped (or slapped back) his wife or
girlfriend a few times.
But our marvelously logical culture has reached a
point where junkiesthe pariahs of 50 years agoare
nearly lionized.
Pig stole from both me and Debbie. I remained silent
once when he outlined his plans to steal musical
equipment from owners of a warehouse who were allowing
his fat stinking ass to live there for free. He had no
moral compunctions about ANYTHING when it came to his
dope habit.
And though I never knew him to have a girlfriend, he
saw fit to constantly run his mouth to people about
how I deserved to DIE for how horribly I’d allegedly
treated Debbie over a dozen years.
I was talking to Jen (co-author for the NASCAR
project) about my feelings regarding Pig, because they
mirror the way I feel about a girl that both Jen and I
know. The girl in question tried to “book block” me
from becoming friends with Legs McNeil in order to try
and get her own book contract through Legs. She told
him I was a prick to her and that he should never work
with me and that I’d written insulting things about
her, when the truth was that I’d never written
ANYTHING about her. What infuriated me about this is
that I’d NEVER done anything bad to this girl. For
whatever personal reasons (spite, jealousy,
insecurity?) she saw fit to try and damage me.
If I’ve been a dick to someone, which is not uncommon,
then maybe I can at least understand WHY they’re being
so vengeful, no matter if I think they’re going too
far. But when I’ve done nothing but be cordial and
friendly to someone and THEN they turn?
Grrrrrrrrrrr….
Same situation with Pig. I knew him for quite some
time. Was never a dick to him. Never insulted him. And
then he turns on me and my girlfriend of the time? And
keeps talking shit about me to everyone in Portland?
And then Mr. “Nation of Finks”/”The Badge” winds up on
a POLICE REPORT? Yeah…that annoys me.
Pig is quoted by Debbie during the time of our breakup
as saying my “candle” would burn out soon.
Too bad. Yours burnt out first, fat boy.
The lead singer from old skool bay area punk rock band died in mexico a couple days ago too
oops i meant the singer from RKL
Sad to spread the news.
Tom “Pig” Roberts passed away on Tuesday January 31st.
As quoted by his sister Lynn:
“The music must be awesome on the other side, and now they’ve added one more to the band.”
Portland loses another legendary person in the entertainment industry this year. He will be missed.
A memorial is being held for him on Sat. January 4th 2006.
cat
Dragon Photography
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~catmoonxyz/
as a 35 yr old punker these guys were the black flag for the kids who black flag werent enough for so rippin so awesome and fat as they wanted to be. I m happy I got to see them before pig died but dont forget the rest of this airtight hardcore(punk) band. as far as Im comcernnerd this is the best vision of punk as is it should be. I rememeber the MRR “punx over thirty and still giving a shit issue and I remember pig talking about his personal rebellion against his prents. Ill just see how fat I can get. whatever you wanna say the phto of pig with a forty jammed next ta his junk is what Ill remember of a rippin guitarroista. get yers big guy.
I think that Jason Sears’ (RKL) death is more important. Everyone should have seen this one coming.
Jim Goad, this is not cool! Talking shit about someone who has passed away is really chickenshit! So what if Pig Champion ratted you out cuz you’re nothing but a wife beating nazi dirtbag who deserved it!
that Jim Goad essay above? He can go fuck himself… he’s a convicted wife beater, by the way.
tut tut jim,you wait’til a man is dead before you slag him,whats he gonna do rise up from the grave to challange you???what an Arsehole
Shitty month, folks. It pisses me off to no end that the media calls a band like Fall Out Boy punk, while the real shit will never be played on MTV and no one fucking says anything about the real music or the true loss of incredible people.
Thanks for the kind words to those who had them. Just to clarify one thing. Tom was not a life long junky. Once upon a time he was a skinny little kid who loved to go swimming in a lake, chase frogs along the shore. He would look up at the stars and dream.
Jim mentioned he never knew Tom had ever had a girl friend. Well he did. Had you have been to his service one was there and another sent flowers.
You all can remember Tom how you want good or bad. But I will always remember the cute little boy with the big brown eyes, looking up at the stars. My LITTLE brother Tom.
A bit late in the day but I just put on a Poison Idea CD to work out to - my fav band pumps the adrenaline like no other!, so after I worked out I thought I’d check up on how all the guys were doing these days. I’m so sorry to hear he died, I won’t mention his real name because I only knew him as Pig Champion… RIP PC
I’ll keep this short- Lynn Roberts is right, Tom was not a life long junkie, had girlfriends and was a wonderful man. Jim goad is wrong. Yes, Tom’s name was on a police report, but they contacted him and he said as little asa he cuold. Anyone who knew Tom knew how incredibly paranoid he was of the police. I used to drive him around alot, and he wouldn’t even get into my car once the tags had expired, he wouldnt have been capable of contacting them.
Lynn, if you’re reading this, I didn’t know Tom as a little boy, but I knew the same tom you did and miss him every day. its 6 months since he left us and there are tears in my eyes as i write this.
Rest in peace, good buddy, I’ll never forget you
I’ve only just heard about Pig’s death. I was looking for some piccies to go with the ‘best of’ compilation CD I’ve just made from all my Poison Idea vinyl for the car.
I was smacked down! I’ve loved Poison Idea since buying their Kings Of Punk LP over 20 years ago. Unfortunately, I never saw them live (I don’t think they came to the UK that often), but they’re marked as being one of my two fave bands - GBH being the other.
RIP Tom - keep punk rock alive wherever you are.
first off your site is one of the few things an old fuck like me would have any reason to sit in front of a computer for. second, i am looking for jerry a’s lyrics to -crippled angel- i’ve had no luck ffinding it elsewhere. even pointing me in the right direction would be great. looking to play it and want to get it close to right. keep it coming. thanks d wylie
I remeber the day I got the news about Tom’s death.I had to get really drunk that day.
Rest in peace brother.
to Jim Goad:Go fuck urself u sorry wee cunt
Hey, all you stupid, smelly, doped-out assholes…have any of you actually SEEN the police report in question? I have. Tom did a LOT of talking.
I was Tom’s roommate for ten years and found him dead the morning he died. I knew Tom since 1981 and know he wasn’t a junkie at all. He really enjoyed doing drugs. It wasn’t until late in his live that he ended up addicted. I knew Tom as the man who loved Detroit Lake and the outdoors. Mostly, he loved his family, friends, his music and absolutely mostest, his Tuxedo cat, Gloria, better known as schmeow.