Screaming Lord Sutch was born one
David Sutch, an only child, on the 10th of November
1940, in
London.
He was leader of the
Monster Raving Loony Party.
As a musician, inspired by Punch & Judy, Sutch found fame in the 60's as one of the first rock stars to sport long hair.
Musically, he achieved a rather mediocre success as singer, although he did make over 250 performances, and collaborate with musicians like John Bonham and Jimmy Page.
His fame however, came as the longest serving party leader in British history. The Monster Raving Loony Party would be described as fringe politics, and they were frowned upon by the other parties. Even after the electoral registration fees were increased to get rid of these so-called politicians, that just made them even funnier, with Sutch attempting to get his dog "Splodge" elected for a seat in the London elections.
One of his wacky proposals was to convert the "Butter Mountain" into a ski slope. Another was to get all the unemployed and joggers to get together on a giant treadmill so that cheap electricity could be produced.
Behind the madness though, Sutch suffered greatly from depression, due to the death of his mother two years previously (1997). There are also stories of financial troubles stemming from money owed to him from his career as a pop singer, but these are just rumors.
What is known is that he was taking a lot of anti-depressants up until the time of his death on the 16 June 1999, aged 58. He was found hanging by his partner Yvonne Elwood. Although nothing has been said about the nature of his death since it happened, Scotland Yard said they were treating it as suspicious.
Sutch's leadership of the party after his death, was entrusted to a cat named "Mandu".
The party are still in existence today, although weakened by the loss of their leader.
Eccentricity aside, he will be remembered as one of the great british political leaders of the 20th century.
ps. can you believe this was a nodeshell rescue?