Dave Schulthise
He traded a PhD in economics for a bass guitar, becoming the anarchic heartbeat of cult punk band The Dead Milkmen.
1956–2004 (age 48)·American musician·Birthday: September 16·Baby Boomers
Biography
Dave Schulthise, who performed as Dave Blood, was a study in contrasts. A serious-minded PhD candidate in economics at Purdue University, he abandoned academia in the early 1980s to help form The Dead Milkmen in Philadelphia. His driving, melodic bass lines provided the crucial anchor for the band's chaotic, satirical punk sound. Schulthise's intellectual background and dry wit were foundational to the group's unique identity, which blended absurdist humor with sharp social commentary. Though the band's success was cult-like rather than mainstream, their influence on alternative and comedy rock was significant. After leaving the band in the mid-1990s, he largely retreated from public life. His 2004 death was ruled a suicide, a tragic end for a musician whose work celebrated the bizarre and questioned the mundane.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Dave was born in 1956, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Dave Was Born
The biggest hits of 1956
#1 Movie
The Ten Commandments
Best Picture
Around the World in 80 Days
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Dave's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1956Born
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1961Started school
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1969Became a teenager
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Could drive
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1974Could vote
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Turned 21
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1986Turned 30
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 40
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2004Died at 48
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
Key Achievements
- Co-founded the influential satirical punk band The Dead Milkmen in 1983.
- Provided the distinctive bass lines on the band's cult classic debut album 'Big Lizard in My Backyard'.
- Helped craft the band's signature sound that blended punk energy with intellectual, comedic lyrics.
Did You Know?
His stage name 'Dave Blood' was a play on the name of the 1970s rock singer Dave Davies.
He was a PhD candidate in economics at Purdue University before dedicating himself to music full-time.
The Dead Milkmen's song 'Punk Rock Girl' became an unexpected college radio and MTV hit in 1988.
“I'm a PhD candidate in economics, but I'm in a band called The Dead Milkmen.”
