“My Last Star” began as a dream that Greg Lee of Hepcat had the week before his death in March of 2024. Greg dreamed of a Slackers song. The Slackers have completed this song, and now the world can hear this truly one of a kind collaboration.
In Greg’s dream, an old neighbor picked him up in a classic car, turned on the stereo, and played a Slackers song that - at the time - did not exist on our plane of reality. It sounds like the stuff of myth, but the song was so crystal clear in the dream that when he awoke around 2 or 3 in the morning, he immediately wrote down the lyrics he had heard, still humming the tune.
“I hadn’t seen Greg so excited about a new song in a very long time,” says Lee’s longtime partner, Mandie Becker. “I found the lyrics when I was organizing his things. I knew he had a voice recording on his phone, too. I decided the best situation was to offer it to The Slackers so we could all hear the song on the stereo from Greg’s dream.”
“I was floored when I received Greg's vocal demo with the lyrics and I vowed to finish the song and make the dream a reality,” says Slackers saxophonist Dave Hillyard. “I took the vocal demo to The Slackers, Vic [Ruggiero] harmonized it, and we wrote music around the words. With this song we came full circle. Greg had given us a gift and we needed to give it back to his family, friends, and musical community. We are the medium for his message.”
The longer history behind this collaboration is a story of decades of friendship, collaboration, artistry, and mutual respect between LA's Hepcat and NYC’s The Slackers, who although from opposite coasts, have both been leading lights and creative forces in the underground ska scene since the early 1990s.
Both Hepcat and The Slackers concerned themselves with timeless songwriting that paid homage to the longstanding roots of the music. They even shared a band member in that Hillyard was a member of Hepcat from 1990 to 1992, and appears on their first album, the landmark Out of Nowhere. Members of Hepcat, in turn, contributed to such projects as Hillyard’s Rocksteady 7, most notably Greg Lee's lead vocal on “The Fool.”
The fruits of the final collaboration between these musical kindred spirits is an instant classic from Greg’s storied songbook. Lyrically, he finds himself meditating on darkness and light, day and night. The bright sun of a “beautiful day” is often regarded as a source of renewal and positivity, but here, we find it somewhat tarnished with melancholy, as the daylight has taken away Greg’s view of his “last star.” He finds himself wishing for a few clouds to block out the showy sun and allow him to enjoy the beauty of the last star of the evening just a little longer. The music, executed with a soulful, deft touch, strikes the perfect tone of serenity tinged with longing. It is an extraordinary final work envisioned by a beloved and thoughtful musician of the highest caliber, and completed by longtime friends and collaborators he knew from the moment of inspiration were the ones that would play it. It is literally a dream come true.
“My Last Star” is available as a 12” UV Printed Vinyl Single from Pirates Press Records, with art by The Slackers’ in-house artist Catt Gould. The 12” also includes instrumental and dub versions of the song. As a matter of fact, snippets of Greg’s original vocal demo from his phone are subtly mixed in toward the end of the instrumental version, underscoring his posthumous presence on the record. Greg’s songwriting royalties, as well as a portion of the proceeds from the sales of “My Last Star,” will be passed on to his four daughters.
Tracklist:
01. My Last Star
02. My Last Star - Dub Version
03. My Last Star - Instrumental Version
