Over a year ago there was a push for an unnamed St. Kilda lane-way to be named after iconic Australian post-punk guitarist Rowland S. Howard as a way of honouring the gifted musician who died of liver cancer in 2009. No.1 fan of Twitter Nick Cave has now reignited that call to action, having reportedly written to the Port Phillip City Council last week urging the municipality to make the memorial gesture a reality.
Rowland and I were friends, bandmates, collaborators and fellow conspirators in the St Kilda music scene in the late ’70s and early ’80s. His artistic legacy endures, and I hope that you can honour him with the cultural recognition he richly deserves.
In 2004 a precedent was set when Melbourne City Council voted unanimously in favour of renaming the CBD’s Corporation Lane ‘AC/DC Lane.’ Cave’s proposed tribute is befitting of Howard’s legacy both geographically (Howard lived in the area for many years) and musically (he played his last gig at The Prince just down the road from the proposed site). In other words, it just makes sense.
