Boston Has Lost Mr. Butch

Harold Madison Jr., also known as Mr. Butch, died Thursday morning after his scooter crashed into a pole in Newton Square. Madison was pronounced dead at Brigham and Women's Hospital a short time after the accident occurred, according to Regeneration Tattoo, the Allston tattoo and record shop whose staff has long looked out for and after Mr. Butch.

Known throughout Boston circles as "the King of Kenmore Square" for more than three decades, Mr. Butch was recognizable by his dreadlocked hair, fondness for Miller High Life and musical stylings. He was often seen playing guitar in the Kenmore Square area - including gigs at The Underground and The Rathskellar - throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He relocated (read: was forced by police to relocate) to Allston in the late 1990s and had been there ever since. He was featured in a 2002 documentary, an excerpt from which is available here.

A memorial service is being planned and has been tentatively scheduled for Monday.

In the man's own words, as quoted in an article 2004 article in the BU Comment:

I was the king of Kenmore Square, yes I was.
I was a man outside in the streets, always had a buzz . . .
. . . I was the king of Kenmore Square, and that is the truth.
I was not a crazy man, definitely no goof . . .
. . . I was a strong person, I went out every day
I had jobs around the place, I went out every day . . .
. . . I wasn’t allowed in the Buckminster Hotel.
I got bothered by BU police like hell.

I got bothered by the BU police so many different times.
I been bothered by them, I could make up all types of rhymes.
I can also go fast and remember all the things that they did to me.
I would not lie to your reality . . .
. . . But now them days are done, and now I’m here,
with my sleeping bag in Allston.

We suspect that High Life will be seen on the streets of Allston tonight.

Photo from Mr. Butch's Wikipedia entry. Mr. Butch, Allston, Ma., circa 1983. Photo (c) Bill Swersey