In concert, he might wear tall silver boots worthy of Ziggy Stardust while carrying on with the crazy abandon of an athletic Ozzy Osbourne. His buff body was wired and spasmodic, as if he were being electroshocked by some mysterious psychic force.

Onstage, playing “beejtar” with The Suburbs in the 1970s and ’80s, Chaney was intense. Whether he was running around shirtless or swinging from the rafters, he looked, as Semisonic member Dan Wilson told the Pioneer Press a few years ago, “like he might explode at any moment.”

A Minnesota band popular across the country in the late 70s and through the 80s is saying goodbye to a founding member. The Suburbs’ John “Beej” Chaney, of Blaine, has passed away, according to the band.