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I am afraid it's "back to the 80s" for the second time this week, dear reader. Two influential figures from the era have departed to join the ever-growing dance party in Fabulon...
Firstly, the brilliant reggae bassist and producer Robbie Shakespeare [on the right, pic #2 above], of Sly and Robbie fame, died aged 68 after suffering kidney problems. The duo's legendary status in masterminding a new "dub" sound launched a thousand dancehall club nights, and their work with experimental electronic beats led them to become a focal part of Chris Blackwell's Island Records music machine. They worked with just about everybody over the years, from Peter Tosh to Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru to Bob Dylan, Gregory Isaacs to Madonna - but to my mind, their finest hour came when they catapaulted this diva into the limelight where she belonged!
Also announced today - Steve Bronski [on the right, pic #1 at the top opf the page], founder of Bronski Beat has died, aged just 61. Bronski Beat were a real breath of fresh air in the ecelectic musical melting-pot of 1980s pop culture - combining the ramped-up in-your-face Hi-NRG sounds of the gay discos they frequented with some of the angriest gay rights messaging we'd ever seen or heard in the charts! Here's two massive choons from the Bronski back-catalogue, by way of a tribute to a great musical talent:
RIP, both.
RIP. Sad losses.
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Dropping like flies, dear - John Miles went the other day, and one of the founder-members of Tavares yesterday. Jx
Deleteoh. Oh, oh, oh. Bronski Beat, with and without Jimmy Somerville, were so important to a really sweet time of my life. Getting old really is having one leaf at a time ripped off. I'm going to be nothing but a sad looking stem pretty soon.
ReplyDeleteWe shall call you "Twiggy". Jx
DeletePS I always return to the words of Miss Bette Davis: "Old age is no place for sissies!"
Wow. Two greats. You are absolutely right. Adore Grace, of course, but it was Robbie and his sidekick who helped her complete her picture. And Bronski Beat! Historic. A really rallying point. The HATIES were just awful, in terms of homophobia - it was actually celebrated, tolerated and expected. They threw down the gauntlet. Sixty-one! So young.
ReplyDeleteOh, Bronski Beat certainly did make a helluva lot of noise about injustice and gay rights! Before you knew it, celebs and politicians were popping up out of the closet all over the place and voicing their support... Jx
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