Ian Curtis
2 Likes
Oh! And Bowie died on my birthday⌠This was very unwelcome.
6 Likes
A bit off topic but when Senna died I remember being shocked and displaced. Itâs weird how a racer can install a lot of peace and joy in a populace. Some icons seem like rocks and when theyâre taken away suddenly itâs always hard to believe.
The passing of Pauline Anna Strom took my breath away. A cosmic and open soul who was sort of coming into a later period of creative work and relevance. Would love to have seen what she did next.
Terence McKenna lately is someone whoâs ideas Iâm in love with. He was at heart, an environmentalist. I suspect in some ways his fate was tied up in who he was, but if he was still around today it would be great to hear him spin tales and Iâd love his take and criticism of the modern world.
4 Likes
Kurt Cobainâs death had and still has an influence on me. Probably seems a little cliche or something, but it stayed with me.
12 Likes
Yep, all things he was very honest about while he was alive. I donât really know to what extent Peel was either a sexual predator or just a horny young man during a period of intense and blurry upheavals in sexual freedoms. Yes, certainly thereâs things he did that horrify us today, as weâve been lucky enough to grow up in the post-revolutionary enlightenment. I donât want to be an apologist for wrongdoing, but personally, Peelâs death had a huge impact, as heâd been a conduit for so much great music getting exposure to young minds like mine and millions of others. Establishing whether or not he was an abuser might affect the Buildings theyâve named after him, but it wonât change the impact he had on music.
As for the Coil video (and I must acknowledge how impactful Sleazyâs death was on me too), it looks bad from where we are now, but this was 30 years ago. Homosexuality had only been legal for a generation, the age of consent for homosexuals at the time was 21 (as opposed to 16 for heterosexuals) and our culture was swamped with images of âbarely legalâ schoolgirls (see Britney Spears, like 7 or 8 years after LSD). I donât think Coil themselves were overly comfortable with the video shoot, but their art needed to transgress. How can we be disgusted at the LSD video, yet ambivalent towards the completely normalised sexualisation of young girls at the time. Viewed in context, the LSD video perhaps represents that attempt to ask that question, to make us consider that inequality.
But yeah, uncomfortable as fuck to watch. Just like that Britney video from like, 1998 or whenever.
10 Likes
Iâm not dismissing in any way John Peelâs importance in the history of music.
I have zero tolerance for such shit - more so for people who donât take any responsibility toward their actions.
Like, Steve Albini just recently acknowledged his faults - and I really appreciated that.
I read/watched many interviews with Sleazy, and he seemed an intelligent man. It just breaks my heart to think of that video. Maybe he would have apologised, had he lived on. Maybe not.
And yes, I agree with you about the horrible sexualization of young girls all throughout music history.
I just think artists in general should be kept accountable for their choices and be very very clear about their views and the message in their art.
And at least today, âshock valueâ and sparkling controversy just seems bullshit to me.
Massive OT, sorry.
5 Likes
Bowie for me. Still gutted he pulled out of T in the Park 20 odd years ago and I missed my chance to see him live. But I guess I hadnât appreciated just how good he was back then anyway. Way ahead of his time in so many ways and very sorely missed. Plus he sounded like my grandma (she smoked an incredible amount so a deep voice) which always brought back good memories.
An outrageous talent. Now to listen to Station to Station again.
9 Likes
Weirdly, probably George Michael for me.
Big part of the sound of my 80s childhood. I liked his ups and downs, crashing into shops wrecked, LA toilet incidents, turning up in Extras⌠him dying at Xmas made it all the more tragically poignant. RIP George. 
7 Likes
heard about the posthumous special? may 30th. iâm excited/nervous about it.
3 Likes
Andrew Weatherall
8 Likes
Itâs impossible not to get goosebumps from the acapella version of Under Pressure that someone knocked together pretty well. What talents.
3 Likes
Bowie and Prince about four months apart. 2016 was a bad year for music.
20 Likes
Ah yes, Prince. He was 100% someone I completely disregarded when living and no idea why. When he passed, my mate was devastated. Like properly in the dumps about it. And so I went off on a journey of Prince appreciation and Christ, that guy was something else. That Super Bowl half time show is outrageous and thatâs just a tiny fraction of some of the amazing shit he could do!
6 Likes
Lots of names mentioned i would like to repeat but also add a few new ones.
Pete Namlook and Casper Pound both for sure the sheer quality and quantity of work they put out. Still discovering new things today. Found this a few years back https://youtu.be/INpFZgL8mAY
John Peel, i found so much great music through his show in the 90âs, and was always planning to send him something to play, but never did.
Run Wrake, this guyâs workâŚmind blowing, found Howie B through him. https://youtu.be/MwPys3JQZ74
Adam YauchâŚsay no more.
Patricia Keenan from Broadcast. Just as i was enjoying their sound it stopped. I saw them live once and one track got so loud she stopped singing and covered her ears. Amazing.
Also Rob Mitchell. Warp Records felt like it went down a way more business and commercial oriented route after. Could be coincidence though.
Lastly Mark BellâŚLFO Frequencies still sounds futuristic today.
12 Likes
Oh that reminds me: Peter Rehberg. That was devastating.
Yes and yes. Damn.
3 Likes
Yip MCA for me as well
8 Likes
Yes! Iâm excited to hear some new Norm material but saddened that itâs the last weâll ever get.
1 Like
So basically what youâre saying is that you have a thing for guys with good moustaches.
(sorry. I couldnât help it. Your story about the impact Mercury and Zappa had is genuinely touching and I enjoyed reading it.)
Kemistry was a huge shocker. F*ng brutal.
But obviously, so many more I couldnât even begin.
4 Likes
Phil Western. Always admired his music, both solo and with Download, and had just begun a series of correspondence with him when he suddenly passed.
5 Likes