THEY ALSO SERVED
NEW AGE musician JOANNA BROUK (above, b.1949) studied literature before taking an MA in Electronic Music, when she studied under Terry Riley. She self-released a series of ambient “sound poetry” cassettes in the first half of the ’80s before retreating from music. She came to wider notice after The Numero Group released Hearing Music, a compilation of her work, last year, and was due to play in New York in June.
ELECTRONIC producer ROBERT MILES (b.1969) was born Roberto Concina in Switzerland. A pianist and dance DJ, in 1995 he recorded the haunting piano trance multimillion-seller Children. Inspired by his father’s experiences on an aid mission for orphans of the Balkan wars, it would be used by DJs as a calming set-closer to encourage safer driving by club-goers. Miles would release five increasingly eclectic and progressive albums, collaborating with
Trilok Gurtu, Bill Laswell and others.
DRUMMER CLIVE BROOKS (b.1949) first played in Uriel with Steve Hillage, and went on to record three albums with Canterbury scene affiliates Egg. After Egg’s split in 1972, Brooks joined The Groundhogs and then Liar, before becoming Pink Floyd’s drum tech, a capacity he later worked in for Toto, Robbie Williams, Leonard Cohen and The Australian Pink Floyd Show.
REGGAE STAR FRANKIE PAUL (b.1965) was moved to pursue a career in music after Stevie Wonder heard him sing at a Salvation Army school for the blind in 1975. The Kingston-born singer would record more than 50 albums, his dancehall hits including Worries In The Dance and Pass The Tu-Sheng Peng. Since the mid-’90s he had resided in the Gambia.
BROADCASTER BRIAN MATTHEW (b.1928) joined the BBC in 1954. Over his long career he would present programmes including Saturday Skiffle Club/ Saturday Club, Easy Beat, Thank Your Lucky Stars (for ITV), Album Time, Round Midnight, and, from 1990, Radio 2’s Sounds Of The Sixties. A comforting, friendly presence who knew of what
he spoke, he presented his last edition of the latter high-ratings show in February. As host, his dulcet tones appear on transcription recordings by The Beatles, Bowie, Cream and others.
SHEFFIELD drummer DEE BOYLE (b.1964) played with funk punks Chakk and co-founded the FON label in 1985. He also played with Cabaret Voltaire, The Funky Worm (whose Hustle! (To The Music) was a hit in 1988) and Yazz. From 1993 he played alongside Richard Hawley in Longpigs, whose 1996 debut The Sun Is Often Out reached Number 26.
STUDIO OWNER NEIL
BROCKBANK (b.1951) played bass with Wooden Horse and The Hit Men before becoming a recording engineer and producer, working with many artists including Alison Moyet, Bryan Ferry, Linda Thompson, Mary Coughlan and Nick Lowe. Notably, as proprietor of London’s Goldtop Studios and later Gravity Shack, Brockbank co-produced all of Lowe’s albums since 1994. He passed away after a brief battle with cancer.
DRUMMER KEITH
MITCHELL (b.1951) played in Green On Red and Monitor before joining Paisley Undergrounders
Opal, the group who became Mazzy Star at the end of the ’80s with the arrival of Hope Sandoval. Mitchell played on all the group’s four albums, the last being 2013’s Seasons Of Your Day.
CLUB OWNER MARIO MAGLIERI (b.1924) ran rocker-friendly hangouts in Los Angeles: in its ’60s heyday, the Whisky A Go-Go played host to major rock and soul bands, including The Doors, Love and Led Zeppelin, on a weekly basis. In the early ’70s Maglieri opened the Rainbow Bar & Grill, favoured spot for Lennon, Keith Moon, Nilsson and, a particular diehard, Lemmy.
SINGER CUBA GOODING SR (b.1944) replaced Donald McPherson in Harlem soul group The Main Ingredient, and sang on early ’70s hits Everybody Plays The Fool and Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely. As well as recording solo, he had a minor hit in 1983 with a cover of
Brian Auger’s Happiness Is J ust Around The Bend, used as source material by
Altern 8 and Nightmares On Wax.
PSYCHEDELIC EVANGELIST NICHOLAS SAND
(b.1941) was a devotee of the teachings of George Gurdjieff before becoming a chemist for The Brotherhood Of Eternal Love. He synthesized Orange Sunshine LSD in 1968, and made it widely available in California in the last years of the ’60s. Arrested in 1973, Sand avoided imprisonment and fled to Canada.
MUSICOLOGIST DAVID LEWISTON (b.1929) worked as a journalist before taking a position at the Gurdjieff Foundation in New York. In 1966, armed with portable audio gear, he began recording the ritual music of Asia, South America and beyond, releasing it as part of the Nonesuch label’s Explorer Series. He later prepared albums for the Shanachie and Ellipsis labels.