Ryuichi Sakamoto, died 28 March, age 71. Ray Shulman, died 30 March, age 73. Ian Bairnson, died 7 April, age 69. Seymour Stein, died 2 April, age 80. Keith Reid, died 23 March, age 76.
The Japanese musician (above) carved out a storied career that shifted through phases as a pin-up pop star, techno pioneer, ambient minimalist, and soundtrack composer. After studying at Tokyo University, he worked for a number of years as a session player and released his debut solo album, Thousand Knives, in 1978. That year he also hooked up with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi to form Yellow Magic Orchestra. Mixing techno with pop and slyly poking fun at stereotyped Western dalliances with Asian music, the group’s self-titled 1978 debut album brought them international fame and worldwide hits in the shape of Firecracker and Computer Game (which reached UK Top 20). Now unlikely pop stars, they further established their pioneering synthpop sound on records such as 1979’s Solid State Survivor (whose Sakamoto-penned track Behind the Mask was covered by Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton), 1981’s BGM, and 1983’s Naughty Boys. Sakamoto’s parallel solo career was entering into more avant-garde territory, with albums such as 1980’s B-2 Unit fusing industrial techno and dark strains of ambient music. In 1983 he provided the score to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, the start of a hugely successful sideline in film composing. Alongside David Byrne and Cong Su, he would win on Oscar for the score to Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 film
The Last Emperor while further work included for Brian De Palma’s Snake Eyes, Pedro Almodovar’s High Heels, and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s
The Revenant. Sakamoto released a steady stream of solo albums which saw him move through classical music, pop, ambient and electronica, often in collaboration and with an ear towards the avant-garde.
The musician, songwriter and producer was a co-founder member of prog rock luminaries Gentle Giant. Born in Portsmouth, he formed Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in 1966 alongside older brothers Derek (who took on the Simon Dupree mantle) and Phil. With Ray playing guitar and violin, the group scored a UK
Top 10 hit with the psych-infused single Kites. Reshaping themselves as a prog rock band in 1970 with the addition of guitarist Gary Green, keyboard player Kerry Minnear and drummer Martin Smith, they followed up their Tony Visconti-produced
1970 self-titled debut album with such genre classics as Acquiring the Taste (1971), Octopus (1972), In A Glass House (1973) and The Power And The Glory (1974). Renowned for their musical complexity and taking in influences from folk, jazz, classical and beyond, the group produced 10 albums in total. Following their split in 1980 Ray switched roles to become a producer, overseeing albums by indie acts such as The Sugarcubes, and
The Sundays. The guitarist (above) was a member of The Alan Parsons Project and recorded with Kate
Bush. Born on the Shetland Islands, he joined former Bay City Rollers, David Paton and Billy Lyall, in the band Pilot in 1973, playing on hit singles such as Magic, January and Just A Smile. Recruited into The
Alan Parsons Project, he was part of the group from 1975 until the 90s. During this time, he also played on Kate Bush’s first four albums, 1978’s The Kick Inside (whose hit single Wuthering Heights closes with a Bairnson guitar solo), Lionheart (1978), Never for Ever (1980), and The Dreaming (1982). He also played with Bucks Fizz, co-writing two of their Top 20 hits, If You Can’t Stand The Heat and Run for Your Life, and was a session musician with Joe Cocker and Mick Fleetwood.
The US music executive and co-founder of Sire Records helped break the careers of Madonna, Ramones, Talking Heads, The Pretenders and many others. He began his career in earnest at King Records, then home to James Brown, before co-founding Sire in 1966, with Richard Gottehrer. Initially working with bands such as Dutch outfit Focus, he began scouring New York clubs for talent. There he discovered and signed Ramones and Talking Heads, later adding international groups such as Depeche Mode. His biggest success was Madonna, who he signed in 1982 from his hospital bed after hearing her demo tape. The lyricist (above right, with Gary Brooker) co-penned almost all of Procol Harum’s songs, most
notably providing the surreal and enigmatic words to their evergreen 1967 hit, A Whiter Shade of Pale. Though Reid and the group would be forever associated with their debut single, which spent six weeks at UK No 1 and shifted over 10 million copies internationally, they released a host of further notable songs together with Reid, who never recorded or performed with the group. Reid provided lyrics to every one of the band’s original songs between 1967 and 2012 including the UK Top 10 hit Homburg, Conquistador, and A Salty Dog.
Peter Shelley, died 23 March, age 80. Born in London, the pop singer, songwriter, and music business executive began his career working in A&R, discovering the likes of Ten Years After, and Giles, Giles and Fripp who would eventually evolve into King Crimson. Co-founding Magnet Records in 1973, he wrote and produced Alvin Stardust hit singles My Coo Ca Choo, which reached No 2, and Jealous Mind, which topped the UK charts. Earlier, going solo as a performer, he scored hits with the self-penned Gee Baby (1974) and Love Me Love My Dog (1975), both of which reached the UK Top 5.
William Souffreau, died 6 April, age 76. The Belgian musician (above) was a founding member, singer and guitarist for Irish Coffee. Regarded as pioneers of Belgium’s hard rock scene, the group released a self-titled album in 1971 which has since become hugely collectable. After establishing a solo career in the 90s he reformed Irish Coffee with a new line-up.
Jim Durkin, died 8 March, age 58. The US guitarist (above) was a founder member of thrash metal band Dark Angel. He played on the California outfit’s first three albums, 1985’s We Have Arrived, 1986’s Darkness Descends, and 1989’s Leave Scars, before leaving in 1989. He had been part of the group’s reformed line-up since 2013.
Emahoy Tsegué-maryam Guèbrou, died 26 March, age 99. The Ethiopian nun and pianist (above) was renowned for her otherworldly, blues-influenced compositions. Trained in classical music in Switzerland she committed to monastic life as a young adult.
She released her first album in 1967, donating the proceeds to young people in need and she continued to release albums as a way to raise money for charities. In recent years her work has gained international recognition, leading to compilations and reissues, while her music has been used in the Oscar-nominated 2020 documentary Time.
Duško Gojković, died 5 April, age 92. The career of this Serbian jazz trumpeter and composer (above) spanned six decades. Based in Europe and the US he played and recorded with Chet Baker, Oscar Pettiford, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and the Kenny Clarke/ Francy Boland Big Band, with whom he worked from 1968-1973. Among his efforts as a bandleader was the highly collectable album, Swinging Macedonia (1967).
Tony Coe, died 16 March, age 88. Born in Canterbury, the jazz clarinettist, flautist and saxophonist’s varied career began with a stint with the Humphrey Lyttelton band in the 50s. The 60s and 70s saw him play with the Kenny Clarke-francy Boland Big Band, Neil Ardley, and avantgarde guitarist Derek Bailey as well as recording a multitude of albums as a leader. Away from jazz, he played saxophone on John Martyn’s 1973 album, Solid Air.
Errol Dixon, died 31 January, age 86. The Jamaican R&B and boogie pianist had a spell in New York before moving to the UK, releasing R&B and ska singles for Blue Beat, Island, Carnival, Oriole and Deram as well as the blues albums Blues In The Pot for Decca in 1968 and That’s How You Got Killed Before for Transatlantic in 1970. Tony Burke
Simon Emmerson died 13 March, age 67. The English musician and record producer (above) was known for his outward, multi-cultural approach to music. Founding the band Afro Celt Sound System in 1995, he brought African and Irish traditional musicians together, using electronic music to help fuse their styles. He released nine albums with the group and they became festival favourites. Begun in 2004, his next group,
The Imagined Village, modernised English roots to embrace reggae, bhangra, drum’n’bass, and Indian classical. Producing three albums, the evolving line-up included appearances by the likes of Billy Bragg, Eliza and Martin Carthy.
Sweet Charles Sherrell, died 29 March, age 80. The American bassist (above) was known for his lengthy association with James Brown. He began his career as part of Aretha Franklin’s touring group before being recruited into the J.B.’S in 1969. He went on to play on some of the Godfather of Soul’s best-known hits of the late 60s, including Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud, Mother Popcorn, and Give It Up or Turnit a Loose and was credited as pioneering the ‘thumping’ playing style. Quitting in 1970 over wages, he was replaced by Bootsy Collins but returned to become Brown’s music director from 1976-1996. In 1974 he released the solo album, For Sweet People From Sweet Charles.
Others who passed away recently include: Nora Forster, German-British music promoter who worked with Jimi Hendrix, Wishbone Ash and Yes. She was the longtime wife of John Lydon and mother of The Slits’ Ari Up; Rodolfo
‘Fito’ Olivares, Mexican Cumbia musician best known for Latin dancefloor hits such as Juana la Cubana and El Colesterol; Wayne Swinny, guitarist and last remaining original member of Memphis heavy metal group, Saliva; Lee Purkis, AKA In Sync, DJ who was one of the earliest to support and play house music and techno in the UK; David
Dee, St Louis bluesman who recorded singles and albums for the labels Vanessa, Pulsar, Edge and Ichiban; MC Fats, pioneering drum & bass MC; Jason Kaye, British DJ, producer, label owner and promoter; James Holland, vocalist for 50s and 60s Detroit singing group, The Holidays; Greg Perry, US soul singer, songwriter and record producer who worked with Chairmen Of The Board and Honey Cone and recorded two 70s albums as a solo artist; Franco Scopinich, legendary Italo disco producer who was a member of groups such as Sun-la-shan, Atmosphere and Camaro’s Gang; Koichi Matsukaze, Japanese jazz saxophonist and flautist whose work has seen international reissues in recent years; Brian “Brizz” Gillis, founder member of US boyband LFO, best-known for their 1999 hit, Summer Girls; Christopher Gunning, English composer whose work for films and television included 2007 biopic, La Vie En Rose, and longrunning TV show, Agatha Christie’s Poirot; Caroline Kawa, singer for Canadian alternative rock band Die Mannequin; Barbara Schenker, founder of 80s German heavy metal act Viva, sister of Michael and Rudolf Schenker;
Tom Leadon, the guitarist for Tom Petty’s original band Mudcrutch, brother of Eagles’ former guitarist Bernie Leadon; Howie Kane, US singer for pop-rock band Jay & The Americans, known for US hits She Cried and This Magic Moment.
All obituaries by Paul Bowler unless otherwise stated.
Mark Stewart photo by Chiara Meattelli and Domini Lee