Jill Gascoigne husband, Alfred Molina, went to my old school, Cardinal Manning in Ladbroke Grove. Such an awful illness. Rest in Peace Jill
Really quite gutted about this - we managed to see him play a couple of years back with The Good, The Bad and The Queen....in the same league as Ginger Baker and Keith Moon, a total legend Tony Allen: 'World's greatest drummer' and afrobeat pioneer dies 8 minutes ago please log in to view this image Tony Allen has been described as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived" Pioneering Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, a co-founder of the afrobeat musical genre, died in Paris on Thursday aged 79, his manager says. Eric Trosset told NPR radio that he had died of a heart attack. AFP said his death was not linked to coronavirus. Allen was the drummer and musical director of musician Fela Kuti's famous band Africa '70 in the 1960-70s. Fela, as he was widely known, died in 1997. He once said that "without Tony Allen, there would be no afrobeat". Afrobeat combines elements of West Africa's fuji music and highlife styles with American funk and jazz. please log in to view this image Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen on learning to drum, working with Fela Kuti and Damon Albarn. please log in to view this image World stars pay their tributes Allen has also been described by UK musician Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived". Trosset led tributes in a Facebook post saying "your eyes saw what most couldn't see... as you used to say: 'There is no end'". Beninois singer Angelique Kidjo told the BBC's Newsday programme that she had been hit hard by both Allen's death and the passing of Cameroonian saxophone legend Manu Dibango in March. "What I want to remember from them is our musical conversation, our laughter, our joy. They are gone, but they are not gone for me," she said. Skip Instagram post by angeliquekidjo Report End of Instagram post by angeliquekidjo please log in to view this image On Instagram, she said that Allen had "changed the history of African music". Ghanaian rapper M.anifest tweeted that Allen "put the beat in afrobeat" and thanked him "for a lifetime of being quietly epic". please log in to view this image M.anifest - stream #TheGamble ✔@manifestive You put the beat in Afrobeat. A giant. Rest in paradise and thank you for a lifetime of being quietly epic. Honored that some of my most memorable times on this journey were in studios and on stages with you. Journey well Tony Allen please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image 1,343 9:04 AM - May 1, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy Report End of Twitter post by @manifestive please log in to view this image Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, who spent time with Allen in London, called him "one of the greatest drummers to ever walk this earth" and described him as his "hero". "What a wildman, with a massive, kind and free heart and the deepest one-of-a-kind groove," Flea said on Instagram. please log in to view this image Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image captionAllen is credited with inventing the afrobeat genre with Fela Kuti One of Fela's sons, musician Seun Kuti, tweeted "rest in power and journey well". Who was Tony Allen? Allen's career and life story were documented in his 2013 autobiography Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat. Allen, who was born in Lagos in 1940, taught himself how to play drums when he was 18. He said he learnt his technique by listening closely to American jazz drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach. He then created the distinctive polyphonic rhythms of afrobeat and was said to be able to play four different beats with each of his limbs. please log in to view this image Media captionHow Fela Kuti's legacy and music lives on please log in to view this image Allen first met Fela in 1964, and they went on to record dozens of albums in Africa '70, including Gentleman and Zombie. Allen left the band in 1979, after reported rifts with the band leader over royalties. Fela needed four separate drummers to fill the void. Allen emigrated to London in 1984, and later moved to Paris. He collaborated with a number of artists during his long music career, and was the drummer in The Good, the Bad & the Queen, with Damon Albarn, Paul Simenon and Simon Tong. An instantly recognisable sound By Will Ross, former BBC Nigeria correspondent (and afrobeat aficionado) There is a beautiful bounce to Tony Allen's drumming style that makes any track he played on instantly recognisable. That's not to say he stood still. He was forever learning, forging new musical relationships and evolving his sound. The combination of the bass, snare and hi-hat is uniquely Tony Allen-flavoured, whether you are listening to him as the driving force behind Fela Kuti's band in the 1970s, on his own hypnotic 1999 album Black Voices or playing live last year alongside Damon Albarn with The Good, The Bad and the Queen. He once said Art Blakey must have been a magician because it sounded like more than one person was sitting behind the kit. I recently got right up close to the stage to study the flow of Tony Allen's hands and feet. I was mesmerised by HIS magic. He didn't seem to age much and looked set to keep drumming for many more years. As he put it: "I'm looking forward to the future because it's a long, long way to go. There's no end. I'm very sure of that."
RIP, total genius. I could never work out how he put up with Paul Simenon, who although he is undoubtedly a style and attitude icon, was never a good bassist (in my opinion), and always seemed more interested in art than music, though he improved after Mick Jones taught him to play and he had a few years practice. Pretty sure only people like Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle and Chris Squire could keep up with Allen’s brain, though Squire would probably just turn his bass pedal to 11 and drown the drums out. Actually probably only Bruce could handle it.
As I said, we saw him a couple of years back - he was superb. My son is a drummer (and a very good one at that) and he was awestruck by how he played - he made it look so effortless. Simonen was his usual aloof, laid back self, but there was a connection between them - maybe it was Damon Albarn holding it together? An excellent show, and I'm now even more pleased that we got to see the great man before he passed.
Don’t get me wrong I love Simenon, and the Clash were properly important to me as a kid (though not quite up there with the Pistols). Just the gulf in skill between him and Allen to seems to be huge. I’m sure they discovered a workaround so everyone was comfortable.
Just saw this on the BBC. So glad I got to see the Stranglers in Guildford RIP Dave Greenfield: The Stranglers keyboard player dies at 71 please log in to view this image Image copyright Getty Images The Stranglers keyboard player Dave Greenfield has died at the age of 71 after testing positive for Covid-19. Greenfield died on Sunday having contracted the virus after a prolonged stay in hospital for heart problems. He penned the band's biggest hit, Golden Brown, a song about heroin, which went to number two on the UK singles chart in 1982. The Stranglers bass player Jean-Jacques "JJ" Burnel paid tribute to Greenfield as a "musical genius". He said: "On the evening of Sunday May 3rd, my great friend and longstanding colleague of 45 years, the musical genius that was Dave Greenfield, passed away as one of the victims of the Great Pandemic of 2020. "All of us in the worldwide Stranglers' family grieve and send our sincerest condolences to Pam." please log in to view this image Image copyright Getty Images Image caption (Left to right) Dave Greenfield, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black and Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers in 1980 Drummer Jet Black added: "We have just lost a dear friend and music genius, and so has the whole world. "Dave was a complete natural in music. Together, we toured the globe endlessly and it was clear he was adored by millions. A huge talent, a great loss, he is dearly missed." 'Musical skill and gentle nature' Singer and guitarist Hugh Cornwall posted on Twitter he was "very sorry" to hear of his old bandmate's passing. "He was the difference between The Stranglers and every other punk band," wrote Cornwall. "His musical skill and gentle nature gave an interesting twist to the band. He should be remembered as the man who gave the world the music of Golden Brown. The Stranglers, who formed in 1974 in Guildford, Surrey, recently postponed their farewell tour from this summer due to the pandemic. Greenfield joined the band within a year of their formation. The band's other hits include No More Heroes, Peaches and Something Better Change.
Just saw this on twitter, one of my all time favourite groups with their own unique sound. RIP Dave...
Well what a complete shower of sh!t this year is turning out to be. RIP Dave No more heroes as the song goes, Dave will always be a true hero for me personally
RIP Dave this was valentines day this year from the review thread went to this show on friday great night out seen them 3 times now and even jj seemed to be enjoying himself mi-sex the opening act were great too I think they are doing quite a big uk tour get along if you can ENTERTAINMENT The Stranglers round out Australasian tour with classic show at Auckland town Hall 16 Feb, 2020 8:48am 3 minutes to read please log in to view this image Jean-Jaques Burnel and Baz Warne of The Stranglers. Photo / Getty Images. please log in to view this image By: David Skipwith Senior entertainment reporter for the New Zealand Herald. @dskipwithNZH Jean-Jacques Burnel of The Stranglers on the songs that changed his life • What's on this weekend • Relive punk's glory • Punk apostle back on air - with rock The Stranglers were once too dangerous for New Zealand but 40 years on the UK rockers reinforced their legend status in front of a packed Auckland Town Hall. The punk and new wave icons rounded out their Australasian tour on Saturday night with an impressive show after consecutive gigs in Christchurch and Wellington. The once notorious English group have been regular visitors to our shores in recent years, back by popular demand after memorable outings at the Powerstation in 2016 and the Town Hall two years later. "We were banned in 1979," recalled founding bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel. "We were supposed to play Auckland. We did a tour in Australia which caused quite a lot of controversy at the time. "Auckland City Council decided to ban us so our concerts were cancelled. "We found that we still [struck a chord with Kiwis] and we had a great audience in 2018. "There was a request for us to come back and we jumped at it because it's very exotic for us to travel so far afield and it's a wonderful country. It was a no-brainer." Kiwi new wave veterans Mi-Sex opened proceedings with a strong set featuring familiar tracks People, Computer Games, Blue Day, and But You Don't Care, but it was the English four-piece that everyone had come to see. Taking the stage to the crazed carnival-esque instrumental Waltzinblack, Burnel, veteran keyboardist Dave Greenfield, charismatic guitarist Baz Warne (frontman since 2006), and drummer Jim Macaulay (2013-present) kicked off a high-energy set featuring many of their classic songs and deeper cuts from their extensive back catalogue. With Burnel's lead-bass lines propelling their sound together with Greenfield's distinctive swirling keyboard runs, they ripped through the likes of Get A Grip On Yourself, Something Better Change, Nice N Sleazy, Duchess and Hanging Around. When they did eventually stop for a breath, Warne teased fans watching on from the balconies, wondering aloud why anyone would choose to buy a seated ticket for a rock show. It was all in good fun – at least until he reminded the crowd of the Black Caps cricket side's heart-breaking defeat to England at last year's World Cup. That jibe proved still too raw for one punter who lobbed a plastic pint of beer at the towering vocalist. Warne returned serve verbally, pointing the offender out and rightfully mocking him: "He's throwing stuff and he's hiding like the little twat that he is. There's some wee-wee running down his legs into his tiny little Dr Martin boots." That moment was quickly forgotten however, as The Stranglers resumed their set to run through Dreamtime and the pop-soaked Always the Sun, Skin Deep, Peaches, and their chugging version of Walk On By. The only blemish in an otherwise polished performance came when Greenfield and Macaulay got their tempos out of synch while counting in Golden Brown. Few in the audience seemed to notice or care as the crowd sang along in unison to one of the group's biggest radio hits, before they closed out the night with a stirring rendition of No More Heroes. The gig ended on the right note with fans wanting more. Hopefully they'll be rewarded with another tour in a couple years.
saw them a couple of times in a S. Kensington pub before they got too big for the pub scene. Remain one of my favourite bands. Rest in Peace Dave
I surely can’t of been the only one on here who misunderstood the message in the song ‘Feel like a wog’. Thought is was outrageous at the time.
Ive just seen that.......very sad. She was only really famous for ‘My boy Lollipop’ but she had lots of good stuff out there...(‘Oh Henry’ being my favourite)
