"My name is Ranking Full Stop, so all you really got to do is just-a move you little feet and just-a rock-a to the beat"

The tale of how Ranking Roger came to join The Beat has such a ring of serendipity about it that it sounds almost too Hollywood to be true, more befitting a scene created for dramatic effect in a band biopic than something that happened in real life. Legend has it that it occurred when The Beat supported his then band; whilst watching the warm-up from side of stage it became obvious that this was the better act so, whilst lead singer Dave Wakeling had his back to the microphone, Roger leapt on stage and toasted along. The rest, as they say, is history.

The announcement earlier today of his death from cancer has been followed by an outpouring of love which has populated the internet; the sorrow from bandmates, fans and friends, is testament to how respected and adored he was both in the industry and outside of it. He was that successful rarity in music, a nice guy.

Ranking Roger 1963-2019
RIP

'The final move was made, the knight hung his head, and said "You've won, I've nothing left to play"'

Unconventional. Enigmatic. Reclusive. Idiosyncratic. All these terms and more have been used to describe the life and career of the legendary Scott Walker whose death, at the age of 76, was announced earlier today. A bass player who became a teen idol, a pop star who developed into an avant-garde icon, his trajectory through the music world produced some of the most interesting and beautiful music I've been fortunate to hear.

Like most folk my age I first encountered Scott Walkers' voice via The Walker Brothers, most likely through hearing the rousing anthemic notes of The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore pouring forth from my Mum's hi-fi speakers, with it taking immediate residence in my mind's music library. It was only some years later before I stumbled across what he did next, the rich, dark pop of his first four solo albums. 

Scott 1-thru-4, with their sumptuous production, lush strings that under-pin ever interesting lyrics, a sprinkling of judicious and eclectic versions, all topped with that voice. Oh, that voice. The man may be gone but his voice will always be with us and, I hope, ever will it be that people experience the joy of hearing it for the first time, wanting to hear it again and again.







Scott Walker 1943-2019
RIP

"I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator"

The sad news of Keith Flint's passing has rippled through the day, a sombre ending to a life that brought joy to so many, though the man we saw on stage and in videos was far removed from the real Keith offstage. Listening to 6Music today, with a noticeably shaken Matt Everitt imparting tales of this gentle soul, the swear box installed in his pub for when a log was needed to feed the flames, I was struck by the distance between the image he portrayed and the man himself.

Yes, Keith Flint had a snarling, ferocious stage presence, one that I was lucky enough to see in action with The Prodigy a couple of times. The final time just last year at Victorious, and the stage persona the man had was awe-inspiring; I honestly thought that, if I didn't move to the music, he would personally hope off stage, find me in the crowd, and make me dance. But that's all it was, a presence, a mask; a quiet man, he became a super-power when the music fed him. He will always by the Firestarter, the man who got thousands dancing, and he will always be missed.

Keith Flint 1969-2019
RIP

Mental health affects us all. If you're struggling or feeling low, please know that you are not alone. Talking helps, and there is always someone to listen. 

Samaritans - help is available 24 hours a day, call 116 123

Campaign Against Living Miserably
Time To Change
Papyrus
Mind

"Number me with rage, it's a shame"

It's arguable that without the influence of Talk Talk singer and songwriter Mark Hollis, who died this week aged 64, that the current musical landscape might be a very different one indeed. 

Aside from the tales of recording perfectionism (or excess if you're so inclined to view it that way), the rebelling against a record label whose mould he went out of his way to break led the way for bands such as Radiohead to go their own way. Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, though mocked at the time, are now regarded as masterpieces which help shape and inspire post rock.

Though he left the music business in 1998, stepping into the shadows save for a short snippet of music for TV, his legacy remains one of talent and obstinacy, which could also be argued as the signs of genius. 

Mark Hollis 1955-2019
RIP

Life on Mars

One of the sad facts about gaining years is that, with every day, there's an ever increasing chance that someone you know, love, appreciate, admire or respect will disappear. It's one of the choice parts of the human condition, a happy/sad twist that makes you reflect on what you have, what you've missed out on, what hours there are in the day to make something new or maybe just that it's high time that you bought that new shiny thing that you'd promised yourself. It may be that someone you know has passed on, or it may be that someone you've never met, but to you has had an equally important impact on your life, has died; the writer of a book you can quote offhand perhaps, or an actor who's work you enjoyed, the painter who's way with colour makes the juices in your brain fizz or the performer who's music lifts your soul. If life is like a box of chocolates, and you never know what you're going to get, there's a likelihood that some days you'll be handed the Peanut Cracknel and not the Noisette Triangle. Today was one of those days.

David Bowie is dead and, not to put too fine a point on it, it's bummed me right out. It bummed me out when I woke up to the news, half-dreaming the report read out on the radio, and it's continued to do so as the day has progressed. It's bummed me out, it's pissed me off, it's made me sad and, from the tweets I've read and the items I've seen populating my newsfeed in Facebook, unsurprisingly I'm not alone in how I feel. Today may be beyond Peanut Cracknel, today was a big bar of Marmite chocolate, chewed with a grimace. David Bowie is/was a genius, an artist, a chameleon, a creator of beautiful music and, by most accounts, was a really nice chap to boot. Part of me thinks that this is just another way of him reinventing himself, that he'll reappear as a new creation tomorrow, but that's just the dreamer in me. Bowie has left the planet. The body may be gone but the body of work remains and will always be with us. He really made the grade, and for that I am thankful.

RIP David Bowie (1947-2016)