Two months after losing Steve, another tragic and unexpected loss to the British music firmament with the death reported today of Andy Rourke, aged 59, from pancreatic cancer. You may know him from The Smiths. Two legendary bassists and exponents of northern soul. Farewell Andy.
He was so good. The yin to Johnny Marr's yang.
-- Edited by lipglossed on Friday 19th of May 2023 03:17:01 PM
Did well to get to 30 given his awful addiction. What a player though. Pancreatic C is the devil's work.
Thanks for posting my favourite song of theirs.
Did well to get to 30 given his awful addiction. What a player though. Pancreatic C is the devil's work. Thanks for posting my favourite song of theirs.
Pancreatic cancer is absolutely ghastly. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
It's my favourite Smiths song too - credit due to my girlfriend, it's her favourite of theirs and she actually introduced me to it (I hadn't heard that much Smiths prior, oh such shame on my bloodline!) - before, I'd have plumped for Cemetry Gates.
I think both tracks benefit from Rourke's masterful playing... A friend of mine pointed out that Rourke wasn't just a tonal counterpoint to Johnny Marr, he was also the ideal counterpoint to Morrissey himself, the way he counters Morrissey's particular warbling tenor with jagged, contrapuntal parts 'downstairs'... I think he's onto something with that, Morrissey's singing is sort of amorphous and Rourke challenges it, his bass presses up against the vocal line and complicates the rhythm it has to move to. (Please do forgive me if this sounds horribly pseud.)
A lot of Smiths fans are sharing the bassline from Barbarism Begins at Home, which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's stepped on a club dancefloor before (hello, Murder on the Dancefloor) but is so sophisticated yet in-your-face it's hard to wrap my head around it. My ears have no such problem, mind.
-- Edited by lipglossed on Sunday 21st of May 2023 01:28:07 AM
We've lost two legends this year... Two of my favorite bass players too. Rourke's basslines weren't like many others, even from that time, definitely had an effect on the songs just like Steve did.
At least we've still got Peter Hook and Mani...
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