SCOTT WALKER R.I.P. 1943 - 2019

An extraordinary unique talent if somewhat too eccentric for my taste in the end he was an immense influence upon those writing songs in Britain at least. As a member of the classic power pop rich voiced Walker Brothers they took to overnight hysterical levels of fame now since forgotten. I was a fan of the histrionic grandiose Spector type wall of sound romanticism the band portrayed and it is difficult now to recall how popular they were but it was almost Beatles scale blind adoration,  he was soon to develop a kind of totally eccentric and Jacques Brel type of figure alienated by the unquestioning aspects to fame, he became a reclusive secretive figure and eventually after spare and intermittent recordings released some of his finest if most difficult & dissonant work. He hinted in interview at levels of alcohol abuse in between trying to get projects published and released. He was latterly acknowledged as an indelible influence on bands like Radiohead and Pulp as this tribute (below) to his music portrays with Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley. A unique creative force has been lost to us and he will be missed. 

Scott Walker, one of the most innovative and enduring songwriters of the 20th century, has died on March 25, aged 76. The news was announced by his label, 4AD. “For half a century, the genius of the man born Noel Scott Engel has enriched the lives of thousands,” a statement read. The cause of death has not been announced. Thom Yorke, frontman of Radiohead, was among those paying tribute, calling him “a huge influence on Radiohead and myself, showing me how I could use my voice and words.”

Walker first came to fame in the mid-1960s in the group the Walker Brothers, before creating a string of acclaimed solo albums - Scott, Scott 2, Scott 3 and Scott 4 - that are regarded as some of the most adventurous and boundary-pushing pop albums of the era. He then moved further out to the periphery of the music scene, with an increasingly experimental run of albums, including 1995’s Tilt and 2006’s The Drift, which reflected on Mussolini’s mistress, the Srebrenica massacre, and 9/11. His most recent work was music composed for the Natalie Portman movie Vox Lux. - theguardian.com

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BBC Proms - Tribute to Scott Walker 2017

Scott Walker