Coming quickly after the news of Terry Hall's death came the news that Martin Duffy had died aged fifty five following an accident at his home. Martin was the keyboard player in Primal Scream from 1989 onwards and before that was in Felt. He played Knebworth in 1996 with The Charlatans when they were reeling from the death of their organ/ keyboard player Rob Collins, an act Tim Burgess has said meant the band was actually able to go on. Martin recorded a solo album a few years ago released on Tim's O Genesis label and made a superb EP with Steve Mason as Alien Stadium in 2017. More than that, Martin has been described all over the various obituaries and tributes as a sweet, lovely, quiet and unassuming man who, when on tour, loved to take in museums and neolithic standing stones- he seems like a man after my own heart.
I've seen Primal Scream in venues large and tiny since 1989, from the cellar club that was Planet X in Liverpool when they toured Ivy Ivy Ivy to Castlefield Bowl in Manchester this summer and almost all points in between and it's impossible to imagine them without Martin's keys and organ. When they emerged from the various issues that derailed them in the mid- 90s and came back with first Vanishing Point and then XTRMNTR, the bedrock of the sound was Martin's keys and organ, his Hammond especially, as much as the twin guitars of Throb and Innes. He was able to play whatever the songs required and on Vanishing Point especially it feels like the band were grouped around him, playing off whatever he played.
Given that this Sunday is Christmas Day I probably won't do anything for my half hour Sunday mix series so thought I'd put those energies into today's mix, a thirty minute tribute to Martin Duffy.
Duffy Mix
- Primal Scream: Get Duffy
- Primal Scream: Duffed Up
- Primal Scream: The Revenge Of The Hammond Connection
- Primal Scream: If They Move, Kill 'Em
- Alien Stadium: Titanic Dance (Lynch Mob Mix)
- Felt: Primitive Painters
- Primal Scream: Space Blues #2
Get Duffy is the second song on Vanishing Point, a Hammond organ instrumental sandwiched between the speed freak mod- rock of Burning Wheel and the gonzo Mani powered scuzz of the title track. If They Move, Kill 'Em is the centrepiece of the album, a track inspired by and sampling Sam Peckinpah's Western The Wild Bunch.
Duffed Up is Adrian Sherwood's dub version of the Get Duffy, from Echo Dek, released in 1997 a little while after the parent album.
The Revenge Of The Hammond Connection was a B-side from Kill All Hippies, a further take on the original Hammond Connection instrumental which was the B- side to Burning Wheel. 60s spy film soundtrack vibes.
Titanic Dance is from the four track EP Martin made with Steve Mason which is laugh out loud funny in places, two men enjoying themselves. The track here, produced and mixed by Brendan Lynch, breaks down after seven minutes into some Planet Of The Apes tomfoolery.
Primitive Painters was a 1985 Felt single, maybe their best release, a song pushed along by Martin's wheezing organ playing and adorned with Liz Fraser's backing vocals. This single is one of 80s indie's greatest moments.
Space Blues #2 closed 2002's Evil Heat, the third of the three albums they made around the millennium that feel like a trilogy of sorts. Evil Heat doesn't quite hit the same heights as the previous two but its pair of Weatherall produced songs (Autobahn 66 and A Scanner Darkly) are superb, Deep Hit Of Morning Sun is a opening statement of intent and Detroit and Rise both rock. Kate Moss sings on Some Velvet Morning and on Space Blues #2 Martin not Bobby takes lead vocal, singing softly- 'On the judgement day/ When your name is called...'- as the Hammond shifts notes behind him.
R.I.P. Martin Duffy