Stranglers’ keyboardist Dave Greenfield dies after contracting Covid-19 (theguardian.com).
Contracting the novel viras after a prolonged stay in hospital for heart problems.
A long-standing member of the influential punk band, Greenfield, who is survived by his wife, Pam, was known for his distinctive sound and playing style, using instruments such as the harpsichord and Hammond electric organ.
Who once had the Pistol’s John Lydon up against the band’s ice cream touring van during a fracas with punk royalty The Clash in ’76 which saw them ostracised by the rest of the punk community (theguardian.com, Mar. 2014) and largely writing the music with drummer Jet Black for their biggest, much loved, but and most discrepant and almost discarded hit “Golden Brown” with lyrics by vocalist Hugh Cornwell alluding to heroin in ’81, which the band had decided to take for a year as an artistic decision, but with Greenfield and Black sensibly deciding to stop after a day (loudersound.com, Mar. 2014), which has become a part of pop culture having featured in film and TV, most notably in Guy Richie’s Snatch as the tune to which the gypsies debate as to whether to kill Tommy after Gorgeous George has been floored by Mickey (GoogleTube).
The Stranglers’ bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel paid tribute to Greenfield as a “musical genius” on the band’s website.
He said: “On the evening of Sunday 3 May, 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 [his wife] Pam.”
#RIPDaveGreenfield (Instagram, certainly from Fidiotbook and now requiring login to see posts. If you do not wish to login, simply right-click on a post and view in a new tab).