April 8, 2010, 2:29 pm
Malcolm McLaren, Impresario and Rock Music Manager, Is Dead
By DAVE ITZKOFF
2:45 p.m. | Updated
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2...en-impresario-and-rock-music-manager-is-dead/
Malcolm McLaren, the impresario, promoter and self-promoter who
once claimed to have invented punk rock, and who assembled and
managed the youthful, unruly members of the Sex Pistols,
the breakthrough British punk band, has died. He was 64. His
companion of many years, Young Kim, confirmed that Mr. McLaren
died on Thursday, and said that he died of mesothelioma at a
hospital in Switzerland.
In the 1970s, Mr. McLaren returned to his native London from New York,
where he had briefly managed the New York Dolls in the waning days of
that band’s career. With his business partner and girlfriend at the time,
Vivienne Westwood, they renamed their clothing shop Sex, and Mr. McLaren
set about putting together his own rock act of untested British youth,
which became the Sex Pistols.
Fronted by John Lydon — whose repugnant appearance and Irish
background earned him the stage name;
Johnny Rotten —
with Steve Jones (guitar),
Paul Cook (drums)
and Sid Vicious (a bassist who replaced original
member Glen Matlock),
the Sex Pistols terrified traditional music sensibilities with songs like “Anarchy in the U.K.”
and “God Save the Queen,” and fueled Mr. McLaren’s flair for over-the-top spectacle:
he arranged for the band to sign its contract with A&M Records outside Buckingham
Palace, and organized a private boat performance of their “God Save the Queen” on
the Thames that was quickly shut down by the police, cementing the group’s rebellious
reputation.
As a solo artist, Mr. McLaren released genre-defying albums like
“Duck Rock” in 1983 and “Waltz Darling” in 1989, and remained
a perennial presence in the worlds of art and fashion.
In 1983 McLaren released Duck Rock, an album which mixed up influences from Africa and the Americas, including hip-hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip-hop to a wider audience in the UK. Two of the singles from the album ("Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch") became top-10 hits in the UK. He then turned his eyes to electronic music and opera in the 1984 single "Madame Butterfly", based on the opera. The track is arranged with drum machines, atmospheric synthesizers and spoken verses. It reached #13 in the UK and #16 in Australia. The producer of the single, Stephen Hague, became a much sought after producer in the techno pop genre following his work with McLaren on the following full length LP, Fans.
McLaren returned in 1989 with the album Waltz Darling, a funk/disco/vogueing inspired album. Waltz Darling incorporated elements of his former albums, i.e. spoken verses, string arrangements and eclectic mix of genres but featured such prominent musicians as Bootsy Collins or Jeff Beck with a glitzy, Louisiana-style production aimed at the US market. The singles, "Waltz Darling" and "Something's Jumpin' in Your Shirt" became top-20 radio hits in Europe.
In 1992, McLaren co-wrote the song "Carry On Columbus" for the feature film of the same name. The song plays over the end credits of the film. In 1994, he recorded the concept album Paris, with French artists such as Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Hardy.
In 1998 McLaren released Buffalo Gals Back 2 Skool (Virgin Records), an album featuring hip hop artists like Rakim, KRS-One, De La Soul and producer Henri Scars Struck revisiting tracks from the original Duck Rock album. In addition, that year, he created a band called Jungk. This project was not a commercial success. Also in 1997/1998, he released a track called "The Bell Song". Various remixes were released on 12" singles.
His song "About Her", based on "She's Not There" by The Zombies, rose to prominence when used by director Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill Vol. 2. He was accused of plagiarism for this song in 2005 for allegedly copying the work of a French musician, but was cleared of the charges in November 2005 when the court in Angers, France threw out the case.[3] The song uses Esther Bigeou's "St. Louis Blues" by repeatedly playing the verse, "My man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea." [4]
McLaren's solo work, particularly from the Duck Rock period, has also been sampled by other artists. In 1999, a group called Dope Smugglaz had a UK top twenty hit with the track "Double Double Dutch" which made extensive use of samples from McLaren's original "Double Dutch". In 1997, Mariah Carey's "Honey" and "Honey (Bad boy remix)" sample "Hey DJ (Buffalo Girls)." In 2002, Eminem released a track called "Without Me", which sampled McLaren's song, "Buffalo Gals". In 2007 McLaren's song "World's Famous" was sampled by R&B singer Amerie on the song, "Some Like It", from her album Because I Love It.
In 2006, author Paul Gorman published his book The Look: Adventures In Rock & Pop Fashion with a foreword and contributions from McLaren. The book included a CD featuring the track "Deux" from the Paris Remixes album.
----------------------------------
REST IN PEACE BROTHA MALCOLM, THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC AND THE VISION.
.
.
Last edited:
