Over the last few days I’ve received particularly sad news about the loss of two people who made and incalculable contribution to music in Glasgow, Scotland and ,by definition, the wider world.
The music business, when all is said and done, is a small circle of people with whom interaction happens in so many different and varied ways. I was once reprimanded by a young upstart at an awards ceremony for referring to our world as a business. He was wholly wrong of course. It is a business and the fact so many good people make a living from it is testimony to that. The loss of my two friends over the last few weeks illustrates the point that there are so many diverse skills that make up the wider music family.
Last week we heard the news that Steve Cheyne had died suddenly. There have been some lovely tributes to Steve on social media and elsewhere but let me explain, in case his name means little, how vital his contribution was to music in and around Glasgow. Before Steve opened his brilliant rehearsal rooms there was nowhere to make a racket with your band in Glasgow. In the early days we’d found a printers workshop in a basement below Buchanan Street which served as our base in the very early years of Deacon Blue. When that space was no longer available we, along with every other band in town, rehearsed in Steve’s first multi room facility in Washington Street called Berkeley 2 as there had once been a studio and small rehearsal space in Berkeley St. Following on from this place he built another Berkeley 2 along the road where it still hosts everyone from weekend pub combos to Neil Young’s touring band prepping for a European jaunt. The idea that you could turn up with your songs, a guitar and a couple of cymbals and the rest would be provided changed lives. At the door was Steve, welcoming you in, providing change for his prehistoric coffee machine and gathering and dispensing gossip with alacrity. It was a joy to watch. He encouraged, helped and enabled and his presence leaves a massive vacuum in our community.
Just this morning I have heard of another great loss. Robin Rankine was one of the founding partners and main engineers at CAVA studios in Glasgow. His passing, again far too young, reminded me of some great times we shared together. He recorded a lot of material for Deacon Blue as, for a while, CAVA was our second home. Robin knew how to make us enjoy the studio and how to get the best out of the players. We loved his company and there will be many musicians who spent time with him who will be mourning his passing today. There were so many things I loved about working with Robin but what I enjoyed most was when he knew one of us could do better and his enthusiasm encouraged to up our performance.
All of this shows the wider hinterland of music. The joy for me is knowing a diverse group of managers, producers, engineers, technicians, promoters, publicists, agents, writers, radio presenters and producers who have all been vital in the making of music. I’ve enjoyed friendship and good times with so many and we are so much poorer for losing two fine fellow travellers.
So for this reason alone it will bring solace and comfort to spend time on the airwaves this week bringing you great new music. It’s always being created and celebrating that should suitably celebrate the loss of fine people. I trust you’ll listen in to this week’s show where we’ll bring you fine new cuts from Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Ferris and Sylvester and The Secret Sisters. It’s all live from five past eight on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland this Tuesday evening.
