Now He Is Beyond Good and Evil

[MsD]

Heart heavy making this thread but I couldn’t bear for someone to give a more flippant title.

RIP Mark Stewart.

[wingco]

So sad. I met him a few times. His genial manner belied an immense, immense influence. He and The Pop Group the first to funk up punk. He was always on the edge.

[diggedy derek]

Such, such sad news.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Ah, no. They were the absolute definition of seminal influence- so much 80s and 90s 'dance indie' drew on what they created. And the record covers, concepts, imagery, t shirts...

[Gert from the Well]

Was just about to start a thread with the same name.

RIP Mark, a genius and groundbreaking musician.

[Gangster Octopus]

Fascinating thing, memory. I was convinced that a) The Pop Group did a half/half single with The Gang Of Four, and b) TPG did To Hell With Poverty.

Apparently it was a half/half with The Slits, and TPG did Where There's A Will There's A Way.

Anyway I saw them in Manchester, probably the university, and tried to see them again at Manchester Poly, but we weren't allowed in because my little sister wasn't eighteen.

[Gert from the Well]

Was listening to African Head Charge when I read the news, just reminds of the part he, Adrian Sherwood and other played and continue to play in 'alternative' music.

[MsD]

Loved the Pop Group from the get-go, got to hang with Mark a fair bit in later years and had a huge crush on him, truth be told. (That stayed where it belonged, in my heart. Still there.)

He gave me great encouragement about playing instruments - make a sound you like, don’t get inhibited about technique. Remember his dismay at there being a ‘dry bar’ at one party and the two of us going off in search of cider. You can take the man out of Bristol.

Colour Blind is my favourite Pop Group track, maybe the most poppy and optimistic sounding, but they did truth and darkness well.

[Satchmo Distel]

They must be one of the most eclectic bands of all-time. Incredible range of influences that they melded together, and kept expanding. I'll take a deep dive over the next few days.

There's a good interview here:

[delicatemoth]

Growing up in the 80s, I heard Maffia some years before TPG. 'Learning To Cope With Cowardice' is a hell of a record. Bristol in the punk days and thereafter seems to have been such a wildly creative environment.

My TPG song is and will always be 'Thief Of Fire'. It lives up to its title - Promethean.

Thanks and RIP, Mark.

[ale]

Y was such a fantastic album. What followed less convincing but anyone who can release an album titled For How Much Longer Can We Tolerate Mass Murder deserves anyone respect.