That truly is a bummer about Steve Strange. No matter what every person more hip than me said, I really enjoyed the first Visage album.
I realize I kind of stagger out of the RIP gate but then I suppose the deceased won't mind. I just read that Dieter Moebius died recently. He was one of the most innovative electronic composers I've know of. He was half of Cluster, with his partner Roedelius (80 and still going strong). He was also in the group Harmonia who a lot of people, myself included, think is some of the most original and listenable electronic music out there. Him and his various collaborators (Eno was a common one) explored the warmer side to what Kraftwerk were doing.
This goes all the way back to last February but I mention him because he was a close personal friend. Tod Dockstader was another electronic music pioneer or what might be called avant garde or musique concrete. Both me and Tod shared a dislike of those terms. He's only avant garde if, say, early Tangerine Dream or Eno's ambient music is too far out for you. And Tod did the bulk of his work in the 1950s. That he was a genius, there's no doubt. But he was self-effacing, incredibly funny as well as wise. I think of him a few times each day and feel his absence. The world is diminished by it. If you like music from the outer limits, Tod Dockstader is one of the very first I'd suggest you check out. RIP Tod, and amen.
