News! A tribute album will be released. It's a double CD called "Green Indians", it contains "Arizona sky" and a new song by Gary Daly. It is possible to order at: the website of David Marx.
Malmö, August 2nd
I won't try to write an obituary, that doesn't really make any sense since I didn't know Kevin. Judging from what people have written to me over the last few days and what has been written on the Internet, Kevin must have been a great person!
Kevin left the world on July the 17th 1999, aged 41. He hung himself in his home, speculations are that it was because of economical problems but let that be within the family. It seems pointless to dig deeper into whys and wherefores.
All my sympathies are with Kevin's wife, three kids, other family and friends.
Work and career
Kevin worked with two of my all time favourite bands: of course China Crisis but also The Waterboys. That alone qualifies him as the one of the all time greats behind the drums. Kevin played on all China Crisis albums except "Difficult shapes and passive rhythms" and "Warped by success", always inventive and technically perfect! The broadness of his talent becomes obvious when comparing his CC work with what he produced for Mike Scott and his Waterboys. Smooth synthpop and soul becomes roaring, majestic rock. Kevin played on "The Waterboys", "A pagan place" and on the track "World party" on "Fisherman's blues".
He later on played with the likes of The Proclaimers, Fish and Squeeze. His final tour was with Howard Jones and he seemed to have made a lot of impact on the people working with that tour.
Neil Peart (from Rush) on Kevin
"There's an English pop band called China Crisis, and the drummer plays very simple patterns with very few fills, but again, what he plays is so elegant, and right for the music, and you can tell he has confidence.
When he plays difficult patterns he plays them with such authority that they just flow by you smoothly. Many drummers try to pull off a more difficult pattern or fill, and it comes off slightly less than smooth. I've been guilty of that myself certainly."
Kevin's charicature of himself from 1985
Hard to be around
Gary Daly wrote this song from "Warped by success" to Kevin.
You don't know how
you don't know how good it can be
in the cold
in the cold light of day
you don't know
and you don't care
you don't want no
together again
Hard to be around
hard for me to care
Trouble will get you down
trouble will get you down again and again
you don't know why
you don't know why, where or when
Hard to be around
hard for me to care
You don't know how
you don't know how good it can be
you don't want no
together again
Kevin with Barry Andrews
of XTC
Photo by Gary Lornie (www.garylornie.co.uk)
Links
http://www.squeezefan.com/kevin.htm
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/close/hd85/kevin_wilkinson.shtml
