Sometimes highly inconsequential things affect one deeply. Death, of course, is not inconsequential or even consequential to the one to whom it happens, for as Wittgenstein famously said, “Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death”; but for those of us who remain it is another 'object' that we observe to a greater or lesser extent.
That Osama Bin Laden has been killed may or may not be a good thing for the Western democracies; but I have not been affected by his death, although it may be extremely consequential. No, the things that touch us deeply tend to have roots that stretch long into our past, and perhaps in a strange way one never consciously thought what might happen if that person were no longer with us.
Such a thing happened to me today. I flicked onto the BBC news page and found the announcement of John Maus' death, at his home in LA, aged 67, from liver cancer, which he apparently had been struggling with for six months. John who?
John Maus is more popularly known as John Walker. John who? Yes, one third of that amazing pop trio, The Walker Brothers, who scored 2 major number one hits in the Sixties, and sold something like 23 million records. But again, the thing is, most young people today know nothing of those days; may be they know one or two of the really famous groups like the Beatles or the Stones who register because of their influence or continuous touring, but it is difficult now to see the impact of a group like the Walker Brothers.
Impact or not, sales or not, number ones or not, though, I remember them well; remember first hearing them in 1966, being intrigued by their sound, becoming a fan by about 1968, the time of their first break-up, and then going to acquire all their back catalogue, and subsequently all the material of the lead singer, the great Scott Walker.
The point is John Walker, whilst having a fine voice that harmonised with Scott's in some amazing classics, was very much in the shadow of the popularity of Scott. Scott is now a sainted 'classic' – Mojo Hall of Famer – one of the greats, endorsed by David Bowie, et. al., whereas John is view more simply as a 'popster'. Yet for all that he deserves big credit for his massive contribution to the sound that the Walker Brothers achieved, and which was the springboard for the greatness of the solo Scott in the five years following the first group split.
I saw John live in 2004 in the Solid Silver Sixties tour along with Peter Noone, Wayne Fontana and the Dakotas. He was absolutely superb and his rendition of the Walker Brother classics on which he had not sung lead vocals – The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore and Make It Easy On Yourself – was convincing and moving.
And I realised as I saw him then that he had always been with me. For over four decades I have been listening to him, either accompanying Scott, or leading vocals himself, as in that famous EP, Solo Scott, Solo John. He was the lesser light of a great group, but he was still a real talent; now he was gone. The world seemed emptier; the route to the past more difficult to trace. A domino had been knocked out of place. I miss him already.
The Mapping Motivation Series 