Wednesday, April 23, 2008
R.I.P. Robert Reed of Trouble Funk
I'm sorry I missed this news when it broke, but it's important to let the rest of the world know: one of the giants of go-go and breakbeat music has passed. Robert "Syke Dyke" Reed--the founder, keyboardist, and one of the primary songwriters of the mighty mighty Trouble Funk band--passed on April 13 due to pancreatic cancer.

I was turned onto T-Funk during the early 80s via cassettes, and the sound of Reed's space-invaders style keyboard attacks (you can hear him going nuts on this Arkade Funk record) that would inevitably key one of T-Funk's massive breakdowns remain to me some of the most exciting moments in any music I've ever heard.

Dyke was a teacher, who kept on sharing his love of music with students across the District and at Bowie State University until the end, and he was an effusive interview, always ready to talk about the evolution of go-go music and his band's legacy.

Rest in power, Dyke, we'll see you when we get there.

Check these...

+ Tributes to Syke Dyke at TMOTTGOGO.com

+ Ben Sisario's obit in the New York Times

+ Trouble Funk's page

+ Buy Henry Rollins' reissues of T-Funk's very first records, including the monumental live set from 1982!

+ A Daily Press obit that cites one of my early enthusiastic reviews of the band

posted by Zentronix @ 8:05 AM   0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

 

Previous posts
White Voters, Obama, and The 15% Nation
Join Us This Weekend For The Jumpoff!
And If You're In NYC...
Me And Gnarls B.
April 1st SHOCKER :: Hip-Hop Started In Texas
Live From Berkeley
Whoops...Phillips' Story on Pac and Diddy Isn't True?
Obama's Landmark Speech
Planet B-Boy Opening Across The U.S.
Chuck Phillips On Pac & Diddy


select * from pages where handle = "BlogLinks" #content#

Archives
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
 

Email list

Add me to the Can't Stop Won't Stop email list, an irregular update of what's new in our world:

Submit