Holger Czukay. Holger Czukay. I was always banging on about Holger Czukay. Ask my friend, Martin. Who’s Olga Shoe Kay? Well, he was the man who put can in Can, that great, over-sampled German group from the 60s and early 70s who influenced other leaders from Brian Eno to The Human League, The Fall to David Sylvian, Aphex Twin to Röyksopp. And it’s a happy coincidence to learn that Holger Czukay is 73 in the same week that Lee Scratch Perry is 73. For what these two did for electronica and reggae in their own different worlds is nobody’s business. All of which means it’s everybody’s business. Most of the popular music we hear today has a root in something sprung by these septuagenarians. A fan of the new, I’m not always big on continuity. When it comes to drawing threads from the past through the eye of the present, however, I find that I can’t do any of my daily labour without one of them, a strong cup of coffee and a banana or two. You see, I write in rhythm. I like my words to sing to me. Admittedly, it’s a rhythm you’re not always going to pick up on. Not everyone can hear it. But they’re my words and I can Can.
Mark Griffiths www.idealconsulting.co.uk
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There were few who were prepared to carry the standard for Can throughout the heat of '76 and '77 - which burned so much mid 70's indulgence from our hearts and minds. In fact you were it as far as I was concerned.
ReplyDeleteIt took me longer to appreciate ... but then didn't everything?
My favourite 'Chuzzkay' (my dislectic reading) was How Much are They? created with the fantastically renamed John Wardle who has become (and remained) Jah Wobble.