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RIP Mick Karn :(
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Benjamin Strange
Commercial User
- Dec 25, 2002
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One of my biggest influences. Criminally unknown - he deserves far more credit than he ever received. It's a damn shame.
THE two biggest influences on my early formative fretless years were Jaco and Mick Karn. They couldn't have been any different. Both had impeccable intonation, but IMO Mick just sounds more "fretless". That wonderful other-worldly rubbery sound! No doubt he influenced other players at the height of his fame (Pino, for one). He is the reason I had to own a fretless Wal bass.
R.I.P. Mick
R.I.P. Mick
I am truly crushed.
Mick Karn was an artist's artist. He was an incredible bass player, an accomplished sculptor and a great composer. I loved his work with Japan but I was absolutely in awe of his solo works thereafter. What an incredible sense of sound, harmony and melody he had. And the bass playing, as expected, was top notch all the way through. He was the world's greatest film composer who never even scored a picture.
This is absolutely devastating news to me and I am left teary eyed as I write this. I did know that he was sick and I had actually spent a chunk of my holiday itunes gift certificates earlier this week on his more recent works which I did not own yet all the while just assuming he was on the mend and he'd have a new CD out soon enough.
Alas, Mick lost his brave fight with cancer and the world lost Mick.
As great as they were and as influential as they were, Japan were never larger than life. But from the beginning of Japan to his last day with us, Mick was so much larger than Japan. And he always will be.
I hope our community will ensure that people remember Mick's great legacy, his music, and his contributions to our instrument.
If you are reading this, and Mick's work touched you or inspired you the way it did me, please buy his records and tell other bass players about them who may not know. His seminal work with Japan is awe inspiring and his influence is heard in the superstars of his own era who followed just after Japan. And his solo work will just blow your mind.
RIP Mick. Thanks for the music. I already miss you terribly.
RBM
Mick Karn was an artist's artist. He was an incredible bass player, an accomplished sculptor and a great composer. I loved his work with Japan but I was absolutely in awe of his solo works thereafter. What an incredible sense of sound, harmony and melody he had. And the bass playing, as expected, was top notch all the way through. He was the world's greatest film composer who never even scored a picture.
This is absolutely devastating news to me and I am left teary eyed as I write this. I did know that he was sick and I had actually spent a chunk of my holiday itunes gift certificates earlier this week on his more recent works which I did not own yet all the while just assuming he was on the mend and he'd have a new CD out soon enough.
Alas, Mick lost his brave fight with cancer and the world lost Mick.
As great as they were and as influential as they were, Japan were never larger than life. But from the beginning of Japan to his last day with us, Mick was so much larger than Japan. And he always will be.
I hope our community will ensure that people remember Mick's great legacy, his music, and his contributions to our instrument.
If you are reading this, and Mick's work touched you or inspired you the way it did me, please buy his records and tell other bass players about them who may not know. His seminal work with Japan is awe inspiring and his influence is heard in the superstars of his own era who followed just after Japan. And his solo work will just blow your mind.
RIP Mick. Thanks for the music. I already miss you terribly.
RBM
He was part of a lot of really great music, sadly some of which many bass players will only just now find because of his passing.
R.I.P. Mick
R.I.P. Mick
Right there with you, Roger - I'm listening to "There Was Not Anything But Nothing" from The Tooth Mother and finding it really difficult to hold back the waterworks. What an amazing talent and unique voice on the instrument. This is killing me.
RIP Mick, your artistry and character will be sorely missed.
RIP Mick, your artistry and character will be sorely missed.
This is sad to hear, just saw this thread today. However I have to confess I'm not really familiar with his playing, and I feel like I missed out somewhere. Sad that he's gone but it sounds like he left an impressive body of work for music lovers to enjoy.
Can anyone recommend his essential works? I've been looking to add to my vinyl collection.
Can anyone recommend his essential works? I've been looking to add to my vinyl collection.
Sure, here are some quick suggestions:
With Japan:
-Quiet Life
-Gentlemen Take Polaroids
-Tin Drum
Solo:
-Titles
-Love's Glove (EP)
-Bestial Cluster
-The Tooth Mother
With Gary Numan:
-Dance
Si Señor!
I was singing "His Box" (vocals AND bass line) out loud like a crazy person here in my currently-empty workplace just about a 1/2 hour ago...
I was singing "His Box" (vocals AND bass line) out loud like a crazy person here in my currently-empty workplace just about a 1/2 hour ago...
i just found out this terrible news! it's absolutely devastating to me. i knew he was sick and i had checked his site just a few days before he passed, so i figured i check up on him today to see how he was doing and damn! i don't know what to say. he was such a huge influence on me. being an ex old punker that switched to upright after getting into jazz seriously, i stayed away from electric for the most part. but when i did get back into electric, it was Mick that helped me decide to focus on fretless exclusively. i love ALL of his stuff. Japan, solo works, Dali's Car... i really can't wait to get the follow-up EP! i'm just incredibly sad today. does anyone know when Dali's Car 2 is gonna be released? 
Sadly I don't think they ever got to recording. From what I understood, they had agreed to work together and then Mick's health issues became grave.
As another note, I just finished Mick's memoirs. It was a very illuminating and fascinating read. Four hundred pages of painful honesty and introspection. The man was a true artist and had the highest integrity. His time with us made the world a better place.
