DER BRITISCHE SÄNGER MARK STEWART (THE POP GROUP) IST GESTORBEN

Der am 10. August 1960 in Bristol (England) geborene britische Sänger und Musiker Mark Stewart (Bild) ist am 21. April 2023 gestorben. Er war Frontmann und Sänger der Band Mark Stewart & The Maffia sowie Gründungsmitglied der Band The Pop Group. Mit beiden Bands prägte er den sogenannten Bristol Sound und progressivere Varianten des Post-Punk. Charakteristisch für The Pop Group sind experimenteller Post-Punk mit Einflüssen aus Dub, Avantgarde, Free Jazz und Funk sowie politische Songtexte. Mark Stewarts stark vom Industrial beeinflusste Soloalben wurden unter Beteiligung von Mitgliedern der Backing Bands von Sugarhill Gang und Grandmaster Flash, Doug Wimbish, Skip McDonald sowie dem Drummer Keith LeBlanc eingespielt. Kooperationen gab es mit den Last Poets, Trent Reznor von den Nine Inch Nails, Tricky, Massive Attack, den Chicks on Speed, Adult und Primal Scream. (*)

Bild: Mark Stewart mit The Pop Group, 2014 – Foto: Paul Narvaez, https://flickr.com/photos/55868231@N00/16817471715 (Ausschnitt) – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Pop_Group.jpg

Mark Stewart – The Pop Group – Has Died

Mark Stewart formed The Pop Group in 1977, taking the energy of punk and blending it with his passion for jazz-funk and dub. Brought up in Bristol, he absorbed sound system culture into his creative methodology, adding some Beefheart-ian broth in the process.

Robin Murray

https://www.clashmusic.com/news/mark-stewart-the-pop-group-has-died/

One of the key countercultural figures of European post punk, industrial funk and electronic dub has died today

The Pop Group’s guitarists/saxophonist Gareth Sager said in tribute: «Mark was the most amazing mind of my generation. RIP.»

And his friend at On-U Sound, Adrian Sherwood added: «Thank you my brother. You were the biggest musical influence in my life and our extended family will mis you so much. Love forever.»

John Doran

https://thequietus.com/articles/32864-mark-stewart-rip-dead

Steve Albini, Massive Attack, Portishead and Sleaford Mods have paid tribute to the «post-punk pioneer»

Stewart founded The Pop Group as a teenager in Bristol in 1977 along with Sager, John Waddington, Simon Underwood, and Bruce Smith. The politically oriented band blended post-punk with dub and reggae and released two albums, 1979’s ‘Y’ and 1980’s ‘For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?’. The group disbanded in 1980 with a final performance at rally for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), a campaign Stewart continued to be heavily involved with.

Emma Wilkes

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-pop-groups-mark-stewart-dies-aged-62-3433954

Mark Stewart, Pop Group frontman and revered countercultural musician, dies aged 62

Bristol-born vocalist celebrated for political lyricism and highly expressive style was influential both with the Pop Group and a long solo career. (…)

With their somewhat ironic band name – though with a hint of bright pop music nonetheless – they embraced the iconoclasm of the punk movement of the time, and had been inspired by seeing the Clash. Stewart later explained: «There is the arrogance of power and what we got from punk was the power of arrogance.»

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/21/mark-stewart-pop-group-frontman-dies-aged-62

Stewart was described as a «dear friend, fellow agitator and creative force of nature»

Bristol music collective Massive Attack paid their respects in a tweet which read: «Post punk pioneer and original chief rocker. RIP Mark Stewart. Bristol will never be the same.»

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-65355757

Singer fused left-wing rally cries with post-punk, reggae, free-jazz, industrial, and hip-hop backing music

Mark Stewart, the hulking and dynamic vocalist who shouted, whispered, and squealed over the Pop Group’s dubby, deconstructionist post-punk, died early Friday morning.

Kory Grow

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mark-stewart-pop-group-obituary-1234721467/

Post-Punk, Dub, Funk und Hip-Hop: Als Mitbegründer der Pop Group und als Solokünstler riss Mark Stewart Genre-Grenzen ein. Im Alter von 62 Jahren ist der experimentierwütige Sänger und Musiker gestorben.

hpi

https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/mark-stewart-einflussreicher-saenger-und-musiker-von-the-pop-group-ist-tot-a-a3f2c058-ba2c-4774-b8af-ed096e283ef5

Er prägte den Sound seiner Stadt

Mark Stewart war ein großer unbekannter Impulsgeber der Popmusik. Mit The Pop Group schuf er eine Verbindung aus Reggae und Punk und erfand Industrial mit. Dann ermutigte er eine junge Generation zum Sound of Bristol.

Philipp Krohn

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/pop/zum-tod-von-mark-stewart-18841101.html

Videos:

The Pop Group – She Is Beyond Good & Evil (Official Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9BjtT0_KsE

Mark Stewart – ON/OFF – Pop Group to Maffia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZhOcd9rD9E

Mark Stewart & Gareth Sager in conversation with John Robb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlRBJtSHAOY

The Pop Group – Sessie op Best Kept Secret 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPpwxMSbcE

The Pop Group live at Festival BBmix 2016