Get Duffy

Celebrating Martin Duffy, 18th May 1967 to 18th December 2022.

As I was reeling from the news about Terry Hall's passing, another sad loss was revealed with Martin Duffy's death on Sunday. I've not had the opportunity to pull together a selection that would begin to do Martin justice, so I've selected a few songs to give a nod to his talent.

I found a clip on YouTube of Felt performing Ballad Of The Band live in 1985. Not the best sound quality admittedly but I love the song and you get to see an 18 year-old Duffy on keyboards.

When Rob Collins of The Charlatans tragically died in a car crash in 1996, Martin Duffy was recruited to complete their album Tellin' Stories. Whilst the liner notes don't distinguish between Collins' and Duffy's contribution, Tim Burgess revealed during the Tellin' Stories Twitter Listening Party in March 2020 that Martin had played on With No Shoes, describing him as a "beautiful human being and possibly the saviour of this record and our band".

Next up is Primal Scream, performing Star on Later...With Jools Holland in 1997. Bobby Gillespie's live vocals hover on the good/bad scale (which I love) and there's some fabulous bass from Mani underpinning the song. Augustus Pablo played melodica on the album version, recreated beautifully here by Martin which makes the song so special.

 

In the late Eighties, Martin was briefly in Church Of Raism. To lift from Iffpedia, James Havoc (the pen-name of James Williamson, author of esoteric horror and erotica) became chief editor of Creation Books and founded the band Church Of Raism, with Duffy and Robert 'Throb' Young from Primal Scream and Rose McDowell, formerly with Strawberry Switchblade. The band released one self-titled CD on Creation Records in 1989. 

I have just the one Church Of Raism song, Wake Up Manchester, You're Dead, on a Creation compilation from 1991 called American Pensioners On Ecstasy. However, I've found Assassination Of Liberty, the penultimate track on Side 1 of their album, a rather lovely 45-second piano piece by Duffy.

 

It was only when reading the social media tributes that I realised that Martin had also released a solo album in 2014 called Assorted Promenades. I've not heard any of the other tracks yet, but this is another rather wonderful song called Snowbound. If this hasn't been used on a soundtrack yet, it certainly should be. 

More Primal Scream to close the tribute. Hammond Connection was a B-side to Burning Wheel in 1997, Duffy letting rip to glorious effect. In 2000, The Revenge Of The Hammond Connection backed the Kill All Hippies single, in anything upping the ante. Homage, pastiche, call it what you like, but for me it typifies the unique and irreplaceable quality that Martin brought to any song he played on.

 

A tragic loss at only 55 years old, but what an incredible legacy remains. Rest in peace, Martin.