From an eight-part series about my key creative influences between the ages of 14 through 29, arguably the years when the foundation of one’s artistic point of view is established.
He had a random meeting with someone on a railway platform, which led to his joining Roxy Music, which changed pop music.
While recuperating after an accident he could barely hear an album of harp music, but he couldn’t get out of bed and cross the room to turn it up. The experience led to the creation of ambient music, which became an entire genre.
His comment “be the first to not do what nobody has ever thought of not doing before” summarizes his deconstructionist approach to culture. It is a little off-handed, a little wry, seemingly obtuse for effect but clearly quite a sincere concept, once you think it through.
He devised all manner of ways to force chance elements into disrupting his creative process yet became one of the most influential artists in popular music.
He’s been a producer or collaborator of arguably the best albums from some of the greatest bands. His fingerprints are everywhere. U2, David Bowie, Devo, Talking Heads, Genesis, Coldplay, Robert Fripp, John Cale.
There are a handful of his tracks that are among the most achingly beautiful pieces of music ever produced.
There are iconic, blistering rockers too, and some of the most brilliantly crafted pop songs ever.
This is not even to mention his work in videos and installations. Or that he created the start-up sound of Windows 95. Or the Oblique Strategies deck.
He made a passing comment in an interview that became a cornerstone of my aesthetic: “It doesn’t matter what new thing you do, but how you use the old things.”