Adrian
Borland 1957-99 RIP
Adrian Borland, 41, lead singer with THE
SOUND committed suicide by throwing himself under a train on April 26th.
Songwriter Borland's first band , The Outsiders,
became the first English Punk band to release an album by themselves,
77's 'Calling On Youth'. Borland then formed another group , Second
Layer, produced a host of bands including Luke Haines' early group The
Servants and collaborated with the likes of Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra before
going on to form The Sound. Snapped up in 1980 by Korova, they were
immediatly sent on tour with fledgling labelmates Echo And The Bunnymen.
The band were later dropped by the label
for refusing to make their sound more commercial, but continued until 1987
when they released one of their most critically acclaimed records 'Thunder
Up'
Afterwards , Borland continued with a solo
career on Play It Again Sam before releasing 'Cinematic' in 1996 on
the Setanta label.
A new Borland album under the title White
Rose Transmission was being recorded when the singer killed himself.
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Red Sun Records
On April 26th. 1999 Adrian Borland died. Our friend committed suicide
by throwing himself in front of a train in London on early Monday morning. He was right in the middle
of the recording session for his new solo album.Adrian Borland leaves a great work, which is
documented on more than twenty albums . He was present as a singer, guitar player and - especially
- as a songwriter since the late 70`s, when he formed his first band THE OUTSIDERS, his contribution
to the "New Wave" whilst at the same time creating electronic music with the band SECOND
LAYER. International recognition as front man with legendary eighties band THE SOUND was
followed by a crazy affair with HONOLULU MOUNTAIN DAFFODILS, under the pseudonym Joachim Pimento,
belting out a wired STOOGES-like sound together with a few friends from his Wimbledon
local. From 1989 Adrian released five solo albums, first together with his new backing
band THE CITIZENS, later on his own. In the middle of the 90's his very fragile albums "Beautiful
Ammunition" and "Cinematic" show his enormous talent as a songwriter. Also in 1995 he brought out
his first cd with WHITE ROSE TRANSMISSION, his congenial collaboration with Carlo van Putten
from THE CONVENT. His following solo record "5:00 A.M." - released in 1997 - was again
a link to his most successful time. His last finished work is the second WHITE ROSE TRANSMISSION
album "700 Miles Of Desert", which was recorded in Bremen between November 1998 and February
1999. The cd will be released in Germany on June 21st.. Of course the acoustic tour of WHITE
ROSE TANSMISSION, which was scheduled for May, can't take place without Adrian. Instead
his friends Carlo van Putten and Mark Burgess will be performing the WHITE ROSE TRANSMISSION songs,
amongst others, as a tribute to Adrian on those evenings. While working on "700 Miles
Of Desert" we have seen Adrian in all his facet's again. As a creative perfectionist, full of humor
and conversation; as a withdrawn melancholic; as an intelligent, ambitious artist and an absolutely
reliable worker, who always played his music with such intensity. He was sensitive and could often fall
into deep depression. It now seems he was more tired of life than we ever suspected. Looking back
it's easy to read much into lines from his songs that profess a readiness to leave this world. Goodbyes
were one of his main themes but we shouldn't allow ourselves to interpret his songs in such a one-dimensional
way. We can't, nor would we want to do or say anything that would in any way show disrespect
towards Adrian's decision to leave this life. It is after all, hardest on the ones that
are left behind. For Adrian, the sorrow and pain of this life is over. We hope now that Adrian is where
he wants to be.~ In
memoriam Adrian Borland/Red
Sun Records |
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The
Big Takeover
Eulogy
for The Sound's Adrian Borland
I wish to say goodbye to my acquaintance Adrian Borland of
The Sound, who sadly took his own life in England April 25. I had often
been a grateful guest in Adrian's family home in Wimbledon, South London
(and in his steady pub there with his fine and loyal friends, the Crooked
Billet). He not only left behind some of the finest LPs in my whole
collection, such as 1981's incredible From the Lion's Mouth and 1985's
gorgeous Heads and Hearts, but I also feel horribly for his kindly mom and
dad, who looked after him for two decades into adulthood while he fought
off emotional instability with the help of modern medication. At the time
of his sudden, unforeseen suicide (he was killed by a train), Adrian was
finishing a new solo LP and was about to head out on a rare solo tour,
making his loss seem all the more senseless. For some reason, he'd recently
insisted on discontinuing his medication (according to his producer, Wally
Brill), perhaps contributing to his depression.
As with the suicide of Lush's
Chris Acland two years ago, everyone who knew and liked this talented
songwriter and emotional singer is sad beyond words. I immediately thought
of the times Adrian came out to meet me at the train station, and the time
he played the new (final) Sound recordings for me in 1986, justifiably
proud and beaming as Thunder Up held me spellbound. I also remembered the
three fantastic Sound concerts in New York in '83 and '84, and I felt even
worse. I'd recently been hired to write liner notes for the upcoming
reissue of one of his old, more artistic, unusually stark Sound LPs,
1982's All Fall Down, and now that task seems sober and melancholic rather than celebratory. R.I.P. ~Jack
Rabid |
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