The musician Guru Josh, who had his biggest hit with Infinity in 1990 as rave culture swept Britain, has died aged 51.
His agent, Sharron Elkabas, confirmed to the Guardian that Guru Josh, whose real name was Paul Walden, had died in Ibiza on Monday. The cause of death is unclear.
Born in Jersey, Walden studied dentistry, then had a spell in the US before moving to London in the late 1980s, where he worked as a booking agent and played pub gigs with his band, Joshua Cries Wolf.
had died in Ibiza on Monday. The cause of death is unclear.
i wonder why.... either way r.i.p he sounds like he died doing what he loves
Godking5
Sad to see the guy pass away.
The Klaas remix to his Infinity 08 tune is actually what got a few of my high school friends at the time into electronic music. Song is terrible , but was a good gateway.
Anyways, sad news, and still fairly young. My condolences to the family
The Sci-Fure
That Sax is pure sex.
Trance-M
I bought the maxi-cd of Infinity in 1990, still have it.
R.I.P.
SYSTEM-J
If you don't know Infinity you have no right to call yourself an old-school dance music aficionado. The guy bollocksed up his nascent career by supporting the Poll Tax though, god bless'im.
RebeL9
This is sad.
I also found out earlier this year that Andy Jarrod had passed away in an accident last year. :( Such a shame.
DJ RANN
quote:
Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
If you don't know Infinity you have no right to call yourself an old-school dance music aficionado. The guy bollocksed up his nascent career by supporting the Poll Tax though, god bless'im.
Lol, I forgot about that. He caught a lot of flack for that.
I haven't heard his name in 10+ years. Infinity was a big track despite the sax being out of time and possibly having one of the worst piano solos in history.
RIP.
crazydave023
Every time I watch the Infinity video, I get this really great feeling inside. It's like everything was so pure in 1990. It feels like there was an optimism in the world. The Cold War had just ended, various forms of music were being introduced to the world that hadn't previously existed. You definitely get the feeling like clubbing in London in 1990, you were part of something special. A movement, bigger than yourself, with a group of people in the right time and place. I find myself nostalgic for an era that I was never a part of. Videos like this clue me in as to why the real old schoolers say they had such a great time back then and why the movement was truly genuine.
Also, look at Guru Josh, he's having a great time and is quite the character. I feel like in today's club culture, he would be laughed at and ridiculed by many. I always love and respect the true individuals that stay true to themselves and aren't concerned with some supposed image. It's why this time period retains credibility. Even though the song itself is cheesy at points (particularly the piano solo), it's fun and the Sax riff still gets me every time. From what I understand, Guru Josh was also involved in visual arts as well. Multi-talented. It always saddens me when someone so talented decides to take their own life. The true greats are often the tortured souls.
R.I.P. Guru Josh, you will be missed.
Anytime I feel sad, I can turn on the Infinity video and feel better again.
Stanza
Taucher's Infinity was one of the first trance tunes I heard :(
Still the best one around I reckon
Redd
quote:
Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
The guy bollocksed up his nascent career by supporting the Poll Tax though, god bless'im.
quote:
"Back sometime in the ’89-’90 Summer of Love Guru Josh was bringing out a follow-up to his worldwide hit “Infinity” and wanted to do something to promote it and get attention. So he asked for advice from the sartorially psychedelic publicist for Sunrise – the most successful rave organisers of the era who were never off the front pages. The publicist advised him precisely what to say, something politically controversial, guaranteed to be reported everywhere in the music press and get him “cut through”. The publicist promised it would get him attention.
The next day* in an interview with Record Mirror Guru Josh came out in favour of the poll tax which was about to be introduced by the Thatcher government. The resulting publicity did get the Guru the promised “cut through”. It was unfortunately entirely negative publicity from the left-wing music press…"
