R.I.P. Keith Levene

Sorry to be the bearer of yet more shitty news.

Very, very sad. He was a wonderful guitarist. RIP.

Holy jeez, is the Grim Reaper keeping busy right now, so he can get more time off during the holidays?

I likes me some Hawkwind and Gal Costa, but oooh, this hurts...

Keith Levene was simply one of the all-time greats. I've probably played "Second Edition/Metal Box" more than any other album. His style was amazing - never simply strumming chords, then playin the usual leads like mere mortal guitarists. He practically invented a whole new vocabulary for guitar that few were able to crack, tho The Edge and John McGeoch tried.

Very nice, humble guy. A friend of mine met him when he was living in LA in the '90s (working as a hip-hop producer for Ice T!) and he was quite modest whilst being showered with praise.

[www.youtube.com]

The greatest moment in the history of American Bandstand, rivalled only by the time Dick Clark foolishly handed his microphone to Ron Mael.

He’s one the very few who rewrote the rules of his instrument. I’m sorry to see him go so young.

Ok, like ten of our last 20 posts have been RIP’s. Arrrgh. This one particularly hurts. I’ll bet the echoes of his guitar sounds are still bouncing around my teenage bedroom.

Oh and the Edge TOTALLY ripped him off on ‘I will follow’!!

Sad on Levene's death. He was one of the Big Three for me with Robin Simon and John McGeoch redefining guitar in the Post-Punk era.. But I always thought that The Edge was ripping off Alan Rankine from Associates.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
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