Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

R.I.P. Robert Reed of Trouble Funk

I’m sorry I missed this news when it broke, but it’s important to let the rest of the world know: one of the giants of go-go and breakbeat music has passed. Robert “Syke Dyke” Reed–the founder, keyboardist, and one of the primary songwriters of the mighty mighty Trouble Funk band–passed on April 13 due to pancreatic cancer.

I was turned onto T-Funk during the early 80s via cassettes, and the sound of Reed’s space-invaders style keyboard attacks (you can hear him going nuts on this Arkade Funk record) that would inevitably key one of T-Funk’s massive breakdowns remain to me some of the most exciting moments in any music I’ve ever heard.

Dyke was a teacher, who kept on sharing his love of music with students across the District and at Bowie State University until the end, and he was an effusive interview, always ready to talk about the evolution of go-go music and his band’s legacy.

Rest in power, Dyke, we’ll see you when we get there.

Check these…

+ Tributes to Syke Dyke at TMOTTGOGO.com

+ Ben Sisario’s obit in the New York Times

+ Trouble Funk’s page

+ Buy Henry Rollins’ reissues of T-Funk’s very first records, including the monumental live set from 1982!

+ A Daily Press obit that cites one of my early enthusiastic reviews of the band

posted by Jeff Chang @ 7:05 am | 0 Comments

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