The following is an edited transcript of a fax that I received earlier this
week.
"It is with great sadness and regret that I have to inform you that Lee
Newman passed away on Friday, August 4th. She battled against malignant
melanoma, with her usual high spirits and boundless energy. We all knew and
loved Lee's passion for life, her unique energetic colourful character and
generous nature. Lee's involvement in the positive side of techno scene is
well documented and many of us will always remember her beaming smile,
lively enthusiasm and incredible love for the music, the music makers, and
deejays throughout the world. Lee instigated the Technohead project,
writing reviews for DJ magazine and many publications worldwide, pushing
the awareness of future music to a new audience, compiling compilations for
React, etc.
Thank you for all your understanding and support, we will always remember
Lee with the greatest fondness and deepest love.
Signed Michael Wells"
I for one am rather shocked about this, I first made contact with Michael
and Lee in 1987, when I was completely fucking blown away by "Now Is The
Time" by Greater Than One on their own K=K label, and every thing that ever
came out since then, including but not limited to GTO ("Pure" being one of
the first and most influencial techno/trance projects), John And Julie,
Dataflow, TD5, Tricky Disco, I can't even remember all the amazing side
projects they did over the years. They put out releases on Warp, XL, React,
Novamute, Killout, Rising High, Go Bang, Low Spirit, Mokum, Wax Trax,
Instinct, Adam & Eve, Rumour, ESP, and their own Dataflow label. Their own
discography is a whopper....
Lee's communications about the state of music and the future of all things
musical has been more than influencial, and I was more than pleased to
publish reviews and interviews about them whenever I could (Discotext,
Index, Streetsound, etc.). I think that people out there who really are
interested in how things have gotten to where they are should take a look
back at the work of these two, especially now with the untimely and goddamm
undeserved passing of Lee.
I am interested to hear from others who have been affected and influenced
by them. And best wishes and lots of love to Michael....
Robert
ROBERT SHEA
EYE Q MUSIC INC. * 8756 Holloway Drive * West Hollywood, CA * 90069
Tel: 310.657.7241 * Fax: 310.657.1019 * World Wide Web:
http://www.eye-q.com/