That's shocking news about Rob Deacon. I was in one of the bands on Sweatbox - A Primary Industry - and knew Rob well from about 1984 to the mid-90s when I kind of lost touch with him; we did an album and a couple of singles on Sweatbox. I think he worked for 4AD when I first met him - he was running Abstract Magazine at the time and later Sweatbox and the Volume stuff.
They were slightly strange times musically (mid-80s)... bands around that scene in London, like Meat Beat Manifesto - who Rob launched with a huge amount of energy & passion - and some of the 4AD bands like The Wolfgang Press, who he worked closely with, were doing some pretty pioneering things with new technology, early sampling, electonic dance music etc. etc. A lot of it sounds pretty dated now I think, mainly due to the production values of the time, but it was an important stepping stone to what came next. I've got a lot to thank him for - RIP Rob. Paul http://www.realsoon.net http://www.myspace.com/realsoonrecords
