Musical Youth drummer Frederick Waite Jr. has died, aged 55
12.08.2022 - 08:29
/ nme.com
We are sad to announce the passing of Musical Youth’s drummer Frederick Waite Jr. Our thoughts go out to him and his…Posted by Musical Youth on Wednesday, August 10, 2022Waite died in his longtime stomping grounds of Birmingham, where Musical Youth were formed in 1979.
No cause of death has been established at the time of writing, however according to a council notice for an inquest into the situation, he died more than three weeks ago, on July 20. Said inquest was formally opened last Monday (July 1), with its final hearing to be held on January 17, 2023.Born on May 23, 1967, Waite was just 12 when Musical Youth was formed.
He was initially the band’s frontman, performing alongside his brother Patrick (bass) and the two Grant brothers, Kelvin (guitars and lead vocals) and Michael (keyboards).The band came together through the fathers of both families, with Waite’s father, Frederick Waite Sr, having been a member of the Jamaican reggae troupe The Techniques. In the early days of Musical Youth, he and the junior Waite shared lead vocal duties.Shortly after the band signed to MCA Records – to whom they were alerted after appearing on John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 show – both Waites stepped down from their singing roles, with Jr moving to drums and newcomer Dennis Seaton taking over on the mic.Musical Youth’s breakthrough came in 1982 with the release of ‘Pass The Dutchie’ – an amalgam of U Brown’s ‘Gimme The Music’ and the Mighty Diamond’s ‘Pass The Kouchie’ – which topped the charts in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand and Australia (and peaked just one spot shy in Germany).The song – which recently made a comeback to the spotlight thanks to its inclusion in Stranger Things 4 – appeared on their
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