I was very sorry to (belatedly) read that former Vels keyboardist Chris Larkin died last month in Philadelphia. The band's quirky synthpop gem "Look My Way" is one of my all-time favorite songs of the '80s (I blogged about it here) and as a tribute to Chris -- who sounds like he was a beloved lover, son, uncle, brother -- I'm hosting an iPod-ready vinyl-transfer MP3 of his former band's most popular tune so everyone can enjoy Chris' enduring musical talents. (None of the Vels' catalog ever made it to digital format, so I hope no one minds.) My condolences to his loved ones.
You can read Chris' obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer, which erroneously says the Vels released five albums (there were just two) here. You can visit the tribute blog for Chris here.
UPDATE: Chris Larkin's longtime partner, Betty Lenherr, died in 2017.
4 comments:
I am a huge 80's fan but never heard of this group. I checked out the video and now I know why I never heard of them. That was just awful. And for a huge 80's fan like me to not like it than it must be bad.
That should have easily been a #1 hit. Man I haven't heard it in 20 years but I sang along to every word just now!! Thanks for posting!! (Remember how we used to change the lyrics to this one like every other song?! LOL)
Thanks Kenneth,
Chris was a unique individual amongst many on south street in the very early 80's, and it was a pleasure to know him, hang out around the kitchen table at Alices's and his apartment on Bainbridge, in bars and getting buzz ons & playing music with him...
charles
Thanks for this...what this doesn't quite show is what an amazing jazz composer he was...nor Chris' waist-length hair! I played in a band with him on South Street in 1971-72...playing long, complicated tunes with long, complicated names...waltzes in 11/8...I might still have a tape...ensemble 1/0...RIP dear Chris. He was always kind, usually upbeat.
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