LONDON, Feb 18, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Andy Weatherall, the DJ who produced
Primal Scream’s “Screamadelica” and a pioneer of the acid house movement,
died Monday at age 56 after suffering a pulmonary embolism, his
representatives said.
“He was being treated in hospital but unfortunately the blood clot reached
his heart. His death was swift and peaceful,” a statement from his PR agency
said.
“His family and friends are profoundly saddened by his death and are taking
time to gather their thoughts.”
Weatherall was acclaimed for his remixes of Primal Scream’s 1990 hit
“Loaded”, Happy Mondays’ “Hallelujah” and New Order’s “World In Motion”,
produced for England’s 1990 football World Cup campaign.
New Order said it was “very saddened” to hear the news, while bassist Peter
Hook added: “He was a truly nice, kind man who shared many, many words of
wisdom.”
Ministry of Sound, the super-club dance venue that opened in 1991, called
Weatherall “a master of his craft”.
Weatherall helped to document rave culture with the Boys Own fanzine but
shunned the path towards becoming a celebrity DJ, preferring to concentrate
on creating music instead.
“I don’t start a project as such, I just make music every day and see what
happens,” he told The Independent newspaper in a 2016 interview.
“I’m usually three-quarters of the way through an album when I officially
start making it. This is like a hobby, but also a job. I’ve found a job I
like and I’ve found a level that I like.”
On working with Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie for “Screamadelica”,
he told the BBC: “I was very nervous. I didn’t know what you could do and
couldn’t do.
“But I was full of what Orson Welles called ‘the confidence of ignorance’.”
The details surrounding his funeral “will be made in due course”, his
agency said.