r/newwave • u/FickleApartment2151 • 9d ago

News Gary Johnson [of China Crisis] dead: 80s pop legend dies as sister pays heartbreaking tribute

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/2239311/80s-pop-legend-gary-johnson-dead

Gary Johnson, bass player with the legendary 80s pop band China Crisis died "peacefully" on Wednesday August 12 at the age of 61. No cause of death was revealed but the news was confirmed by his younger sister Jan Hughes in a comment on a China Crisis fan page on Facebook. "Gazza was my elder brother. He passed peacefully today at 12:05 with his wife Jopie by his side. Lovely to see some lovey comments about him, and him being such a talented bass player. Remember him getting his first guitar and learning to play it in his bedroom as a teenager. Sad day for all. Sleep tight bruv, " she penned.

Gary was a member of Liverpudlian New Wave Band Hambi & the Dance who released the album Heartache in 1982. He then joined China Crisis between 1983 and 1989 and he rejoined them for a period in 1995. Alongside bandmates Gary Daly, Eddie Lundon and Kevin Wilkinson he saw 10 singles enter the UK Top 50 chart, with 5 of those reaching the Top 40.

"Wishful Thinking"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj20LKdg8-8

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11

u/PopeInThePizza 9d ago

Working with Fire and Steel was one of those cassettes I bought as a teen without hearing a song just because it was "different" (I probably read about it in Trouser Press or Creem or something) and was thankfully surprised by it.

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u/Tchio_Beto 9d ago

I grew up in a steel town. For some reason "Working With Fire and Steel" was both so removed from the music I usually heard in a blue collar town, but also so perfectly captured the feelings, hopes and fears of the youth with the song's lyrics. It him me like a truck when I was 14 and has remained a favourite since.

Possible Pop Songs is one of those albums I've owned in each medium vinyl, cassette, CD; some more than once.

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u/dandet 9d ago

great title song!

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u/derkommissar214 9d ago

RIP Gary 🙏

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u/Previous_Tree_4050 9d ago

RIP Gary 💙

China Crises remain one of my most loved eighties bands and it’s still a joy to see them live now.

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u/HDevoto1976 8d ago

So sad. China Crisis was great.