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Douglas McCarthy, frontman with industrial group Nitzer Ebb, dies aged 58
No cause of death given for influential electronic body music vocalist whose punchy, declarative style found fans across both rock and dance
Born and raised in Essex, McCarthy met future Nitzer Ebb drummer David Gooday aged 10, and formed the group with fellow friends Bon Harris and Simon Granger in 1982. With cheap synths and beats hammered out on a metal bin they dubbed “John”, the group gradually welded together their sound, releasing a demo in 1983 followed by debut single Isn’t It Funny How Your Body Works two years later. Their ironically martial sound and aesthetic would be misinterpreted by some – “the totalitarian imagery reflected the austere political time, the miners’ strikes and riots,” Harris later explained – but it proved infectious on dancefloors, as tracks such as Let Your Body Learn and Warsaw Ghetto crossed over into the burgeoning worlds of techno and acid house.
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