Monday, October 29, 2012

Jo Dunne RIP

Sad news reached Baron Towers yesterday about the death on Friday of Fuzzbox's Jo Dunne who passed away apparently only six weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. She was just 43. Fuzzbox remain an hugely underrated group. During their brief career they released two radically different albums, the scuzzy punk classic Bostin' Steve Austin and the glossy pop hit Big Bang. Only a year or so ago three of the original four members (including Jo) reunited for a national tour and new single, I'm guessing this was only planned to be a temporary thing as it seemed to fizzle out as quickly as it began. Why do Fuzzbox matter? Well let's face it there was a distinct dearth of spunky female only bands in the world back in 1985 (it's not a lot better these days) and Fuzzbox all too briefly readdressed the balance a little. Plus they released some pretty great tunes along the way. Some might diss their radical makeover from DIY punk teens to glossy pop queens but hell, it worked eh? Here's a selection of their best bits. RIP Jo.





Okay, this is them after the makeover...deep breath...





Here's one of their last releases, an impressive cover of Yoko Ono's Walking On Thin Ice offers an intriguing glimpse into what might have been if they'd stayed together...



...and finally this single from the aborted third album rock things up a little more...it reached the dizzy heights of number 100 in the charts...yes, I know...

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