Keith LeBlanc, the Tackhead drummer, manufacturer, and consultation musician perfect identified for his paintings on vintage hip-hop songs by means of Grandmaster Flash and Sugarhill Gang, died on Thursday (April 4) because of an undisclosed sickness, his spouse, Fran LeBlanc, advised Selection. He used to be 69.
“All people at On-U Sound are heartbroken to proportion the inside track that the nice Keith LeBlanc has gave up the ghost,” his longtime label wrote in an obituary. “His writing and manufacturing abilities had been utilised by means of Residing Color, Peter Gabriel, The Treatment, Ministry, and 9 Inch Nails. As a drummer/programmer he labored with everybody from James Brown to Trevor Horn, Seal to R.E.M., The Rolling Stones, Jalal (Final Poets), The Stone Roses, Robert Palmer, Bomb The Bass, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry, Depeche Mode and Sinead O’Connor…. An implausible drummer, manufacturer and musical maverick, he’ll be massively neglected. Relaxation in energy Keith.”
Born in 1954 in Bristol, Connecticut, LeBlanc gravitated against drumming after finding out Ringo Starr all through probably the most Beatles’ TV performances. LeBlanc moved from the follow pad at house to a correct drum equipment in his college’s orchestra, and carried out his first display at a membership when he used to be 14.
Within the Seventies, LeBlanc auditioned to interchange his outgoing buddy, Harold Sargent, in the home band at Sugar Hill Data. LeBlanc landed the gig and stayed in the home band till 1982, taking part in reside drums on hip-hop songs that gave them a pointy groove: Sugarhill Gang’s “Apache,” “eighth Marvel,” and their 1980 self-titled album; Grandmaster Flash and the Livid 5’s “It’s Nasty” and The Message; and extra by means of the likes of Kool Moe Dee & the Treacherous 3, the Crash Team, and the Funky 4+1. His taste helped Sugar Hill songs stand out at a time when digital drumming ruled.
LeBlanc landed his personal impartial hit in 1983 with “No Promote Out,” probably the most first songs to combine samples. The observe, on which LeBlanc extensively utilized synthesizers and a drum gadget, hit No. 60 on the United Kingdom singles chart. The one, which prominently options Malcolm X’s voice, used to be devoted to the overdue activist, with all proceeds going to his circle of relatives.
When LeBlanc met British manufacturer Adrian Sherwood within the early Eighties, the 2 teamed up with LeBlanc’s former Sugar Hill collaborators bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist Skip McDonald to shape the commercial hip-hop band Tackhead. In combination, they churned out dozens of information for On-U Sound, together with 1988’s Tackhead Tape Time and 1989’s Pleasant as a Hand Grenade. Regardless that Tackhead broke up within the Nineteen Nineties, they reunited to file the 2014 album For the Love of Cash and hit the street for excursions in 2004 and 2022.
