international news _ 20th January, 2006
German Trance Pioneer Dies Suddenly
Text by Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
Mark Spoon was found dead in his Berlin apartment this week, after
reportedly suffering a heart attack. MTV Germany said police broke into his
flat after friends tried and failed to contact him. He was 39 years old.
The legendary German DJ, whose real name was Markus Loeffel, achieved
massive commercial and critical success in the early 90s, remixing acts
including Quincy Jones, the Pet Shop Boys and Dr Alban before producing the
definitive remix of Age Of Love that became one of the first trance
superhits of the era. He also became a bona fide pop star in 1993 when he
teamed up with classical musician Jam el Mar to form Jam & Spoon, scoring
massive worldwide hits with Right In The Night and Find Me, featuring the
vocals of former Shamen singer Plavka.
Simultaneously, he developed a parallel career as a techno/ trance DJ,
regularly spinning at London1s seminal Final Frontier at Club UK and
becoming one of dance culture1s first genuine superstar DJs.
Always a larger than life character, both physically and via his well known
penchant for hard living, he was famously jailed for several days in Ibiza
in the early 90s after being caught necking a couple of ecstasy pills as he
DJed at Space. He also received a 3 day jail sentence in Germany in 2002,
after being convicted of football hooliganism for fighting in a stadium 12
years previously.
Corvin Dalek's manager Mark Reeder who knew Mark well throughout his career
told Skrufff he was "shocked but not really surprised about his untimely
death", adding "I was in negotiations to get him a gig in China and spoke to
him just before Christmas."
"Mark was a colourful character in the club scene and a legend in his own
lifetime. We will miss him, thankfully, he's left us a legacy of truly
classic tunes which will remain with us forever," said Mark.
Gigolo Records chief DJ Hell also paid tribute, telling Skrufff "we've all
lost a great character and a friend."
"Everybody is shocked about this sad news," Hell added, "he will live
forever in our minds."
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