This is a difficult post for me to make. Mainly because this is only story being discussed on the Spirogyra Facebook group of which I am a co-administrator, appointed by Martin. Difficult because his death was announced this week but I am unable to verify the story. He apparently died in a hotel in Thailand on his solo travels after meeting fellow musicians in Europe. I knew he was ill and often travelled to the far east for health and spiritual reasons. He was well known for many years in Hare Krishna circles by the name Mahaksa Das and had released solo records as Rainbow Empire.
My link to Martin came about because of his Bolton connection and my admiration for the three LP releases as Spirogyra between 1971-73. I made contact with him through his family in Bolton and then with his former girlfriend Barbara Gaskin. He even thanked me for my very small part in the release of the Spirogyra demos CD Burn The Bridges in 2000. I know from his postings he had been planning to release further Spirogyra recordings this year through Cherry Red Records.
A couple of weeks ago he met up with fellow Spirogyra members (minus Barbara) at the house in St Radigunds Street in Canterbury which they shared with fellow resident Steve Hillage and former manager/producer Max Hole. The photographs from that occasion were the last he posted. The Spirogyra Wikipedia page has been updated to show he died on the 5th April. I am trying to make contact with his family, particularly his 91-year-old mother who still lives in Bolton.
Sad news if it’s true. Let’s hope it isn’t. I read this on the Hoffman Forum a few days back and was unaware that there was any doubt of the veracity of the news.
I saw Spirogyra at Kingston Polytechnic in 1972 or thereabouts and was impressed enough to buy a copy of St. Radigunds, a record that I still have and listen to regularly. I didn’t know about the Rainbow Empire material.