Experimental pop band Stump, an ’80s pop oddity whose cult status grew further with the rise of the internet, announced today that their frontman Mick Lynch has passed away. No additional details have been given.
This afternoon, the band posted to Facebook: “We are stunned and saddened to announce the death of Stump singer, Mick Lynch earlier today. RIP, Mick x.”
In the mid-’80s, Stump was championed by the British music press, and in particular, DJ John Peel. Led by Irishman Lynch and influenced by the likes of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefhart, they released a mini-album in 1986 titled Quirk Out, and their only proper full-length, A Fierce Pancake, two years later. They bubbled up from the underground with the still-bizarre-sounding “Buffalo,” a song that mocked American tourists in England, and “Charlton Heston”, a send-up of The Ten Commandments.
Online music magazine Louder Than War, which cites Lynch’s “onstage charisma and natural charm” as well as his “great voice but also a genuine presence and convivial nature,” goes into greater detail: “He will be remembered for his musical passion, quirky Cork worldview, stage presence that oozed his natural warmth and his inquisitive and intelligent nature that saw him deliver songs that made the weird wonderful and the surreal into wonk pop and also that wonderful asymmetric Tin Tin haircut.”
Join us in pouring one out for Lynch with the video tribute below.