Died On This Date (July 9, 2014) John Spinks / The Outfield
John Spinks
DOB Unknown – July 9, 2014
John Spinks is perhaps best remembered as the founding and longtime guitarist and primary songwriter for Manchester, UK power pop trio, the Outfield. Formed in 1984, the band enjoyed tremendous success thanks to heavy video rotation on MTV when that actually mattered. The band’s debut album, Play Deep sold over 3 million copies in the US alone thanks primarily to its biggest hit single, “Your Love.” That song has since been covered by the likes of Less Than Jake, Wyclef Jean with Eve, and the Butchies. It is believed that the record has been sampled over 1000 times – by Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and B.o.B. to name a few. The band’s second album, 1987’s Bangin’, was nowhere near as successful as Play Deep, but it nonetheless went Gold in the US thanks to its three singles, “Since You’ve Been Gone”, “No Surrender”, and “Bangin’ on My Heart”. The Outfield continued to see moderate success throughout the ’90s and 2000s, recording and touring along the way. John Spinks died of liver cancer on July 9, 2014. He was 60.
Thanks to Ben Anderson for the assist.
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