Paul Richard Fox (11 April 1951,

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

, South East London – 21 October 2007) was a British

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and guitarist, best known from his work with the UK

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

The Ruts The Ruts (later known as Ruts DC) are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly pla ...

. The Ruts' style combined punk with

dub reggae Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican re ...

, a sound that owed much to Fox's

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

skills and earned him respect and admiration. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' noted in his obituary: "Fox played a pivotal songwriting role, and quickly became a model punk guitarist at a time when the three-chord thrash was the height of many of his contemporaries' ambitions". Unlike many of his peers, Fox had been playing guitar since the mid-1960s, citing Hendrix as an influence. Fox was a founder member of the Ruts. When the original lead singer Malcolm Owen died of a heroin overdose the band continued with bassist Segs Jennings on vocals, with Fox making the occasional contribution, renaming themselves Ruts DC. They recorded one album for Virgin, followed by ground-breaking Dub LP for Bohemian, before splitting in 1983. After the break-up of the band, Fox joined a London

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

Dirty Strangers, who recorded two

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s, that

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

guitarists,

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

and

Ron Wood Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

, both guested on. He went on to form Choir Militia, in 1983. This band soon folded after which he worked with Screaming Lobsters in 1987 and Fluffy Kittens from 1991 to 1994, retaining hard-core fan interest. In 1996, Fox played on a track for Mat Sargent's charity album ''Sex Drugs and HIV'', on the song, "Heroin", which also featured;

Pauline Black Belinda Magnus (born 23 October 1953), better known as Pauline Black (), is an English singer, actress and author. In a music career spanning over 40 years, Black came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the 2 Tone ska reviva ...

The Selecter The Selecter are an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979. The Selecter featured a diverse line-up, both in terms of race and gender, initially consisting of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Pauline Black on lead ...

on vocals, Tony Barber -

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

on bass, Dave Parsons -

Sham 69 Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, achieving five top 20 singles, including "If the Kids Are United" and "Hurry Up Harry". The ...

on second guitar and Pete Davis -

UK Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

on drums. From this point on his musical career was combined with

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

, but he cut

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

with the Chelsea Punk Rock Allstars in 1997, and

Laurel Aitken Lorenzo "Laurel" Aitken (22 April 1927 – 17 July 2005) was an influential Caribbean singer and one of the pioneers of Jamaican ska music. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Ska". Career Born in Cuba of mixed Cuban and Jamaican desc ...

in 2000. Fox appeared as occasional guest guitarist with London-based ska band The Riffs (Mark Clements, Dave Fisk, Andy Gillard, Spencer Taylor, Duane Matthews) at various shows in the south-east and at a few festivals. He appeared with the band at London's Club Ska in 2005 performing a number of tracks, of which a cover of The Ruts' "Jah War" and a song with Jamaican reggae singer Winston 'Mr Fix-it' Francis appeared on the album; ''The Riffs - Live at Club Ska'' (Moonska Records). Fox also appeared later that year with members of The Riffs, his son Lawrence and Geno Blue of the Chelsea Punk Rock Allstars as The Ruts / Riffs Allstars at a memorial concert for the late Laurel Aitken in Leicester, performing a short set of Ruts, Riffs and Aitken numbers. Fox revived The Ruts name and songs in 2006, touring with a line-up known as Foxy's Ruts, featuring his son Lawrence on drums. Fox died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

in October 2007. Three months before his death, on 16 July 2007, Fox headlined a concert in his own honour, teaming up for one final performance with his surviving bandmates David Ruffy, John "Segs" Jennings and longtime Ruts' fan,

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

, filling in for the original Ruts' singer, Malcolm Owen.

References

External links

Ruts official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Paul (Musician) 1951 births 2007 deaths English rock singers English rock guitarists English punk rock guitarists English punk rock singers Deaths from lung cancer Place of birth missing 20th-century English singers 20th-century British guitarists

See also

References

External links