The passing of yet another stunning vocal talent
A tribute from Ben Hogwood…
“The news of the death of Romanthony, the highly respected vocalist and producer was truly shocking when it was revealed at the weekend. Real name Anthony Wayne Moore, he left us at the age of 46 on the 7th May in Austin, Texas and although the cause of death has not yet been officially made public, suggestions are that it was connected to a kidney disease.
Unfortunately, and inevitably, many of the obituaries from the national press have focused solely on Romanthony’s output with Daft Punk, his vocals to the songs ‘One More Time’ and ‘Too Long’ treated almost as if they were the only thing he ever did. Yet any house music disciple worth their salts will know this was just the edge of a talent that made itself known through production as well as song, often to devastatingly good effect.
Romanthony as a person was an elusive soul. He began writing music alone, but Kevin McKay, who was responsible for signing him to Glasgow Underground, remembers their less than usual correspondence. “I met Roman doing some writing for Muzik Magazine in the mid ‘90s,” he recalls. “He’d never done any interviews and so I made it my mission to track him down and convince him to let me tell his story. It took a long time and a lot of convincing. During that time we got to know each other fairly well. He had a lot of bad feelings about how he’d been treated by various record labels and seemed really into what I was doing with Muzique Tropique. I told him I’d love to put out some of his music and he started sending me some things. The weirdest thing was that a lot of the stuff he was sending was really basic. Just some beats sometimes, or the merest hint of a track. I was a bit nervous about talking to him about what he’d sent and so made sure I’d listen to the cassette about 20 times before I phoned him back. I ended up telling him exactly how I felt, that these demos hinted of something so much more and asked him if there were any other mixes. There were loads of other mixes, the really great ones. He just wanted to test me. Imagine someone advising that in a “how to get your demos heard” seminar!”
Once their musical relationship was established, Romanthony set about producing some of his best work for Glasgow Underground, peaking with the wonderful R.Hide In Plain Site album of 2000. This includes some of his very best work – the freestyle turned house anthem ‘Bring U Up’, the electric and soulful ‘Luv Somebody’ and ‘Down 4 U’ and the dancefloor ode ‘Floorpiece’, with its growling hook line ‘the music is the power, the music is release, are you a wall flower, or a floorpiece’ growing in power as the track progresses. All these tracks, laced with sensuality, contributed to Romanthony’s status as a producer of high quality, original house music, with roots in early Chicago house and Prince, but the output altogether more individual.
Also for Glasgow Underground, Romanthony teamed up with DJ Predator for the more minimal ‘Instinctual’, which contains some basic but highly effective grooves, and released an album of garage-infused music under one of his many pseudonyms, Phatt Pussycat. This record, ‘Phatt Life’, contained the track ‘Without U’, whose scattered rhythms wouldn’t be out of place on a Timbaland production, showing off Romanthony’s versatility with beat making.
As a vocalist, of course, the success was far more instant, the exultant ‘One More Time’ of 2001 proving to be Daft Punk’s biggest hit prior to this year, remaining a reliable dance floor favourite to this day. The vocal may be doused in auto tune – one of the first hits to carry the sound – but it keeps a natural emotion.
Romanthony continued to impress after the Daft Punk collaborations, and the 2002 single ‘Never F**k’ was picked out by Pete Tong as an Essential New Tune, but then he disappeared somewhat as a producer. He was, however, still working away behind the scenes – and in reaction to his death Boys Noize confirmed a recent collaboration that he had proclaimed to be ‘the best song he had ever written’.
Throughout his musical life Romanthony kept this important blend of technology and genuine emotion, a winning mix that so often eludes house music producers. The only shame is that we didn’t hear more of his music, for this relatively withdrawn soul (commercially, at least) had a real fire and passion that came across in his best work. It will now be remembered with a combination of affection and deep respect.”
Romanthony (real name Anthony Moore) (c. 1967 – 7 May 2013)
