6/10/20 - art
by Daniel Devlin
Posted in: art, I AM STILL ALIVE 2020, people, portraits
I AM STILL ALIVE 10.6.2020
ONE SELF PORTRAIT EVERY DAY in 2020 : 162
I first heard Keziah Jones on the first of March 1993. My memory is not that good but I know this for a fact and it’s because I remember the moment vividly: I was in Montolieu and was watching “Le Cercle de Minuit” on TV which was (is?) the French equivalent of “Later with Jools Holland” and I was blown away.
by googling, I found that exact moment:
https://www.ina.fr/video/
https://www.youtube.com/
I few days later I went to the FNAC in Toulouse and bought the CD. For months I listened mostly to this CD.
Years later, I don’t know how we got talking about this but Tony Maronie told me that he played on that Album. Tony Maronie : percussion and congas.
Tony is probably the most modest person I know so today I would like to show him off (he is not on social media so he will never know).
And with help from Deirdre, here are ten amazing facts about Tony:
1. He knew the assassin Carlos the Jackal, without knowing (or anyone) knowing that he was a hit man. https://
2. He’s a brilliant swimmer, he can’t remember learning how to swim. Nicknamed Flips by his pals
3. He was all London under sixteen 100 metre champion
4. He worked with the French pop singer Claude Francois (he My Way) who loved him and wanted Tony to work with him always – until he died very suddenly.
5. Worked with Barry White who he said was a real gentleman, and an amazing musician
6. When the Jacksons first came to London, Tony was in THE REAL THING- who were the supporting act so they got to be alongside the young teenage Michael Jackson for a week. He met him again many times over the years.
7. Worked with Charles Asnavour
8. I remember going to see him play with the Brotherhood of Breath at Ronnie Scotts – he was an original member of that group.
9. Tony was an original member of the influential jazz/funk group The Breakfast Band.
10. If you ever talk to a Chinese or Taiwanese person about Teresa Teng, they nearly lose their lives. Equivalent to Madonna – but even more popular in the Far East – Tony recorded her last album with her in Paris.
11. You can see Tony in the GOING GET TOUGH video – with Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito & Kathleen Turner
https://youtu.be/
12. Played on a Wham album
13. Played with Billy Bragg.
14. Was recording an album in Ringo Starr’s house (previously owned by John Lennon, the one in the white piano IMAGINE video) when the sad news came through that John Lennon had been assassinated.
15. Worked with Steve Winwood
When Klara was five she said she wanted to play the trumpet. I remember asking Tony if he thought the trumpet would be the right instrument for her to start learning and he said that the best instrument for her to learn is the one she actually wants to learn.
10.6.2020.
