It may not have been expected by some but it was the right decision: in the light of John Goodsall’s recent passing, Percy Jones and Robin Lumley – his colleagues and fellow founding members of BRAND X, the pioneering British jazz-rock bands – announced today that the ensemble’s name is permanently retired. The announcement must address and prevent potential attempts to hijack the group’s leadership and identity and show the veterans’ – the former being out of the line-up since 1980 and the latter since October 2020 – united front that seemed to be crumbling in the past year.
“We, the creative core of Brand X, have the legitimacy to speak on our own behalf and on behalf of our beloved band because its soul is with us, just as it remained with John. Who else could it be with?” write Lumley and Jones. “With John’s demise, Brand X can be no more, and must rest in peace. No one is entitled to say otherwise or to speak on our behalf, whether on stage or online, officially or otherwise.”
This team had a nice run for decades, delivering such classics as “Unorthodox Behaviour” and “Masques” in the ’70s and producing searing live albums lately, yet it’s time to admit the lost camaraderie couldn’t be restored and leaving the legend be legend is a correct course of action.
