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Artist News
Senseless Things’ Mark Keds dies
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 12 January 2021
Senseless Things’ Mark Keds has died, aged 50, his former bandmate Ben Harding has revealed in a post on Facebook.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we have to tell you that, sadly, Mark – our singer, friend and main songwriter – is no longer with us”, Harding wrote in a fan group for the band yesterday. “We understand that he passed away at his home during the early hours of this morning. As yet, the cause of death is unconfirmed”.
Keds and bassist Morgan Nicholls formed Senseless Things in 1986 – subsequently recruiting Harding and drummer Cass Browne, and then releasing their debut album ‘Postcard CV’ three years later.
That album contained the single ‘Too Much Kissing’, which became one of their most popular songs. Subsequently signing to Epic, 1991 follow-up ‘The First Of Too Many’ spawned two top 20 hits, ‘Easy To Smile’ and ‘Hold It Down’. The band’s third and final studio album, ‘Taking Care Of Business’, was released in 1995.
“It’s no secret that [Keds] had struggled on and off with drug abuse and a pretty chaotic lifestyle for a long while, and his health suffered substantially over the years due to this”, Harding went on. “While this had sometimes created friction within the on-off workings of Senseless Things and his other projects, we choose to remember the friend, the brother and the talent we’ve lost today”.
“Mark was truly passionate about his musical calling”, he continued. “He used it with a fierce determination – from establishing a way of touring and playing gigs – one where nobody felt excluded – to including explicit, outspoken political content in our songs (and insisting on releasing them, even at the cost of commercial suicide and record company dismay)”.
The band last reunited in 2017, performing a number of live shows and also releasing a new single titled ‘Lost Honey’ – their first new material for more than 20 years at that point.
“We’re truly thankful (we know Mark was, too) that we all got to do it properly one last time at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2017”, Harding concluded.
