Bognor Music Scene Mourns Passing of Rox Band Bass Player:
Bognor Regis' thriving music community was shocked at the sudden death of one of its leading lights, veteran electric bass player Martin Bury, 56, of a sudden heart attack on June 29th 2003.
He leaves wife Bernadette & three children Ben, Tom & Simone at the family home in Pagham.
A huge congregation of fellow musicians, family & friends from all over Sussex gave Martin an emotional send-off from the Chichester Crematorium on Thursday July 10th followed by a raucous rock'n'roll wake hosted at the Lamb Inn at Bognor's Steyne Street - where many of Martin's favourite rock and blues numbers were given a final blast by the attending musicians, who included his son Tom playing drums.
For the last 10 years Martin Bury was most popularly associated with The Rox Band and his partner in rhythm, the indefatigable Terry Slade on drums.
This storming rock engine has jointly anchored the Rox Band; the Mark Keen Experience (now the Mark Keen Band) and the Rock'n'Roll Fugitives (with guitarist Stewart Collier, now leading Nirvana-tributees Teen Spirit).
Such enthusiasm for the local live music scene led Terry onto becoming a founding member of the Rox Music & Arts Organisation which he still heads up today
The Rox Band - fronted by the marvellous vocalising of Diane Ayling & versatile guitar of Pete Macer - in stirling trooper fashion managed to honour their current bookings, despite their huge loss, tearfully delivering sets at the Family Tree, Cheers Bar and the New Inn, Littlehampton last week.
Diane organised a spontaneous collection at Cheers on Sunday July 6 where the good folks who frequent this ever-popular live music bar donated over £350 for Bernadette & family.
Martin Bury, most recently a gardener by profession, gained his first musical stripes in the South London suburbs during the early 1960's with bands The Silhouettes, Formula, Primitifs, Chase and then when the Bury family moved down to West Sussex with local groups like the House Of Blues.
In 1967 the future broadcaster, DJ, writer & music historian Mike Read was cutting his teeth at the Bognor Shoreline Club and put together a new band, Amber, with Martin (bass) Dave Gibb (drums) & Alan Smith - like Read a guitarist & songwriter.
Despite their youthful good looks, ambition, ideas & rehearsals at Julie Andrews' mum's house in Surrey, Amber only lasted a couple of years.
Martin was back in Bognor by the twilight of the Sixties teaming up with Terry Slade, playing with The Diamonds on and off for years, then soul rockers Bossy, and eventually The Rox Band.
Rox songstress Diane said this week…
"Martin is absolutely irreplaceable and we all miss him terribly…
He was a beautiful man and a great bass player"
The Rox Band will eventually settle on a full time bass player but they are using deputies for the moment to continue delivering their unique brand of entertaining rock and soul to local audiences.
The Rox Band appear at the :
Bognor Yacht Club (Sat. August 9th)
The Family Tree, Laburnum Grove Bognor (Sat. Aug 16)
The Royal Oak, Midhurst (Fri. August 29).
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