R.I.P., Matthew Seligman

It’s regrettable that we have to write another obituary connected to the Coronavirus, but we must bid adieu to a musician who had a hand in several releases in the Rhino catalog, not to mention numerous other labels: Matthew Seligman, who died on Friday evening at the age of 64.

Seligman was a bassist, and he was a member of several different bands in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club, The Soft Boys, the Thompson Twins, and The Fallout Club, but it was the latter band which led him into one of the longest working relationships of his career, as it found him playing alongside Thomas Dolby. Seligman would go on to appear on more of Dolby’s albums than not, including THE GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS and THE FLAT EARTH, which is to say that, yes, he does play on “She Blinded Me with Science.” But it wasn’t merely Dolby’s work that featured performances by Seligman: you can hear his top-shelf playing on efforts by Tori Amos, Morrissey, Peter Murphy, Sinead O’Connor, Stereo MC’s, Transvision Vamp, the Waterboys, and many others.

Here at Rhino HQ, we’re particularly fond of Seligman’s work with David Bowie, which – in addition to playing with him at Live Aid – also led him to perform on his title track for the film Absolute Beginnings, his song “Chilly Down” from the Labyrinth soundtrack, and the cover of “Dancing in the Street” on which Bowie duetted with Mick Jagger.

We’ve put together a playlist which includes the songs with the Rhino catalog that feature Seligman, but once you’ve listened to these, definitely don’t be afraid to seek out some of the work he did with the other cited artists. Seligman was one of the greats, and his loss is a profound one for music fans everywhere.