Popular bass player dies

2:57pm Friday 3rd August 2007

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ONE of the borough's best-known rock 'n' roll artists, Tony Dangerfield, has died at the age of 62.

Mr Dangerfield was bass player with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages in the Sixties, before featuring in a number of bands including Circles and Tony Dangerfield and the Thrills.

He died of heart failure at his home in Victoria Road, Hendon, on July 20. His funeral was held at Hendon Crematorium on Tuesday.

Last summer, memorabilia from Mr Dangerfield's career formed part of the Sounds of the Suburbs exhibition at the Church Farmhouse Museum, on Greyhound Hill.

After Lord Sutch's death in 1999, Mr Dangerfield continued to play with the Savages, and his final gig was a performance with the group at the Claddagh Ring pub, in Church Road, Hendon, last September.

Friend Merwin Wass paid tribute to the guitarist, and said: "He was very popular and a regular at the Greyhound pub in Hendon. His last record was The Rebel's Got Soul in 2005, and he was a rebel throughout his long career. Lord Sutch's band was one of the biggest draws on the circuit in the Sixties. Tony also played alongside Ritchie Blackmore, who went on to be in Deep Purple."

Other well-known rock and rollers to have played with Mr Dangerfield include Gene Vincent, Billy Fury and Carlo Little.

In his 1991 autobiography Lord Sutch wrote: "Tony was a smash hit with the girls when he was in the band. We used to make jokes about smuggling him into the hall under a blanket to stop him having his hair torn out by hysterical fans."

Mr Dangerfield was married and divorced twice, and leaves a son, Phillip, and daughter, Nicky.