British DJ-Producer Andrew Weatherall Dies at 56

Jem Aswad
Updated ·2 min read

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British music producer, DJ and record-label founder Andrew Weatherall, who co-produced Primal Scream’s landmark 1991 album “Screamadelica” and helped bring the acid house genre into the mainstream, died Monday in a London hospital from a pulmonary embolism, his management confirmed to the Guardian. He was 56.

“He was being treated in hospital but unfortunately the blood clot reached his heart. His death was swift and peaceful,” the statement said.

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Born in Windsor, Weatherall was one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s. He made his name at the London nightclub Shoom and shortly after founded the record label Boy’s Own Recordings and the production outfit Bocca Juniors.

He worked extensively as a DJ and producer and was a member of the groups Sabres of Paradise and the duo Two Lone Swordsmen, but there’s little question that his most influential work was as a producer of Primal Scream’s groundbreaking 1991 album “Screamadelica,” a pioneering fusion of rock sounds and sensibilities with the burgeoning electronic dance music of the era. Its sprawling influence can be heard in acts like the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk, and it has become part of the foundation of contemporary dance music.

The extent of Weatherall’s contribution to “Screamadelica” is evidenced by the fact that the group’s next outing — 1994’s “Give Out but Don’t Give Up,” to which he did not contribute — was a straightforward rock album. He reunited with the group in 2002 for the album “Evil Heat.”

He also produced tracks on Beth Orton’s 1996 breakthrough album “Trailer Park” — a folkier fusion of rock and dance music — and remixed songs by Björk, My Bloody Valentine and with Terry Farley, remixed New Order’s 1990 World Cup anthem “World in Motion.”

“Trainspotting” author Irvine Welsh, who incorporated music from the era in his books, said he was “distraught” at news of Weatherall’s death.

“Genius is an overworked term but I’m struggling to think of anything else that defines him,” Welsh wrote on Twitter.

Tim Burgess, lead singer of The Charlatans, tweeted: “Shocked and saddened to hear that cosmic traveler Andrew Weatherall has left the building. Always a pleasure to meet up with him and share good times. Rest well mate.”

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