The Outfield's John Spinks dead at 60.

The Outfield's guitarist and songwriter John Spinks died on Wednesday after a long battle with liver cancer. The melodic rock group enjoyed a string of top 40 hits in the 1980s. He was 60 years old.
The band's biggest hit "Your Love" hit no. 6 on the singles chart and helped propel their debut album, "Play Deep," to multi-platinum sales status in the U.S. The band's latest album was 2011's "Replay."

The band broke the sad news to fans with the following Facebook post: "It is with great sadness to inform you that John passed away at 09.55 on Wednesday 9th July 2014. He was 60 years old. As many of you know, he had been suffering from liver cancer for many years and bravely fought the disease until the very end. We are relieved that his passing was peaceful and painless.

"John was a loving husband, inspirational father, doting grandfather and gifted songwriter. His musical career started from a very young age and he wanted more than anything for people to listen and enjoy his music. He passed away knowing he achieved his ambition.

"If it were possible, we know John would have liked to have thanked each and every fan of The Outfield personally. He admired and respected the emails from thousands of loyal followers who commented on his music and enquired about his health. This alone, gave him motivation to battle through the sometimes dark days.

"We would like to thank you for 'Your Love' and the continued support you have given John throughout his career. He loved making music and playing his guitar. He found pleasure knowing that his music made people happy and bought them fond memories. He worked hard with many days in pain to finish the Replay album. There were times when he could barely pick up his guitar, but he refused to give up knowing he would disappoint fans. The hardest day for John was when he put his guitar in its case announcing his hands could no longer play.

"During the last months of his life, John, Tony and Alan wrote new material. What the future holds for this is unclear at the time of this writing.

"There is so much more we could say, but for now, we would like to grieve the loss of John.

"God bless you all.

I really liked Play Deep. There were alot of good tunes on it. Sad to seem him pass away so young.


  

Good riddance. The less cheesy 80s pop "musicians" around, the better.
Now, if we only could banish their crappy music from the radio for good...

The real shame is that there are assholes like you in the world.

007 wrote:

The real shame is that there are assholes like you in the world.

Yep.  And somehow they seem to always find their way to this board.

Back on topic. I must confess that even though I was familiar with The Outfield's hits from back in the day, I had always assumed they were an American band with a name like The Outfield. I never would have guessed they were from the UK.

Witchfinder wrote:

Back on topic.  I must confess that even though I was familiar with The Outfield's hits from back in the day, I had always assumed they were an American band with a name like The Outfield. I never would have guessed they were from the UK.

Yeah, I didn't know that either.

I LOVE me some 80s pop!

I always thought that they were American as well.

JoeMetal wrote:

Good riddance. The less cheesy 80s pop "musicians" around, the better.
Now, if we only could banish their crappy music from the radio for good...

What a prick

Agreed about the "prick" and the negative comments. Shame to go through life with that kind of attitude and those blinders must be a real pain in the arse...

On topic:

The Outfield was always a favorite and it is a real shame that they faded so quickly as the albums after the 2 "hit"" records Play Deep and Bangin' are stellar on all levels. Certainly do yourself the favor and get after the later releases, you will be glad you did.

Such an amazing sound for a 3 piece and dripping with talent.

RIP John.

Sad indeed.Loved Play Deep and still listen to it from time to time.
I'm the same as thinking they were American.
R.I.P

Witchfinder wrote:

Back on topic.  I must confess that even though I was familiar with The Outfield's hits from back in the day, I had always assumed they were an American band with a name like The Outfield. I never would have guessed they were from the UK.

They picked the name because they were fans of American Baseball. They were also fans of American bands. They were Alvin Lee fans. He even plays on a few of their albums (from the 90's).

Here's a song from their latest release. They sound the same!

JoeMetal wrote:

Good riddance. The less cheesy 80s pop "musicians" around, the better.
Now, if we only could banish their crappy music from the radio for good...

Is that you sonny boy? Am I gonna have to take your internet access away again? You sure act like my son used to but he finally straightened up before he turned 24.

JoeMetal wrote:

Good riddance. The less cheesy 80s pop "musicians" around, the better.
Now, if we only could banish their crappy music from the radio for good...

Perhaps you can go join the Westboro Baptist Church and protest the funeral ?

Don't forget to wear corpse paint and some uber super kewl true arcane t shirt from Hot Topic.

I would've pegged these guys as American too. Huh. Still a shame. 60's too young to go.

I don't get the American vibe that everyone else is hearing? I had them Euro pegged from jump street.

Still great to see that they were appreciated. I know I commented earlier about searching out the later releases and you still should, but isn't Play Deep one of those records that is just perfect from start to finish? Not a bad song on the entire disc imho.

Like everyone else I thought they were an American band. I was not a fan outside of their hit single, but have to give respect to a band who continued for so long.

Shame he passed away after such a long struggle.

martinsane wrote:

I don't get the American vibe that everyone else is hearing? I had them Euro pegged from jump street.

Still great to see that they were appreciated. I know I commented earlier about searching out the later releases and you still should, but isn't Play Deep one of those records that is just perfect from start to finish? Not a bad song on the entire disc imho.

Yep, Bangin' too. Two great 80's albums.

It always bothered me that in the U.S. they got labeled with the "one hit wonder" tag. Could never understand why they didn't become bigger here. I bought the album Play Deep for the single and unlike most records I bought at the time I found the other songs to be equally as great. Voices Of Babylon is an awesome album too.

RIP

I was a big fan of The Outfield back when I was a kid. Bought Play Deep and Bangin' on cassette. Still have them as well as clippings I folded and stored inside the cases. I started to lose interest when Voices of Babylon came out, though I liked the title track and bought the cassette later used.  Spinks was an excellent songwriter. Their debut album is the most well-known, but Bangin' is my favorite and is one of my personal top 50 albums of all time. I was thinking about them not too long ago and checked the Internet to see what they were up to. I didn't read that Spinks was sick. Very sad to hear about his death.

Yes, they were really cute English guys. In one of the clippings I kept (from Rockfire magazine), they were asked about their name. Spinks admitted to not knowing what an Outfield was. Their manager (an American) suggested it among some other names and they liked how it sounded. Only after they finished their debut album and were looking for a name for it did someone explain the sports connection and suggested Play Deep.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

I was a big fan of The Outfield back when I was a kid. Bought Play Deep and Bangin' on cassette. Still have them as well as clippings I folded and stored inside the cases. I started to lose interest when Voices of Babylon came out, though I liked the title track and bought the cassette later used.  Spinks was an excellent songwriter. Their debut album is the most well-known, but Bangin' is my favorite and is one of my personal top 50 albums of all time. I was thinking about them not too long ago and checked the Internet to see what they were up to. I didn't read that Spinks was sick. Very sad to hear about his death.

Yes, they were really cute English guys. In one of the clippings I kept (from Rockfire magazine), they were asked about their name. Spinks admitted to not knowing what an Outfield was. Their manager (an American) suggested it among some other names and they liked how it sounded. Only after they finished their debut album and were looking for a name for it did someone explain the sports connection and suggested Play Deep.

I agree Lady, Bangin' is a fantastic album. I had them on cassette too but eventually got them on CD. Voices was a bit more polished and slick, I liked the title track and My Paradise but that's it. Then Allan Jackman left and they started using a drum machine. Their releases were still good but the drums didn't sound that great. Then Allan returned in 2011 and they recorded the wonderful Replay.

mikeinfla wrote:

I agree Lady, Bangin' is a fantastic album. I had them on cassette too but eventually got them on CD. Voices was a bit more polished and slick, I liked the title track and My Paradise but that's it. Then Allan Jackman left and they started using a drum machine. Their releases were still good but the drums didn't sound that great. Then Allan returned in 2011 and they recorded the wonderful Replay.

Yes, "My Paradise" is an excellent song. I also really like "Part Of Your Life". Other than that, Voices... wasn't as memorable or as solid as their first two albums.