‘At least we got off our backsides and did something’
FRIENDS described Martin Rushent as the “king of the control room”.The music producer, who died at the beginning of the month after a long career in the music industry, was the sort of man who could “make dreams come true in the studio”.
The innovative sound engineer had worked with all the greats, listeners to the Chris Evans Breakfast Show were told. Steve Chalke, Baptist minister and social activist, who was appearing as guest speaker on the Radio 2 programme’s “Pause for Thought”, reeled off Rushent’s collaborations: Fleetwood Mac, T Rex, David Essex, Yes, the Buzzcocks, XTC, the Stranglers and even Welsh diva Dame Shirley Bassey.
But he was perhaps best known for producing the Human League’s 1981 album Dare. The synthpop band’s track, “Don’t You Want Me”, is regarded by many as a genius piece of sound production. Selling 1.4 million copies it is rated the 25th most bought single in the history of British music.
Rushent, a large-than-life figure, Chalke told listeners, had been presented with a Brit Award for his work as best British producer. Many will miss his passing but can reflect on his outstanding contribution and legacy.
THE “Pause for Thought” theme was all about legacy. Chalke also described the case of the chemist and innovator Alfred Nobel. The Swedish national, who invented nitroglycerine and dynamite, had an unnerving experience back in 1883 when a leading newspaper mistakenly printed his obituary!
Nobel, who had amassed a personal fortune, was aghast by the headline “The merchant of death is dead” and horrified by the depiction of his life as a warmonger.
It was one of those transformational moments, we were told. And from that time on Nobel’s life changed direction.
He left 90 per cent of his estate to establish a series of awards for those who make outstanding contributions to benefit humanity. Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, suggests the amount bequeathed was in the order of 31,225,000 Swedish kronor (equivalent to about 1.8 billion kronor or 250 million US dollars in 2008) to fund the prizes. A lot of dosh!
Established in 1895, the Nobel Foundation awarded its first prizes in 1901. Categories include physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. Each Nobel Prize is regarded as the ultimate accolade in its field.
Prizewinning laureates include Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, for his discovery of X-rays, and Henry Dunant, who founded the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The first Nobel Award for Medicine (1901) went to the German microbiologist Emil von Behring who had developed an antitoxin to treat diphtheria which, until then, had been causing thousands of deaths each year. Recipients for Noble prizes in literature have been awarded to Thomas Mann (1929), John Steinbeck (1962) and Mario Vargas Llosa (2010).
The former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, as was US president Barack Obama.
According to the Nobel Foundation’s statutes, each laureate is expected to deliver a public lecture on a subject related to the topic of their prize. So from that jarring yet transformational moment Alfred Nobel was able take stock of his life and effectively re-write his premature obituary as a warmonger. Now he would be remembered as the creator of the Nobel Peace Awards.
EVER wonder what they will say in your own obituary?
According to Chalke “we all author the story of our lives”.
“For better or worse, day by day, year by year, each one of us is writing our own legacy,” he says.
Something of an achiever himself, Chalke, in 2005, became the official holder of a Guinness Book World Record when he was credited with raising the most amount for charity through a single fundraising event. He ran the London Marathon and raised a whopping £1.25 million for Oasis Trust which works with schools in disadvantaged communities.
So, what will we – you – be remembered for?
I think it’s an issue we all have to confront at some stage in our lives. The gift? This life thing. What did you do with the gift?
If I dwell on it, as I am inclined to do from time to time, it’s the words of the foul-mouthed, spitting, front man of the punk band the Sex Pistols that haunts me.
John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, was never far from controversy. the Pistols, and their allegedly Machiavellian guru Malcolm McLaren, rose to fame – some say notoriety – back in the mid-70s on the crest of “anarchy in the UK”. Their record company, EMI, ditched them after the bad publicity mounted – and wouldn’t go away.
“People say we are not real musicians and can’t play our instruments,” Lydon stated. “But at least we got off our backsides and did something.” No one could deny them that.
So when I think of my own legacy, which according to Chalke I’m authoring each day, I do feel haunted by the thought that I never got off my backside and did something. We have all had grand plans at times, I guess – and excuses.
But like Alfred Nobel, maybe we, too, can realise it’s never too late. And in our own small ways we can still make a difference to people in our daily lives – our family, friends and the wider community.
“For better or worse, day by day, year by year, each one of us is writing our own legacy”.
It’s quite a thought!