DJOBIT: Mark Spoon

The death has been announced of German DJ and producer Mark Spoon.

Despite a life cut short, Spoon - his real surname was Loffel, so it was a direct translation - packed a lot in, making a star of Dr Albarn, running his own label and clubs in his home town of Frankfurt, producing and remixing.

But it will be his partnership with Jam El Mar which he will be most remembered for. In 1992, the pair remixed Age of Love's Age of Love single which got their name known and brought them both the opportunity to release music under their own name, and a slew of high-profile remixing work for other artists, including Moby, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Moby. 1993 brought the start of a partnership with vocalist Pavka on Right In The Night; it also saw the band moving towards a more commercial sound.

Ironically, the more commercial they tried to be, the less the crowds were pleased. Trying a different tack, they returned in 1996 under the Tokyo Ghetto Pussy brand, which both metaphorically and lyrically made a jabbing grab for the Ibiza crowd's gspots. A 1997 return to their own names with 1997's Kaleisdescope didn't perform as well as the TGP stuff, so the band tried out again in another guise, returning as Storm.

Mark Spoon was 39; it's believed he died of a heart attack.

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