Indieobit: Steve Dullaghan

Today's Guardian carries an obituary of Steve Dullaghan, bassist with The Primitives.

Dullaghan was a founder member of The Primitives, when the band formed in 1985. He remained a member as original singer Keiron McDermott was moved over to make room for Tracy Tracy, and co-wrote many of the band's songs. When the group was at its peak - the album Lovely had sold a promising number of copies, and they'd just returned from a US tour - Dullaghan chose to step down.

He continued to make music - partly for money, but also for pleasure. He linked-up with fellow Primitives survivor Pete Tweedie in a band called Hate. Steve then returned to Nocturnal Babies, his pre-Primitives band; later, working under the names Big Origami and Means To An End.

Away from performance, Dullaghan would have a major influence on hundreds of other musician's lives. He'd been a strenuous campaigner for the introduction of the New Deal For Musicians, an early measure introduced by the Blair government which attempted to provide a way of allowing unemployed musicians to effectively get benefits while working on their skills. (The idea being that much of the 1980s success of UK music had been funded by guitarists and drummers drawing the dole while honing their skills; New Deal had meant the next generation had been forced to spend their days 'actively seeking work'.)

It's clear from both the Guardian obituary and memories left on the Coventry Music History blog that he was well-loved, and will be much-missed.