I'm afraid my Christmas Merriment has been a little shaken up this year by the news that James Brown has died. I don't think you would actually believe the proportion of my life that has been joyfully taken up discussing, dissecting, collecting, listening to, playing, recording, writing and loving music and culture either created by James Brown or that wouldn't have existed without James Brown.
He was more than the Godfather of Soul. He was even more than the inventor of Funk. But either of those would have been enough for him to have been a massively important figure in the 20th Century. But I'm not too worried about the 20th Century. Apparently it existed for 80 years before I did, and I'm almost certain it's over now, so I'm more worried about my own life. And in that, James Brown has been huge.
From his performance when I saw him live this Summer, I think he's still dancing.
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