RIP Paul Humphrey of Blue Peter (1959-2021)

Didn’t have a chance to post this on here, after hearing the news the other day. To learn more about Paul and his life, please read this wonderfully written obit by Brad Wheeler in The Globe and Mail.

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Sad to hear of the passing of Paul Humphrey, lead singer of Blue Peter - one of Toronto's great new wave bands. I was fortunate to get to meet him once, and he was lovely and kind. Like many others of my vintage, I became obsessed with this song around age 9 or 10 thanks to this incredible video, which I found out much later was inspired by Blade Runner and its smoky, film-noir, golden-hour lighting. At the time, it offered some kind of window into a mysterious world of grown-up sophistication. Thanks to Paul, it's still got one of the best hallway dance scenes of all time.

Blue Peter had the tunes, and this one is no exception - it still stands up 38 years later, as do "Video Verité," "Radio Silence," "Factory Living" and many others. They really deserved greater international recognition - something denied to so many fine acts from around here. It was a pleasure to get to include them in the Ready Records chapter of Any Night of the Week, and hopefully allow younger generations to get to discover seminal bands like Blue Peter.

Rest in Peace, Paul.