The Ruts' Paul Fox Dies Of Cancer
Tuesday October 23, 2007 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Paul Fox

Paul Fox, a now often overlooked but important contributor to the early British punk scene as the guitarist and co-songwriter for The Ruts, passed away from incurable lung cancer at age 56 on Sunday.

The Ruts formed in 1977 and first caught young Brits' attention with their "In A Rut" single a year later. They reached #7 on the U.K. singles chart with the incendiary "Babylon's Burning" in 1979. The follow-up, "Something That I Said," also performed well. The group's Virgin debut album, The Crack, reached #16 on the British sales chart and was hailed for its blend of punk, roots reggae and dub.

Fox's love of ska and reggae and the band's social and political beliefs spilled over into the live arena, where they were involved in a number of benefit gigs and played 1978's Rock Against Racism concert in London that was featured in the film Rude Boy. The open-air event attracted 80,000 people and included performances by The Clash, The Buzzcocks, Steel Pulse, X-Ray Spex, Sham 69, Generation X and the Tom Robinson Band.

The Ruts were about to start work on their second album and were preparing for a North American tour when lead singer Malcolm Owen died of a heroin overdose in July 1980. The band continued on, with surviving members Fox, John Jennings (bass) and Dave Ruffy (drums) calling themselves Ruts DC until late 1982. They released two albums, Animal Now and Rhythm Collision.

Fox joined a London rock band called Dirty Strangers, who recorded two albums that Rolling Stones guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood guested on. Fox formed his own band, the short-lived Choir Militia, in 1983. He played with Screaming Lobsters in 1987 and Fluffy Kittens from 1991 to 1994, and then went into semi-retirement and worked as a carpenter. Fox recorded singles with the Chelsea Punk Rock Allstars in 1997 and ska legend Laurel Aitken in 2000.

Bad Manners frontman Buster Bloodvessel convinced Fox to form a new band called Foxy's Ruts, which featured Fox's son Lawrence on drums. They toured Europe and played the Punk And Disorderly Festival in Berlin, Germany.

Fox recorded a dub album called Lockdown with a band called the Dubcats earlier this year. His last performance was at a Ruts reunion show with Ruffy and Jennings, where former Black Flag singer and punk icon Henry Rollins took over lead vocals.

Tributes to Fox and his music can be found at his MySpace page.