Lynden David Hall

The news that British Soul Singer Lynden David Hall passed away from cancer aged only 31 and the news that Detroit producer and rapper Jay Dee, a.k.a. J Dilla (a.k.a James Yancey), passed knocked me for six. Lyndend David Hall was one of the bright lights of the UK Soul scene, but on a more personal note, one of my happiest moments as a young adult included him…!

No, no – read on.. I promise its nothing funky. You see, I have been a fan of Lynden before his first single 'Sexy Cinderella' made it big in the UK charts – and a little part of me believed that he wrote that song for me - sorry P, Ali, Sheen for putting you through all of that (hahaha)! Anyway, one day in 1998, I thought that my dream was one step closer to being a reality, when I discovered that he was going to be performing at my university's students union.

The only problem was that my final exam of my university career was scheduled the MORNING after his concert. And I am not a morning person at the best of times.

I considered not going to his concert for about, well 20 seconds and got my ticket. It was brilliant, we all sang along as he performed (come on, sing along if you know it...'Sexy Cinderella OWWWWWWWWW'). I even managed to speak to the great man himself after the concert, which pretty much made my year. He very politely listened to me chat about how much I loved his work and generally babble. I even got a peck on the cheek from him - I am sure he felt it would be he only way to get rid of me (hahaha!). For that, I am eternally grateful.

Anyway, the next day, I stumbled into my exam, bleary eyed, after something like four hours of sleep and did what I had to do. One of my course tutors told me afterwards that I got a first class grade in that exam sitting! I give Lynden some of the credit…

But really, aside from the good luck he gave me, he was a fantastic artist and his third and final album, ‘In Between Jobs’ is a must have. He will be missed.