My friend Charlie Sinclair, who has died after a stroke aged 72, trained as an engineer, and made his living as an electrician, but at his core he was a musician. He was proud to have worked with Roy St John, Ian Dury (in the band Kilburn and the Highroads) and Davy Jones (post-Monkees), to mention just a few.
Charlie first worked as a professional musician when, in the early 70s, he accompanied his friend Stan Smith from their native Shetland to London so that Stan could audition for Roy St John’s band, Phoenix, and found himself also recruited. They played residencies at venues all over London including the Kensington, the Tally Ho, the Hope and Anchor, and the Cock; and lived in squats first in Mornington Crescent, then in Maida Vale, where their neighbours were Woody and the 101ers (Woody later became better known as Joe Strummer, lead singer of the Clash).
He was lured by Charlie Gillett, then manager of the Kilburns, to join the band for the Abbey Road sessions for their 1975 debut album Handsome. Charlie and Roy also recorded demos at the Hope and Anchor with the engineer Dave Robinson, and they eventually got an offer from Virgin Records.
As well as playing bass on Roy’s 1975 album Immigration Declaration, Charlie was credited as producer. Later, he participated in the re-recordings of the songs that Tommy Boyce co-wrote for the Monkees, although these were never released. In 2007, Charlie and Roy recorded Winter Wonderland and Boogie in the Nude.
Charlie, the middle of three sons of Frankie and Mitie Sinclair, was born near Lerwick in Shetland. His father worked as an accountant for the health board, and in his spare time played keyboards, piano accordion and wind instruments for the Lerwick Brass Band.As a teenager Charlie bought a guitar, and taught himself to play in a few weeks. After leaving Anderson Educational Institute (now Anderson high school), he studied engineering at Aberdeen University.
Later in life, he became a founding member and long-term resident of Rectory Gardens, a former squat that became a street collective in Clapham Old Town. He eventually went into sheltered housing in Clapham: a happy move, where his flat enjoyed what he called “da simmer dim” – light in both the morning and the evening.
Charlie will be fondly remembered by his many friends, and his brother Robert, who survives him. His marriage in 1983 to Helen de Leon ended in divorce, but they remained friends.
