Ricky Gardiner
Encyclopedia
Ricky Gardiner is a guitarist
and composer
.
He has played in his own outfit, Beggars Opera
, and also with David Bowie
and Iggy Pop
. For Bowie he played lead guitar on the 1977 album Low. He worked with Pop on Lust for Life
the same year. The album included "The Passenger
", regarded as one of Pop's best songs, for which Gardiner composed the music. Bowie biographer David Buckley described it as being "possessed with one of the greatest riffs of all time".
Since the 1970s Gardiner has played and composed in a variety of styles, including ambient
, classical and rock and roll
.
Gardiner claims he suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity
, believed by him to have been contracted through exposure to high levels of computer radiation and magnetic fields. He discusses this condition on his website.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
He has played in his own outfit, Beggars Opera
Beggars Opera (band)
Beggars Opera were a progressive rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in Glasgow in 1969 by guitarist Ricky Gardiner. The line-up consisted of Ricky Gardiner , Alan Park , Martin Griffiths , Marshall Erskine and Raymond Wilson...
, and also with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
. For Bowie he played lead guitar on the 1977 album Low. He worked with Pop on Lust for Life
Lust for Life (album)
Lust for Life is a 1977 album by Iggy Pop, his second solo release and his second collaboration with David Bowie, following The Idiot earlier in the year. As well as achieving critical success, it was Pop's most commercially popular album to date, and remains his highest-charting release in the UK...
the same year. The album included "The Passenger
The Passenger (song)
"The Passenger" is a song by Iggy Pop and Ricky Gardiner, recorded and released by Iggy Pop on the Lust for Life album in 1977. It was also released as the B-side of the album's only single, "Success"...
", regarded as one of Pop's best songs, for which Gardiner composed the music. Bowie biographer David Buckley described it as being "possessed with one of the greatest riffs of all time".
Since the 1970s Gardiner has played and composed in a variety of styles, including ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, classical and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
.
Gardiner claims he suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields is a set of claims of adverse medical symptoms purportedly caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields. Other terms for IEI-EMF include electromagnetic hypersensitivity , electrohypersensitivity, electro-sensitivity, and...
, believed by him to have been contracted through exposure to high levels of computer radiation and magnetic fields. He discusses this condition on his website.