Martin Richard Gilks (2 March 1965 – 3 April 2006) was an English musician. He was a founder member and original

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

for

the Wonder Stuff The Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock musical ensemble, band. Originally based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, the band's first lineup released four albums and nearly 20 singles and EPs, enjoying ...

, based in

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

( West Midlands, England). Gilks who was born in

, was originally the drummer with the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

-based

Mighty Lemon Drops The Mighty Lemon Drops were an English rock group active from 1985 to 1992. Biography Originally called the Sherbet Monsters, the quartet first formed in the spring of 1985 in Wolverhampton, in the Black Country. Paul Marsh, David Newton (gui ...

before leaving in 1985 (allegedly sacked for not wanting to cut his hair), and later joined

Miles Hunt Miles Stephen Hunt (born 29 July 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He fronts the alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff. Early life His father was a union official for the TGWU. In the 1970s, his father was based at Derby, an ...

, Malcolm Treece, and Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones to form the Wonder Stuff in March 1986. As part of the Wonder Stuff, Gilks went on to have a string of top-forty

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

as well as being voted the best drummer on the planet in an ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' poll in 1989. The group split up in 1994. He continued to work with Treece and Paul Clifford (Rob Jones' replacement who joined the Wonder Stuff in 1990) after the split under the name of We Know Where You Live with Ange Dolittle (formerly of

Eat Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food. In biology, this is typically done to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and nutrients and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive – ...

) on lead vocals. Gilks left the group at the end of 1995 to join his brother "Tank" in forming Furtive Mass Transit Systems, a management company who would later look after

Reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

Lowgold Lowgold were an English indie rock band formed in 1997 in St Albans, comprising vocalist and rhythm guitarist Darren Ford, lead guitarist Dan Symons and bassist Miles Willey. The band originally claimed that the word "lowgold" was derived fro ...

Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

, A and

Hundred Reasons Hundred Reasons are an English alternative rock band formed in London, England, in 1999. It consists of Colin Doran (vocals), Larry Hibbitt (guitar, vocals), Andy Gilmour (bass), and Andy Bews (drums). After releasing ''EpOne'', '' EpTwo'', a ...

. We Know Where You Live disbanded the following year. When the Wonder Stuff reformed in 2000, performing five sell-out shows at the London venue Forum, Gilks also acted as the group's manager and continued to do so until a much-publicised split of the original members in 2004. Gilks died, aged 41, on 3 April 2006, after losing control of his motorbike in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

References

External links

BBC News - Wonder Stuff drummer dies at 41
retrieved 5 April 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilks, Martin 1965 births 2006 deaths English rock drummers British male drummers English music managers Motorcycle road incident deaths Road incident deaths in London People from Stourbridge Musicians from the West Midlands (county) The Wonder Stuff members 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century British male musicians