RIP Kevan Staples of Rough Trade
Reports are starting to trickle in about the death of Kevan Staples, Carole Pope’s partner in Rough Trade. He was 74. No cause of death was mentioned.
The first I heard of it was this post from Kevin Hearn of The Barenaked Ladies.
The news was also shared by Carole.
Kevan started working on what would become Rough Trade back in 1968. After a long gestation period of artsy and provocative performances around Toronto, they broke through with “High School Confidential” from the 1980 Avoid Freud album. At the time, it was the most explicit song most people had ever heard about a gay relationship.
The group’s best years were between 1980 and 1984 when they were, er, staples on several formats of Canadian radio. They broke up in 1988 but engaged in sporadic reunions. Kevan worked as a composer for theatre (a big love), television, and film.
As far as I know, the last thing he and Carole did together was this re-recording of “High School Confidential” in 2020 called the “Fame Whore Remix.”
