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Ben Daglish, legendary Commodore 64 composer, has died

Pixel Grotto

Pixel Grotto

Member
Oct 27, 2017
894
I didn't see a thread for this; please close if one already exists.

Confirmed by his wife and several people in the retro gaming community.



Older heads on here and chiptune lovers will know who Ben is. The stuff he produced with the Commodore 64's bleeps was amazing. I know him from the soundtrack for The Last Ninja, a game that was insanely frustrating but maintains a place in my heart primarily due to the incredible music.



If you've got favorite Ben Daglish tracks, post 'em here.
 
Jazzem

Jazzem

Member
Feb 2, 2018
2,680
Aww man :( RIP

I didn't grow up in C64 era but I've become a huge fan of the music from it over time, so sad to lose someone from that scene at way too young an age of 52

Hadn't heard that Last Ninja theme before, it's terrific
 
McNum

McNum

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Oct 26, 2017
5,184
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That's a shame. RIP. He really could make the ol' C64 sound good. The Last Ninja is already mentioned, but have a couple more:

Krakout, a fun horizontal Breakout-like. Memorable mostly for it's peppy soundtrack.


Super Cars a top down racing game with a very aggressive bassline in the menu music.


Two of my mainstay games from back in the C64 days. I think I'll listen the soundtracks a bit today.
 

Deleted member 17210

User-requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
11,569
Damn. RIP. It's not surprising as he has looked unhealthy for ages. Last Ninja is one of the major gaming soundtracks of my youth.
 
Menome

Menome

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,396
Damn, that's sad to hear. RIP. Him only being 52 makes you realise just how young he was when he was composing all of these tunes on a regular basis.
 

Fasty

Member
Oct 27, 2017
28
So sad. I grew up with his tunes, not knowing it at the time.

Here's a game I used to love playing almost purely for the music:

 
PC98_Audi

PC98_Audi

Producer @ Limited Run Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
260
Raleigh
One of the most genuine and kind individuals in game development, and dedicated a lot of his time to events where he played his music live for fans. I was fortunate enough to get to know him quite well over the last few years, and he was one of the funniest people in the world.

Rest in peace, Ben.
 
Txai

Txai

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
351
I was introduced to both his work and SID music through Last Ninja. RIP

 
angel

angel

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,333
Oh man. Last Ninja music is still great, do yourself a favour and get it on sidplay if you've any interest in 8 bit music.
 

Fredrik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,003
Oh no! :(
One of my absolute favorite game musicians, I didn't grow up playing NES like many here, it was all about Commodore 64. Last Ninja was my favorite game and the soundtrack is still among the best ones available in my opinion. Tragic to see someone so important to so many people go at such a young age.
Rest in Peace you marvelous man.
 
eso76

eso76

Prophet of Truth
Member
Dec 8, 2017
8,106
:(

So sad to hear this.
Grew up with his classics, he won't be forgotten.

*plays The Last Ninja OST

RIP, Maestro
 
Prine

Prine

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,724
Thats way too early, i assume he suffered from a medical condition?

Regardless RIP.

Edit: Read its cancer , dammit.
 
apocat

apocat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,040
That's sad. He contributed a great deal to the soundtrack of my childhood.

McNum said:
That's a shame. RIP. He really could make the ol' C64 sound good. The Last Ninja is already mentioned, but have a couple more:

Krakout, a fun horizontal Breakout-like. Memorable mostly for it's peppy soundtrack.


Super Cars a top down racing game with a very aggressive bassline in the menu music.


Two of my mainstay games from back in the C64 days. I think I'll listen the soundtracks a bit today.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Krakout was one of my favourites. Such an odd and fun soundtrack.
 
Kida

Kida

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,899
The Last Ninja soundtrack is one of my favourites. What a talented guy he was. RIP.
 
Handicapped Duck

Handicapped Duck

▲ Legend ▲
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May 20, 2018
13,661
Ponds
I didn't grow up in the Commodore era but listening to OPs playlist and I can see why they called Ben a legend. No one deserves to die at 52 from lung cancer, my condolences to his family.
 
Santini

Santini

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,616
RIP. =(

First heard his track for Cobra when I was a kid.

The tune's still stuck in my head after all these years.

 

eddy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,738
We should make sure Bulldog is up here. Original, and then O2 remix.



 
Herne

Herne

Member
Dec 10, 2017
5,309
Damn, I've got a few of his SID tracks in my collection that I listen to quite often. RIP.
 
lowlifelenny

lowlifelenny

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,408
This was always my fav of his. Such a fun, catchy track.



Thanks for all the great tunes, Ben. Sad to see you go.
 
Boy Wander

Boy Wander

Alt Account
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,126
UK
Shit news.

Such a good composer.

The Last Ninja soundtrack will stay with me forever. I first heard it when my cousin bought the game on release in 1987 and we both loved the music.

He composed plenty of other top tunes as well, as others have pointed out.

He and other composers such as Rob Hubbard, Tim Follin, David Whitaker, Martin Galway et al were the soundtrack to my gaming childhood. Those who weren't in the UK at the time may have limited exposure so I'd recommend checking them out if you're into chiptune music in any way.
 
Turrican3

Turrican3

Member
Oct 27, 2017
781
Italy
I'm still shocked in a way hearing of Ben Daglish passing away despite him definitely not looking in good shape. :-(

I realized I've played very few of the games he wrote the soundtrack of, but I guess The Last Ninja is more than enough to ensure chiptune lovers and home computer guys of the 80s like me will always remember him.

RIP
 

Slacker247

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,063
Shame that.

The Last Ninja themes are so good, even if my first/only experience was via the Ninja Remix game.
 
lowlifelenny

lowlifelenny

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Oct 27, 2017
1,408
Boy Wander said:
He and other composers such as Rob Hubbard, Tim Follin, David Whitaker, Martin Galway et al were the soundtrack to my gaming childhood.
Click to expand...
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I know that feel. I didn't buy chart music until I was in my late teens. My entire musical awakening and future taste in music was defined by C64. I'd put on loaders and games just to listen to music from them, or record them to tape for convenience. There was so much of it, and it was amazing what those guys could do with that little chip. A truly expressive and creative music scene with the novelty of being almost completely isolated from the outside world until the internet came along.
 
Boy Wander

Boy Wander

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lowlifelenny said:
I know that feel. I didn't buy chart music until I was in my late teens. My entire musical awakening and future taste in music was defined by C64. I'd put on loaders and games just to listen to music from them, or record them to tape for convenience. There was so much of it, and it was amazing what those guys could do with that little chip. A truly expressive and creative music scene with the novelty of being almost completely isolated from the outside world until the internet came along.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'd be really interested as to how people outside of Europe who grew up with the NES react to some of this music. I guess you had to be there, but to me, "The Last Ninja" kills most NES game soundtracks that are held up as being great, such as the Megaman series.
 
RPTGB

RPTGB

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,189
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Richard Joseph and now Ben, both lost to that same terrible disease (claimed my Father too).
Fifty two is no age really, but the guy left quite a legacy of great work.
 
Kareha

Kareha

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Jun 15, 2018
1,460
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Boy Wander said:
I'd be really interested as to how people outside of Europe who grew up with the NES react to some of this music. I guess you had to be there, but to me, "The Last Ninja" kills most NES game soundtracks that are held up as being great, such as the Megaman series.
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The C64 just had a much much better sound chip than the NES, the SID chip was really ahead of it's time and the likes of Ben Dalglish, Rob Hubbard and others really got the best out of it.
 
Springy

Springy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,213
Oh no, this is awful to hear. My condolences to his family.

Decades on and Ben is still the first person who comes to mind when I think of video game composers and their work that means the most to me.

Some great stuff already posted; I've also got a real soft spot for the music of Switchblade.

 
Santar

Santar

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Oct 27, 2017
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Very sad to hear, he made a lot of beautiful music on the C64 :(
Thanks for all the joy you brought Mr. Daglish.
 
lowlifelenny

lowlifelenny

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Oct 27, 2017
1,408
Boy Wander said:
I'd be really interested as to how people outside of Europe who grew up with the NES react to some of this music. I guess you had to be there, but to me, "The Last Ninja" kills most NES game soundtracks that are held up as being great, such as the Megaman series.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I can appreciate both for their respective strengths. While the Famicom's sound chip might not have had the flexibility of SID nor plucky guys doing weird experiments to pull off wacky engineering/sampling tricks, it nevertheless enjoyed a typically Japanese approach to composing that stood on its own and overcame its technical limitations. I really love both scenes and randomly have C64 and NES tunes pop into my head all the time.
 
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