Rave pioneer DJ Guru Josh dead, aged 51 – ‘Infinity’ will remain a cult house hit
Very sad news has reached us from the dance/house scene. Paul Walden aka DJ Guru Josh is no more. He died in Ibiza on Monday December 27; his death was confirmed by his art assistant Chris Goodchild and his agent Sharron Elkabas. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed.
Walden was a Jersey (UK) based musician, active in the British post-acid house scene, best known for his smashing house debut single “Infinity” initially released in 1989 on Walden’s record label, Infinity Records, and later re-released in 1990 by BMG Records. The single was remixed for re-release in 2008 by the German artist DJ Klaas. The song achieved success in Europe, especially in Germany, the UK, Portugal and Austria when it was released and re-released.
Walden released several other well-received singles in the 1990s including “Freaky Dreamer”, “Holographic Dreams” and “Whose Law (Is It Anyway?)” but none achieved the success of “Infinity”. Following the success of “Infinity”, Guru Josh moved to Ibiza, concentrating on art and running a promotions company.
In 1988, Walden tried ecstasy for the first time at a London pub where he was playing a gig with his rock band Joshua Cries Wolf, subsequently switching from rock to house music. That must have been the only positive thing ecstasy was responsible for we fear though. Soon after, he joined forces with the likes of Seal and Adamski.
The rest is history. Our condolences to Walden’s family and friends.
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Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
