CVGM.net - Chiptune, Retro & Video Game Music

Anthony passed away as a result of an traffic incident in August 2016. This is very sad news indeed, and a great loss.

Music was always an important part of Anthony's life. He learned how to play the clarinet when he was young and later played the alto sax and bassoon, and he would work with a choir for many years - conducting existing works and writing new music for them to perform. It was in the mid-1980s that he switched to a new instrument, the Commodore 64 computer. He wrote his own music player routine and entered a competition to compose music for a game known as Mindsmear. This would actually turn out to be an April Fool's gag by ZZAP! 64 magazine as the game did not exist, but Anthony's winning music drew the attention of System 3 owner Mark Cale. Anthony was chosen to work alongside established composer Ben Daglish to create the twelve tunes needed for System 3's epic new game, The Last Ninja. Splitting the work between them, Anthony composed six memorable pieces. His personal favourite was the jungle sounds of The Wilderness loader tune, drawing inspiration from Apocalypse Now. The spooky and unusual sounds of The Dungeon music really suited that section of the game, adding to the atmosphere.

Anthony would write new music for the planned sequel Last Ninja 2, but it was rejected for not fitting the style of the game. He joined up with developers Tarann and created the music and sound effects for Incredible Shrinking Sphere, including another memorable tune that played out on the title screen. He would go on to write music for budget games on the Firebird label, and tried to move on to the 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST computers - but much of his work would go unpublished.

As his music career was starting to take off, Anthony's father passed away and it affected him deeply. He changed course and joined the ranks of the Civil Service, with music becoming a hobby rather than his day job. But his Commodore 64 music lives on - thanks to many remixes and covers for people to enjoy. Some of his Last Ninja tunes were performed live by rock band Fastloaders in their recent gigs. Being part of a massive bestseller such as The Last Ninja was a high point in Anthony's life, touching thousands of people and creating lasting memories.

Reference: https://c64audio.com/blogs/news/anthony-lees-an-obituary