RIP 2012

2012 RIP Mix by Sfcpres on Mixcloud

Like every year, 2012 was a year in which we lost some great talents, and some of my personal favourites were among them..
In January, we lost the great Johnny Otis. It's a name that isn't so well known in the UK, having only had a single Top Ten hit in 1957 with Ma, He's Making Eyes At Me (which was covered by Lena Zavaroni in 1974). But the song was important to me, as it appeared on one of my first albums;- Alan Freeman's History Of Pop. Three days later, on the 20th January it was announced that Etta James had also passed away. The news reports naturally concentrated on her huge contribution to music in the States, and her biggest hit there, At Last, entered the UK charts as a tribute. However, very little was made of her biggest UK hit, I Just Want To Make Love To You, which reached the Top 5 in 1996 on the back of a very popular cola ad.
In February, the tragic news of the death of Whitney Houston hit the media, and like most, I think it was news that we'd been half expecting knowing her lifestyle choices. The talent that had been shown in her early releases had gradually been sucked away by a series of unfortunate events. The end of the month saw the departure of the British voice of the Monkees, Davy Jones. Many hours of my childhood had been spent watching this anarchic show, and it was with sadness that I noted the small amount of coverage his passing received.
March saw the passing of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, who, along with his partner Lester Flatt, had a string of hits that included Foggy Mountain Breakdown, and the themes to the Beverley Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction TV programmes. A month later, it was a British guitar legend that was taken from us. Bert Weedon was cited as an influence to Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Hank Marvin and many other guitarists who had seen his skills on TV on many programmes, both solo and as backing artist to the many American superstars who visited these shores.
In May, it was Disco that was to lose two of its biggest stars. First, Donna Summer, passed away, and it was 'hard' not to think of the many sexual experiences that she provided to young teenage boys in an age when sex was a natural, subtle selling point and not quite so orchestrated and commercial as it appears today.
Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, also joined his brother Maurice who had died in 2003, leaving only Barry to carry on the Bee Gees name.
Very little was said on the passing of Brian Hibbard in June. He was lead vocalist with the accapella group, The Flying Pickets, who hit the height of their fame with a Christmas cover of Yazoo's Only You. The Pickets were an incredibly talented vocal group, who managed to invigorate any song that they turned their minds to, and Welsh-born Brian, also become a notable character actor, appearing in episodes of Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Eastenders.
Another wonderful Welsh character actor from another era, also passed away in June, Victor Spinetti was a friend of the Beatles, and appeared in several of their films, but he became better known for his multiple TV appearances and for his role as "The Mad Jaffa Cake Eater" in countless TV commercials for the product in the 70s.
One of the greatest comedians of all time (in my opinion) passed away in July. Eric Sykes was a star of Film, TV and Radio; He had written and performed, as a comic actor, both on his own and with fellow comic legend Spike Milligan. Name any great comic that came from that era, and chances are they owed a debt to the comic writing skills of this great man. Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper, Morecambe and Wise, and many others, benefitted from his humour and timing skills. He was known for his thick rimmed glasses, which ironically concealed the fact that he was partially deaf, and had been fitted with a hearing aid.
The 16th July saw the loss of two giants at either end of the musical spectrum. Jon Lord, keyboardist with the mighty Deep Purple died following a bout with cancer, whilst the Queen Of Country Music, Kitty Wells died of a stroke at the age of 92. It was Kitty's first hit, ...Honky Tonk Angels that not only earned her the title of first woman to top the US Country charts, but it also earned the respect of Status Quo who used the song as the basis for their hit Wild Side Of Life.
July also saw the demise of veteran crooner Tony Martin, who had been lucky enough to be married to two screen goddesses, Alice Faye and Cyd Charisse, within his 98 years in this world.
August saw the loss of falsetto voiced singer Jimmy Jones, and also the composer and performer of one of the finest instrumentals, The Entertainer by Marvin Hamlisch. Also known as the theme tune to the hit movie The Sting, Hamlisch was well known for his music for films and shows, having also composed for The Way We Were, The Spy Who Loved Me, A Chorus Line, Ordinary People and Woody Allen's Bananas. The true entertainer Mr Max Bygraves also died this month. I had the pleasure of meeting Max in the 90s and found him to be a genuinely sincere and decent gentleman, of the 'old school' generation.
Legendary Darts commentator Syd Waddell, left the oche on August, as did the pub quiz's favourite one hit wonder, Scott McKenzie.
September brought the passing of two great songwriters, the force of nature that was Hal David, best known for his work with Burt Bacharach, and the not so well known Joe South, who is mainly remembered for the hit The Games People Play, but wrote many other songs for many other artists, by acts as diverse as Gene Vincent, The Osmonds, Kula Shaker and Deep Purple.
Newspaper personality Derek Jameson also 'snuffed it' in September, as did easy listening superstar Andy Williams. Andy's theme tune was Moon River, but ironically it was never released as a single. It did however became a number one UK hit for South African born Danny Williams (no relation).
Big Jim Sullivan appeared on no less than 55 UK Number One hit singles and over a thousand chart hits. He was constantly appearing on 70s TV shows, but older readers might remember him best as the presenter of the 'Teach Yourself Guitar' segment on the Bay City Rollers TV Show Shang A Lang. He also scored an episode of Gerry Anderson's Space 1999.
Not known for her musical talents, the world said 'adieu' to actress Sylvia Kristel, star of many of the Emmanuel series of films, and it was another beautiful woman (that shall remain nameless) who introduced me to the delights of jazz vocalist Terry Callier, who although remained virtually unknown in the UK, was a true legend, leaving behind an amazing body of work.
November had several fine actors leaving the stage for the last time, as Dad's Army's Clive Dunn (Corporal Jones), Coronation Street's Bill Tarmey (Jack Duckworth) and Dallas's Larry Hagman (J R Ewing) passed away in quick succession. Clive and Bill had both been known for their vocal talents off screen, but it was Larry's on-stage vocals that were played on news reports as his embarrassing fluffing of lines on the Royal Variety Performance in 1980 was endlessly repeated. To me however, Larry will be forever known and appreciated as Captain Tony Nelson, the man who turned down the amorous advances of Barbra Eden in I Dream Of Jeannie.
Folk musician Ian Campbell died from cancer at the end of November, and contemporary classical composer, Jonathan Harvey, finally left this world for the next after a long battle against motor-neuron disease. Jonathan was the best selling artist on my record label Sargasso, and the few opportunities I had to meet him were always a pleasure and an education. His philosophies on life and religion were always of great interest and this gentle and kind manner was a fine example of what all humans should strive towards.
Jazz supremo Dave Brubeck also failed to make it to 2013, and Boxing Day brought me news of two great influences in my life. Fontella Bass had recorded the best soul recording of all time with Rescue Me, a song that never failed to get my foot tapping and my heart pounding whenever I heard it. But it was the demise of Gerry Anderson that really bought my year to an apt closure. Creator of Thunderbirds, Stingray, Fireball XL5, Space 1999, UFO, Joe 90 and Terrahawks, this man had straddled my formative TV viewing years like a colossus, and it was his shows that fostered my love of Sci Fi that remains today.