Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

For a change, this month’s In Memoriam comes to you on a Monday. On Thursday the first of this year’s two Christmas mixes will run, and in between the annual round-up of the year’s most significant music deaths. And, as always, the year will end with a disco mix for your New Year’s Eve celebrations (at a party or to boogie down in the kitchen as you prep your TV snacks). Here, then, are November’s dead and their music.

To American country fans, and general TV viewers, Roy Clark was a household name as the presenter, alongside Buck Owens, of the long-running variety show Hee Haw. A recording artist in his own right, Clark welcomed many country artists to “Kornfield Kounty”. Elvis was a fan and wanted to appear on the show, but was afraid that Colonel Parker would nix the idea. Although Hee Haw was popular in urban centres, in 1971 TV execs tried to be hip to the youth and cancelled a bunch of shows aimed at rural and older demographics. These included Hee Haw and The Lawrence Welk Show, as well as series such as The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres). Welk and Hee Haw continued with much success in syndication, but Clark made his displeasure known by recording a novelty song titled The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka.

The French composer Francis Lai wrote a huge number of film scores, and in that pursuit he came up with two tunes which wormed themselves into every ear of their generation: the love theme of Love Story, which became a hit for Andy Williams as Where Do I Begin, and before that theme of A Man And A Woman, which you’ll know even if you can’t place the title. Lai also wrote many songs for the likes of Edith Piaf, Yves Montand or Mireille Mathieu.

Another track that might feature in the Originals series is Jamaican rocksteady band The Melodians’ The Rivers Of Babylon, which became a huge hit in the 1978 cover by Boney M. Of course, for reggae fans it is hardly a lesser-known original: in The Melodians’ hands, it was an anthem for the Rastafari movement when it came out in 1970. Its use on the soundtrack of the 1972 film The Harder They Come helped introduce reggae to a broader audience. Even before that, they were one of the pioneering bands to make the transition from ska to rocksteady. With the death of Trevor McNaughton at 77, all three original members of the band are now dead. As the last survivor, McNaughton released an album with a new version of The Melodians only last year.

Just a day after his original version on the Barry Manilow hit Mandy appeared on the 1970s Originals mix, Scott English died at 81. In the 1960s he had co-written the American Breed hit Bend Me, Shape Me, The Animals’ Help Me Girl and the Jeff Beck hit Hi Ho Silver Lining, which he also produced (and which is still going to feature in the Originals series). The man with the most self-contradictory of names also produced Thin Lizzy’s eponymous 1971 debut album.

As an orchestra should, the Electric Light Orchestra featured strings. And most prominent among those was the cello, played from 1973 to 1978 by Hugh McDowell. The classically trained cellist — an alumnus of the Yehudi Menuhin School who made his professional debut at the age of 11 — also was a dab hand at the new-fangled Moog synth, which he played with Roy Wood’s Wizzard. Later he got into computer programming, writing several music-related programmes.

You might not guess it, but later 1990s pop/hip-hop outfit LFO, best known perhaps for their 1999 hits Summer Girls and Girl On TV sold more than 4 million CDs worldwide. Hearing these songs again now evokes another age, which is a strange sensation for somebody like me who is still coming to terms that were living in the 21^st century. This came to mind with the death of 41 of LFO singer Devin Lima. Born Harold Lima, he had been as hardware store worker when the Lyte Funkie Ones roped him in to be their new singer — and Lima promptly renamed them LFO. After LFO split in 2002 (they reformed a couple of times later), Lima had a solo project and formed a few bands, but nothing replicated LFO’s brief but of great success. Lima as diagnosed with stage four cancer last year. On 21 November he lost that fight.

Vinny Mazetta, 83, saxophone player, on Oct. 14
The Five Satins – In The Still Of The Night (1956, on saxophone)

Ray Owen, member of British blues rock band Juicy Lucy, on Oct. 31
Juicy Lucy – Who Do You Love? (1969)

Monique Wakelin, keyboardist of Australian rock band iNsuRge, announced Oct. 31
iNsuRge – I Hate Stupid People (1998)

Dave Rowland, 74, lead singer of country trio Dave & Sugar, on Nov. 1
Dave & Sugar – I’m Knee Deep In Loving You (1977)

Tom Diaz, 32, Indie singer and musician, on Nov. 1

Roy Hargrove, 49, jazz trumpeter, on Nov. 2
Roy Hargrove Quintet – Once Forgotten (1994)
John Mayer – Waiting On The World To Change (2006, on horns)

Josh Fauver, 38, bassist of indie band Deerhunter, on Nov. 2

Glenn Schwartz, 78, rock guitarist, on Nov. 2
Pacific Gas And Electric – Bluesbuster (1969)

Maria Guinot, 73, Portuguese singer, on Nov. 3

Tama Renata, ex-member New Zealand reggae band Herbs, on Nov. 4
Herbs – Till We Kissed (1993)

Roman Grinev, 41, Russian jazz-fusion bassist, on Nov. 4

Hugh McDowell, 65, English cellist with ELO, Wizzard, on Nov. 6
Wizzard – Bend Over Beethoven (1973, on Moog, also as writer)
ELO – Evil Woman (1975)

Francis Lai, 86, French film score composer, on Nov. 7
Edith Piaf – Musique A Tout Va (1962, as co-writer)
Francis Lai – Theme From ‘A Man And A Woman’ (1967, also as composer)
Andy Williams – Where Do I Begin (Love Story) (1970, as composer)

Wolfgang Schlüter, 85, German jazz vibraphonist and percussionist, on Nov. 12

Lucho Gatica, 90, Chilean bolero singer and actor, on Nov. 13

Brian Rusike, 62, songwriter and keyboardist with Zimbabwean band Pied Piper, on Nov. 13
Pied Pipers – Lets Work Together (And Build Zimbabwe) (1980)

Sonny Knowles, 86, Irish showband singer, on Nov. 15

Roy Clark, 85, country singer and presenter of TV show Hee Haw, on Nov. 15
Roy Clark – The Tip Of My Fingers (1962)
Roy Clark – The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka (1972)
Roy Clark – Tennessee Saturday Night (1982)

Ivan Smirnov, 63, Russian folk/fusion guitarist, on Nov. 15

Scott English, 81, songwriter and producer, on Nov. 16
Scott English – High On A Hill (1964)
Eric Burdon & The Animals – Help Me Girl (1966, as co-writer)
Scott English – Something’s Missin’ In My Life (1974)

Al James, 72, bass guitarist of British pop band Showaddywaddy, on Nov. 16
Showaddywaddy – Hey Rock n Roll (1974)

Thierry Lalo, 55, French jazz musician, composer and arranger, on Nov. 16

Alec Finn, 74, bouzouki player of Irish folk band De Dannan, on Nov. 16
De Dannan – Coleraine Jig (1981)

Norris Weir, 72, singer of rocksteady band The Jamaicans and gospel singer, on Nov. 16
The Jamaicans – Ba Ba Boom (1967, also as co-writer)

Cyril Pahinui, 68, Hawaiian guitarist and singer, on Nov. 17

Jens Büchner, 49, German pop singer, on Nov. 17

Eddie Reeves, 79, songwriter and record label executive, on Nov. 18
Sonny & Cher – All I Ever Need Is You (1971, as co-writer)

Bill Caddick, 74, English folk singer and guitarist, member of Home Service, on Nov. 19
Bill Caddick – Superman (1986)

Chris Burroughs, 60, singer-songwriter, on Nov. 19

Trevor McNaughton, 77, singer with Jamaican reggae band The Melodians, on Nov. 20
The Melodians – Lay It On (1966)
The Melodians – Rivers Of Babylon (1970)

Eddie C. Campbell, 79, blues musician, on Nov. 20
Eddie C. Campbell – All Nite (1968)

Roy Bailey, 83, English folk singer, on Nov. 20
Roy Bailey – What You Do With What You’ve Got (1992)

Devin Lima, 41, singer of pop band LFO, on Nov. 21
LFO – Summer Girls (1999)

Mike Zero, 47, German punk musician, on Nov. 26

Skip Van Winkle, 74, musician and singer of Teegarden & Van Winkle, on Nov. 27
Teegarden & Van Winkle – God, Love And Rock & Roll (1970)

Johnny Maddox, 91, ragtime pianist and historian, on Nov. 27
Johnny Maddox and The Rhythmasters – Eight Beat Boogie (1953)

Roger Neumann, 77, jazz saxophonist and arranger, on Nov. 28

Gary Haisman, 60, English singer and rapper, on Nov. 28
D. Mob feat. Gary Haisman – We Call It Acieed (1988)

Erik Lindmark, 46, singer-guitarist of death metal band Deeds of Flesh, on Nov. 29

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