The once prolific writer Len Deighton – whose surname I share (apart from its pronunciation: he rhymed it with Dayton, my family rhymes it with Brighton) – has died: at 97, a good innings by any standard.
Back in my youth I was a keen reader of his spy fiction – he and John Le Carré were the two preeminent spy writers of the time – but it was his Bernard Samson stories, the Game, Set and Match; Hook, Line and Sinker and Faith, Hope and Charity trilogies and their prequel, Winter, which I consumed most avidly.
Then there were his forays into Altered History, SS-GB and XPD, which I greatly enjoyed.
His interest in the Second World War was explored further in the novels Bomber and Goodbye Mickey Mouse, both excellent, before he embarked on History proper with the books Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain; Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk; the lavishly photographically illustrated Battle of Britain, an interest consummated by the much later review of that war in its entirety in Blood Tears and Folly.
Of these latter I only read one during my blogging years.
Leonard Cyril (Len) Deighton: 18/2/1929 – 15/3/2026. So it goes.
He was one of the most distinctive pop acts of the late 1950s and early 1960s before the advent of The Beatles overturned everything.
His many songwriting credits include Stupid Cupid, a 1958 hit for Connie Francis, and Love Will Keep Us Together (Captain and Tenille, 1975.) (Is This the Way to) Amarillo (1971) eventually became a big hit for Tony Christie – aided by Peter Kay’s video – in 2005.
Sedaka’s own hits include Calendar Girl, Little Devil, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.
He kind of reinvented himself as a singer-songwriter in the 1970s with a more adult-oriented approach.
Here’s a live performance from 1975.
Neil Sedaka: Laughter in the Rain
This one was a hit for The Carpenters but this is a Sedaka performance-
Neil Sedaka: Solitaire
Though he had an earlier hit with I Go Ape this was the song which really announced him in the UK in 1959.
Regular readers will know I have followed his fiction closely: indeed he is one of my sub-category entries under Scottish Fiction. I think I have read all of his fiction works.
You will find my reviews of most of his books on the blog if you search.
Massie was also a journalist and critic, especially for the Scotsman newspaper.
A sad loss.
Allan Johnstone Massie: 16/10/1938 – 3/2/2026. So it goes.
One more week, another obituary. This time of the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir.
The band was primarily known for its live performances and not for its singles. They had a few top 100 hits in the US, though, but never troubled the UK charts.
This was written by Weir.
The Grateful Dead: One More Saturday Night.
Robert Hall Parber (Bob Weir) 16/10/1947 – January 10/1/2026. So it goes.
Founder member of Jethro Tull, Mick Abrahams, died on 19/12/25. He only played on Tull’s first LP This Was before leaving the band due to wanting to pursue more in the line of the blues than flautist, singer and main songwriter Ian Anderson.
This, from that LP, is a song he co-wrote with Anderson.
Jethro Tull: Beggar’s Farm
Abrahams went on to form the unforgettably named Blodwyn Pig. Their first single was Dear Jill.
Blodwyn Pig: Dear Jill
Michael Timothy (Mick) Abrahams: 7/4/1943 – 19/12/2025. So it goes.
Much underrated Scottish footballer, and Nottingham Forest legend, John Robertson died on Christmas Day.
He was never the most athletic looking of men (which probably led to that underrating) but he was described by Brian Clough, the manager who got the most out of him, as “the Picasso of our game” and by his Nottingham Forest teammate John McGovern as “having more ability than Ryan Giggs.” Forest coach Jimmy Gordon rated him as “a better player than Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews.”
He is one of the few Scotsmen to win two European Cups, providing the assist for the winning goal in his first in 1979 and scoring the winner himself in the second a year later.
He also scored a winner for Scotland against England at Wembley. In 1981: Scotland have only won once there since.
John Neilson Robertson: 20/1/1953 – 25/12/2025. So it goes.
