I’ve posted a song from Blancmange before – 14 years ago! – with their version of ABBA’s The Day Before You Came. Sadly co-founder of the band, Stephen Luscombe, died last week.

They had seven Top 40 hits in the 1980s.

This one got to no. 8 in 1984.

Blancmange: Don’t Tell Me

Stephen Luscombe: 29/10/1954 – 13/9/2025. So it goes.

Supertramp’s singer, keyboardist and co-composer Rick Davies died last week.

Supertramp were not quite prog rockers and eventually drifted into a more ‘pop’py sound.

This song was the B-side of the band’s first UK hit single, Dreamer, but became the hit in the US. Unlike most of Supertramp’s songs (mostly written by singer and guitarist Roger Hodgson with contributions by Davies) this was fully composed by Davies.

Supertramp: Bloody Well Right

Richard (Rick) Davies: 22/7/1944 – 6/9/2025. So it goes.

Gemini and Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell died last week.

Despite travelling to the Moon twice he never landed there although he may have been the person most deserving to.

He flew on Gemini 7 with Frank Borman and Gemini 12 with Buzz Aldrin.

He was Command Module pilot of Apollo 8, travelling with Borman again and William Anders, the three becoming the first humans to orbit the Moon.

He commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight but the damaged craft’s trajectory made its three personnel, Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise,  the humans to have travelled furthest from Earth (so far.)

Lovell it was who had to make the manually controlled burns of the Lunar Module’s thrusters and engine to enable the return to Earth.

James Arthur (Jim) Lovell: 25/3/1928 – 7/8/2025. So it goes.

Feted jazz singer Cleo Laine also died this week. I have never been much into jazz and as a consequence never really paid much attention to her career beyond being aware of her from TV appearances and the like but I knew she was a big influence on the jazz world.

However, I always liked the description of jazz in the TV series The Beiderbecke Affair as falling into three kinds: “cool”; “hot”; or “when does the tune start.”

As far as I can see Laine only had two singles which could be described as UK hits, both from 1960.

The first was co-written by David Dearlove and Laine’s second husband and longtime musical collaborator Johnny Dankworth.

Cleo Laine: Let’s Slip Away

The second is more “pop”py, perhaps unsurprisingly as it was written by Hal David (more famous for his work with Burt Bacharach) along with Sherman Edwards.

Cleo Laine: You’ll Answer To Me

Clementine Dinah Bullock (Cleo Laine): 27/10/1927 – 24/7/2025. So it goes.

The songwriting satirist Tom Lehrer has died. He kind of gave up on performing after 1960, though, going back to teaching mathematics.

To Chemistry teachers (one of which I was once) his listing of the contents of the Periodic Table of Elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Major General’s Song was of course an absolute gift.

Here’s Tom performing the song live in Copenhagen, with an addition – and addendum.

Tom Lehrer: The Elements

His satire is more in evidence on this anti-nuclear war piece, presumably from the same performance as above.

Tom Lehrer: We Will All Go Together When We Go

He had a sly humour.

Tom Lehrer: I Got it From Agnes

Thomas Andrew (Tom) Lehrer: 9/4/1928 –  26/7/2025. So it goes.

Despite the fact that he had health problems it was still a surprise to hear of the death of Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne since he had appeared on stage at the band’s final concert only a few weeks ago, albeit from a sitting position.

His band has a claim to be the founders of heavy metal. Whatever, they certainly had a profound influence on the genre.

I featured their – perhaps untypical – song, Changes, here.

This was the first track on their second LP, Paranoid, which gave them their first and biggest hit.

Black Sabbath: War Pigs

John Michael (Ozzy) Osbourne: 3/12/1948 – 22 /7/2025. So it goes.

Another voice from my (extreme) youth has gone. 1950s and 60s songstress Connie Francis has died.

Her prime time was mostly in the late 50s, “Who’s Sorry Now” and “Stupid Cupid,” but her hits had more or less dried up by the time the Beatles came along.

This was a no 3 in the UK but was a b-side in the US, of a song called “Frankie” of which I had never heard before looking her career up.

Connie Francis: Lipstick on Your Collar

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (Connie Francis:) 12/121937 – 16/7/2025. So it goes.

(For some reason this didn’t appear as scheduled on Friday 18^th) so I’ve rescheduled it for today.

Dave Cousins, singer, songwriter and main man of The Strawbs, died last week.

I featured their first UK hit, Lay Down, here.

Their biggest hit, Part of the Union, wasn’t written by Cousins but also wasn’t entirely typical of their output.

Their only other top 40 hit was this one.

The Strawbs: Shine on Silver Sun

David Joseph (Dave) Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson): 7/1/1940 – 13/7/25. So it goes.

Mick Ralphs, guitarist with Mott the Hoople and Bad Company among others, died last week. He apparently left Mott the Hoople as the songs he was writing were not suited to singer Ian Hunter’s voice.

They found a compatible home with Paul Rodgers, though, when they formed Bad Company along with Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell.

This is a live version of their first hit, which Ralphs wrote.

Bad Company: Can’t Get Enough

Michael Geoffrey (Mick) Ralphs: 31/3/1944 – 23/6/2025. So it goes.

Last week, James Prime the keyboardist of Deacon Blue, died.

He was integral to the band’s sound, adding depth and colour with his playing and there is that wonderful piano instrumental break in the middle eight of the band’s anthem Dignity.

This is Raintown, the title track from the band’s first album.

Deacon Blue: Raintown

Jim was co-writer of this one, a song dear to my heart. (“This is my country. These are my reasons.”)

Deacon Blue: Fergus Sings the Blues

James (Jim) Jim PrimePrime: 3/11/1960 – 19/6/2025. So it goes.