The only Beach Boys single I actually bought was Darlin’ from 1967. God Only Knows and Good Vibrations were before my singles-buying days.
The Beach Boys: Darlin’
Their Wiki singles discography page says its B-side was a song called Here Today from Pet Sounds. Well not in the UK it wasn’t, as I remember it very well. That was instead Country Air from the later album Wild Honey. As this video displaying the record label shows. (The murky sound quality was apparently due to a problem with the master tape.)
The Beach Boys: Country Air
Still brilliant as always.
Brian Douglas Wilson: 20/6/1942 – 11/6/2025. So it goes.
I was very much saddened by the news of Brian Wilson’s death. As the musical driving force behind the Beach Boys he was one of the most influential figures in popular music of the mid to late twentieth century: right up there with Lennon and McCartney.
But there are so many more. Too many to be confined to one post.
This track was the main follow up to Good Vibrations (the release of Then I Kissed Her was a stopgap.) Many people were disappointed with it but it has all the Wilson hallmarks.
The Beach Boys: Heroes and Villains
Then there’s this track, striking a more melancholy note. The title song from the Surf’s Up album.
The Beach Boys: Surf’s Up
Brian Wilson’s star continues to shine long after his heyday. His songs leave a legacy to be revered.
Brian Douglas Wilson: 20/6/1942 – 11/6/2025. So it goes.
I know it’s not Friday but tomorrow’s post will be taken up by another sad loss.
But Sly Stone left us earlier this week. Sly’s influence was more felt in the US than the UK but his 1960s and 1970s work with Sly and the Family Stone was memorable.
Sly and the Family Stone’s first UK hit – out of four – was their biggest.
Sly and the Family Stone: Dance to the Music
Sylvester Stewart (Sly Stone): 15/31943 – 9/6/2025. So it goes.
The administrators of Dumbarton FC have announced they have agreed terms of a deal to sell the club to a “Canadian entrepeneur and business owner,” Mario Lapointe, who “has a passion for sport, particularly football.”
From comments on Pie and Bovril on this page it seems the club’s history and iconic location played a large part in Mr Lapointe’s decision to invest in the club.
He also seems to have no illusions about the club’s present place in the Scottish football landscape and its likely future one.
His main saving grace though is that he doesn’t appear to be interested in selling the ground for housing.
Irish songstress Clodagh Rodgers died last month. She is perhaps best remembered for representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971, singing Jack In The Box (a rather too obvious attempt to repeat the success of Puppet on a String. I also recall Monty Python’s Flying Circus lampooning the song.) As a result of her agreeing to sing the UK entry she apparently received death threats from the IRA.
Prior to that she had had UK hits in 1969 with Come Back and Shake Me (a no 3) and this song, which made no 4 in the charts.
Clodagh Rodgers: Goodnight Midnight
Clodagh Rodgers: 5/3/1947 – 18/4/2025. So it goes.
The Guardian only printed the obituary of Joey Molland, guitarist with Badfinger on Wednesday 7/5/25 but it must have been on its website for over a month.
Peruvian author and Nobel Prize winner, Maria Vargas Llosa, the last of the great Latin American writers of the twentieth century, has died.
I have read eight of his books. Though varied in content they all (even his study of the life of Thomas Casement, The Dream of the Celt) deal with the effects of power and corruption: Latin American concerns to be sure but also applicable to the wider world.
I have two more of his novels on my tbr pile.
That still leaves ten of his novels to look out for.
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa: 28/3/1936 – 13/4/2025. So it goes.
Clem Burke, the driving force behind Blondie’s insistent sound, died last week.
While singer Debbie Harry grabbed most of the attention it is doubtful if Blondie would have achieved the success they did without Burke’s powerful drumming propelling them along.
This was their second UK hit.
Blondie: (I’m Always Touched by) Your Presence, Dear
Clement Anthony Bozewski (Clem Burke:) 24/11/954 – April 6/4/2025. So it goes.
Brian James, founder member of punk rock band The Damned, died on 3/3/2025. Punk rock wasn’t really my thing but it was undeniably a significant part of the late 1970s musically.
This song, written by James, wasn’t a hit in the UK but is very familiar from radio play in the years since.
Brian Robertson (aka Brian James ) 18/2/1955 – 6/3/2025. So it goes.
