The news of this came too late last Friday for me to post this then, but Mani, the bassist for The Stone Roses, died last week.
The late 80s were a musical era I kind of missed as my children were infants then and time for listening to music was limited. There is no doubt, though, that The Stone Roses were an important influence on later bands – not least Oasis.
Mani’s playing is the propulsive force behind this track, a no 8 in 1989.
The Stone Roses: Fool’s Gold
Gary (Mani) Mounfield: 16/11/1962 – 20/11/2025. So it goes.
One of the quirkier songs of the 90s. A no 1 in 1997. It would have been a one hit wonder but for the fact its follow-up Undressed made it to the dizzy heights of no 57 later the same year.
Squeeze’s drummer from their early years of hits, Gilson Lavis, has died. He was a member of the band from 1976–1982 and again from 1985–1992 and played on all their tracks recorded during those times. He also later played for Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.
This is Take Me I’m Yours, Squeeze’s first hit, from 1978.
Squeeze: Take Me I’m Yours
David Leslie Gilson Lavis: 27/6/1951 – 5/11/202. So it goes.
I never much took to the band mainly because Marc Almond’s posturing annoyed me. But Ball was a different prospect. Like Chris Lowe of The Pet Shop Boys he appeared to prefer staying in the background quietly playing his synths.
However, they had a significant run of hit singles spanning 1981 and 82, with a distinctive sound.
Here’s a Top of the Pops appearance from that second year.
Soft Cell:- Torch
David James (Dave) Ball: 3/5/1959 – 22/10/2025. So it goes.
I can’t say that Kiss were ever really my thing (that goes for heavy metal in general) but they were significant and had an unmistakably distinctive look.
It’s nevertheless sad that their classic lead guitarist Ace Frehley died last week.
This is one of his compositions (from 1978.)
Kiss: Cold Gin
Paul Daniel (Ace) Frehley: 27/4/1951 – October 16/10/2025. So it goes.
A further tribute to John Lodge, who died last week.
This track, which he wrote (and whose mediæval and “orchestral” interludes in many ways presage Procession from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour,) was split into two for its appearance on In Search of the Lost Chord, with the Ray Thomas penned Legend of a Mind making the meat in the sandwich.
This TV appearance from 1968 –the Colour Me Pop session the Moodies did – puts it all together though.
I discovered on Saturday that John Lodge, bassist, vocalist and songwriter of The Moody Blues has died.
Long-standing readers of the blog will know the Moodies were my favourite 1960s band.
This was the band’s second incarnation though, after Denny Laine and Clint Warwick had left and Lodge and Justin Hayward become members. This presaged a switch from playing blues and R&B to the more prog rock sound with which the band is now principally associated. Indeed the Days of Future Passed LP could be claimed to have started off the prog boom.
Lodge was a major contributor in a song-writing sense, penning at least two songs on each of the band’s LPs and of course even more to Blue Jays, his collaboration with Hayward at the beginning of the brief hiatus when the Moodies took a collective break in the mid 1970s. I actually saw the pair play in Glasgow on the Blue Jays tour which promoted the album and the subsequent Hayward written single Blue Guitar.
Given the prog emphasis above it might seem perverse that I’ve chosen this song, but it shows that the Moodies could rock with the best of them and it features Lodge’s bass heavily.
The Moody Blues: I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
John Charles Lodge: 20/7/1943 – 10/10/2025. So it goes.
Some songs remain fixed in the public mind with one particular artist. Others take on a life of their own. One of the latter is I Fought the Law, written by Sonny Curtis who joined Buddy Holly’s band The Crickets in 1958 just before Holly’s death and took over as lead vocalist (as well as lead guitar) in the band after that sad event.
The Crickets version was an LP track and a B-side in 1960 but only became a hit when the Bobby Fuller Four released the song in 1965. The Clash also famously recorded I Fought the Law.
The Crickets: I Fought the Law
Bobby Fuller Four: I Fought the Law
Curtis also wrote Walk Right Back which was a UK No 1 for the Everly Brothers in 1961.
The Everly Brothers: Walk Right Back
In addition he wrote the theme for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Love Is All Around, (not to be confused with the similarly titled song written for The Troggs by Reg Presley in 1967 and turned into a humongous hit by Wet Wet Wet in 1994.) This theme will bring back memories for anyone around in the mid- to late 60s.
Mary Tyler Moore Show Theme (Love Is All Around):
Sonny Curtis: 9/5/1937 – September 19/9/2025. So it goes.
