Radiohead’s highest chart placing; no 3 in 1997.

Radiohead: Paranoid Android

Bonnie Tyler’s death was announced yesterday.

She was one of those artists whose voice was utterly distinctive and ideally suited to the style of her biggest hits Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out For a Hero.

This, though, is her first hit, the more wistful, Lost in France. (The opening chords always remind me of those of Then He Kissed Me.)

Bonnie Tyler:  Lost in France

Gaynor Sullivan Hopkins (Bonnie Tyler): 8/6/1951 – 8/7/2026. So it goes.

I heard on the latest edition of Sounds of the Sixties that David Clayton-Thomas, sometime lead singer of US jazz/rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears has died. I have since looked up his Guardian obituary.

I liked what I heard from the band so much I bought their second LP, Blood, Sweat & Tears. I note that the track listing given for that on its Wiki page differs from the copy I bought. (No Erik Satie variations for example.) Perhaps the UK version was different from the US.

Their second single Spinning Wheel was written by Clayton-Thomas (as were later tracks Lucretia MacEvil and Go Down Gamblin’.)

 Blood, Sweat & Tears: Spinning Wheel

David Henry Thomsett (David Clayton-Thomas: 13/9/1941 – 24/6/2026. So it goes.

Co-founder of Hot Chocolate and, along with Errol Brown, co-writer of their early hits, Tony Wilson died in April. The promotion of Brown as lead singer eventually led to Wilson leaving the group. This is one of those early hits.

Hot Chocolate: Emma

Anthony Nathaniel (Tony) Wilson: 8/10/1936 – 24/4/2026. So it goes.

I saw in yesterday’s Guardian that singer Beverley had died in April.

I featured her version of Randy Newman’s Happy New Year on 1/1/2021.

Beverley’s marriage to John Martyn was marred by abusive behaviour on his part and also meant Beverley’s career, certainly in a solo sense, stalled.

This was her second solo single. This time a song written by Donovan – which is obvious when you listen to it.

Beverley: Museum

Though known after her marriage, and in her musical collaborations with John, as Beverley Martyn, in accordance with the Scottish tradition on headstones I commemorate her in death with her maiden name.

Beverley Kutner: 24/3/1947 – 27/4/2026. So it goes.

Another in memory of Brian Wilson. See here and here.

Two minutes thirty seconds of perfection.

The Beach Boys: Friends

In my mind Clarence Carter, who died last month, was a one-hit wonder.

Of course technically he wasn’t, since that description is supposed to apply only to those who had a no 1 single and no other hits. Carter’s song Patches reached no 2 in the UK in 1970. (I also find he had a UK no 82 in 1989 but that hardly counts as a hit.)

That no 2, Patches, falls into that category of sentimentality which courses through USian culture. (Last week’s entry in this category counts there too but Patches bears more resemblance to The Son of Hickory Holler’s Tramp, a success for O C Smith in 1968.)

Clarence Carter: Patches

Clarence George Carter:  14/1/1936 –13/5/2026. So it goes.

US band Dr Hook (and the Medicine Show)’s lead singer Dennis Locorriere – not the one with the eye-patch – died last week.

Their output was at best soft rock but their hits tended to stick in the mind.

The band’s first UK hit was Sylvia’s Mother (no 2 in 1972) but they had a no 1 in 1979 with When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman.

This is a live version of the earlier song apparently recorded on the houseboat of the song’s writer Shel Silverstein.

Dr Hook & The Medicine Show: Sylvia’s Mother

Dennis Michael Locorriere: 13/6/1949 – 16/5/2026. So it goes.

This song was the only one of Tzuke’s to trouble the top twenty (no 16 in 1979.)

Here’s a live performance.

Judie Tzuke: Stay With Me Till Dawn

Until I checked I would have said that this was Joan Osborne’s only UK hit (no 6 in 1995) but it seems she also had a no 33 the next year with a song called St Teresa.

I must confess I don’t remember that heavily accented little introduction (about the heavenly airplane [sic]) she gives in this video.

The song itself is lyrically interesting.

Joan Osborne: One of Us