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.

I have featured the band’s big hits Come and Get It, plus Day After Day and No Matter What before.

This song was on their LP No Dice in 1970 but was made more famous by Nilsson a couple of years later.

Badfinger: Without You

Nilsson: Without You

Joseph Charles (Joey) Molland: 21/6/1947 – 1/3/2025. 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.

Singer Roberta Flack died earlier this week.  Her signature style was reserve, not flamboyance or over-indulgence, and her records were the better for it.

Not her biggest UK hit (that would be Killing Me Softly With His Song) but her first.  An all-but perfect rendering of a song Kirsty’s dad Ewan McColl wrote for Peggy Seeger.

Roberta Flack: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Roberta Cleopatra Flack: 10/2/1937 – 24/2/2025. So it goes.

I was reminded of this by a piece in the Guardian during last week, so I thought I’d use it here.

The Only Ones: Another Girl, Another Planet

What promised to be Kiki Dee’s breakthrough track. Her first hit but only a no 13 in 1973. Her joint highest solo chart position.

Kiki Dee: Amoureuse

Below is a live version from the Dutch TV broadcaster AVRO’s TopPop.

Renowned record producer Quincy Jones died during the week.

His CV is beyond compare. He seems to have worked with just about everybody in the music business over the past sixty plus years.

He only had a few hits under his own name, of which this is one.

Quincy Jones (with Dune): Ai No Corrida

Quincy Delight Jones: 14/3/1933 – 3/11/2024. So it goes.

Dutch football legend Johan Neeskens has died. He was part of that magnificent Dutch side of the 1970s which reached the World Cup final twice in a row but unfortunately did not manage to win the trophy.

Neeskens also had a secondary assist on the superb goal – aided by a sublime pass from Johan Cruyff – he scored against Brazil in the 1974 World Cup .

Johannes Jacobus Neeskens:  15/9/1951 – 6/10/202. So it goes.

Kris Kristofferson, who died last week, was a man of many parts (literally as an actor but also a Rhodes Scholar, a soldier, helicopter pilot, singer and songwriter.)

It is for his songwriting and acting he will most likely be remembered for. Classic songs like Me and Bobby McGhee, For the Good Times and this one.

Kris Kristofferson: Help Me Make It Through the Night

Also lost to us last week was bass player Herbie Flowers. His CV is second to none.

Perhaps his most distinctive performance was his double bass line for Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side but that could be matched by the innovation on David Essex’s Rock On.

Lou Reed: Walk on the Wild Side

David Essex: Rock On

Brian Keith (Herbie) Flowers: 19/5/1938 – 5/9/2024. So it goes.