Another of the most successful songwriters of the 60s, Ken Howard, has died. Together with his songwriting partner Alan Blaikley (whose death I noted here) he wrote hits for The Honeycombs, The Herd and, most notably, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. Their songwriting list is impressive.

This was a no 4 for the latter band in 1965.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Hold Tight!

Later in their career Howard and Blaikley went into writing TV Themes and musicals.

This is perhaps the most familiar of those tunes.

Vejle Symfoniorkester: Miss Marple TV Theme

Kenneth Charles (Ken) Howard: 26/12/1939 – 24/12/2024. So it goes.

One of the two men behind the hits of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (not to mention The Honeycombs and The Herd,) Alan Blaikley, died in July but I only found out when his obituary was published in today’s Guardian.

The two were apparently the first British composers to write a song for Elvis Presley.

An (incomplete) list of the songs the duo wrote is here. It’s not a bad CV.

This is the one featuring the “man with the whip” as the Queen Mother is supposed to have said to Dave Dee. In reality I believe the sound was made by scraping a bottle across the strings of a guitar.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Legend of Xanadu

Alan Tudor Blaikley: 23/3/1940 – 4/6/2022. So it goes.

A bit of psychedelia today. I previously described The Monkees as an unusual source of psychedelia. I would submit this group is equally unlikely.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: The Sun Goes Down

For comparison purposes here is the A-side from the same single. In this clip the group is obviously miming. Standard practice for the day, though.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Zabadak

When a very young Peter Frampton joined The Herd, the group with whom he made his name, they had just been dropped by Parlophone, but simultaneously brought in composers Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, who had written a barrowload of hits for Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich and signed up to Fontana. The songs concocted for the Herd were of a different order to those hits though. Elements of psychedelia and glimmerings of prog rock are here.

The Herd: From the Underworld

Another member of the most idiosyncratically named band of the 60s, Dozy, bassist of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich fame, has died.

This isn’t one of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich’s big hits. It doesn’t feature Dave Dee at all and was recorded and released in 1970 after he left the group when the band had shortened its name to the remaining members initials. This track apparently has the first use of a Moog Modular Synthesiser.

D B M & T: Mr President

Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy): 27/11/1944 – 13/1/2015. So it goes.