And now Jimmy Cliff also has gone.

Cliff was among the first artists to bring Jamaican music to the wider world.

This was his first big UK hit and his highest chart placing – no. 6 in 1969. Joyful stuff.

Jimmy Cliff: Wonderful World, Beautiful People

James Chambers (Jimmy Cliff:) 30/7/1944 – 24/11/2025. So it goes.

For many people their favourite Creedence song but I always preferred Proud Mary as a 60s track and Have You Ever Seen the Rain? overall.

But I suppose this is iconic Creedence.

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Bad Moon Rising

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.

The Moody Blues: House of Four Doors

This wasn’t a hit in the UK but was Warwick’s first in the US.

It’s a typical early sixties kind of song.

Here’s a TV appearance from 1963.

Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over

I remembered this as The Young Rascals only UK hit (a no 8 in 1967) but it seems they had another that didn’t even make the top thirty later that year.

Still this was a distinctive single. Below is a not entirely convincing clip of them ‘performing’ the song on the Ed Sullivan Show.

The Young Rascals: Groovin’

Since Brian Wilson’s death the good lady and I have been listening to the Beach Boys a lot. While doing so it struck me that even without God Only Knows, Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains they would still be remembered – even revered – for songs like I Get Around, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Help Me Rhonda, California Girls, Do It Again, Break Away and the arrangement on Sloop John B. And too, the slower, more thoughtful tracks like In My Room, Don’t Worry Baby and The Warmth of the Sun.

I discount here the early surfing inspired tracks Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ USA and Surfer Girl. (Very few people now remember Jan and Dean, after all.) The ‘hot rod’ songs, Little Deuce Coupe and Fun, Fun, Fun might just creep in however.

I always had a liking for this one though, the B-side of Sloop John B.

The Beach Boys: You’re So Good To Me

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.

I have already featured his masterpiece God Only Knows. Also Wild Honey and Do it Again.

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.

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.

Petula Clark was one of the most prominent female singers of the 1960s but had a reputation as being a bit old-fashioned – perhaps because her show business career had actually started in the 1940s.

However, this track always sounded to me like it had a touch of the Beach Boys about it.

This clip seems to be from a German – or Austrian – TV show.

Petula Clark: Don’t Sleep in the Subway