THEY ALSO SERVED
R&B SINGER LEON HUGHES (b.1930) was the last surviving original
member of The Coasters.
In 1956 and 1957, he and the group enjoyed US success with Leiber and Stoller-composed songs including Down In Mexico, Searchin’ and Young Blood (the latter co-composed by Doc Pomus). He then left the band and formed The Dukes with fellow Coaster Bobby Nunn, and later sang with numerous formulations of his original group. GUITARIST TOM
LEADON (b.1952) formed Mudcrutch in 1970 alongside his teenage friend from Gainesville, Florida, Tom Petty. In 1972, Leadon left Mudcrutch and moved to Los Angeles, where his older brother Bernie had formed the Eagles. He played with Linda Ronstadt and wrote The Acacias Are Blooming (repurposed by the Eagles as Hollywood Waltz). Joining Silver on bass, Leadon later taught guitar in Nashville, before rejoining Mudcrutch for a tour and two self-titled albums in 2008 and 2016. SONGWRITER, musician and producer ROBERT HAIMER (b.1954) formed the duo Barnes & Barnes with former child US TV actor Bill Mumy in 1970. In 1980 they broke through with the playful/psychotic whimsy Fish Heads, whose Bill Paxton-starring video was an MTV choice. They continued to record thereafter, signing off with 2021’s Pancake Dream. The duo also produced records for Wild Man Fischer and Crispin Glover, and worked with soft rockers America.
BRITISH JAZZ mainstay
TONY COE (b.1934) played clarinet, flute and saxophone. A pro from 17, he played with UK talents including Humphrey Lyttelton, John Dankworth, Stan Tracey, Norma Winstone, Lol Coxhill, Derek Bailey, Steve Beresford and Georgie Fame, and internationally with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band, as well as his own groups. His rock credits included Paul McCartney, Caravan and John Martyn’s Solid Air. His son is 6 Music DJ Gideon Coe. REGGAE singer JUNIOR ENGLISH (b.1951) sang for Prince Buster in Jamaica before moving to Britain in 1964. After playing with The Magnets and The
Nighthawks, he went solo for UK reggae hits produced by Clem Bushay (including 1980’s After Tonight, as seen on Steve McQueen’s Small Axe episode Lovers Rock). His last LP was U Make Me Happy in 2010. NICKNAMED ‘LA TIGRESA,’ Mexican entertainer IRMA
SERRANO (b.1933) found fame as a ranchera singer in the ’60s, making her debut with 1964’s La Nueva Intérprete De La Canción Ranchera (Mexico’s Fiery New Folk Singer). Describing herself as “authentic and irreverent”, she continued to record into the ’80s and diversified into stage and screen acting, debuting in 1962’s Santo Vs The Zombies with wrestler El Santo. She was elected to the Mexican Senate in 1994. WEIRDOS guitar and co-founder DIX DENNEY
(above left, b.1957) formed the influential early LA punks in 1975 with his brother John (their mother was actress Nora Denney, AKA Mrs Teavee in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory). Greg Shaw’s Bomp! released the first Weirdos single, Destroy All Music in 1977, followed by We Got The Neutron Bomb and two 12-inch EPs. They split in 1981 – Dix nearly joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers
– but returned to activity in 1986. His other bands
included If-Then-Else and Thelonious Monster; he was also an artist. BASSIST MICHAEL
RHODES (b.1953) played in bands in Austin and Memphis before moving to Nashville to record demos and play sessions in 1977. His credits included Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Brian Wilson, Glen Campbell, Hank Williams Jr., Etta James, Elton John, Steve Winwood and many more. He also played with Rodney Crowell in The Cicadas and The Notorious Cherry Bombs, and, since 2013, was Joe Bonamassa’s bassist. SAXOPHONIST CARLOS
GARNETT (below, b.1938) played in Panama before moving to New York in 1962. From the late ’60s he played with Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis, appearing on the latter’s divisive 1972 On The Corner, and recorded solo. After an ’80s hiatus, he returned with 1996’s Resurgence. He went back to Panama in 2000. NAPOLEON XIV (left, AKA Jerry Samuels, b.1938) achieved one-hit notoriety with the They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!, a US million-seller in 1966. A similarly-mental-illnessthemed LP of the same name followed. He also wrote straight material which was covered by Johnnie Ray, LaVern Baker, Neil Diamond and Sammy Davis Jr, among others, and later worked as an agent in Philadelphia. VOCALIST HOWIE KANE
(b.1941) sang with Queens vocalising pop-rockers Jay & The Americans from 1960. The group’s US Top 10s included She Cried (1962), Come A Little Bit Closer (1964), Cara Mia (1965) and This Magic Moment (1969). After their split in 1973, Kane was a social worker heading alcohol and drug programmes. He returned to the band in 2006 – new albums followed including 2011’s Keepin’ The Music Alive
– and remained until his death. WOODSTOCK soundtrack cover
star BOBBI ERCOLINE
(b.c.1949) appeared on the sleeve of 1970’s triple-LP soundtrack to the three days of peace and music at Yasgur’s Farm. Snapped by Life magazine’s Burk Uzzle, the then-Bobbi Kelly was pictured wrapped in a quilt embracing her boyfriend Nick: the couple married in 1971, and were together for 54 years.
Jenny Bulley and Ian Harrison