THEY ALSO SERVED
ACTOR DAVID McCALLUM (below, b.1933) was known for TV programmes including The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Colditz, Sapphire & Steel and NCIS. The son of musical parents, he also released four instrumental pop/jazz LPs produced by David Axelrod in 1966 and 1967: tracks The Edge and House Of Mirrors were sampled by hip-hoppers including Dr Dre, DJ Shadow and Kendrick Lamar. FREE JAZZ saxophonist CHARLES GAYLE (b.1939) was homeless for almost two decades, and played his music on the streets of New York. In 1988 he released the first of more than 30 albums of intense, often religiously inspired music. He also played piano, appeared in the red-nosed guise of Streets The Clown, and collaborated with Henry Rollins, Cecil Taylor and Sunny Murray. BELGIAN singer LOU DEPRIJCK (b.1946) co-wrote and sang 1978 UK hit Ça Plane Pour Moi, and later met its credited performer Plastic Bertrand, alias Roger Jouret, in court (the song’s backing track was also used for Elton Motello’s Jet Boy, Jet Girl). A huge star in Belgium, Deprijck’s other vehicles included Two Man Sound, Lou & The Hollywood Bananas and Viktor Lazlo.
BRITISH-KENYAN singer and whistler ROGER WHITTAKER (b.1936) had a worldwide hit with 1971’s The Last Farewell, having already enjoyed British success with poignant easy-listeners Durham Town (The Leavin’), I Don’t Believe In If Anymore and New World In The Morning. His period of hitmaking was brief, but he continued to perform until 2011, enjoying particular loyalty from his German fans. BASSIST DAVE ROE (b.1952) was raised in Hawaii. After playing R&B in the ’60s and ’70s, he moved to Nashville and played with Mel Tillis, Charlie Louvin and others: he later joined Johnny Cash’s band for 11 years. He also played with Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Ian Hunter, Joe Ely, Dan Auerbach, Cee-Lo Green, Dwight Yoakam and others, and ran Nashville’s Seven Deadly Sins studio. MARVELETTES co-founder KATHERINE ANDERSON (below, b.1944) was the soprano voice with the Motown hitmakers, who formed at Inkster High School in Michigan. She appeared on big hits including Please Mr Postman (Motown’s first Number 1, in 1961), Playboy (1962) and Don’t Mess With Bill (1966), plus four more Top 40 US singles chart entries. After the group split she briefly worked as a writer for Motown, before leaving music in 1972. CHRISTIAN rocker MYLON LEFEVRE (b.1944), a scion of Mississippi gospel family The LeFevres, wrote his first song Without Him in 1961; its many interpreters included Elvis. A singer and guitarist, he later pioneered the ‘Jesus Rock’ format and led his band Mylon & The Broken Heart: he also played with Alvin Lee, Brian Auger, Earl Scruggs, The Rolling Stones and on the 1975 Tommy OST.
SMASH MOUTH singer STEVE HARWELL (b.1967) was a rapper before joining the California pop-rockers in 1994. The band’s hits included Walkin’ On The Sun (1997) and All Star (1999); suffering from a drink problem, Harwell retired from the band in 2021. ARRANGER and pianist FRANK OWENS (b.1933) was musical director for names including Petula Clark, Johnny Mathis, John Denver, Connie Francis and Lena Horne. His other credits included sessions for Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Bob Dylan, when he played piano on sessions for Highway 61 Revisited. He was also musical director for NBC’s Showtime At The Apollo and David Letterman’s original daytime show. DRUMMER KENT STAX (b.1962) joined Washington, DC hardcore punks Scream shortly after their formation in 1981. He departed soon after their third LP, Banging The Drum, in 1986, and was replaced by a young Dave Grohl. Stax rejoined the band in 1996 and again in 2009, after which they recorded 2011’s Complete Control Recording Sessions mini-LP at Grohl’s studio, and toured internationally. Stax will posthumously appear on the band’s impending new album, DC Special. INDEPENDENT-minded manifestor GEOFF DAVIES (below, b.1943) quit carpet retail to open Liverpool’s storied record shop Probe in 1971 and, 10 years later, the Probe Plus label, who gave the world Half Man Half Biscuit, and much more besides. Franklyspoken yet warmhearted, and possessed of exquisite taste, he passed away two weeks after the death of ex-wife and former Probe business partner Annie. In tribute, HMHB’s Nigel Blackwell commented, “suddenly life seems less sweet, death less bitter.” BASSIST TOM DAVIES (b.1975) grew up in Wimbledon and joined California desert stoners Nebula in 2004, after working as their guitar tech. He played on all the group’s LPs from 2006’s Apollo to 2022’s Transmission From Mothership Earth, with a seven-year hiatus in between. He also played with The Freeks, Immense and Orange Goblin.
SINGER JOE FAGIN (b.1940) played The Cavern with his group The Strangers in the Merseybeat boom. Later, after singing advertising jingles and joining Joe Brown’s group Brown’s Home Brew, he found UK chart success in 1984 with That’s Livin’ Alright, the theme to comedy-drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. He also sang with chart-topping charity supergroup The
Crowd in 1985 and, for the 2006 World Cup, re-recorded his most famous song for the English football team as That’s England Alright. TROMBONIST and singer CURTIS FOWLKES
(b.1950) played in
The Lounge
Lizards before co-founding NY “goofballs” The Jazz Passengers with Roy Nathanson in 1987. The group, whose guest singers included Jeff Buckley, Elvis Costello and Debbie Harry, released their last LP Still Life With Trouble in 2017. He also played with Lou Reed, Bill Frisell and Sheryl Crow, and released his solo album Reflect in 1999.
Ian Harrison