THEY ALSO SERVED
MUSE PEGGY SUE GERRON (below, b.1940) found immortality when one of Buddy Holly’s most iconic songs was named for her, having initially been titled Candy Lou after Holly’s niece. Gerron was romantically attached to Holly’s Crickets bandmate, drummer Jerry Allison, who co-wrote the song with Holly during a brief estrangement. It reached US Number 3 in November 1957. Gerron married Allison in 1958, prompting Holly’s posthumous release Peggy Sue Got Married. She later divorced and ran a plumbing business in California.
FILM COMPOSER STELVIO CIPRIANI (b.1937) worked on cruise ships and accompanied singer Rita Pavone as pianist before moving into soundtrack work in the Italian movie industry. Debuting with the western The Bounty Killer in 1966, he was a prolific writer for film in the ’70s: in 1970 he wrote the much-admired OST for The Anonymous Venetian, while his theme for 1977 horror flick Tentacles would be featured in Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 film Death Proof.
TOKYO violinist, composer and avant-gardist TAKEHISA KOSUGI (b.1938) was a co-founder of pioneering “anti-musical” ensemble Group Ongaku from 1960, finding common cause with the interdisciplinary, neo-Dadaist Fluxus movement. In 1963 he assisted composer Matsuo Ohno in creating electronic sounds for the Astro Boy cartoon series, and in 1969 he formed itinerant improv collective the Taj Mahal Travellers. His solo works and sound installations included 1975’s well-regarded Catch-Wave, and from 1976 to 2012 he wrote for Merce Cunningham’s dance company.
DRUMMER DON DEXTER (b.1937) played with Jerry Cole And The Flaming Coles in the late ’50s before becoming a Los Angeles session man with the likes of Ricky Nelson, Frankie Avalon and Del Shannon and more. In 1967 Dexter played alongside Cole on the cult tripsploitation album The Inner Sounds Of The Id, laying down a raucous beat on tracks including the nutzoid Boil The Kettle, Mother. He later won awards for directing documentaries and taught film in Colorado, and was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2003.
DOO WOPPER DOMINICK ‘RANDY’ SAFUTO (b.1947) sang with The Dialtones before meeting singers/production team The Tokens. Renamed Randy & The Rainbows, they released the US Top 10 Denise in 1963, their sole Top 40 hit. They continued to release singles throughout the decade and Safuto remained active on the oldies circuit. As Denis, his signature song would be a smash for Blondie in 1978.
HIP-HOP ELDER BABA OJE (b. 1932) served as spiritual advisor to Grammy-winning Atlanta rap crew Arrested Development from 1988. An unapologetic senior presence, he could be seen introducing the group while sat in a rocking chair, as well as dancing with a vigour that belied his age. A keen skater and homeless advocate, he rejoined the group in 2000 after their 1996 split.
VOCALIST KAT ARTHUR (b.1955) played in LA punks Legal Weapon, alongside her ex-Silencers bandmate Brian Hansen and future Gun Club bassist Patricia Morrison. They released early records such as ’82 debut Death Of Innocence on their own Arsenal label, and signed to MCA for 1988’s hard rock Life Sentence To Love, but later returned to their punk rock roots.
SINGER, GUITARIST, SONGWRITER JOHN WICKS (bottom left, b.1953) joined the Kursaal Flyers in 1977, and in 1978 co-founded The Records. Following an appearance on the Be Stiff tour, backing singer Rachel Sweet, The Records signed with Virgin and released the powerpop favourite Starry Eyes. After several US tours and three albums, The Records disbanded in 1982. Wicks emigrated to America, becoming a part of the LA music community, often playing benefits and appearing alongside the Bangles’ Debbi Peterson in Broken Sky.
ALABAMA country voice FREDDIE HART (b.1926) played with Lefty Frizzell before a series of solo hits began in the late ’50s. His biggest success was Easy Loving in 1971, a country Number 1 and pop chart Number 17 that was named the Country Music Association’s song of the year for ’71 and 1972. As a songwriter his compositions were covered by the likes of Patsy Cline, George Jones and Porter Wagoner.
SAXMAN CORNELIUS ‘SONNY’ FORTUNE (b.1939) played with Elvin Jones, Mongo Santamaria and McCoy Tyner among others, before joining Miles Davis’s group in 1974: he would appear on releases including Agharta and Pangaea. Fortune also collaborated with Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders and others, and recorded solo.
HARLOW guitarist CURT CRESSWELL played in The Naturals, who charted with a cover of The Beatles’ I Should Have Known Better and appeared on numerous TV pop shows in 1964. Cresswell also played in The Living Daylights with Norman Watt-Roy and later formed Elliots Sunshine.
BASSIST MAX BENNETT (below, b.1928) played jazz with the likes of Stan Kenton and Charlie Ventura before a move to Los Angeles in the late ’50s, where he played with Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald, and began a Wrecking Crew-affiliated session career that saw him contribute to albums by Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Zappa, Lalo Schifrin and others. As a member of LA Express, he also played on Joni Mitchell’s Court And Spark and the live album Miles Of Aisles in 1974. Clive Prior and Will Birch