More bits and pieces

I saw Andy Williams the other night on Strictly Come Dancing (singing, not dancing) and was struck by his longevity. He's 81 and still going strong. He sang Moon River, which of course was a hit in the UK when covered by his near namesake Danny Williams. It's a song that brings back some poignant memories for me as it was the favourite of a friend and work colleague who died very suddenly of a blood clot on the lung. It was played at his funeral and I sang it as a tribute at a work Christmas do a week or so later - and I didn't get booed off. Andy was interviewed in the Metro the other day and said that Frank Sinatra was a vicious thug. Well, we knew that didn't we, with his Mafia connections?

Listening to an LP by Cass Elliot tonight I checked her out on Wikipedia. I suppose it's well known that she allegedly died in 1974 from choking on a ham sandwich after finishing a two week run at the London Palladium (not true apparently - it was a heart attack). But she died in the same Mayfair flat as Keith Moon was to die four years later. Spooky eh?

And speaking of the Mamas and the Papas, what are we to make of claims that lead Papa John Phillips had sex with his daughter Melanie for years which in the beginning was non-consensual? That's taking being a papa a bit too far I think. But as he died in 2001 he can't answer back.