Toussaint McCall RIP and others Updated

Time to catch up on a few music deaths. One which hasn't attracted much coverage is that of Toussaint McCall, a Louisiana artist who has died aged 89. He is remembered as a one hit wonder for his 1967 recording, 'Nothing Takes The Place Of You'. But what a great record it was - an atmospheric and very soulful organ led deep soul ballad. The record reached number five in the US R and B chart and even got a UK release and the album, released shortly afterwards, include ten songs written by McCall. It proved to be his only hit but he did go on to make a cameo appearance in the John Walters film 'Hairspray' when he lip synced his hit. This was somewhat anachronistic as the film was set in 1962 - five years before the song was recorded.

Another recent death is that of UK singer/songwriter Raymond Froggatt at the age of 81. Froggatt was quite a successful country singer in later years, but in the sixties he had several records released in the UK on Polydor, three of which I acquired when I was reviewing records for the Croydon Advertiser. The best known of these was 'The Red Balloon' which became a hit for the Dave Clark Five but which was also a success for him in the Netherlands under the name 'Callow La Vita'. He also wrote a top ten hit for Cliff Richard with 'Big Ship'.

A genuine superstar who died on July 21 was Tony Bennett at the age of 96. His career spanned over 70 years and he is perhaps best known for his early sixties hits 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco' and 'I Wanna Be Around'.But a major claim to fame was his participation in the Civil Rights movement and the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. I only saw him perform live once. That was at the concert in 1990 in honour of Nelson Mandela at the Royal Albert Hall attended by the Queen and Prince Charles. This featured performances by Phil Collins, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I was with a group of banking executives and journalists in a box and the royal party with Mandela was in a neighbouring box. Nelson got up and danced as the show went on, showing great rhythm and style. Prince Charles must have felt that it was his duty to join in and tried to emulate him by standing up and attempting to dance, but with rather less grace and quite a bit of stiffness. At least he tried. And now he's king!

RIP also to Sinead O'Connor, who died far too young and whose 'Nothing Compares To You' is an undoubted classic. Also to Randy Mesiner, who was a member of Poco and Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band before becoming a founder member of the Eagles, with whom he sang lead on 'Take Me To The Limit'.

Since writing this yesterday I've heard of two more deaths. One is Canadian guitarist Robbie Robertson, aged 80, who worked with Bob Dylan in the sixties and was lead guitarist with The Band until 1978. He wrote many of their greatest hits, including 'The Weight', 'Up On Cripple Creek' and 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'. After leaving The Band he had solo hits including 'Somewhere Down The Crazy River' and worked with Martin Scorsese on films including 'The Last Waltz', 'Raging Bull' and 'The King Of Comedy'.

The other death, according to Detroit A Go Go organiser Phil Dick, is of Rose Battiste. a Detroit singer who became a Northern Soul favourite. She made a surprise appearance at the 2019 Detroit A Go Go (see above photo with me).