James Darren and Pat Lewis RIP

Two more deaths to report sadly. James Darren, who has died aged 88, had a long career as an actor and a singer. Born in Philadelphia, he appeared in several movies for Columbia in the late fifties before really making his name in 'Gidget' in 1959 with Sandra Dee and Cliff Robertson. He put himself forward to sing the title track of the film and this led to him recording a series of successful records for Colpix in the early sixties. These included a vocal version of 'Because They're Young' (made as a video jukebox film), the million selling 'Goodbye Cruel World', 'Her Royal Majesty', 'Conscience', 'Mary's Little Lamb', 'Hail To the Conquering Hero' and 'Pin a Medal On Joey'. His movie career included roles in 'The Gene Krupa Story', 'All The Young Men' (with Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier), 'The Guns Of Navarone' and Gidget follow ups such as 'Gidget Goes Hawaiian' and 'Gidget Goes To Rome'. When his Columbia movie contract expired he recorded for Warner Brothers, having a minor hit with 'All', and went on to have a lengthy career in TV series such as 'T J Hooker' and 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'.

Another death which has had a big impact on the Northern Soul community is that of Pat Lewis at the age of 76. In the early sixties, living in Detroit, she formed a group called the Adorables with her sister Dianne plus friends Betty and Jackie Winston, who sang background vocals for the Golden World label. She recorded 'Can't Shake It Loose' as a solo artist in 1966 and sang with the Andantes at Motown. She signed for Solid Hit Bound Records and recorded 'Look At What I Almost Missed', 'Warning' and 'No One To Love' among others. In the late eighties she joined Ian Levine's stable of soul singers recording up to 50 tracks as a solo artist or a member of the Andantes. She continued to record with Levine after the label closed and visited the UK on several occasions. Sadly I didn't see any of those, but had the opportunity of seeing Pat perform when I went to Detroit A-Go Go in 2019. She sang 'Can't Shake It Loose' at a pre festival event at the St Regis Hotel and also took part in the main festival (pictured above) where she sang the song again and 'I'll Wait'. She was recognised for her role in supporting Phil Dick to put the shows on, receiving a 'Spirit of Detroit' award (pictured below). The Vinyl Word raises a glass to them both.