OBITUARIES

[Cathy]

I read that he was very badly treated when he 11yrs old, and he said that the experience completely changed him, and later the drugs etc.

[Tripps]

I was only vaguely aware of Mr Osbourne for many years. His music had no appeal at all to me, and I heard his private life left much to be desired. The public reaction to his death has bewildered me. Nothing I read here Ozzy's drugs has caused me to think I missed anything. The idea that he should attract admiration and in any way be considered as a role model is beyond my understanding.

RIP.

[Tripps]

The jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine has died aged 97.

Well covered in the Guardian. Cleo Laine

I went once to the concert venue at Wavenden which she ran with her husband John Dankworth. I saw Gillian Welch - wonderful.

I was aware of this impressive anecdote -
Dankworth’s health declined late in 2009, on a US tour that had to be curtailed. He died on the morning of 10 February 2010. He and Laine, plus a glitzy cast of guests, had been due to play at Wavendon that night, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Stables theatre. Impelled by the conviction that Dankworth would have wanted the celebration to go on, Laine went home from the hospital, played the gig, and broke the news of his death to a stunned audience only at the close


RIP.

[Stanley]

Two famous names for me.... Was one of her singing styles called scat? That seems to be nagging at the back of my head.....

[PanBiker]

Was one of her singing styles called scat?

You remember correctly Stanley common in Jazz and some earlier swing renditions.

[Tripps]

The inimitable Tom Lehrer has died aged 97

This example does not seem too unattractive at the moment -and the rhymes are simply magnificent.

[Stanley]

Martha's husband, Roger, introduced me to Tom Lehrer. The lyrics are clever but I was never a big fan. I needed more tune from my heroes....

[Cathy]

Well that was something different. Clever

[Stanley]

Morning Cathy...... Yes, that was what sold the records. Clever and witty.

[Wendyf]

Terence Stamp has died. Such a well known actor for my generation, but not many people know that he was evacuated to Kelbrook during the war and stayed with my friend's granny on Dotcliffe Road.

[Stanley]

I saw that he had died and recognised the name but I couldn't place him......

[Tripps]

We've mentioned this chap before.
Judge Frank Caprio who had a long running TV series "Caught in Providence" from his courtroom in Providence, Rhode Island. has died at the age of 88, after a long illness. I liked him.



PS We missed Biddy Baxter - a few days ago - in her nineties I think, She ran BBC's 'Blue Peter' for ages. Fond memory of my young lad asking for a badge - and her letter (remember them?) turning him down, until he submitted a piece of work. He did a painting and got his badge.

RIP.

[PanBiker]

I liked watching the video's of his court when they came up on you Tube on my phone. Seemed like a very fair bloke who practised that in shed loads when handling the cases brought before him.

RIP

[Stanley]

I liked Frank Caprio as well. (And the heavily built police inspector who was usually with him.)

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC obituary for the Duchess of Kent.
The Duchess of Kent, who has died at the age of 92, carried out her royal duties with the minimum of fuss. She was best known to most of the public as the elegant woman who presented the trophies at Wimbledon each year, once famously having to comfort a distraught losing finalist. She became the first member of the Royal Family to convert to Catholicism since the Act of Settlement in 1701 - but that was not, perhaps, her most surprising decision. Recognising that her twin passions were music and children, she quietly withdrew from royal life and took a job as a music teacher at a primary school in Kingston upon Hull. She even stopped using the title Her Royal Highness. In the staff room she was simply "Kath", and to the children "Mrs Kent".
She was Chancellor of Lancaster University and presented me with my degree. Everyone wanted to know what it was I said to her that made her laugh. She had a few words for occasional students, I suppose she was briefed before hand. When she gave me my degree she asked what I was going to do now. I said I didn't know but I still had my Heavy Goods Licence! She liked that and burst out laughing.

[Julie in Norfolk]

We went to see this group at the Royal Albert Hall with our daughter. All I can say is that they were absolutely brilliant. He will be sorely missed.

Rick Davies, one of the founding members of Supertramp and a music legend, has died at the age of 81. "Rick’s music and legacy continue to inspire many and bears testament to the fact that great songs never die, they live on", the band said in a beautiful tribute to the public.

[Wendyf]

We were thinking about Supertramp when we were in Chester celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. Think I still have 2 albums from the mid 70s and their songs whisk me right back to those times.

[Stanley]

He sounds like a good bloke. Never in my orbit I'm afraid....