The trials and tribulations of living abroad...
View Article  Wilson Pickett - Soul singer

Wilson Pickett, the soul singer best known for the hits Mustang Sally and In the Midnight Hour, has died of a heart attack, aged 64.

 

Pickett had been suffering from health problems for the past year and died in a hospital yesterday near his home in Virginia.

 

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, the same year that his career was revived as a result of several of his songs being featured in the Alan Parker film The Commitments. Pickett, who is survived by his fiancée and four children, will be buried beside his mother Lena in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

One of the most popular black singers of the '60s, Wilson Pickett helped introduce the aggressive style of rhythmic style of soul music. Aided immeasurably by the excellent studio bands backing him at the Stax Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and The Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals Alabama, Pickett scored a series of R&B and pop hits on Atlantic Records between 1963 and 1972 that included "In the Midnight Hour," "Mustang Sally," and "Funky Broadway."

Raised in Prattville, Alabama, Wilson Pickett moved to Detroit, Michigan at the ...   more »

View Article  Keith Duckworth Engineer 1933 - 2005
Keith Duckworth, who died on Sunday aged 72, was the outstanding racing engine designer of his generation.

Cosworth Engineering, the company he founded with his fellow engineer Mike Costin in 1958, produced a staggeringly successful series of Ford-based and Ford-sponsored engines. From 1960 to 1983 it not only won a ...   more »
View Article  Richard Burns 1971 - 2005. World Rally Champion
Richard Burns, England's first and only World Rally Champion, has died. He was 34.

I met him several times during the 1995 Beijing Rally when I was a start marshall. Not only was he very quick - his Subaru spraying me liberally with stones as he sped away from the ...   more »
View Article  Ronnie Barker - Comedian
Very sad to hear of the death of one of the UK's best comedians today. From the Telegraph:

TV comedian Ronnie Barker has died at his home after a long illness, aged 76. The actor had starred in a series of comedies including the Two Ronnies, Porridge and Open All ...   more »
View Article  LJK Setright - engineer, enthusiast and author
LJK Setright, who died last week aged 74, was one of the most inspiring motoring – or should I say engineering - enthusiasts of our age. One of the world's foremost and most distinguished motoring journalists he was also one life’s great characters.

His numerous publications included histories of Rolls ...   more »
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