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He still looks pretty good for his age and clearly still very active. I see him living for another 2-3 years at least. I'd drop him for next year.

Country singer!

Yes! and no. Billy Ocean, and Otway & Barrett.

He still looks pretty spry, much to the contrary of someone like Noam Chomsky, who has truly degraded these past couple years (Then again that might just be his beard)

Let me guess Des and Our Kid?

I considered her, but seeing that she is still quite active, decided against picking her. Which is probably bad news for her.

True, for me he looks fine for a 94 yo man, I knew people who looked completely dead after 90yo

The information comes initially from the Music Master series of books, which listed every known record release, at least on major labels. For singles from the 1970s, this material is has been collated and made available here: http://www.7tt77.co.uk/

Love Rollercoaster was issued in the UK - catalogue number 6167-225.

Half an hour? That's commitment, I hope you like the Ohio Players! So the web says he was born in Youngstown, Ohio. Twitter also says he's a Gemini. The Ohio birth records from that period are rubbish because they only give state but thankfully there is one residency record from his childhood which seems to fit: William M. Beck, living in Kenmore Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio, b. 18 Jun 1953. This is the only one that fits so I'm just going to use it. If it's wrong, an obituary will correct it eventually. Edit: Just found another residency record, this time from the following decade that has this Beck living in Dayton, Ohio, where the group was formed. Confident that this is him now. Interestingly, he was the one who contributed the high pitched screams on Love Rollercoaster, which many thought was a woman at the time. Which leads me to a question I've asked myself before... why was Love Rollercoaster never released in the UK? It went to #1 in the U.S., #2 in Canada and #5 in France. I don't think it was the case that it just didn't chart because 45cat reveals additional releases for Japan, Sweden and Australia – but no UK. Ofc, the RHCPs covered it in the mid-90s and that charted (#7), but the original is superior IMO. Mercury fucked up if you ask me.

Ohio Players. I've been listening to about half an hour of an interview with Billy Beck (lost the link! I'll maybe see if I can retrieve it later). Now, he says it was all church music and he was asked when he got into secular music and he replies 14. At some point he says that was when he heard James Brown's Cold Sweat, which was released in 1967. Now he also says when the Ohio Players came to Youngstown in around 1971, he already had 2 kids when they saw him playing with bands. He also said he attended South High School, Youngstown and was then at Youngstown State University School of Music around the time he met the Ohio Players. He's careful not to mention his age at any point (but then I wasn't going to listen to the remaining hour and quarter!) but reading between all the lines I'm going to put out that he's born 1952/53? Only child. I guess you might find him through that information, or a yearbook or some such. Work your usual magic.

Makes sense, McDonald Bailey competing for GB in 1948 and 1952 would lead you to think he would have lived or trained in the UK in the interim. Once his Olympic days were over, back off round the world, returning to Trinidad where his boys grew up then back to London perhaps to give his boys a chance in the music biz.

Dell Richardson is on Facebook. Sadly not much on his page though. Robert Bailey... okay so his dad's Guardian obit which you've given me is useful. Lists his children (all of whom survived him) as Christine, Joan, Rachel, Robert and Richard. Gives his widow's name as Doris. Sadly no surname. >> Go to Ancestry and punch in Emmanuel McDonald Bailey. His wife was Doris Wells (1927–2017). >> Using the mother's maiden name Wells and Bailey, found three records in the GRO: Christine E A Bailey b. 1948 Islington Robert M Bailey b. 1950 Islington Joan G V Bailey b. 1951 Islington RateYourMusic gives the younger brother as Richard C M Bailey, b. 8 Nov 1955 Guyana, so presumably Rachel was also born there, probably between 1951 and 1955. The family must have moved there at some point. McDonald Bailey did die in his native Trinidad after all. Anyway, cracked it. Cheers.

Kevin Burns, creator of Ancient Aliens and a co-producer of the Lost in Space reboot, has died. He was 65. https://deadline.com/2020/09/kevin-burns-dead-obituary-ancient-aliens-creator-lost-in-space-reboot-producer-1234586413/

Definitely noteworthy enough, but the baseball thread is just as good.

Osibisa. Try as I might I can't get much on Wendell Richardson, other than he's been known as Dell Richardson since 1973. Born in Antigua and was living in Finsbury Park when he joined the band according to Teddy Osei. Robert Bailey there's a bit more on. His father was McDonald Bailey, who won Olympic Bronze for GB at the 1952 Olympics in the 100m. Here's a Guardian Obit for further family: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/dec/08/mcdonald-bailey His brother is drummer Richard Bailey, and his bio is here: https://www.richardbaileydrums.com/about If he's 18 in 1975 via the reference to the Jeff Beck album and Robert is older then we can say Robert is born pre-1957. Interesting that Richard, the younger sibling, is stated as Guyanese born though initially raised in Trinidad but all the other references are to Robert being Trinidad born., example http://www.osibisa.co.uk/1990/08/04/bio-2/ Maybe Robert might have been born elsewhere? Looks like his dad travelled a bit. Anyway, the GRO or other records might help given the familial connections.

Paul Moore, the HBOS whistleblower, has reportedly died aged 61.

It won't last. It never does.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Josiffe Norman Josiffe, known for his relationship with Jeremy Thorpe is now over 80. Doesn't look so good in new photos either.

I agree. 6 months ago he looked 93.....

Believe the New York Times is a QO, in which case here it is. But will he be another Nobel prize snub in the UK? We’ll see...

Pfft, so I'm a whore, what can I say?

Helen Shapiro is only 74 but then she was only 14 when she rose to fame with

Call me when she's in "embalming fluid".

I only listened to Pet Sounds for the first time recently, and didn't get what all the fuss is about. Thought it was pretty average. As for Joni Mitchell, I can't listen to her, her voice is excruciating. Older readers will remember the sound of a blackboard being wiped with a worn-out eraser.