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Took a while, but here's the Charlie Thomas QO: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/21300005/charlie-thomas-dead-drifters-legend/

It seems Robert Young has hit the fan...

Yes there is! Here's The Muppets tribute to him

That's 4 UK MPs dead in 3 weeks. There was a disproportionally low number (15) of MP deaths in 2022 so looks like 2023 may have a lot instead.

Janet Anderson, former Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen (1992-2010), has reportedly died: Succeeded in her seat by the well known philanthropist and all round good guy Jake Berry (Conservative). (Spot the sarcasm). She was the MP who successfully introduced free TV licences for over-75s - remember them? However, tarnished yet again by the expenses scandals - voting to keep expenses claims secret, and it was discovered she was claiming taxpayers' money for all sorts, including 5 round trips a week to her constituency despite living in London - what a dedicated constituency MP! Or chancer!

The timing isn't coincidental. The NY Times released an obituary last night which actually contained a date of death (something that was missing from his Soul Tracks "obit"). Easier for the British press to wait on a more reputable U.S. media outlet to do all the research for them.

52 A-ha – The Sun Always Shines On TV -6 46 Communards & Sarah Jane Morris – Don’t Leave Me This Way 38 Pet Shop Boys – It’s A Sin 32 Madonna – La Isla Bonita 30 Rick Astley — Never Gonna Give You Up 29 Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) 28 Starship – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now 27 Bee Gees - You Win Again 26 Falco – Rock Me Amadeus 21 Pet Shop Boys — West End Girls 21 George Michael & Aretha Franklin – I Knew You Were Waiting For Me 19 Mel & Kim — Respectable 13 T’Pau – China In Your Hand +4 12 Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach 8 Berlin - Take My Breath Away 02 Wham – The Edge of Heaven This really hasn't gone anything like how I thought it would.

Mariusz Pudzianowski, the impressive Polish former strongman competitor and current mixed martial artist, probably the greatest strength athlete of all time, also known as "Dominator", "Panek", "Pudzian", "Pyton" and "Super Mariusz", a man who spent 19 months in prison for assaulting a local mafia boss in the early 2000s, and won five World's Strongest Man titles, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2008, is 46 today. James Spader, the brilliant and exceptional American actor, who started his versatile acting career in New York City, widely known for his roles of a sex spy in Steven Soderbergh's "Sex, Lies, and Videotape", and as the criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington on NBC's thriller "The Blacklist", is 63 today.

Chris Rock is 58.

Lillian Walker Moss of The Exciters, died 5 February from a rare cancer: https://www.soultracks.com/story-lillian-walker-moss-exciters-dies

Update 6 February First hit: Pervez Musharraf Teams with hit:16 Teams with joker:0 Punters: diego, Joltin Joe, Bibliogryphon, theoldlady, wannamaker, LizLemon, Newjack, tracy, Book, Funeralopolis, DoorSlammer, Annami, Summer in Transylvania, The Daredevil, Dying Probably, Hell Updated Score Musharraf Grimgrass -16 diego -16 1 Great Uncle Bulgaria -17 Joey Russ -18 Joltin Joe -18 1 Bibliogryphon -18 1 YoungWillz -19 Sean -19 theoldlady -19 1 wannamaker -19 1 LizLemon -19 1 Newjack -19 1 gcreptile -20 tracy -20 1 Etushispushingupdaisies -21 The Duke of Deadinburgh -21 Book -21 1 TQR -22 Torva Messor -22 Funeralopolis -22 1 DoorSlammer -22 1 Annami -22 1 WinterCake -23 Summer in Transylvania -23 1 chilean way -24 The Daredevil -24 1 Dying Probably -24 1 Hell -24 1 The Old Crem -25 ThereWillBeDeaths7 -26

Jusy over 48 hours to go until the deadline, and so far we have 18 teams in the game. These are the entries so far: AN FEAR BEAG BIBLIOGRYPHON BOOK CAPTAIN HEMLOCK FUNERALOPOLIS GCREPTILE GOOSEBERRY CRUMBLE LIZLEMON MARINISIA MSC PEDRO67 PERHAPS THE OLD LADY THE UNKNOWN MAN TOAST TORVA MESSOR TQR WANNAMAKER A few new faces, but more will always be welcome. A lot of players from last year still to submit a team, including the reigning champion @The Old Crem. We are also missing: @Annami @BuffaloPhil @CaptainChorizo @Doulton @Great Uncle Bulgaria @Hell @Joey Russ @Salmon Mousse @YoungWillz So better get a move on, and get the team in on time. No late entries accepted. Just please don't forget to PM rather than post it up here.

Be thankful you didn't dream it was backfiring.

58 A-ha – The Sun Always Shines On TV  46 Communards & Sarah Jane Morris – Don’t Leave Me This Way 38 Pet Shop Boys – It’s A Sin 32 Madonna – La Isla Bonita 30 Rick Astley — Never Gonna Give You Up 29 Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) +2 28 Starship – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now 26 Falco – Rock Me Amadeus 23 Bee Gees - You Win Again  21 Pet Shop Boys — West End Girls 21 George Michael & Aretha Franklin – I Knew You Were Waiting For Me 19 Mel & Kim — Respectable 14 Berlin – Take My Breath Away -1 12 Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach 09 T’Pau – China In Your Hand +2 02 Wham – The Edge of Heaven  00 Los Lobos — La Bamba -5 Back after a week's holiday. Preferred the previous set of songs. Looks like the worst has already gone as nothing truly dreadful here, but a pointless cover version looks like a good place to start with my killing.

Forty-ninth round: 1)Josip Manolic (1920), Prime Minister of Croatia 2)César Yanes Urías (1920), Salvadoran junta member 3)Khamtai Siphandon (1924) Prime Minister and President of Laos 4)Tomiichi Murayama (1924) Prime Minister of Japan 5)Jimmy Carter (1924), President of United States of America 6)Guillermo Rodriguez Lara (1924), President of Ecuador 7)Ali Hassan Mwinyi (1925), President of Tanzania 8)Giorgio Napolitano (1925), President of Italy 9)Mahathir Mohamad (1925), Prime Minister of Malaysia 10)Mohammad Hasan Sharq (1925), Chairman of Council of Ministers of Afghanistan 11)Arnaldo Forlani (1925), Prime Minister of Italy 12)Abdoulaye Wade (1926), President of Senegal 13)Valdas Adamkus (1926), President of Lithuania 14)Raif Dizdarevic (1926), President of Yugoslavia 15)Thanin Kraivichien (1927), Prime Minister of Thailand 16)Hans Modrow (1928), Chairman of the Council of Ministers of East Germany 17)Kim Yong-nam (1928), Chairman of the Presidium of North Korea 18)Arnold Rüütel (1928), President of Estonia 19)Arthur Foulkes (1928), Governor General of Bahamas 20)Peter Boross (1928), Prime Minister of Hungary 21)Zhu Rongji (1928), Premier of China 22)Edouard Balladur (1929), Prime Minister of France 23)Sam Nujoma (1929), President of Namibia 24)Orville Turnquest (1929), Governor General of Bahamas 25)Jamshid bin Abdullah (1929), Sultan of Zanzibar 26)Nikolai Rhyzkov (1929), Chairman of the Council of Ministers 27)Violeta Chamorro (1929), President of Nicaragua 28)Gombojavyn Ochirbat (1929), General Secretary of Mongolia Communist Party 29)Alfred Moisiu (1929), President of Albania 30)Selim Hoss (1929), Prime Minister of Lebanon New entry is Selim Hoss, former PM of Lebanon who has been on the brink of death for the last three years. Choose your picks!

I chose Felix Sienra here

English singer Rick Astley, who is best known for the songs "Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Together Forever", is 57 today.

Hsing Yun's a hit here

Well I am excited for next weekend. I shall be working for Bruce Cockburn. For some reason it's being billed as a 50th anniversary show even though he's been around a few years longer

Forty years ago today - Karen Carpenter Also means it's 32 years today that my beloved childhood cat Patch died too, aged 15. RIP to both.

American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll Buddy Holly died on this day 64 years ago, aged 22.

Was first mentioned here in September 2021. We been knew.

One of those who could go tomorrow or in another five years.

Interview in the guardian too

Eighth round masterlist: Bibliogryphon: Josip Manolic Clorox Bleachman: Daniel arap Moi The Quim Reaper: Le Duc Anh Prophet: Babiker Awadalla CastAway: Yasuhiro Nakasone Ulitzer95: Hyun Soong-jong CoffinLodger: Javier Perez de Cuellar theoldlady: Jean of Luxembourg Newjack: Abdelmalek Benhabyles Sir Creep: Dawda Jawara paddyfool: Milos Jakes drol: Janez Stanovnik time: Hau Pei-tsun Lafaucheuse: Tun Tin