Heinz Wolff - d. December 15th 2017

Beyond the oddball, the 

biomechanics of wisdom;

not to teach the what,

but the how, the why.

read about Heinz Wolff here

Keith Chegwin - d. December 11th 2017

I'd like to swap something, 

anything, for a bouncy Scouser,

multi-coloured, smile fizzing 

in the very depths of his eyes.

Read about Keith Chegwin here

Johnny Hallyday - d. December 6th 2017

Quand le disque finale s’estompe

comment est-il possible d’être forte?

Nous vivons dans des temps de folie

Elvis est vivant mais Johnny est mort

Lisez à propos de Johnny Hallyday ici

Christine Keeler - d. December 4th 2017

The real scandal; that
women without friends
still take on the sins 
of invertebrate men.

read about Christine Keeler here

David Cassidy - d. November 21st 2017

This morning

I woke to a day

like a bad dream;

death in the Family,

all those damp-eyed girls

too young to know love

who thought

they loved you.

Read about David Cassidy here

Rodney Bewes - d. November 21st 2017

The truth of you

was in a million men 

called Bob; suited,

suburban, provincial, 

souvenirs of the people 

we used to be.

Read about Rodney Bewes here

Jana Novotná - d. November 19th 2017

When life contrives 

to slam your sharpest serves 

back, and back, listen 

for the whisper 

at your ear; don't worry,

you'll win this one day.

Read about Jana Novotná here

Keith Barron - d. November 15th 2017

I’m sure I saw you

on the box

only last night,

comfortably real

in a low-ratings show

where all the parts

were bit parts.

Read about Keith Barron here

Tim Gudgin - d. November 8th 2017

From the missing channel

comes a voice, nimble

cadences of scoreless draws

and late kick-offs moving like

scales to a harmonic point of rest.

Read about Tim Gudgin here

Fats Domino - d. October 24th 2017

It's the aftershow party,

everyone’s here. Fat man

grins, paws rollin’, voice 

like a slurred trombone.

Down here it's still,

the thrill is gone.

Read about Fats Domino here

George Young - d. October 22nd 2017

1 The beat was not easy 

2 One hell of a band 

3 Your mind was on Friday 

4 No flash in the pan 

5 So what’s it to be, George?

read about George Young here

Rosemary Leach - d. October 21st 2017

How often the camera

pushed you to the shoulder

of the frame, missing

that ordinary glamour,

that sultry stage-croak,

that neglected smoulder.

Read about Rosemary Leach here

Sean Hughes - d. October 15th 2017

After all the shows,

those poems of sadness

and light,

it comes to this;

a beginning, a middle

without an end,

a joke

waiting for a punchline.

Read about Sean Hughes here

Tom Petty - d. October 2nd 2017

A forgotten town,
choked in dust.
You've been here many times before.
But none step down
from this tour bus,
you won't come around here no more.

Read about Tom Petty here

Hugh Hefner - d. September 27th 2017

How revolutionary to die

in silk pyjamas, have Bunnies 
hoist your bier on bare shoulders,

walk you through man-crowds

to your father's mansion.

read about Hugh Hefner here

Tony Booth - d. September 25th 2017

St Peter hears

a cockney voice

Tell 'im to cut 'is 'air

It was good enough 

for Lennon and Trotsky; 

it's good enough 

for a randy Scouse git.

Read about Tony Booth here

Liz Dawn - September 25th 2017

I saw her; an old swamp duck
squawking through the drizzle
of a Manchester sky,
circling the sooty chimneys,
turning away across the Red Rec.

Read about Elizabeth Dawn here

William G. Stewart - d. September 21st 2017

Who said
'We start with three lives;
the one we dream of,
the one we fear,
the one we live'?
Sorry William,
lights out.

read about William G. Stewart here

Harry Dean Stanton - d. September 15th 2017

There you go,

playing your final 

haunted man,

face like a ruined mansion,

in from the blinding desert,

back to the old freezerino.

read about Harry Dean Stanton here

Grant Hart - d. September 14th 2017

Do you remember

the beautiful noise,

the hardcore honey?

Turned on the news

to hear it had been 

cut out, 

cut down to size.

Read about Grant Hart here

Frank Vincent - d. September 13th 2017

In this thing of ours

a wiseguy's worth 

his weight 

in provolone

I heard a cry 

popped the trunk

but there was

just a note that said

fuhgeddaboudit

Read about Frank Vincent here

Peter Hall - d. September 11th 2017

The play's the thing,
though the thing 
that makes the play
is not always the play.

Read about Peter Hall here

Walter Becker - d. September 3rd 2017

I bought a thrill from you,
a groove cool and literate,
spinning to its own logic.
Walter, you had my number.

read about Walter Becker here

Tobe Hooper - d. August 26th 2017

While there are shadows 

on a sinister street,

noises in the attic, 

the fuzz of TV static,

the buzz of a chainsaw

you're here.

Read about Tobe Hooper here

Brian Aldiss - d. August 19th 2017

In the non-stop seasons 
of the Universe,
some words, 
like toys, will last
all summer long.

Read about Brian Aldiss here

Jerry Lewis - d. August 20th 2017

Hail the King of Crazy,
Grand Poobah of Nutty,
Arch-Dummy, 
Lord Screwy,
Chief Goof, 
The Kook's Kook.

Read about Jerry Lewis here

Bruce Forsyth - d. August 18th 2017

No song without dance,
no crack unwise, no phrase
that wouldn't catch. 
Nothing lower than an ace:
To have known you, nice.

Read about Bruce Forsyth here

Glen Campbell - d. August 8th 2017

I laughed when I read
the part that said
you were leaving, 
but now I hear 
singing in the wires;
adios, cowboy,

Read about Glen Campbell here

Hywel Bennett - d. July 25th 2017

The call goes out
for a small-time hood,
a scalp-hunter, a rogue,
lovable or louche
but they're so hard 
to find,
harder by the day.

read about Hywel Bennett here

Robert Hardy - d. August 3rd 2017

Dark hallway.
Phone rings,
Gruff voice,
Churchillian even.  
cuts through 
the murk, 
Darrowby 85?
Sorry, 
I'm not here.

Read about Robert Hardy here

Sam Shepard - d. July 27th 2017

You go now

where the demons

cannot fly,

beyond all barriers,

soundless

through the sky.

read about Sam Shepard here

George A. Romero - d. July 16th 2017

He is laid to rest,

yet I see the twitch

of an undead limb,

see his body rise, walk.

He came for me;

he is coming for you.

Read about George A. Romero here

Martin Landau - d. July 15th 2017

Main Mission 
is impossibly silent,
all Eagles grounded. 
An Alpha Male 
falls out of orbit
with no way home.

Read about Martin Landau here

Liu Xiaobo - d. July 13th 2017

[This Otwituary
has been censored.
Its author is under
house arrest. Anyone
circulating it will 
be subject to arrest
and imprisonment].

Read about Liu Xiaobo here

Ray Phiri - d. July 12th 2017

The train of music

stops at every station,

yet is unstoppable.

It comes for you now,

whistling through the veldt,

whispering in the deep.

Read about Ray Phiri here

Barry Norman - d. June 30th 2017

In the dark screening of life

it is not enough

to watch but not see,

to see but not understand,

to understand but not tell.

Read abou Barry Norman here

Michael Bond - d. June 27th 2017

At the word herbidacious
the gate opens; a man
steps through, duffled,
marmalade-flecked.
Handwritten label pleads
Please look after this writer.

Read about Michael Bond here

Brian Cant - d. June 19th 2017

Ready to play?
(that's P-L-A-Y)
then throw wide 
the windows,
throw out the rules.
I lived in a house;
you made it a school.

Read about Brian Cant here

Adam West - June 9th 2017

Foolishly, I left the 

Death Repellent Spray

in the Batcopter

and BIFF! BANG! POW!

you had slid down

the Batpole of eternity.

Read about Adam West here

Peter Sallis - d. June 2nd 2017

1921 was a good vintage;

dignified on the nose, grassy 

and autumnal on the tongue, 

hint of hills and motorcycle tyres.

Would go well with cheese.

read about Peter Sallis here

Roy Barraclough - d. June 1st 2017

Last time I saw him

he was by the optics,

Embassy Regal 

and a large Irish,

face like a busted sofa,
a hint of lipstick,

ringing last orders.

Read about Roy Barraclough here

John Noakes - d. May 28th 2017

So many ways to go;
the unopened parachute,
the mangled bobsled,
the rogue elephant.
Instead, the fading steps
of a man, following his dog.

Read about John Noakes here

Roger Moore - d. May 23rd 2017

I was unwilling to be
persuaded of your death,
believing the final bullet
would be yours,
that you would always
keep the British end up.

Read about Roger Moore here

Chris Cornell - d. May 17th 2017

This morning brought me no euphoria;
the sun off sick with melancholia.
A voice I thought to be unstoppable
tails off into the superunknowable.

Read about Chris Cornell here

Geoffrey Bayldon - d. May 10th 2017

You were 
my brother-in-magic,
stepping out 
of a pre-electrick age,
hiding out 
in the tower 
of my childhood.

Read about Geoffrey Bayldon here

Robert Miles - d. May 9th 2017

I’m in the queue

for a club called Dreamland. 

Dancers a thousand deep, 

blissed out and young again,

wait for the piano, 

the eternal breakdown.

Read about Robert Miles here

Leo Baxendale - d. April 23rd 2017

When the bell rings
and it's time to go
I will remember you;
a crafty smirk, 
a smoking nib,
a style that was
never too cool 
for school.


Read about Leo Baxendale here

Jonathan Demme - d. April 26tth 2017

In close-up
no-one blinks.
In close-up
the twist is always out of shot.
In close up
it starts making sense.

read about Jonathan Demme here

Clifton James - d. April 15th 2017

In this Parish,

everybody needs

to breach the peace

once in a while,

cut and run,

churn up the bayou

and that means you, smartass.

Read about Clifton James here

John Geils Jr. - d. April 11th 2017

Eventually

all blood runs cold,

and phantom rockers

may behold

their cloud-girt angel

as God's centrefold.

Read about J. Geils here