Tania Mallet - d. March 30th 2019

The mountains ring
with a single gunshot,
a sniper's requiem,
for a girl who could, 
with one feline look,
kill little boys
like me.

An Otwituary for Tania Mallet

Shane Rimmer - d. March 29th 2019

Up, into the capsule,
up, blasting through 
the swimming pool,
wings opening out.
Here it comes: death, 
the ultimate rescue.

Read about Shane Rimmer here

'Ranking' Roger Charlery - d. March 26th 2019

I heard your song, 
Rude Boy.
You moved my little feet,
and I had to come around.
Top ranking indeed,
full stop.

Read about Ranking Roger here

Scott Walker - d. March 25th 2019

The orchestra plays
a symphony of pain.
Then, your voice,
rich with regret, 
deep as a cello,
the sound
of an empty ship,
a setting sun.



Read about Scott Walker here

Dick Dale - d. March 16th 2019

Guitar,
like a corkscrew of surf,
like a crossfire of drums,
like a cracking of bones,
then reverb, reverb, reverb.

read about Dick Dale here

Jan-Michael Vincent - d. March 8th 2019

Where did you go?
The daydream of youth,
salt-caked, sun-bleached
lost in some Great Swell,
cut to tatters in the chop
of distant rotor blades.

read about Jan-Michael Vincent here

Magenta Devine - d. March 6th 2019

Saints and martyrs
are leafing through features
in old issues of The Face:

• How are youth wearing celestial raiment this season? 
• Death: this year's must-have accessory

In the byline, a picture of you: 
edgy, resolutely on-trend.


Read about Magenta Devine here

Keith Flint - d. March 4th 2019

You were the trouble starter, 

snarling intimidator,
the beat addicted, 

punk blowback liquidator,

fire-eating terminator.

 

Read about Keith Flint here 

André Previn - d. February 28th 2019

St Cecilia will be there,
Toscanini at her shoulder.
Grieg is waiting too, to 
grab you by the lapels,
slap your cheeks, saying
What kept you, sunshine?

read about André Previn here

Mark Hollis - d. February 2019

In a future Eden,
lit by a music
made of space,
I will find you,
garland you with
grass, tell how
I’ve seen genius
for myself.

Read about Mark Hollis here

Peter Tork - d. February 21st 2019

I write the bass line

to your bubblegum meditation.

It tells, for Pete’s sake,

how, in that generation,

you made the world shine.

read about Peter Tork here

Gordon Banks - d. February 12th 2019

The sun's a ball,
the pitch a universe.
Posts, left and right,
distant galaxies.
You dive, full stretch, 
over and over. Saved!
And even angels, weary 
of miracles, cannot believe
the action replay.

Read about Gordon Banks here

Albert Finney - d. February 8th 2019

It's unhappy hour

in our Salford boozer:

sit down, angry man,

detective, gangster, 
ghillie. We'll have one for 
the road. Make that two.

Read about Albert Finney here

Julie Adams - d. February 3rd 2019

No creature could lay
a claw upon you: instead,
it is time's lagoon
that claims you,
drags you to the place
from which none return.

Read about Julie Adams here

Jeremy Hardy - d. February 1st 2019

I am tuned to stations
of you: the droll motions
you set before the nation,
regardless of fad or fashion,
red in tooth, and emotion,
way off-key, but with a passion.

Read about Jeremy Hardy here

Hugh McIlvanney - d . January 24th 2019

Some write only
of the goal,
the punch,
the victory.
Others,
the soul of the crowd,
the spirit in the knockdown,
the unfolding universe
in the eternal game.

Read about Hugh McIlvanney here

Windsor Davies - d. January 17th 2019

Jungle steams as gunners toil
at hollowing a grave. Left behind,
the corpse of empire, boiled
down to a Battery Sergeant Major’s bark.
Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.

read about Windsor Davies here

Ray Sawyer - d. December 31st 2018

Johnny Depp rang
to compare patches.
Bez called up
to talk maracas,
but the operator said
40 cents more
for the next
three
minutes...

Read more about Ray Sawyer here

June Whitfield - d. December 28th 2018

I know a comic heaven,
set in the broad suburbs,
part fabulous, part glum,
your name always
somewhere near the top
of the celestial credits.

read about June Whitfield here

Sister Wendy Beckett - d. December 26th 2018

On the silent canvas,
the indelible strokes
of a life painted
as a perfect tryptich:
Art. Love. Faith.

read about Sister Wendy here