We didn't only lose Ronnie Spector last week. R. Dean Taylor also passed away, although I wouldn't have known that if someone hadn't mentioned it on facebook, it wasn't widely reported.
Canadian singer-songwriter Richard Dean Taylor is only known for a handful of hits, most notably Indiana Wants Me and There's A Ghost In My House, memorably covered by The Fall. (In that video, Mark E. Smith looks like that kid in the 6th Form that you really wanted to smack in the face, but you knew he'd get his mates to beat you up if you did.)
When Holland / Dozier / Holland left Motown, Taylor joined Frank Wilson, Pam Sawyer and Deke Richards to form "The Clan", a group of writers in charge of coming up with hits for the big guns such as Diana Ross & The Supremes. As such, he co-wrote two of my favourite Supremes songs, Love Child and I'm Livin' In Shame.
A pretty fine legacy, all told, though there's more to be enjoyed than just the hits. Here's one of his lesser-known tunes...
Word of his passing flew unjustly under the radar. Sad news.
ReplyDeleteMissed that news. Just like Ronnie, I’ve written about him over at my place but they’re coming so thick and fast now I can’t keep up.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t know about the Clan or his involvement in those songs. They’re leaving a legacy these stars of the 60s.
Sad news. Gotta See Jane is a banger.
ReplyDeleteYou're not wrong there
DeleteHadn't realised about this loss either, nor about his involvement with the Clan and the great songs he co-wrote. Just reminded myself of There's A Ghost In My House and Gotta See Jane too, and it suddenly struck me how there's quite a brilliant fuzzy garagey sound going on, not dissimilar to the Electric Prunes, excellent - I just hadn't heard them in quite that way before.
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