RIP, Jon English

Could musicians I loved when I was a kid please, please STOP DYING!!  It seems I can't go a week, if not a day, without looking at my news feed, or turning on the television to hear someone I admired has gone to that great gig in the sky.  Stevie Wright.  David Bowie.  The other day we lost Ross Hannaford from Daddy Cool.  Now we've lost Jon English!  Whhhhyyyyyy?? (Wailing in anguish and gesticulating like a crazed ham attempting to play King Lear).

I loved that gravelly husky voice of Jon's.  He had such a good rock voice, and he was fantastic as Judas in the first Aussie production of  'Jesus Christ Superstar'.  Trivia: you probably already know Australia cast the first ever black Mary Madeline (although I'm supposed to say person of colour) with Marcia Hines taking the role, but did you know Trevor White, who played Jesus, provided the singing voice of Rocky Horror in the film 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'?  You didn't?  Now, aren't you grateful you're reading this, because you might have gone to your respective graves not knowing this riveting factoid.  Go on You Tube and you will find a television performance of Jon performing 'Heaven On Their Mind'; old black and white, and I think he nails the inner worry and torment Judas was experiencing watching the Jesus brand spiralling out of control.  And yes, if 4BC had some of today's catch phrases, perhaps Jesus would have been a 'brand'. 

My favourite Jon English number is 'Hot Town'.  Love the lyrics: 'So you think you've got it made/At least for a while/Always sitting in the shade/Adjusting your smile...'.  I like Jon's delivery and the cynicism in the song, and the subtle derision directed toward some socialite type.

And - some will think this blasphemy - my LEAST favourite is 'Six Ribbons'.  Look, I hate it.  I just do.  I loved the television series 'Against The Wind' (which will no doubt be on sale on DVD is all good stores now).  Saw Jon in an interview once when he said he got the inspiration for that song whilst 'sitting on the loo'.  Yeah, I get that; the song's a turd.

That band in Rock and Roll Heaven is getting better and better, and we are being left poorer and poorer.  Christ strike a light, we've got clowns like Kanye West, and associated clowns like the Kardashians polluting this planet with their inanity, so can whatever is killing our great musos please bloody well STOP?!!!  Maybe there should be a telethon to raise funds to research whatever insidious phenomenon is striking down these great musicians.