A World Without Pitney

Last week I heard the news about Gene Pitney's death shortly after the radio show. It was also around that time I heard about the tragic death of Wonder Stuff drummer Martin Gilks.

Both deaths came as a shock. Pitney was in the midst of a world tour and had died in his sleep the night after a successful gig in Cardiff, Wales. Gilks died shortly after his motorcycle accident on Sunday, April 2nd.

I was recently amazed to discover that Pitney was still touring on a regular basis. He's one of those singers with a very unique voice. I still don't know how much of it he had during these later years. Nonetheless, his string of hits in the '60s are very eclectic and really added a nice charm to the already charming mid-'60s hit feast.

Gilks was someone I got know through numerous meetings when The Stuffies toured the states. I was there at their 1st NYC gig at The New Ritz when Matt Pinfield went up after the show to meet everyone. After that it was a match made in heaven. Pinfield made New Brunswick, "Stourbridge Central." (Stourbridge, being their hometown located in the midlands of England.)

Loads of memories were made during the quick run of the early '90s when the band came through, either on tour or during promo visits. Most of the time we saw Martin was when the band was playing. Most of the socializng was up to Miles and Malc (the guitarist).

Still, Gilksy left a mark as one of those rare cool British musicians who always said hello and gave you some time to tell him how much his band meant to you. You know he didn't take it for granted. As a drummer, he was a machine (well, he did have 2 legs of the 8-legged Groove Machine). His stamp is all over their records, especially the early albums when the energy was palpable.

Gilks was part of the band's 2000 U.K. reunion, but did not take part with the reformed band that toured the states last year behind a new album. It was the only letdown of that U.S. tour.

Gilks was 41. Sir Gene Pitney was 65.