Still more adventures in research
A way long time ago, during the British Invasion of the mid-'60s, I had a medium-size crush on a British rock-n-roller named Ian Whitcomb. His big hit was "You Turn Me On" and I remember he was a pretty enthusiastic showman on programs like Shindig and Hullabaloo. But even on his first rock album, he had what was probably an old British music-hall song called "Poor But Honest", and he later had a hit with an old Al Jolson tune, "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday on Saturday Night?" And of course, he went on from there to become a much-respected historian of old British music-hall tunes, with his own radio show: I saw him in concert at the Huntington Library several years ago, gray-haired, slender, and cute as ever. He passed away in April of 2020 - I have heard, from COVID, though on-line it's listed as complications from a stroke suffered 8 years previously. He had an office and did research at the Huntington Library, and this book - After ...