RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I heard on thae radio that Gene Pitney died in France age 65. Best know for "Town Without Pity". That was camped up nicely by Kirstie Alley and John Travolta in "Look Who's Talking". Pitney was inducted into the R&R HoF in 1992. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLD 55 Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I'm really sorry to hear that. I think he was possibly the best Pop Singer never to have a U.S. #1. He used to visit Australia regularly and we loved him. His last #1 here was "Blue Angel" in 1975, which never even made the Hot 100 in the U.S. R.I.P. GENE + Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Seeker Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Was he ill or something? 65 is no age. I always liked his music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 More: Singing legend Gene Pitney found dead The star is discovered in his hotel bed American singing legend Gene Pitney has been found dead in his bed. Pitney, who was mid way through a UK tour, was discovered in his bed at the Cardiff Hilton. The star scored 22 UK Top 40 hits during his long career. His first hit was '(I Wanna) Love My Life Away' in 1961, but he took another 28 years to score a Number One, when his duet with Marc Almond on 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart' went all the way to the top. Other massive hits included '24 Hours From Tulsa' and 'I'm Gonna Be Strong'. Pitney had played a show last night (April 4) at Cardiff St Davids Hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Still more: Singer Gene Pitney dies on tour in UK LONDON (Reuters) - American singer Gene Pitney, who shot to fame in the 1960s with hits including "24 hours from Tulsa," has died while on tour in Britain, his agent said on Wednesday. Jene Levy said Pitney, 65, died on Wednesday morning in the Welsh capital Cardiff where he had given a concert the day before. There was no immediate word on the cause of death. South Wales police said they had been called to a hotel at 0850 GMT (4:50 a.m. EST) on Wednesday morning and that the death was not being treated as suspicious. His agent said his wife, Lynne, had been told of his death. Pitney also left three sons, David, Todd, and Chris. Born on February 17, 1941 in Hartford, Connecticut, Pitney initially had no real ambition to be a singer. According to his official Web site, as a boy he was more at home collecting stamps and coins, trapping mink and muskrat and experimenting with electronics. But music gradually began to take over his life and he formed a band while a student at Rockville High School. After high school, Pitney teamed up with singer Ginny Arnell and recorded for Decca as Jamie & June. His initial successes came when other musicians recorded his songs and he concentrated on writing rather than performing. Roy Orbison released "Today's teardrops" as the B-side of his hit single "Blue Angel" in 1960, while "Rubber Ball" became a million-seller hit for American artist Bobby Vee and Britain's Marty Wilde. Pitney then began to record his own songs, scoring his first American top 20 hit with the title song from the move "Town without pity." Another movie theme, "The man who shot Liberty Valance" gave him another hit but it was the 1963 release of "24 hours from Tulsa" that brought him worldwide fame. Pitney had 16 top 40 songs in the United States from 1961 to 1968, and he had 40 hit songs in Britain up to 1974. He enjoyed a revival in Britain in 1990 when his duet with Marc Almond "Something's gotten hold of my heart" reached number one. © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Sad indeed. Gene Pitney was one of my favorite pop singers of the rock and roll age. He also had some success as a songwriter though just about all of his hits were written by others. He wrote He's A Rebel for The Crystals, Hello Mary Lou for Ricky Nelson, Darkness and Twenty Two Days for Roy Orbison to name a few. Darryl, I think he'd reached number one with songs he'd written. He had a lot of success singing in languages other than English, primarily Italian and Spanish plus some German. He also wrote many foreign language hits for acts all over the world. Saw him last year in concert on PBS. He was outstanding. He was immensely popular in Philly and in his hometown of Boston. Some of my favorite Pitney hits are: I Wanna Love My Life Away Every Breath I Take Half Heaven, Half Heartache Only Love Can Break A Heart (Bacharach) 24 Hours From Tulsa Mecca I'm Gonna Be Strong (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weill) Last Chance To Turn Around Town Without Pity (from the movie of the same name, though not used as the theme) Girl Belongs To Yesterday (Mick Jagger) Hello Mary Lou (a big hit he wrote for Ricky Nelson) I'm Sorry (Buck Ram) Looking Through The Eyes Of Love (Mann/Weill) She's A Heartbreaker Laurie (never heard it but I include it here for you know who) Leave My Laurie Alone (same as above..LOL) For some interesting facts about Gene Pitney (Rolling Stones, Maryann Faitful, etc.) go here>> GENE PITNEY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 ...and he performed the night before he died, just like Buck Owens a week or so ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 24 hours from Tulsa ... sweet . Only 56 !? Watch what you eat Uncle Joe/ Ronjon , don't need any 'music news' about you, now ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I have my obit on file in case I check out. Just ask Carl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Does it state, " Currently 8th in Fantasy Baseball " ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Whoa! Sa-maaaaaack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Does it state, " Currently 8th in Fantasy Baseball " ? No, but it does give mention of me as a suspect in the brutal slaying of a fantasy league commish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 That DOES carry the death ... and hung out for carrion penalty , as you well know ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Funny, it goes on to say I was cleared on all charges... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 ...in NJ , but you've been husteled out of there by an elite group of statistic-fixin', computer -savy , ninjas, by my inlaws who want PAYMENT , baby ... you're a smart Joisey boy, ain't ya ... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 They let you in the family...how elite can they be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 "We are Siamese ...if you please..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katie_sane Posted April 6, 2006 Report Share Posted April 6, 2006 I love the song 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart' (the original, without Marc Almond). Listening to it now. RIP Gene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLD 55 Posted April 6, 2006 Report Share Posted April 6, 2006 Same here Katie. It was a much better version. He was more popular in Britain, other parts of Europe and Australia than the U.S. after his hits dried up there. He had Hits here that never charted in the U.S. Have you heard Trans Canada Highway ? That was a #1 for him here in Brisbane in 1975. My Wife saw him way back in the 60s on his first visit here and he opened with If I Didn't Have A Dime which was a Hit only in Australia then I believe. I think America went crazy over the British Groups in the mid 60s and U.S. stars like Gene, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, etc. suddenly found they had bigger followings outside their own Country. As I said earlier in this thread, the greatest pop singer never to have a U.S. #1 (as an artist). The only U.S. #1 that I know of that he wrote was He's A Rebel, released as by The Crystals, but actually sung by The Blossoms with the great Darlene Love on lead vocals. They were regulars on T.V.'s "Shindig". Probably the biggest world-wide Hit he wrote would be Bobby Vee's Rubber Ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel2Velvet Posted April 6, 2006 Report Share Posted April 6, 2006 I heard on thae radio that Gene Pitney died in France age 65. Best know for "Town Without Pity". That was camped up nicely by Kirstie Alley and John Travolta in "Look Who's Talking". Pitney was inducted into the R&R HoF in 1992. My favorite of Pitney's recordings was Only Love Can Break A Heart. Johnny Burnette's recording of the Pitney song Rubber Ball was among the first 45's I ever bought with my own money. I recall when hearing Black Is Black for the first time, thinking that was a great Pitney song, only to learn later it was a group called Los Bravos who had the "Pitney-sound." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 (edited) Here is Gene Pitney's BBC obituary. Obituary: Gene Pitney Pitney's career spanned five decades Gene Pitney went from being a successful songwriter for other acts to become a major international pop star in his own right. He enjoyed more than 20 hits, including songs like Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa and Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart. With an unmistakeable singing voice, at once plaintive and melodramatic, Gene Pitney had hits on both sides of the Atlantic. A friend of The Rolling Stones, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach, Pitney was also a noted songwriter. He was born on 17 February 1941 in Hartford Connecticut and soon gained a reputation as a musician while studying at the nearby Rockville High School, where he earned the nickname the Rockville Rocket. But his early flirtation as a performer initially failed to lead to anything bigger. Undaunted, Pitney moved to New York, where he worked as a songwriter at the fabled Brill Building alongside titans like Carole King, Gerry Goffin and Doc Pomus. Success Success was not slow to come, and he was soon penning hits like Rubber Ball for Bobby Vee and Ricky Nelson's Hello Mary Lou. By 1961, when The Crystals' He's a Rebel gave Pitney his first US No 1 hit as a writer, he was a star in his own right. But Pitney's career was anything if predictable. After his own successful 1961 single, (I Wanna) Love My Life Away, he was approached by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. They co-wrote three of his best known hits, Only Love Can Break a Heart, (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance and the classic 24 Hours from Tulsa. Together with songs like Town Without Pity and Half Heaven-Half Heartache, they constituted a formidable range of work. Pitney also enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with country music legend George Jones, with whom he recorded an album of duets. And, in 1964, he met The Rolling Stones, whose then manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, was his publicist - and recorded the Jagger-Richards composition That Girl Belongs to Yesterday Always more popular in the UK than America, Pitney also made his mark in Italy, Spain and Germany. More recently, he could be found duetting with Marc Almond on an 1989 version of Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart which gave him his only UK No 1 hit. Pitney later reflected: "Musically I got along perfect with Marc. The video in the middle of the desert, with me in the white tux and him in the leather, that was great." Edited April 7, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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