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The singer and musician Roger Whittaker has died aged 87; he could be seen on his own shows and also as guests on other peoples; one of his shows was a lesser-spotted Westward TV programme on the ITV network. I do remember an It'll Be Alright on the Night Outtake when he started to play a song on a very late 1980s LWT stage and he then interjected: "I can't remember the first line". He did that 1986 duet with Des O'Connor (I believe that it was first performed on Des' chat show), and thankfully, no one gave as much stick for Whittaker as they did for O'Connor.
He was born in Nairobi which was then part of British Kenya. For obvious reasons, I thought he came from the North East, notably Durham, hence his 1969 hit Durham Town (The Leavin'); I actually thought that he grew up there and that he was singing about the town as a tribute to is childhood - did anyone else think that or was it just me? (I am probably thinking of Alan Price of his "Set" fame who had a hit with the Jarrow Song and also came from there). No wonder the North East regional news didn't mention his demise on their bulletins, despite the mention of Durham in one of his songs. He passed away in France.
He was born in Nairobi which was then part of British Kenya. For obvious reasons, I thought he came from the North East, notably Durham, hence his 1969 hit Durham Town (The Leavin'); I actually thought that he grew up there and that he was singing about the town as a tribute to is childhood - did anyone else think that or was it just me? (I am probably thinking of Alan Price of his "Set" fame who had a hit with the Jarrow Song and also came from there). No wonder the North East regional news didn't mention his demise on their bulletins, despite the mention of Durham in one of his songs. He passed away in France.
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