Buddy Holly remembered

I can't let today go by without saying something about Buddy Holly. 50 years ago today he died in a plane crash. Music lost a great talent, an innovator and someone who would have become a real star of the TV years. If he'd lived, he would only be 72 now and still capable no doubt of wowing the fans. And I think that goes for Richie Valens and the Big Bopper too, both of whom have lasted the test of time.

I remember listening to Buddy Holly records that friends played on Dansette record players in the early 60's, with the auto changer dropping each record rather vigorously! His death was still a raw event, although I was not old enough to take it all in at the age of eight. Becoming a teenager awakened me to Holly tunes. There was Buddy himself and the Crickets as a backing group or as themselves. I never quite knew which was which, until I was older. If I was "cast away on a desert island" I think I would take Rave On as one of my eight gramophone records. I could hew a wooden guitar from some floating log and strum away knowing my air guitar would amuse without any critical acclaim.

Oh Boy!