I never even thought about him for thirty years. But I’ve cried twice and I’m looking up the lyrics to Careless Whisper, (which IS one of the finest pop songs of our era). Am I crying for him or for my lost youth?
I’m glad he achieved success and happiness, even if cut down before his time. It’s ironic that at the same time a new Jeep commercial with the unmistakeable voice of Cat Stevens, the other Greek-turned-Brit superstar, is in heavy rotation on TV.
Cat Stevens just finished a major 50th anniversary tour and I’m glad to hear he’s still going strong. For awhile there he was erroneously placed on the no-fly list by people who didn’t know the difference between Muslims and terrorists, but that’s all resolved unless Trump starts acting up again.
I go back a long way with Cat Stevens’ music When my aunt in Palo Alto was teaching special needs kindergartners, I helped with the class one day. They were learning “Moonshadow” and they picked it up quickly. His songs are like folk songs, “simple” in the good sense. Does the Arcata Gospel Choir ever do “Peace Train”? That would be, as we used to say in Hawaii, chicken -skin.
END
Im still teary every time I hear his voice, I slept out at Wembley stadium for the Fubal, front row, still have my ticket, it was a large part of my teenage life..so very missed
Thanks for writing. He went ‘way too young.
My heart is breaking listening to his music
I loved his voice so so much
there is such a lump in my throat right now
crying on my own.
god i loved that mans lovely voice
He was one of the great ones.
I remember when my parents got all busted up when the icons of their youth started dying off. I wondered what the fuss was about at the time.
Now I understand. It feels like the whole world is leaving us behind with strangers.
Ain’t that the truth!!!!?
Until the article on his death, I had never heard of him, which is surprising since I keep up on the music industry. I wonder how he escaped my radar.
As to Cat Stevens, I heard that he recently decided to go back to his given name. I have forgotten his Islamic name. Got to revisit his album “Buddah and the Chocolate Box”
“Careless Whisper” went to #1 in 25 countries. You probably had the good sense to avoid discos in the early ’80’s. When Cat Stevens had that hassle with homeland security right after 911 he was put on the no-fly list apparently because his Islamic name, Yusef Islam, is shared by a lot of folks. The TSA got a lot of bad publicity for busting him while he was on a trip to Vermont, where he records, and they left his 10 year old daughter wandering around Logan on her own. I find myself digging out a lot of old LP’s lately. Cheers.