h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Brian Rix
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37142153

I once spent an evening at the Proms watching some Beethoven from one of his pair of debenture seats (a friend knew his son).

Gene Wilder
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37218639

His collaborations with Mel Brooks are some of the best comedy I think I've ever seen.

When I heard he died from Alzheimer's, I didn't feel quite so sad. Such a dreadful disease.

According to a statement from the family though, he still recognized his loved ones and had most of his faculties. While it's a hard loss, at least he was spared the worst of it.

2016 just sucks.

The statement from his family has been bouncing around twitter. It's a poignant read.

http://twitter.com/ABC/status/770355467017224192

Frank Dickens (two months ago)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Dickens

I rarely bought the Evening Standard so I didn't often see the Bristow cartoon strip, but I remember it clearly for some reason, like Fred Bassett in the... Daily Mail? Which I never ever bought. I do still own one copy of the Standard though - the one with a picture on the front page of Thatcher being driven out of Buck House on that happy day in November 1990 when she tendered her resignation to Liz, with the splash headline 'It's a funny old world'.

Arnold Palmer
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37469392

I've never been much of a fan of golf, and I certainly have never wanted to play golf (I'm with Mark Twain), but I did go through a period, several years ago when Peter Allis was the main BBC golf commentator, of enjoying watching it on television. And if you watched golf, or even knew that such a thing as golf existed, the name Arnold Palmer was known to you. Every sport has its legendary names, and Arnold Palmer was one of those.

Weirdly, The Simpsons referenced his eponymous drink last night on the season premiere. Specifically, Homer and Carl were going to "Arnold Palmer" Lenny by filling one Super Soaker™ with iced tea and one with lemonade.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/26/arnold-palmer-simpsons-season-premiere-joke

Jimmy Perry
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37747619

Dad's Army is one of those sitcoms that could only be made by the BBC and could/would probably never be made now. It Ain't Half Hot Mum could *definitely* never be made now - we're far too fragile and precious to put up with that kind of thing Never quite got a handle on Hi-de-Hi though.

But I didn't realise until just now that Jimmy Perry's first writing credit was The Gnomes of Dulwich http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gnomes_of_Dulwich

I remember a schoolfriend going on about it each week (on Tuesday mornings I think, so it must have been shown Monday evening*) and I may or may not have seen an episode of it (I have some vague memories of it), but I'm unlikely to these days because all episodes were wiped by the BBC

*Looking at the dates in the Wikipedia article and scrolling back through the calendar on my PC confirms that it was indeed broadcast on Mondays BBC2 if I remember rightly.

Jimmy Young
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37903108

Whatever anyone might have thought of him, he was a part of the nation's fabric for good many years. He got namechecked by The Stranglers for goodness sake. There's fame!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFIAYai7J4E

I'm on this record

And file that one under "I had no idea he was still alive", by the way.

Crikey, nor did I.

"What's the recipe today, Jim?"

"Well, Raymondo..."

Fidel Castro
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38114953

Although a great many people don't care for him and there were some questionable things done under his jurisdiction, he was undoubtedly a major 20th century world figure.

Peter Vaughan
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/dec/06/peter-vaughan-obituary

There were so many wonderful performances in Porridge it'd be hard to pick one out above the others (apart from Fletch, of course), but I always looked forward to any episode that included genial Harry Grout.

Greg Lake
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38251936

Not only was Trilogy by Emerson, Lake and Palmer one of the first LPs I ever bought (sadly, I no longer have that copy, or any other), and not only was the first gig I ever went to by a band called Premiata Forneria Marconi, aka PFM who were signed to ELP's Manticore label (Greg Lake was there, as was Peter Gabriel in a red velvet suit and various other prog rock luminati), and not only was the support act at that gig Pete Sinfield who was also signed to Manticore and who was in King Crimson with Greg Lake, but I very nearly bought Greg Lake a drink at another PFM gig, which was the only time I ever went to The Rainbow Finsbury Park.

So there

John Glenn
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-13561650

Whose death I rather forgot to include here last week

Rabbi Lionel Blue
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38365805

As most of you know I'm heavily atheist and antithetical towards religion, but the people who were regulars on Thought for the Day. like Lionel Blue and Gerald Priestland, were always worth listening to.

Rick Parfitt
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38427459

I remember, during the 1960s, Status Quo when they were a psychedelic band with songs like Pictures of Matchstick Men and Like Ice in the Sun, but soon afterwards they changed out of all recognition. There's a trio of albums from the early 70s - Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon, Dog of Two Head and Piledriver - which are solid blues/heavy rock typical of the period.

Dog of Two Head is my favourite of the three, and with Piledriver you can see which way they were going - on the way to become one of the biggest acts of British pop and rock in the 70s and 80s.

I often listen to Dog of Two Head, even still. It must have been wonderful, and also hell, being a touring rock-and-roller in the early and mid 70s

George Michael
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38432862

Given his (reported) rock and roll lifestyle, one can't say one's exactly surprised. I do have a guilty pleasure sort of soft spot for Careless Whisper. It's a bloody good song.