RIP Kelly!

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Kelly Groucutt died Thursday, Feb. 19, I just found out yesterday. Many of you may be clueless about who Mr. Groucutt was, but some of you 70s types have heard the bass lines on a number of ELO records from the 70s and early 80s. For those of you who don't know, ELO was a British group who combined rock and classical arrangements to come up with some great songs. It was a seven member group led by Jeff Lynne, British singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer. Together they made such songs as "Can't Get It Out of My Head," "Evil Woman," both gems from 1975, and 1976's "Strange Magic," my all time favourite from those guys. I remember seeing Mr. Groucutt on "American Bandstand" as a 12-year-old. I can remember being amazed at his first name: "A guy--named Kelly?" I said to myself. You see, I had this thing for a girl at my school, a certain blond-haired girl two years my junior, by that name. So anything Kelly stood out to me! And I remember not being so sure how to pronounce the last name...was it GROW-kut, or GROU-kut? I have heard it pronounced both ways. Apparently, Mr. Groucutt passed away in his native England of a heart attack at age 63. You know, I went on YouTube yesterday, and saw pics of him from 1973--his long, curly hair,and bushy style sideburns. Then I saw recent pictures of him--bald, thick glasses. And I thought to myself, "Too bad we all must age and die," as one poster on that site also said. The other thing I thought, "Time sure does fly!" My condolences to the Groucutt family, and the other former members of the Electric Light Orchestra. You know, even though Lynne sung lead on most or all of ELO's hits, Groucutt could also hold his own too. Don't believe me? Go to YouTube, enter Kelly Groucutt there, and take a listen to some of his solo work.