Gene Pitney who was on a tour of the UK has been found dead in his hotel room in Cardiff. There is a link below to the BBC story.

Very sad. I first became aware of him properly in my late teens when he dueted with Marc Almond (one of my hero's) and had a massive hit over here with 'Somethings gotten Hold of my Heart'
Tony
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4878926.stm

Tony, Pitney was a great talent..

Talk about generation gaps..My son in law said "Who was he", when I mentioned Gene died..

My musical son, told my wife[who also didn't recall him by name, only when I mentioned "Town without pity"]...he was a country singer..

At least some of our generation know who he was....

Fran,
I have only just learned today that Gene was far more popular over here than he ever was in his homeland. This surprised me greatly when you consider that he worked as a songwriter alongside the likes of Carole King, Burt Bacharach Hal David and others.

I also learned today that he is widely credited with helping the Rolling Stones make it in America.

When you look at the list of tributes being made to him it is a veritable who's who of the music industry. He also seems to be regarded as a real gentleman which is something you don't see that often these days.

best wishes
Tony

Gene Pitney was a favorite of mine since the early sixties. Maybe he was a little too emotional for mainstream America, but I was into that, as the Italians seem to be. In fact, one of my favorites was the Italian version of "If I Didn'T Have a Dime (for the Jukebox). Other favorites: Town Without Pity (now Town Without Pitney), 24 Hours From Tulsa, Only Love Can Break the Heart, Every Breath I Take, Mecca, Donna, Not Responsible, True Love Never Runs Smooth. I have a well worn Gene Pitney's Big 16 vinyl somewhere.

Clif