Oh Jimmy You've Gone - Harry Ludlam

[jkdunham]

Oh Jimmy You've Gone by Harry Ludlam
An NEL Original, First paperback edition August 1974

"He was a chart-topper after death - or was it a ghost?"

Another cover I'd really like to share with you if I had my scanner handy - though I don't think Photobucket would be any too happy about it. This one shows a naked woman draped over a Dansette-style record player with a load of singles and LPs scattered across what appears to be an off-cut of carpet. That's right, I'm talking sophistication - NEL '70s photo-cover style.

I'm still reading this one - occasionally - so this review will be more of a work in progress than a finished article (Dem, feel free to jump in and talk about crisps any time you like).

Harry Ludlam is, I suppose, best known for his 1962 A Biography Of Dracula: The Life Story Of Bram Stoker, but he also edited some Elliott O'Donnell and other 'True Ghost' books and wrote several novels. Ash-Tree Press reprinted his 1964 book, The Coming Of Jonathan Smith a few years back as part of their Classic Macabre series and his 'Gothic Horror' novel, Witch's Curse - "She was doomed to be the next victim of an ancient curse... 'Ye shall meet hideous death in the arms of a creature from beyond the grave...'" - was published by Award Books in 1969 with one of those 'pale and interesting woman in a long, floaty dress standing in front of an old house' covers that all those 'Gothic' paperbacks seemed to have.

But back to Jimmy. And where it is exactly he's gone.

Superstar singing sensation Jimmy Keyes had the world at his feet - hit records like "Travellin' Far" had brought him fame, fortune and an army of devoted fans. He'd even become a familiar sight at Brand's Hatch in his purple polka-dot crash helmet and shiny red Lotus racing car. But it was all cut tragically short when the twin-engined charter plane carrying Jimmy, his manager, his musical director, and his group The Storm Centre crashed into Devil's Peak in heavy fog leaving no survivors.
Two years on and distraught members of his fan club still gather on top of Devil's Peak to pay homage to their now-immortal idol, just as they did on that foggy night in the aftermath of the fateful crash when some over-zealous fans made off with some rather ghoulish souvenirs such as the infamous 'Dead Man's Hand' - "It was cut off at the wrist, you know, clean as a whistle. Unscarred, pink and perfect" - still bearing two of Jimmy's rings.

Herman Swann, the less than scrupulous music impresario who helped shape Jimmy's career from his swish Denmark Street offices, is always on the lookout for the next big thing. Could it be ropey rockers, Magical Destruction, with their shock-haired, pouty-lipped, vermillion-striped pyjama trouser-wearing, spliff-happy lead singer, Franky ("Crazy, man!")? Well, maybe. If they keep off the grass, get their hair cut, and change their name to 'God Bless The Gas Light And Coke Company'. And get some decent material. The Magicals' audition piece, 'P.G.W. Watford' didn't really do it for Mr Swann;

"When I read your letter in the agony column
Hot blood ran to my head.
Oh, P.G.W. Watford,
I tell you my heart really bled...

Hear me, P.G.W. Watford
You're the girl I'm rootin' for.
Little Miss, wacky Miss, groovy Miss Watford,
I gotta be yours - I gotta be yours for ev-er mo-re..."

(I don't know, I think it's got something)

But Herman Swann isn't finished with Jimmy Keyes yet. Jimmy's records still dominate the Top Twenty charts, and not just re-releases of classics like "Travellin' Far" but new material recorded "before his death". Still, it's been two years now since the horrific crash. Could Swann have found some way to make hits beyond the grave?

Maybe failed pop star, Tony Prentiss knows Swann's secret. But Tony has disappeared.

[dem bones]

What an absolutely brilliant find! I've got the Biography of Dracula you mention, and a very capable piece of hackwork it is too, but never in my wildest fantasies would I have suspected H. Ludham was capable of works of genius like this. I'm not sure I even want to see the cover - surely it couldn't beat what's going on in my 'mind'. Thanks so much for alerting us, mr. mysterious! Beautiful review, too.

Much later ...

Oh, i don't know though .....

(Found on Amazon: i hope ph*t*buckers are in tolerant mood ...)