Although they were not household names like Lennon and McCartney, or Jagger and Richards, the songwriting team of Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard enjoyed a long period of success on the pop charts in the 1960s and 70s, before writing scores for West End musicals and theme music for several TV series, including the BBC’s Miss Marple. They also became the first British songwriters to have their work recorded by Elvis Presley, who took their composition I’ve Lost You into the US charts in 1970 and was also seen singing it in the film Elvis: That’s the Way It Is.
Blaikley, who has died aged 82, had known Howard since they were seven-year-old pupils at University College school in Hampstead, north London. It was 1964 when they made their big breakthrough, when the Honeycombs topped the British chart with their song Have I the Right? Blaikley and Howard had spotted the group, then called the Sheratons, performing in a pub in Islington, and invited them to listen to some songs they had written.
