He was The Beatles publicist in the early 60s and terribly helpful to an ambitious amateur student kid going around the world in 1963/64.

Fast forward to 1966 - I'd topped the charts all over the world and was writing a regular weekly column on music.
Derek had left The Beatles and set up an independent PR company in Hollywood representing The Byrds and others.

We had dinner when I was in LA and I wrote a column all about his acts.

Here's his sweet letter to me afterwards. A piece of history.

www.kingofhits.co.uk/component/option,co...d,54/?g2_itemId=1011

Nice to see this JK.

Derek was a great writer who was genuinely in tune and passionate about the music he wrote about. He had flair and style. Much missed, it's a shame there is nobody at the NME who can even touch him for intelligence, never mind good writing.

Mention of your American trip brings to mind the cover that Jan and Dean did of "Moon". I've always found that one amusing thanks to the "out of tune" line being sung erm... out of tune! I always wondered if that was deliberate or not since session extracts and even some of their official output clearly reveals they were not always the most tuneful singers pone to bum notes and out of key moments. Thanks to that out of tune bit in "Moon" I think it makes it too jokey and it lacks the atmosphere and drama of the superb original which sounds better by the year!