Songwriter, arranger and conductor
David Whitaker dies aged 81. Whitaker was acclaimed as a songwriter and arranger in London's Denmark Street [aka Tin Pan Alley] in the 1960s, working with
Marianne Faithfull, Nico, Vashti Bunyan,
Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Serge Gainsbourg, Air,
Simply Red, The
Eurythmics and others. His best-known piece of music, however, is a string arrangement written for The Andrew Oldham Orchestra's cover version of The Last Time by The
Rolling Stones. Whitaker's arrangement was later sampled and became the hook for The Verve's 1998 hit Bittersweet Symphony.