The Tide Is High, But He’s Not Holding On…

(Props to Terry Walsh)

John Holt, who owed more to Deborah Harry than he’d care to admit, has died at the age of 69. Lead singer for The Paragons, he wrote The Tide is High in 1967. The reggae song was a hit in Jamaica, and set Holt up for solo success, but was little known outside the islands until a certain platinum blonde lent her voice and made it a #1 hit for Blondie in the US and the UK.