Alan Merrill(1951-2020)

Alan Merrill was the singer and songwriter of the original version of the 1975 Arrows version of the classic song "I love rock n roll." The song has since been covered by Joan Jett and Britney Spears. Alan Merrill started his career as a foreign domestic pop-star in the Japanese market, and was based in Tokyo. He was the first foreign artist to break into the Japan rock scene successfully, having hit records both solo, and with his bands Vodka Collins, and The Lead. He worked in Japan from 1968 until 1973, when he left Tokyo to try for a shot at stardom in the UK. He formed a hit band (The Arrows) in England and was in the BBC top ten charts within six months of arriving there. Alan Merrill's band The Arrows had a popular weekly television series in the UK, 1976-77 on the Granada-ITV network. He also had several hit singles with the band and was the lead singer. Merrill has written songs for artists such as Lou Rawls, Rick Derringer, Freddie Scott, Joan Jett, Britney Spears, Runner, 5ive, and of course, The Arrows. The acting came about when Merrill was asked to write a theme song for the pilot film of Encyclopedia Brown, which he did. A song called "Who Done It?". The producer was so impressed with him that he asked Merrill to act in the pilot feature length film "Encycopedia Brown (Case of the missing time capsule)" and he agreed. The pilot aired on HBO almost 200 times, and was a success, launching the series. The People magazine review said that Merrill was one of the best actors in the production. Alan Merrill continued to make fun, energetic rock 'n roll records.