“I’m On My Way” singer Dean Parrish dies at age 79

deanparrishconcert

(June 10, 2021) We were saddened to learn today via a Facebook post of UK singer Paul Stuart of the death of New York singer Phil Anastasia, best known to the music world as Dean Parrish.  Parrish was best known for the international hit “I’m On My Way,” a classic slice of 60s pop/soul. He was 79.

Raised in Brooklyn, Anastasi played many of the local clubs under his name, but changed his name to Dean Parrish and was releasing records by 1965, ultimately recording for several labels. His biggest hit was the bouncy “I’m On My Way,” but he also scored hist with “Tell Her” and “Bricks, Bottles and Sticks,” among others.

Parrish’s recording career had stalled by 1970, but the emergence of the Northern Soul scene in the UK opened up opportunities to revisit many of the unheralded music of the 1960s. “I’m On My Way” was rediscovered and reissued, and became a certified UK hit.

Parrish then found a second life as a touring artist in Europe, and was honored in 2008 with a BBC special, I’m On My Way – The Dean Parrish Story.

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