WHEN Adam Faith died at the weekend memories of a much more innocent time died with him.

In the late Fifties, the two big, home-grown pop idols were Cliff Richard and Adam Faith and youngsters tended to be in one camp or the other.

Cliff was Britain's answer to Elvis, complete with a sultry sneer that seems laughable today. Adam, believe it or not, was slightly edgier, more working class boy in sharp suits and with a sexily undernourished face.

Both were wonderfully sleaze-free, and they sang catchy tunes on innocent themes. Remarkably, both survived the changes in musical taste, from New Romantic and Punk to Gangsta Rap.

Adam Faith kept his many fans as he moved into acting,and won new ones in TV series like Love Hurts.

He died suddenly at 62, not looking dramatically different to when his records topped the charts. He was not one of the great singers, but he was endlessly charismatic, and it is a great shame that such a star has dimmed and gone.