Music's David Blume dead at 74

SYLMAR, Calif., March 25 (UPI) -- Composer, record producer and club owner David Blume, who wrote the 1966 hit "Turn Down Day," has died in Sylmar, Calif., at age 74.

Blume died March 15 of complications from a stroke, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Blume first wrote "Turn Down Day" as a jazz tune but after his writing partner Jerry Keller added lyrics, it became a pop hit for the band The Cyrkle.

Blume went on to compose several songs for films in the 1960s -- including Don Knotts' "The Shakiest Gun in the West" and "What's So Bad About Feeling Good?" starring Mary Tyler Moore and George Peppard, the Times said.

He worked as an accompanist with folk singer Carolyn Hester in the late 1960s and the pair married in 1969 and moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972.

Blume began copy editing for The Los Angeles Times in 1973 and stayed with the newspaper until 1999. He also produced several albums in the 1970s and owned Cafe Danssa, a folk dancing club in Los Angeles.

He is survived by his wife, six children and three grandchildren.