October 1st.
1708: John Blow (59) British composer and organist of Westminster Abbey and writer of over 100 anthems. Born at Newark, Nottinghamshire, he wrote for the king and was appointed Composer to the Chapel Royal. His pupils included William Croft, Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell. (He died at his house in Broad Sanctuary, and buried in the north aisle of Westminster Abbey). (baptised February 23 1649)
1975: Al Jackson Jr (39) American drummer with the legendary Stax band, Booker T and the MG's. He started out in his fathers band at the age of 5. He later began playing in Willie Mitchell's band and the Ben Branch Band. In the 1960s he was a founding member of the group, Booker T. & The MG'S. Al was called "The Human Timekeeper" for his drumming ability, he designed the groove and thats what the band played to. Their many hits include "Green Onions," "Hip Hug-Her," "Hang 'Em High," and "Time Is Tight" accompanying such greats as, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett, William Bell and Al Green. ( Al was murdered after confronting an intruder in his home) b. November 27th 1935.
1983: Freddy Martin (76) American bandleader and tenor saxophonist, born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, he started out playing drums, switching to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone. He recorded first for Columbia Records in 1932, then Brunswick Records till 1938. Afterwards he appeared on RCA's Bluebird and Victor Records. The band also recorded pseudonymously in the early '30s, backing singers such as Will Osborne. His real success came in 1941 with an arrangement from the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s B-flat piano concerto. He recorded the piece instrumentally, but soon lyrics were put in and it was re-cut as "Tonight We Love" with Clyde Rogers' vocal - becoming his biggest hit. Freddy’s popularity as a bandleader led him to Hollywood in the 1940s where he and his band appeared in a handful of films, including Seven Days' Leave in 1942, Stage Door Canteen in 1943 and 1948's Melody Time, among others (sadly died after a lingering illness) b. December 9th 1906.
1986: Andy McVann (21) English drummer in the band Soul of Socialism, and also a founding member of "The Farm" along with Peter Hooton, Steve Grimes, John Melvin in 1983. In 1984, Andy and The Farm released their debut single, "Hearts and Minds", produced by Graham "Suggs" McPherson (Andy died in a car crash during a police chase) b.1965
1992: Harry Ray (45) American lead singer with The Moments and Ray, Goodman & Brown; The Moments had a total of 27 R&B chart hits, but his biggest hit came with Ray,Goodman & Brown's "Special Lady". He was strongly involved in writing & producing much of their material as well as performing, production and writing duties for All-Platinum's other artists. He recorded a duet with Sylvia Robinson "Sho Nuff Boogie", although it was billed as Sylvia & the Moments) in 1973. (died suddenly from a stroke) b. Dec 15th 1946
1996: Joonas Kokkonen (74) Finnish composer, he served in the Finnish army during WW2 with great distinction. He studied at the University of Helsinki, and later at the Sibelius Academy, where he afterwards taught composition. He went on to become one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius. His first success was his 1st symphony in '60. In the 60s-early 70s he won many prizes for his work and he was appointed to the Finnish Academy upon the death of Uuno Klami. Joonas wrote 4 symphonies and other large orchestral works that are very unique in the Finnish musical history, vocal works, like his "Requiem" and the Opera "The Last Temptations" and a great number of large chamber works, like the 3 String Quartets. His 1975 opera The Last Temptations has received over 500 performances worldwide, and is considered by many to be Finland's most distinguished national opera. (?) b. November 13th 1921.
NOTE: The date of Joonas Kokkonen's death has been variously reported as October 1st 1996 (New Grove Dictionary, and various internet sources); October 2nd 1996 (internet sources, including the Finnish Music Center); and October 20th 1996 (New Grove Dictionary of Opera).
1998: Pauline Julien, CQ (70) Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist born in Trois-Rivières, Québec. She worked with Gilles Vigneault and recorded with him as well as performing pro-independence songs in Montréal clubs as early as 1964 and later made a career as one of Québec's most successful female popular singers. Julien's best-loved songs include "La Manic". In 1994 France decorated her with the title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and was made a Chevalière de l'Ordre national du Québec (after being diagnosed with a debilitating brain disease, tragically Julien took her own life) b. May 23rd 1928.
1999: Lena Zavaroni (35) Scottish singer, acoustic guitarist and TV show host. Born in Greenock, she was discovered in the summer of 1973 by record producer Tommy Scott, who was on holiday in Rothesay and heard her singing in a band with her father and uncle. In 1974 Lena appeared on Hughie Green’s Opportunity Knocks and won the show for a record-breaking five weeks running. She followed this with the album "Ma, He's Making Eyes At Me", at only 10 years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK top 10 album chart. Also in '74 she sang at a Hollywood charity show with Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. She appeared in the Morecambe and Wise Show, the '76 Royal Variety Show and performed at the White House for President Gerald Ford. While attending London's Italia Conti Academy stage school, Lena met and became long-term friends with child star Bonnie Langford. The two starred in the TV special Lena and Bonnie. Between 1979 and 1982, Lena had her own TV series on the BBC, Lena Zavaroni and Music, her guests included Spike Milligan and Les Dawson. (Lena had suffered badly from anorexia since the age of 14, she died from pneumonia 3 weeks after an operation for leukotomy) b. November 4th 1963.
2000: Robert Allen / Robert Allen Deitcher (73) American pianist and songwriter, born in Troy, New York. He was an accompanist for Perry Como, Peter Lind Hayes, and Arthur Godfrey. Some of his compositions were collaborations with lyricist Al Stillman. His many songs include "You Alone (Solo Tu)", "It's Not for Me to Say", "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays", "To Know You (Is to Love You)", "Everybody Loves a Lover", "If Dreams Came True", and "Chances Are" (?) b. February 5th 1927.
2004: Bruce Palmer (58) Canadian bassist; brought up in Toronto, Canada, Bruce began playing music at age 10. He played in the Mynah Birds with a young Rick James, which would eventually include fellow Canadian Neil Young. Mynah Birds auditioned for Motown Records but split when James left the band. He went on to co-found Buffalo Springfield in April 1966 in Toronto with Young, Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin and Richie Furay. Over just 19 months in 1967 and '68, the group established itself as a folk/country/rock pioneer, producing the transcendent political anthem "For What It's Worth". Bruce left Buffalo Springfield in January 1968, replaced by Jim Messina, but the band was finished shortly thereafter. He went on to release a 1971 solo album for Verve, "The Cycle is Complete," featuring James on percussion. In 1982, Bruce reteamed with Young (Bruce sadly died of a heart attack) b. September 9th 1946... read more
2005: Paul Pena (55) American singer, songwriter and guitarist of Cape Verdean descent. His music from the first half of his career touched on Delta blues, jazz, morna, flamenco, folk and rock and roll. In February 1969, his band played for a week at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia, opening twice, for both Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and The Grateful Dead, after which they moved to San Francisco. Paul is probably best known for writing the song "Jet Airliner," a major 1977 hit for the Steve Miller Band and a staple of classic rock radio; and for appearing in the 1999 documentary film Genghis Blues, wherein he displayed his abilities in the field of Tuvan throat singing (he died after a long brave battle with diabetes and pancreatitis) b. January 26th 1950.
2007: Ronnie Hazlehurst (79) British conductor and theme song composer born in Dukinfield, Cheshire. During his spare time, he played in a band, and soon became a professional. His band appeared on the BBC Light Programme. He left and moved to Manchester, where he became a freelance musician until he was offered a place on another band at a nightclub in London. Ronnie then worked at Granada for about a year in 1955. He joined the BBC in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director. He composed the theme tunes for many well known British sitcoms and shows of the 1970s and 1980s, including Are You Being Served?; Last of the Summer Wine; Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em; Yes Minister The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin; To the Manor Born and Three Up, Two Down to mention a few. In addition, he wrote the theme tunes for the sketch show The Two Ronnies, the game shows Blankety Blank, Odd One Out and Bruce Forsyth's The Generation Game and the chat show Wogan. Ronnie was also involved with the Eurovision Song Contest and was the musical director when the event was hosted by the United Kingdom in 1974, 1977 and 1982. He conducted the British entry on seven occasions, in '77, '82, '87, '88, '89, '91 and '92. In 1999, he was awarded a Gold Badge from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters (died after suffering a stroke) b. March 13th 1928.
2011: David Bedford (74) British composer and keyboard player born in Hendon, London. He studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and later in Venice. In 1969, he was engaged to orchestrate Kevin Ayers' album Joy of a Toy, on which he also played keyboards, this led to his role as keyboardist for Ayers' cult band 'The Whole World', which led to numerous collaborations with musicians from the rock world, most notably in arrangements for Mike Oldfield, Elvis Costello, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Roy Harper, Propaganda, China Crisis, Enya, Billy Bragg and many more. For over 30 years he has received commissions from major orchestras, festivals, ensembles and soloists, including the English Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, John Alldis Choir, Singcircle, Electric Phoenix, Endymion Ensemble, Sir Peter Pears, Jane's Minstrels, BASBWE, The Composers Ensemble, The Aldeburgh Festival, Harrogate Festival, Spitalfields Festival, Chelmsford Festival, Huddersfield Festival, Kings Lynn Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Festival and many BBC commissions including 4 for the Proms. Also from 1969 to 1981, David was Composer in Residence at Queen's College, London. From 1968 to 1980, he taught music in a number of London secondary schools. In 1996 he was appointed Composer in Association with the English Sinfonia. In 2001 he was appointed Chairman of the Performing Right Society, having previously been Deputy Chairman (sadly David died while fighting lung cancer) b. August 4th 1937
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October 2nd.
1971: Bola de Nieve/Ignacio Jacinto Villa (60) Cuban singer-pianist and songwriter; he studied at the Mateu Conservatoire of Havana, worked as a chauffeur and played piano for silent films until his friend Rita Montaner took him on as an accompanist in the early '30s taking him to Mexico. He stayed in Mexico and developed an original performance style as a pianist-singer. He became an elite, sophisticated cabaret stylist known for ironic patter, subtle musical interpretation, with a repertoire that included songs in French, English, Catalan, Portuguese and Italian and he toured widely in Europe and the Americas (?) b. September 11th 1911.
1976: Quentin "Butter" Jackson (57) American jazz trombonist born in Springfield, Ohio; in his early career he worked with Cab Calloway and was in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Later he did notable work with Charles Mingus, Kenny Burrell, and others.(?) b. January 13th 1909.
1981: Hazel Scott (61) West Indian jazz and classical pianist and singer; born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in New York City from the age of four. She performed extensively on piano as a child, then trained at the Juilliard School. She appeared in the production Priorities of 1942 and performed numerous times at the Carnegie Hall. She was known for improvising on classical themes and also played boogie-woogie, blues, and ballads and her album Relaxed Piano Moods with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, is highly regarded by critics today. Hazel was the first coloured lady to have her own TV show, The Hazel Scott Show, which premiered on the DuMont Television Network on July 3rd 1950. However, due to her public opposition to McCarthyism and racial segregation, the show was canceled, the final broadcast was September 29th 1950. Hazel also appeared in numerous films, including 'Something To Shout About', 'I Dood It', 'Broadway Rhythm', 'The Heat's On' and 'Rhapsody in Blue' (?) b. June 11th 1920.
1989: "Cousin Joe" Pleasant/Pleasant Joseph (81) American blues vocalist and guitarist born in Wallace, Louisiana; he made a name for himself on the Crescent City nightclub circuit of the mid-1930s before relocating to New York City in 1942. He is now more famous for his 1940s recordings with clarinetist Sidney Bechet and saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow. He recorded an impromptu 1971 session under the title Bad Luck Blues, followed in 1973 by Cousin Joe from New Orleans (?) b. December 20th 1907.
1994: Harriet Nelson/Peggy Lou Snyder (85) American singer and actress, born in Des Moines, Iowa; by 1932, she was performing in vaudeville when she met the saxophone-playing bandleader Ozzie Nelson, who hired her to sing with the band, under the name Harriet Hilliard. They married three years later. Harriot also went on to have a respectable film career and as a solo performer, as well as her work with the band. She is also well known for her role on the long-running sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. (Sadly Harriet died of congestive heart failure) b. July 18th 1909.
1998: Gene Autry (91) American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s. Gene was also owner of the Los Angeles/California Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997, as well as a television station and several radio stations in southern California. Although his signature song was "Back in the Saddle Again", he is best known today for his Christmas holiday songs, his self penned "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Frosty the Snowman", and his biggest hit, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". He was a member of both the Country Music and Nashville Songwriters halls of fame, and is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (lymphoma) b. September 29th 1907.
1999: Georg Tintner CM (82) Austrian-born conductor whose career was principally in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. As a child he was a singer in the Vienna Boys' Choir, and studied composition and conducting at the Vienna State Academy. In 1938, he moved out of Vienna before moving to Auckland, New Zealand in 1940. He conducted a church choir until after the war, when he took over the Auckland Choral Society in 1947, and the Auckland String Players in 1948. He became a New Zealand citizen in 1946. In 1954, he went to Australia and became resident conductor of the National Opera of Australia before joining the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera in 1957. He spent a year with the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra 1966-67 and three years with Sadler's Wells Opera 1967-70 before returning to Australia as Music Director of the West Australian Opera. In 1974, he rejoined the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera, by then known as the Australian Opera. He became Music Director of the Queensland Theatre Orchestra in 1976. In 1987 he moved to Canada, where he became director of Symphony Nova Scotia. In 1998, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada (so sadly after a six-year struggle with cancer, Georg jumped to his death from the balcony of his 11th-storey Halifax apartment) b. May 22nd 1917.
2007: Tawn Mastrey (53) American disc jockey, music video producer, and one of rock radio's top media personalities. She was among the first to add new artists such as AC/DC, Cheap Trick, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Devo, The Police, Joan Jett, and other now legendary bands to the playlist while working as Music Director at KSJO, the San Francisco Bay highest rated Album Oriented Rock station during the late 1970’s, Tawn had a profound impact on the fate of Hard Rock, Punk, New Wave and later Heavy Metal music at KNAC where the subsequent Los Angeles Metal Band scene gave birth to artists like Ratt, Mötley Crüe, Gun’s N’Roses et al. As a fairly open – minded Music Director and DJ at KSJO, Tawn was a deciding voice in which new artists would be played and added to the KSJO catalogue and decidedly liberal playlist which only required DJ’s to play “Star” artists after commercial breaks (effects of hepatitis C, which she contracted as a child) b. August 20th 1954.
2010: Art Jarvinen (54) American composer, teacher and musician, originally from Ohio. He attended the California Institute of the Arts, studying percussion. He eventually studied composition there with Morton Subotnick, Stephen Mosko, and Earle Brown. Art composed over 80 compositions and worked closely with both Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart. In 1981, he earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree and began teaching at the California Institute of the Arts. That same year Art became an the original member of the California EAR Unit, an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music (?) b. 1956.

October 3rd.
1966: David Lambert (49) American jazz lyricist, singer, and an originator of vocalese. He was best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. He spent a lifetime experimenting with the human voice, and expanding the possibilities of its use within jazz. His band debut was with Johnny Long's Orchestra in the early 1940s. Along with early partner Buddy Stewart, he successfully brought singing into modern jazz, concurrently with Ella Fitzgerald. In the late 1950s he teamed with wordsmith, and vocalese pioneer Jon Hendricks. The two were later joined by Annie Ross, and the lineup was a hit. (Tragically he was hit and killed by a car while changing a tyre) b. June 19th 1917.
1967: Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (55) American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes 100s of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land", which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton have acknowledged their debt to Woody as an influence. He traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression, earning him the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour". Throughout his life Woody was associated with United States communist groups, though he was never an actual member of any. During his later years, in spite of his illness, Woody served as a figurehead in the folk movement, providing inspiration to a generation of new folk musicians, including mentor relationships with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan. Woody was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 1997 (died from complications of Huntington's disease) b. July 14th 1912.
2000: Benjamin Orr/Benjamin Orzechowski (53) American bassist and vocalist; born in Lakewood, Ohio, he learnt to play many instruments including the guitar, drums, bass, and keyboards. He dropped out of High School to join a local band The Grasshoppers as lead singer and guitarist. They were the house band on the syndicated TV show Upbeat produced by WEWS-TV in Cleveland. In 1970 he moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he met Ric Ocasek and formed a musical partnership that would continue to the end of his life. Along with lead guitarist Jas Goodkind, they formed a folk band called Milkwood. The group released one album, How's the Weather? in 1972. By the mid 1970s he was working in a Boston night club band, Cap'n Swing, whose members included future Cars leader Ric Ocasek and guitarist Elliot Easton. After the group broke up in 1975, the three of them joined up with keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson to form The Cars in 1976. After several top hits and multi-platinum albums with The Cars, he released his only solo project The Lace in 1986. Ben continued to work with The Cars for one more album before their breakup in 1988, after which he recorded tracks with guitarist John Kalishes. From 1998 until his death in 2000, he performed with three bands, including his own band "ORR", The Voices of Classic Rock, and Big People (pancreatic cancer) b. September 8th 1947.
2007: Elfi von Dassanowsky (83) Austrian-American singer, pianist and film producer; a piano prodigy at 5, she attended the Vienna Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and at aged 15, became the youngest woman admitted to Vienna's Academy of Music and Performing Arts to that date to be trained as an opera singer and concert pianist as the protégé of concert pianist, Emil von Sauer. In 1946, she made her opera debut in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" and her wide soprano to mezzo range gained her rapid fame in leading roles in throughout Central Europe. She is one of the few women in history, and one of the youngest, at age 23, to co-found a major film studio--Belvedere Film Vienna. As creative producer she helped revitalize Austrian cinema and discover such European film talent as Nadja Tiller and Gunther Philipp. Elfi initiated musical theatre groups, was announcer for Allied Forces Broadcasting and the BBC, toured Central Europe in a one-woman-show and gave master classes in voice and piano, often to refugees who could not gain entry into music academies. In Hollywood in the early 1960s, she resisted becoming a starlet and remained behind the camera in an industry that did not yet accept women in the leading production role she had in Europe. She worked as a noted vocal coach for director Otto Preminger on such films as "In Harm's Way" and "The Cardinal". In 1999, Elfi re-established Belvedere Film with her son as a LA-based production company and served as Executive Producer of the award-winning dramatic short film, "Semmelweis," the spy-comedy "Wilson Chance," and the documentary "The Archduke and Herbert Hinkel." Dassanowsky was honored for her pioneering work by Austria, by the cities of Los Angeles and Vienna, as well as by the State of California which declared February 2nd 1996, "Elfi von Dassanowsky Day." She was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Letters of France, and she received the Austrian Film Archive's Lifetime Achievement Medal and the UNESCO Mozart Medal, among many other awards (sadly Elfi died from heart failure) b. February 2nd 1924.
2007: Giuseppe Valdengo (93) Italian operatic baritone born in Turin. He is probably best remembered for his NBC radio broadcasts of Otello-1947 as Iago, Aida-1949 as Amonasro, and Falstaff-1950 as the title role. The Toscanini Aida, with Herva Nelli in the name part, was simulcast on both television and radio, one of the first instances of such an event, and the telecast has been released on both VHS and DVD. Giuseppe also appeared in one film, MGM's movie, The Great Caruso-1951, starring Mario Lanza as the famous tenor. During the 1950s Giuseppe sang in most of the principal European opera houses, most often portraying roles from the Verdi baritone repertory (?) b. May 24th 1914
2009: Robert Kirby (61) British keyboard player and arranger of string sections for rock and folk music; he studied at Cambridge where with fellow students he sang in a group called 'The Gentle Power of Song'. By 1978 Robert had already had recorded arrangements for over 40 albums. Also from 1975-1978 he was one of the two keyboard players for Strawbs, touring the UK and internationally, and getting some composing credits on the albums Deep Cuts, Deadlines and Burning for You. He did some further arranging for Strawbs with Baroque & Roll in 2001, Déjà Fou in 2004 and 2009's Dancing to the Devil's Beat. He is best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, but has also worked with Elton John, Ralph McTell, Paul Weller, Elvis Costello and the dutch band Flemming. In July 2005, Robert conducted an 18-piece orchestra in Manhattan's Central Park for a show of Drake's music, using his original scores (?) b. April 16th 1948.
2011: Kay Armen (95) American singer, actress and composer who has made many records and performed in theatres, night clubs, films and television. She joined ASCAP in 1953 and her popular-song compositions include "Be Good to Yourself"; "My Love and I"; and "It's a Sin to Cry Over You" (?) b. November 2nd 1915.
2011: Mikko Laine (30) Finnish guitarist and member of the progressive-melancholic-metal band Sole Remedy which was formed in the late '90s and has released two studio albums to date, 2007's 'The Wounded Ones' and last year's 'Apoptosis'. The band has played along side the likes of Symphony X, Mekong Delta and Long Distance Calling, among others. (The band were on tour at the time Mikko died; after performing at the ProgPower Europe festival in Baarlo, Holland, Mikko was backstage asleep when a truck reversed onto him tragically killing him) b. ????

October 4th.
1948: Jan Savitt/Jacob Savetnick (41) Russian arranger, big bandleader, violinist, and vocalist born in Shumsk; he was invited to joined the Philadelphia Orchestra when was only nineteen, having studied at the Curtis Institute and in Europe. In 1937 he formed his band The Top Hatters and began touring the following year. Their songs include "720 in the Books" "It's A Wonderful World" and his theme songs "Quaker City Jazz" and "From Out Of Space". He was one of the first of the Big Band leaders to feature an African American vocalist, George Tunnell aka "Bon Bon". His other vocalists included Carlotta Dale, Allan DeWitt, Joe Martin, and Gloria DeHaven. (?) b. September 4th 1907.
1970: Janis Joplin (27) American blues singer born in Port Arthur, Texas; Janis always felt a bit of an outcast and misfit at school and was teased badly. She took solice in her love of the blues. Influenced by the likes of Bessie Smith, Leadbelly, Odetta and Big Mama Thornton, she took to singing. She left Texas for San Francisco in 1963, living in North Beach and later Haight-Ashbury. In 1964, Janis, Jorma Kaukonen and Margareta Kaukonen recorded a number of blues standards, this session included seven tracks: "Typewriter Talk," "Trouble In Mind," "Kansas City Blues," "Hesitation Blues", "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out", "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" and "Long Black Train Blues," and was later released as the bootleg album The Typewriter Tape. Not dealing with her drug problems well she returned home to clean up. By '66 she was back fronting the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and The Holding Company; thier first public performance was at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom. They toured heavily, appeared at festivals including Monterey, TV appearences, and released two albums, "Big Brother and the Holding Company" in 1967 and "Cheap Thrills" in 1968. At the Palace of Fine Arts Festival on August 31 and September 1 she announced that she would be leaving Big Brother. They toured through the fall and Janis gave her last official performance with Big Brother at a Family Dog benefit on December 1st 1968. After the split, Janis formed a new backup group, the Kozmic Blues Band. The band was influenced by the Stax-Volt Rhythm and Blues bands of the 1960s, Janis and the Kozmic Blues Band toured North America and Europe throughout 1969, appearing at Woodstock in August. Janis released one album with her new band "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!". Their final gig with Janis was at Madison Square Garden in New York City on the night of December 19–20, 1969. In her final year Janis holidayed in Brazil, after which she formed her new backing band of mainly Canadian musicians The Full Tilt Boogie Band, but she performed in a reunion with Big Brother at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on April 4th 1970, recordings from this concert were included in an in-concert album released, before she started touring with Full Tilt Boogie in the May. Then in June and July on the all-star Festival Express tour through Canada. Janis's last public performance, with Full Tilt Boogie, was on August 12th 1970 at the Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to this they had recorded enough in the studios for an album, the result was the posthumously released "Pearl". It became the biggest selling album of her career and featured her biggest hit single, a cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee". Kristofferson had been Joplin's lover not long before her death. Janis lived fast and died young, an American icon and souvenir of the 1960s (Tragically died at the Landmark Hotel, Hollywood, after an accidental heroin overdose) b. January 19th 1943.
1982: Glenn Gould (50) Canadian pianist, composer and winner of 4 grammys, who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20 century. He was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach. His playing was distinguished by a remarkable technical proficiency and a capacity to articulate the polyphonic texture of Bach’s music. Glenn rejected most of the standard Romantic piano literature and shunned the music of several of its composers, notably Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Frédéric Chopin. In 1982 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. (?) b. September 25th 1932.
1990: Alyn Ainsworth (66) English singer and dance band conductor born in Bolton. At the age of 14, Herman Darewski recognised his talent and signed him up to tour with his dance band. When his voice broke he learnt the guitar and soon joined Oscar Rabin's orchestra where he played in the band and did musical arrangements, they also broadcast on the radio. Alyn turned down an offer from Val Parnell to conduct the London Palladium Orchestra and chose in 1951 to join the BBC Northern Variety Orchestra, first as arranger, then as conductor. In the early 60s he was signed up by Granada TV as presenter of "Spot the Tune". In 1965 he conducted the orchestra at the Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium for the third time. He was also the musical director for the BBC's anniversary programme Fifty Years Of Music broadcast in 1972 and he conducted in the Eurovision Song Contest five times, '75, '76, '77 for Belgium, 1978 and 1990. (?) b. August 24th 1924.
1991: J. Frank Wilson (49) American lead singer of J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers; born in Lufkin, Texas, he joined the Cavaliers after his discharge from Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas in 1962. Their first chart hit was "Last Kiss" b/s "That's How Much I Love You", became a hit in June of 1964, it reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. They charted with only one other song, "Hey, Little One". J.Frank with or without the Cavaliers, continued to release records until 1978. While he continued to tour and play until his death (died of alcoholism) b. December 11th 1941.
1994: Danny Gatton (49) American guitarist; born in Washington DC; he began his career playing in bands while still a teenager and began to attract wider interest in the 1970s while playing guitar and banjo for the group Liz Meyer & Friends. He made his name as a performer the 1980s, both as a solo performer and with his Redneck Jazz Explosion, in which he would trade licks with virtuoso pedal steel player Buddy Emmons over a tight bass-drums rhythm which drew from blues, country, bebop and rockabilly influences. He also backed Robert Gordon and Roger Miller. He contributed a cover of "Apricot Brandy", a song by supergroup Rhinoceros, to the 1990 compilation album Rubáiyát. Danny was ranked 63rd on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time in 2003 and on May 26th, 2010, Gibson.com ranked him as the 27th best guitarist of all time. (tragically Danny suicide) b. September 4th 1945.
1999: Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (71) American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player,and also played flumpet, a trumpet-flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa worked as a musician from the mid-1940s onwards, based in LA, he played in the bands of Benny Carter and Jay McShann among others. He joined Lionel Hampton's orchestra around 1953, with fellow trumpeters Clifford Brown and Quincy Jones. Later relocating to New York, he worked with Gigi Gryce, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, and George Russell, among others. He also formed "The Jazztet" with the composer and tenor sax player Benny Golson. Art moved to Europe, ultimately based in Vienna, where he performed with The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, and also recorded extensively as a leader throughout his later career. With Golson he revived 'The Jazztet' in the 1980s for a number of engagements, with the original trombonist Curtis Fuller returning to the group (?) b. August 21st 1928.
2005: Mike Gibbins (56) Welsh drummer; he was a founding member the Iveys, later renamed Badfinger, after "Badfinger Boogie", an unused title for a Lennon-McCartney composition. He helped form The Iveys in 1965 and his powerful playing helped push the Iveys to a new level of proficiency and by the end of the year the group was being booked as an opening act for local appearances by the likes of the Who, the Yardbirds, the Moody Blues, and the Spencer Davis Group and was a popular attraction on the London club scene. They signed with Apple and changed their name to Badfinger, and broke through to the British and American Top Ten with the Paul McCartney-composed "Come and Get It." The group followed this up in 1970 with their LP masterpiece No Dice, scoring a hit with the now pop classic "No Matter What" which featured the ballad "Without You". Mike and the band backed George Harrison's solo masterpiece "All Things Must Pass", and also serving as the backing unit at George's Concert for Bangladesh. He was one of two members of the group left behind following a pair of tragic suicides, and he led reorganized versions of "Badfinger" into the 1980s and beyond. (died in his sleep at home in Florida) b. March 12th 1949.
2009: Mercedes Sosa (74) Argentinian folk singer; born in San Miguel de Tucumán, in northwestern Argentina, her roots were in Argentine folk music, she became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. Mercedes became known as La Negra by her fans for her long, jet-black hair, and was best known as the voice of the "voiceless ones". In a career spanning nearly six decades, as well as working in South America, she toured in both the US and Europe and released 70 albums from "La Voz de la Zafra" in 1959, "Canciones con Fundamento" in 1965 and Yo No Canto Por Cantar in 1966, to the release of Éxitos Eternos in 2005, La Historia del Folklore in 2007, Cantora 1 and Cantora 2 both in 2009 (Mercedes died from an aggravation of her preexisting kidney disease) b. July 9th 1935.
2010: Alberto Alves da Silva (89) Brazilian artist and musician, considered the father of samba de São Paulo, and founder of the samba school and most successful carnival in São Paulo, the Nene da Vila Matilde. He founded the blue and white of the Eastern Zone in 1949. The school grew and became a reference community, winning eleven championships. In 2010, Nene da Vila Matilde was champion of the Access Group and in 2011 returns to the elite of São Paulo carnival. (respiratory failure) b.1921

October 5th.
1940: Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez (40) Mexican composer, violinist and conductor; born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, he studied at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, St. Edward's University in Austin, TX and the Chicago College of Music. In 1929 became assistant conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, a post he held until 1935. He did much to promote contemporary Mexican music. He wrote film music, chamber music, songs and a number of other works. Among his orchestral music are a number of symphonic poems with Sensemayá: Chant for the Killing of a Snake-1938, based on a poem by Nicolás Guillén. He appeared briefly as a bar piano player in the movie ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! in 1935, for which he composed the music. When shooting breaks out in the bar while he is playing "La cucaracha", he holds up a sign reading "Se suplica no tirarle al pianista" (Please don't shoot at the piano player!). He went to Spain and worked for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, but upon Francisco Franco's victory, returned to Mexico to teach. He earned little, and sadly fell into poverty and alcoholism (He died of pneumonia in Mexico City on the day his ballet El renacuajo paseador, written 4 years earlier, premièred) b. December 31st 1899.
1961: Booker Little Jr (23) American jazz trumpeter and composer born in Memphis, he studied at the Chicago Conservatory from 1956-58 and worked with leading local musicians such as Johnny Griffin. He then moved to New York where he met up with drummer Max Roach and multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. From '58 to '61 he recorded four albums with Max Roach and two albums with Eric Dolphy in '60 and '61. He also recorded with the John Coltrane Quartet, Frank Strozier, and Abbey Lincoln as well as four albums as a leader of his Booker Little Quartet. Booker is considered to be one of the first trumpet players to develop his own sound after Clifford Brown. (Sadly he died prematurely of complications resulting from uremia, kidney failure) b. April 2nd 1938.
1981: Jud Strunk/Justin Strunk Jr (45) American singer-songwriter and comedian; he learnt to play the banjo as a boy and began entertaining locals. He went on to to appear on national TV network shows such as Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. In 1973, he wrote and recorded the song "A Daisy a Day," which made the Billboard Top 20 on both the country and pop music charts. He also wrote and recorded three humorous songs that made it into the country music charts, one of which continues to be played on the Dr. Demento show, is "The Biggest Parakeets in Town". He also toured with the Andy Williams Road Show (Jud was a private pilot and owned a 1941 Fairchild M62-A. Tragically, he suffered a heart attack while taking off in the aircraft at the Carrabassett Valley Airport in Maine and was killed instantly along with his passenger, local businessman Dick Ayotte) b. June 11 1936
1985: Brian Keenan (42) American drummer born in New York; as a child, he also lived in Conisbrough, Yorkshire, UK, and in Ireland. In the early 60s he did a short stint with Manfred Mann, the musician. Back in the USA, in 1965, Brian joined The Chambers Brothers a soul-music group, soon after they got their big break when they appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, after which they recorded their debut album People Get Ready. The band scored their first major hit in 1968 with the well noted 11-minute long song "Time Has Come Today". Brian left the band in 1971, to form his own band, The Losers, which became the house band at Ondine, the first discotheque in New York City. Brian went on to start up his own recording studio in Connecticut (sadly died of a fatal heart attack) b. January 28th 1943.
note: Manfred Mann, the musician, came to UK in 1961. He met drummer Mike Hugg, at Clacton Butlins Holiday Camp, in '62 and together they formed a blues jazz band called the Mann Hugg Blues Brothers, which evolved into Manfred Mann. Mike Hugg has always drummed with Manfred since 1962. Brian must have drummed with Manfred when he first relocated to Britain from South Africa ...Any Help Welcome??
1986: Emanuel "Manny" Sayles (79) American jazz banjoist and guitarist, he played violin and viola as a child in Florida, then taught himself banjo and guitar. Relocating to New Orleans he joined William Ridgely's Tuxedo Orchestra, after which he worked with Fate Marable, Armand Piron, and Sidney Desvigne on riverboats up and down the Mississippi River. In 1929 he participated in recordings with the Jones-Collins Astoria Hot Eight. 1933 sees Manny in Chicago with his own band; playing in the house band at the Jazz Ltd Club and recording with Roosevelt Sykes and others. Over the years he played with many including Sweet Emma Barrett, Punch Miller, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, he played and toured japan with George Lewis, and also recorded with the likes of Peter Bocage, Kid Thomas Valentine, Earl Hines, and Louis Cottrell, Jr. He recorded as a leader in the 1960s for GHB, Nobility, Dixie, and Big Lou (?) b. January 31st 1907.
1992: Eddie Kendricks (52) American singer and songwriter, noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style. Born in Union Springs, Alabama, he helped form a doo-wop group called The Cavaliers, and began performing around Birmingham. The group decided to move for better opportunities and in 1957 the group moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, they met manager Milton Jenkins, and soon moved with Jenkins to Detroit, Michigan, where the Cavaliers renamed themselves 'The Primes'. They went on to become Motown's singing group The Temptations, Eddie was one of their lead singers until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do The Things You Do", "Get Ready", and "Just My Imagination". As a solo artist, Eddie recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s, including the number-one single "Keep On Truckin'" (sadly lost his battle with lung cancer) b. December 17th 1939.
1995: Marcel Neville King (38) English singer born in Manchester, he was the youngest member of "The Sweet Sensation", a band formed in Manchester in 1973 which came to notice after appearing on the ITV talent show New Faces. Under the guidance Tony Hatch the band signed to Pye Records. Their second single release "Sad Sweet Dreamer" was a UK No.1 hit in October 1974, also reaching No.14 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following spring. Their follow up "Purely by Coincidence" reached No.11 in the UK singles chart in January 1975. In 1977 they entered into A Song For Europe in an attempt to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song "You're My Sweet Sensation" ended in 8th place. Marcel launched a solo career in 1985 recording the single "Reach for Love" in 1991. (cerebral haemorrhage) b. January 4th 1958
2004: Rodney Dangerfield/Jacob Cohen (82) American comedian and actor, best known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect" or "I get no respect" and his monologues on that theme. He wrote songs for the cartoon "Rover Dangerfield", appeared on TV's Johnny Carson's Tonight Show over 70 times and was in the movies Natural Born Killers and Caddyshack. His album, No Respect, won a Grammy Award. One of his TV specials featured a musical number, "Rappin' Rodney”, soon became one of the first MTV music videos (He underwent surgery Aug 25th 2004 to replace a heart valve. He later fell into a coma and tragically never recovered) b. November 22nd 1921.
2009: Mike Alexander (32) British bassist born in London; in 2000, he joined Ben Carter and Matt Drake in a metal covers band, before they formed the band Evile in 2004, recording an EP "All Hallows Eve" the same year and a demo "Hell Demo" in '06. The band released their debut album, "Enter the Grave" worldwide '07. Mike, who endorsed Hartke amplifiers and cabinets and Dunlop bass strings, and Evile had released their second album Infected Nations, earlier in, 2009 (tragically died from a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot on the lungs, while in Sweden during a European tour in support of their new album) b. June 22nd 1977.
2010: Steve Lee (47) Swiss singer; he rose to fame in the 1990s with the Swiss rock band Gotthard of which he was a founder member, frontman, and lead singer. Their last 11 albums all charted at No.1. Their chart success in their native Switzerland made Gotthard one of the country's most successful bands of all time. They recently toured with Whitesnake and played at Arrow Rock Festival in Holland (tragically Steve was killed in a motorcycle accident in Mesquite, Nevada, when a truck hit five parked motorcycles) b. August 5th 1963.
2010: William Shakespeare/John Cabe/Billy Shake/John Cave (61) Australian glam rock singer, born in Sydney, and was vocalist for beat group, The Amazons. In 1966, they released a single, "Ain't that Lovin' You Baby". After The Amazons, he continued performing in Sydney clubs as Johnny Cabe. In early 1974, he was in Albert Studios where noted Australian producers-songwriters Vanda & Young were recording "Can't Stop Myself from Loving You" for another singer who was unable to reach its high notes. Johns's falsetto voice was suitable so V&W signed him to Albert Productions and groomed him into the glam rocker William Shakespeare along the lines of Alvin Stardust or Gary Glitter. "Can't Stop Myself from Loving You" was released as a single in July and peaked at No.2. This was followed in 1974 by his debut album of the same name, and a 2nd single "My Little Angel" which topped the charts in 1975. "Just the Way You Are" and "Last Night" were his last chart hits in 1976. His career was shattered when he was convicted of carnal knowledge with a 15-year-old fan. In 1978, Shakespeare, who had an alcohol addiction and clinical depression, was treated with Deep Sleep Therapy. The early 80s saw him in smaller gigs as Billy Shake. Sadly he was still on the alcoholic slide (sadly died of a heart attack) b.1948.
2011: Bert Jansch (67) Scottish folk guitarist, singer and songwriter born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the British folk music revival of the 1960s, and toured extensively starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 21st century. Bert recorded several solo albums, before becoming a founding member of popular folk-rock band Pentangle in 1968, touring and recording with them until their break-up in 1972 and also during the 80s and early 90s after their reformation. His work influenced such artists as Paul Simon, Johnny Marr, Neil Young, Bernard Butler, Jimmy Page, Nick Drake, Graham Coxon, Donovan, Fleet Foxes and Devendra Banhart. He has received two Lifetime Achievement Awards at the BBC Folk Awards: one, in 2001, for his solo achievements and the other, in 2007, as a member of Pentangle. In 2009 he was diagnosed with lung cancer, but after treatment went on to perform a two-month, co-headlining US tour with Neil Young in 2010 (sadly died while bravely fighting cancer) b. November 3rd 1943.

October 6th.
1762: Francesco Manfredini (78) Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and church musician born in Pistoia and studied violin with Giuseppe Torelli in Bologna. He became musical director at St. Philip's Cathedral in his home town of Pistoia. Much of his music is presumed to have been destroyed after his death; only 43 published works and a handful of manuscripts are left (?) b. June 22nd 1684.
1947: Leevi Antti Madetoja (60) Finnish composer, born in Oulu, he studied music in Helsinki, Paris, Vienna and Berlin, his music is strongly influenced by the traditional music of his home region. His three symphonies are based on the legacy of Sibelian and Russian romanticism, Gallic clarity and folk elements. The sombre Symphony Nº 2 was written during the civil war and could be described as a war symphony. Another fine work written in the same year is the elegant piano piece Kuoleman Puutarha (Garden of Death), dedicated to his brother, who had died during the war. His finest works are considered the opera The Ostrobothnians, the Third Symphony, Comedy Overture, the ballet Okon Fuoko, and his songs for male choir. (sadly died of from exhaustion, overwork and heart disease) b. February 17th 1887
1978: Johnny O'Keefe (43) Australian pioneering rock and roll singer of the 1950s, 60s and 170s. He had his own one-hour live TV show "Six O'Clock Rock", featuring many local artists. Born in the eastern Sydney suburb of Bondi Junction, in September 1956 Johnny and his friend Dave Owen, a US-born tenor sax player formed Australia's first rock'n'roll band, The Dee Jays. He also became the first Australian pop star to chart, with his third release, "I'm the Wild One." which was covered in '87 by Iggy Pop as "Real Wild Child". He was also the first Australian rock 'n' roll performer to tour the US. In his 20 career, he released over 50 singles, 50 EP's and 100 albums. Johnny's last public appearance was on Seven Network's Sounds program, taped on 30 September 1978. (Tragically he died from a heart attack induced by an accidental overdose of prescribed drugs) b. January 19th 1935.
1985: Nelson Riddle (64) American bandleader, arranger and orchestrator whose long career spanned from the 1940s until the 1980s, He began taking piano lessons at the age of eight and trombone lessons at aged fourteen. After his graduation from Ridgewood High School, he spent his late teens and early 20s playing trombone in and occasionally arranging for various local dance bands, culminating in his association with the Charlie Spivak Orchestra. In 1943, he joined the Merchant Marine, serving at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York for roughly two years. During this time he continued working for the Charlie Spivak Orchestra and he studyed orchestration under his fellow merchant marine, composer Alan Shulman. After his enlistment term ended, Nelson travelled to Chicago to join the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1944; he remained the orchestra's third trombone for eleven months until drafted by the United States Army in April, 1945. In 1946 he moved to Hollywood to pursue his career as an arranger. For several years he wrote arrangements for multiple radio and record projects. He went on to form his own orchestra providing jazzy big-band style arrangements to accompany such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, Matt Monro, Linda Ronstadt and many others. (liver ailments) b. June 1st 1921.
1999: Amália da Piedade Rodrigues (79) Portuguese singer, actress. She was known as the "Queen of Fado" and was most influential in introducing fado to the world outside of Portugal. She was unquestionably the most important figure in the genre’s development. Her first professional engagement in a fado venue took place in 1939, and her popularity extend with trips to Spain, and lengthy stay in Brazil where, in 1945, she made her first recordings on Brazilian label Continental, her career explored with world tours, film and TV appearances. By 1962 she concentrated on recording and performing live at a slower pace. During the 1970s, Amália embarked upon a heavy schedule of worldwide concert performances. Her 1977 album Cantigas numa Língua Antiga was received as a triumph and the '80s and '90s brought her enthronement as a living legend (died in her home at Lisbon, Rua de São Bento which is now a museum. Portugal's government declared a period of national mourning) b. July 23rd 1920.
Note: Despite official documents which give her date of birth as July 23rd, Amália Rodrigues always said her birthday was July 1st 1920.
2006: Claude Luter (83) French jazz and dixieland clarinet player, and a soprano saxophonist, born in Paris. He started out on the trumpeter before switching to clarinet. After discovering New Orleans jazz in his teens, he began playing private parties and clubs during the Nazi occupation, and post-liberation, Claude emerged as a fixture at the Lorientais, one of the Latin Quarter's premier nightspots. He recorded with many of the visiting American jazz musicians including Willie "The Lion" Smith, Rex Stewart, and Buck Clayton, but maybe best known for being an accompanist to the great Sidney Bechet when he was in Paris. In 1960 Claude paired with fellow clarinetist Barney Bigard before forming his own band, which he continued to lead for the remainder of his life. In 1970 he went to LA to participate in events celebrating Louis Armstrong's 70th birthday and in 1997 flying to New Orleans to honor Bechet. (sadly he died from complications after a fall) b. July 23rd 1923.
2010: Colette Renard (86) French singer and actress, born in Ermont. After studying cello, she became secretary, then a singer in the Raymond Legrand's band. Colette is probably the last popular singer inspired by postwar realists. She also recorded several albums of bawdy songs, the most famous is probably Nights of a Lady. Colette has starred in several films including A King Without Entertainment and IP5 (sadly died after a long illness) b. November 1st 1924.

October 7th.
1959: Mario Lanza/Alfredo Arnold Cocozza (38) Legendary American tenor and Hollywood movie star who enjoyed success in 1940s and 1950s. His voice was considered by some to rival that of Enrico Caruso, whom Lanza portrayed in the 1951 film The Great Caruso. He was able to sing all types of music. His career covered opera, radio, concerts, recordings, and motion pictures. He was the first artist for RCA Victor Red Seal to receive a gold disc and the first artist to sell two and half million albums. A highly influential artist, Mario has been credited with inspiring successive generations of opera singers, including Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Leo Nucci and José Carreras. (died in Rome from a pulmonary embolism) b. January 31st 1921.
1966: Johnny Kidd/Frederick Heath (30) English frontman and singer with Johnny Kidd & the Pirates; he had hit songs from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s. Their first single was the raw "Please Don't Touch", reaching No. 25 on the UK singles charts in 1959, this song has since been covered many times, most successfully by Motörhead. His most famous song as a composer was "Shakin' All Over" which was a No.1 UK hit in 1960. Kidd's own version didn't chart outside of Europe, but two cover versions did: The Guess Who topped the Canadian charts and hit No.22 US with their 1965 version of "Shakin' All Over", and in Australia, Normie Rowe topped the charts with it later the same year. It was also covered by The Who on the classic Live at Leeds album and Iggy Pop covered it on his solo album "Avenue B". Johnny and his band are remembered for appearing onstage in pirate costumes, complete with eye-patches, he was one of the pre-Beatles British rock and rollers to achieve worldwide fame (died in a car crash; near Radcliffe, Manchester, while on tour) b. November 23rd 1935.
Most sites have Johnny Kidd's DOB as Dec 23rd 1939, the "1939" was for public popularity. His birthdate according to his authorized site his DOB is is November 23rd 1935.
1966: Smiley Lewis/Overton Amos Lemons (53) American R&B singer, in his mid teens he ran off to New Orleans, where he began playing clubs in the French Quarter and "Tan bars" in the 7th Ward, at times billed as Smiling Lewis, a variation of the nickname earned by his lack of front teeth, and often accompanied by pianist Isidore "Tuts" Washington, and he spent the mid-1930s with in Thomas Jefferson's Dixieland band. When the band dissolved, Smiley turned to going from one club to another, playing gigs for only tips. He went on to record hits including, "Tee-Nah-Nah", "The Bells Are Ringing", "Blue Monday", "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons", "I Hear You Knocking", "One Night (Of Sin)", "Please Listen To Me", "Shame, Shame, Shame", "The Bells Are Ringing" and "I Hear You Knocking" of which many have been covered by the likes of Elvis Presley, Dave Edmunds, Gale Storm, Fats Domino and many others. (sadly lost his battle with stomach cancer) b. July 5th 1913.
2000: Dennis Sandole (87) American jazz musician, he taught himself the guitar at 19, and his older brother, Adolph, taught himself the baritone saxophone. They began playing together in a neighborhood band in Philadelphia, and a decade later, in the early 1940's, Dennis was playing guitar with some of the major swing-era big bands, including those led by Charlie Barnet, Boyd Raeburn, Tommy Dorsey and Ray McKinley. While on the West Coast in that period, he also recorded film soundtracks and played at studio recording sessions, including several for Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday. In the mid-40's, he moved back to Philadelphia to write music and teach at the Granoff Studios, he was John Coltrane's mentor from '46 until the early 50's. His other students over half a century included the saxophonists Rob Brown, James Moody, Michael Brecker, and Bobby Zankel; the pianists Matthew Shipp and Sumi Tonooka; and the guitarists Jim Hall, Joe Diorio and Pat Martino (died in his Philadelphia home) b. November 29th 1913.
2002: Pierangelo Bertoli (59) Italian singer-songwriter and poet born in Sassuolo, at the age of 4 he suffered of poliomyelitis and sadly he lost use of his legs. He started his career as a singer at the end of 1973 with the album Rosso colore dell'amore in 1974 and one year later with the self-produced album Roca Blues. One of his most famous album was A muso duro of 1979. In 1990 he collaborates with Elio e le Storie Tese. In 1991 and 1992 he took part to the Sanremo Music Festival. His last album, 301 Guerre Fa in 2002 was composed with the collaboration of his son Alberto and Luciano Ligabue (Pierangelo died of a heart-attack due to a tumor) b. November 5th 1942.
2009: Steve Ferguson (60) American guitarist, born in Louisville, KY, he first formed a group called the Merseybeats with his high school friend, pianist Terry Adams, before the two moved Miami, Florida, where the pair helped found the band NRBQ, short for New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (originally Quintet), with singer Frank Gadler, drummer Tom Staley and bassist Joey Spampinato in 1967. Soon they relocated to the northeastern US, living in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where they gained attention in local clubs. In the spring of 1969, NRBQ was the opening act for a 3-band program at "The Fillmore East" with 2nd act Joe Cocker the headline act The Jeff Beck Group, with lead singer Rod Stewart (Steve died after a long battle with cancer) b. November 22nd 1948 ...read more
2010: Tex Pistol/Ian Morris (53) New Zealand multi-award winning guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and recording engineer; he was a founder member of Th' Dudes, releasing their debut album in "Right First Time" in 1979. This produced 3 singles "Be Mine Tonight"/"That Look In Your Eyes"; "Walking In Light"; and "Right First Time". This was followed by 3 more albums. Ian also had hits as a solo artist under the name Tex Pistol including "Nobody Else", "The Game of Love", and "The Ballad of Buckskin Bob" / "Winter". His production credits include DD Smash, The Screaming Meemees, the Warratahs, When the Cat's Away, Greg Johnson and Dave Dobbyn. Ian also wrote numerous jingles and arrangements, and in 2006, he toured with a re-formed Th' Dudes on a New Zealand tour. (he was found at his home in Napier on New Zealand's North Island. Police say there were no suspicious circumstances) b. 1957.

October 8th.
1772: Jean Joseph de Mondonville (60) French composer and violinist born in Narbonne in Southwest France . In 1733 he moved to Paris where he gained the patronage of the king's mistress Madame de Pompadour and won several musical posts, including violinist for the Concert Spirituel. His motet Venite exultemus domino, published in 1740, won him the post of Maître de musique de la Chapelle (Master of Music of the Chapel). Thanks to his mastery of both orchestral and vocal music, Jean brought to his grand motet -- the dominant genre of music in the repertory of the Chapelle royale (Royal Chapel) before the Revolution (died in Belleville near Paris) December 25th 1711 (baptised)
1834: François-Adrien Boïeldieu (58) French composer under the Ancien Régime in Rouenl, one of the most significant composer in France in the early decades of the nineteenth century, In 1825 he produced his masterpiece, La dame blanche. Unusual for the time, La dame blanche was based on episodes from two novels by Walter Scott. The libretto by Eugène Scribe is built around the theme of the long lost child fortunately recognized at a moment of peril. The style of the opera influenced Lucia di Lammermoor, I puritani and La jolie fille de Perth. La dame blanche was one of the first attempts to introduce the fantastic into opera (cancer of the larynx) b. December 16th 1775.
1953: Kathleen Mary Ferrier CBE (41) English contralto singer, born in Higher Walton, Lancashire. She later moved with her family to Blackburn, Lancashire. She excelled in the music of Mahler, of Bach and of Handel. Her recitals often included songs by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, and towards the end of her career she sang Chausson's Poème de l'amour et de la mer. However, she is perhaps best remembered for her interpretations of British folk songs, including "Blow the wind southerly". She also sang regularly in the Netherlands, and in France, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia. She paid three visits to North America in 1948, 1949 and 1950 and sang at each of the first six Edinburgh International Festivals. Benjamin Britten wrote several works specifically for her, including Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia, Abraham and Isaac (also written for Peter Pears), and part of the Spring Symphony. Among other composers who wrote specifically for her were Lennox Berkeley, Arthur Bliss and Edmund Rubbra. She worked with many famous conductors, including Bruno Walter, John Barbirolli, Malcolm Sargent, Clemens Krauss, Otto Klemperer, Herbert von Karajan, Eduard van Beinum and also with Benjamin Britten. She also worked with other famous singers such as Isobel Baillie, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Julius Patzak and Peter Pears. Kathleen was especially remembered for her brave performances during her final illness. (Sadly lost to breast cancer) b. April 22nd 1912
1955: Iry LeJeune (26) American accordionist born in Pointe Noire, Louisiana, he was one of the best selling and most popular Cajun musicians in the mid to late 1940s into the early 1950s. His recordings and repertoire remain influential to the present day. He was among a handful of recording artists who returned the accordion to prominence in commercially recorded Cajun music and dance hall performances. In 1948 Iry met fiddler Floyd LeBlanc, together they traveled to Houston, Texas where they recorded "Love Bridge Waltz" and "Evangeline Special" with Virgil Bozeman's Oklahoma Tornadoes supporting. This disc was the turning point in his career and for Cajun music. Iry eventually assembled a band, the Lacassine Playboys, which at one time or another featured Crawford Vincent or Robby Bertrand on drums, Alfred "Duckhead" Cormier on guitar, Wilson Granger on fiddle, R. C. Vanicor on steel guitar and occasionally Shuler on guitar.(Iry and fiddler J. B. Fuselier were returning home after playing at a dance at the Green Wing club in Eunice when they got a flat. While changing the tyre a driver sped past at about 90mph, hitting Iry, killing him and knocking his body into a field) b. October 28th 1928.
1977: Giorgos Papasideris (75) Greece country singer, composer and lyricist; born on Salamis Island, Greece, after leaving elementary school, he spent his entire career working professionally in the field of traditional Greek folk music and Arvanite folk music, producing many popular recordings. In Alonia, a district of Salamis City, there is a bust in memory of him. (heart attack) b. September 14th 1902.
1995: Christopher Keene (47) American conductor, born in Berkeley, CA; he studied at the University of California, Berkeley. From 1969 to 1971 he was Music Director of Eliot Feld's American Ballet Company. Also associated with the Spoleto Festival from 1968 and was Music Director there from 1972 to 1976, after which he co-founded the Spoleto Festival USA, where he was Music Director from 1977 to 1980. Christopher conducted in many of the major opera houses including in 1976 conducting the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Hero for the Opera Company of Philadelphia. He was founder of the Long Island Philharmonic in 1979, and directed it until 1990. In 1976, he led the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Bilby's Doll, at the Houston Grand Opera. His last performance, at the City Opera, was of Hindemith's Mathis der Maler (sadly died from lymphoma arising from AIDS) b. December 21st 1946.
2008: Gidget Gein/Bradley Stewart (39) American bassist; born in Hollywood, Florida and was taught to play guitar by a catholic priest. He grew up with his friend Brian Hugh Warner and their personalities expressed themselves through fun ideals in Gidget Gein and Marilyn Manson. They formed the band and came on south Florida music scene as Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids, and began to work with musician-producer Trent Reznor. They dropped the Spooky Kids from the band name in 1992. Sadly, Gidget was going out of control as his drug habit increased and he was dropped from the band in 1993. He did a stint in New York forming the band Gidget Gein and the Dali Gaggers with guitarist Al B. Romano which featured various fun displays of degenerate art and post-punk styled songwriting. Before the release of the Dali Gaggers only album Confessions of a Spooky Kid, he headed back to Florida to try to kick his drug addiction. He left Florida in 2004 taking his now extensive art collection with him, and began to execute art and fashion shows in Hollywood, California, under the organised name Gollywood (after some years of sobriety, Bradley sadly died of a heroin overdose) b. September 11th 1969.
2010: Albertina Walker (81) American gospel music singer, in the early 1950s Walker founded her own Gospel music group The Caravans, The Caravans' membership has included: James Cleveland, Bessie Griffin, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Loleatta Holloway, Cassietta George, and Delores Washington. Her discovery of these artists resulted in the nickname "Star Maker". Walker retired The Caravans in the late 1960s, performing as a solo artist. In the mid 1970s, Albertina signed with Savoy Records then Benson Records, Word Records, A&M Records, and other record companies, recording a series of solo projects, many of them with big church choirs including The Evangelical Choir, The Cathedral of Love Choir, The Metro Mass choir, and her own church choir - The West Point Choir. She recorded her first solo project Put A Little Love In Your Heart in 1975. She also recorded several projects together with Reverend James Cleveland. To date, she has recorded over 60 albums, including gold selling hits "Please Be Patient With Me", "I Can Go To God In Prayer", "The Best Is Yet To Come", "Impossible Dream", and "Joy Will Come". Albertina has sung for United States presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and Sth Africa's president, Nelson Mandela () b. August 29th 1929.
2011: Ingvar Wixell (80) Swedish baritone opera singer, born in Luleå he made his debut in 1955 as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm where he was member of the company until 1967. He made his British debut during the Royal Swedish Opera’s visit to Covent Garden in 1960, and sang Gugliemo at Glyndebourne and at the Proms in 1962. For the Royal Opera, London he sang Boccanegra in 1972. In America he appeared at San Francisco Opera - 1972 and the Metropolitan Opera - 1973. He was engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin 1967 where he was a member for more than 30 years. At Bayreuth he sang the Herald in Lohengrin - 1971. Among other roles, he has sung Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen Amonasro in Verdi's Aïda, Baron Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, and the title roles in Verdi's Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's Falstaff and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. In 1965, Wixell performed all the songs in the competition to select Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest entry. The winning song was "Annorstädes Vals" (Elsewhere Waltz), which Wixell went on to perform at the international final in Naples (?) b. May 7th 1931.
2011: Mikey Welsh (40) American artist and bassist, born in Syracuse, New York, best known as the former bassist of the alternative rock band Weezer. He started out as a Boston-area musician, playing in bands such as Heretix, Chevy Heston, Jocobono, Left Nut, and Slower. He was also Juliana Hatfield's touring bassist. In 1997 he joined the first incarnation of The Rivers Cuomo Band, the side-project of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. Mikey joined Weezer following the departure of Matt Sharp in 1998. During Weezer's hiatus he played with Verbena and the first incarnation of Patrick Wilson's band The Special Goodness. He again played with Weezer from the time that they regrouped in 2000 until August 2001, when he suffered a mental breakdown. Shortly afterwards, Mikey retired from music to focus on his art career. By Aug 2008 he had 13 exhibitions of his artwork and he was a member of Outsider Art (tragically, Mikey was found dead in a hotel room in Chicago, Illinois. No cause of death has yet been announced) b. April 20th 1971.
2011: Roger Williams/Louis Weertz (87) American pianist born in Omaha, Nebraska; he is noted for recording "Autumn Leaves", the only piano instrumental to reach No.1 on Billboard's popular music chart in 1955. It sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. In 1966 he had another Top Ten hit with the song "Born Free" from the motion picture soundtrack. His other hits include "Near You", "Till", "The Impossible Dream", "Yellow Bird", "Maria", and "The Theme from Somewhere in Time". Billboard magazine ranks him as the top selling piano recording artist in history with 18 gold and platinum albums to his credit and as of 2004, he had released 116 albums. He was known as the "Pianist to the Presidents" having played for nine administrations beginning with Harry S. Truman. His last White House performance was in November 2008 for a luncheon hosted by former First Lady Laura Bush. On his 75th birthday, Roger performed his first 12 hour piano marathon. He performed the marathon at Steinway Hall in New York City and the Nixon, Carter and Reagan Presidential Libraries. His Steinway & Sons "Gold Steinway" grand piano has been on tour for public display and entertainment during 2007–2008. In 2010 Roger was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame (Roger sadly died while fighting pancreatic cancer) b. October 1st 1924.

October 9th.
1941: Helen Morgan (41) American singer, guitarist and actress born in Danville, Illinois, and worked in films and on the stage. She toured extensively in vaudeville and made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s. She starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Hammerstein and Kern's musical Broadway production of Show Boat in 1927 as well as in the 1932 Broadway revival of the musical, and appeared in the first two of its subsequent film adaptations, in 1929 and in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role. Another notable success was the title role of Hammerstein and Kern's musical, Sweet Adeline in 1929. She also appeared and sang in many films including Applause, Glorifying the American Girl, Roadhouse Nights, The Gigolo Racket, Manhattan Lullaby, Frankie and Johnnie, You Belong to Me, Marie Galante, Sweet Music to mention a few. Helen was portrayed in the 1957 biopic The Helen Morgan Story. (cirrhosis of the liver) b. August 2nd 1900.
1973: Sister Rosetta Tharpe (58) American pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist; born Rosetta Nubin in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, she began performing at age four, billed as "Little Rosetta Nubin, the singing and guitar playing miracle". Rosetta attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment. She became the first great recording star of gospel music in the late '30s and also became known as the "original soul sister" of recorded music. On October 31, 1938, Rosetta recorded for the first time, four sides with Decca Records backed by "Lucky" Millinder's jazz orchestra. Her records caused an immediate furor: many churchgoers were shocked by the mixture of sacred and secular music, but secular audiences loved them. Songs like "This Train" and "Rock Me", which combined gospel themes with bouncy up-tempo arrangements, became smash hits among audiences with little previous exposure to gospel music. In April / May 1964, she toured the UK as part of the "American Folk Blues and Gospel Caravan", alongside Muddy Waters and Otis Spann, Ranson Knowling and Little Willie Smith, Reverend Gary Davis, Cousin Joe and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee; pianist Cousin Joe Pleasant accompanied her on stage. Many musicians, from Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to Isaac Hayes and Aretha Franklin to Sean Michel and The Noisettes have cited her as an influence. The Noisettes released the single "Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)" in 2007, the same year Alison Krauss and Robert Plant released a duet album Raising Sand, Track No.7 of that album is titled "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us". (Her performances were curtailed by a stroke in 1970, after which she lost the use of her legs. Rosetta sadly died after a second stroke, on the eve of a scheduled recording session) b. March 20th 1915
1978: Jacques Brel (49) Belgian singer-songwriter. Brel composed and recorded his songs almost exclusively in French, although he recorded a number of songs in Dutch. Brel's songs are not especially well known in the English-speaking world except in translation and through the interpretations of other singers, most famously Scott Walker and Judy Collins. Others who have sung his work in English include Karen Akers, Marc Almond, Momus/Nick Currie, Beirut, Bellowhead, David Bowie, Ray Charles, John Denver, The Dresden Dolls, Gavin Friday, Alex Harvey, Terry Jacks, Alan Clayson, Barb Jungr, The Kingston Trio, Jack Lukeman, Amanda McBroom, Rod McKuen, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Spencer Moody, Camille O'Sullivan, Dax Riggs, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, Laurika Rauch and Dave Van Ronk. In French-speaking countries, Brel is also remembered as an actor and director. Jacques has sold over 25 million records worldwide, including over 12 million albums and singles in France and Belgium. His most frequently recorded song is "Ne me quitte pas" ("Don't Leave Me"), usually translated in English as "If You Go Away", overall, there have been at least 400 different recorded versions of this standard in at least 22 different languages (sadly lost his battle with cancer) b. April 8th 1929.
1988: Clifton 'Cliff' Gallup (58) American electric guitarist, who played rock and roll in Gene Vincent's band The Blue Caps in the 1950s. He played on 35 tracks with Vincent, including his biggest hit "Be-Bop-A-Lula", and established a reputation as one of the most technically proficient guitarists in early rock and roll. He left the band in '56, returning only for some more studio sessions that same year for the second Gene Vincent & The Bluecaps LP. In the mid 1960s Clinton made a solo album for the local Pussy Cat record label in Norfolk, 'Straight Down the Middle', in a more mellow instrumental style akin to Chet Atkins and Les Paul. He played guitar up until the day he died. He last played in Norfolk with a group called the H-Lo's 48 hours before his death (heart attack) b. June 17th 1930.
1991: Roy Black/Gerhard Höllerich (48) German pop/schlager singer and actor who appeared in several musical comedies and starred in the 1989 TV series, Ein Schloß am Wörthersee. Roy Black and His Cannons achieved local fame and were offered a recording contract with Polydor Records. However, his record producer Hans Bertram decided on a solo career for Roy, and a switch to romantic songs for his protégé, a decision which soon led to nationwide fame. In 1966, his single "Ganz in Weiß" sold in excess of one million copies by the end of 1967. His 1969 song "Dein schönstes Geschenk", sold one million copies by May 1970, having spent nine weeks at number one in the German chart. From 1967, Black also took on roles in several musical comedy films, for example in the 1969 movie Hilfe, ich liebe Zwillinge/ Help, I Love Twins (heart failure) b. January 25th 1943.
1999: Milt Jackson (76) American vibraphonist; born in Detroit, he very was an expressive player, he differentiated himself from other vibraphonists in his attention to variations of dynamics and rhythm. He was particularly fond of the 12-bar blues at slow tempos. Milt was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie, who hired him for his sextet in 1946 and also kept him for larger ensembles. He quickly acquired experience working with the most important figures in jazz of the era, including Woody Herman, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. From the mid-70s to the mid-80s, Jackson recorded for Norman Granz's Pablo Records, including the classic Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company (1983), featuring Milt with J. J. Johnson on trombone, Ray Brown on bass, backed by Tom Ranier on piano, guitarist John Collins, and drummer Roy McCurdy. He also guested on recordings by many leading jazz, blues and soul artists, such as B.B. King, John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, and Ray Charles (?) b. January 1st 1923.
2003: Carl Fontana (75) American jazz trombonist, born in Monroe, Louisiana, he learned jazz music from his father Collie, a saxophonist and violin player, and first performed with his father's band while in high school. He attended at University of Louisiana Monroe for two years, then transferred to Louisiana State University, receiving his degree in Music Education in 1950. From 1951 he joined up with Woody Herman, after three years he joined Lionel Hampton's big band in 1954. In early 1955 he played briefly with Hal McIntyre before joining Stan Kenton's big band later in the year. He recorded three albums with Kenton and also worked with fellow trombonist Kai Winding during this period. In 1966 he toured in Africa with Herman's band, but he primarily performed with house orchestras in Las Vegas during the 1960s, particularly Paul Anka's band and the bands backing Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Wayne Newton, and the Benny Goodman orchestra. In the 1980s, he appeared regularly on National Public Radio's Monday Night Jazz program. And although he recorded on more than 70 albums over his long career, his first true record as a headliner did not appear until 1985 when Uptown Jazz released The Great Fontana, his first release as a solo headliner. He toured internationally now and then with various artists, but because he rarely recorded under his own name and toured only occasionally after 1958, he is significantly less famous among mainstream jazz fans, although very well-known amongst his fellow musicians. (sadly alzheimer's disease took him away) b. July 18th 1928.
2003: Don Lanphere (75) American tenor and soprano saxophonist born in Wenatchee, Washington; he ranked with some of the top jazz musicians of his time before he was even 20, recording with such trumpet legends as Fats Navarro and Max Roach in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He played gigs with Woody Herman, Charlie Parker and Artie Shaw. In the late 50s and early 60s he performed with Herb Pomeroy and Woody Herman again. In the '80s he began doing tours in New York and Kansas City in 1983 and a European tour in 1985. (sadly lost to liver failure) b. June 26th 1928.
2007: Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge née Jacqueline Breyer (38) American nurse, rock keyboardist and singer with Thee Majesty and PTV3 (a revamped version of Psychic TV); they released fourteen live albums in eighteen months, enough to earn them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records (Lady Jayre had an undiagnosed heart condition which was thought to have been connected with her long-term battle with stomach cancer. Lady Jaye collapsed and died in the arms of her heartbroken husband Genesis Breyer P-Orridge) b. July 1st 1969.
2009: Russell Allen "Rusty" Wier (65) American singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas; Rusty's career started the early 1970s and covers multiple music genres. He is most famous for his composition "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance" which was a small hit for him, but has been covered by, among artists, Jerry Jeff Walker, Chris LeDoux, John Hiatt, Barbara Mandrell, and Bonnie Raitt whose version of the song was a country hit when it was included on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack. Rusty was inducted into the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2002. (cancer) b. May 3rd 1944.
2009: Zambo Cavero/Arturo Cavero Velásquez (68) Afro Peruvian singer, who enjoyed international fame and considered by many Peruvians a symbol of the Afro Peruvian identity or Peruanidad. He specialized in interpreting, traditional songs from authentic and original rhythms of Perú, some of his best interpretations are songs that were composed by the notable Peruvian composer Augusto Polo Campos, other comes from a profound Afro-Peruvian traditional Música criolla which is actually Afro Peruvian music. (died in Rebagliati Hospital in Lima, from complications of sepsis) b. November 29th 1940.
2011: Bill Brown (69) American disc jockey born in Lawrenceville, Georgia; he began his radio career at various radio stations, including San Diego Top 40 station 136/KGB, now KLSD. He began working on WOR-FM now WRKS in 1966 doing various swing airshifts, eventually becoming full time. Initially, WOR-FM was a progressive rock station, but it evolved into an adult top 40/oldies station by 1968. When CBS-FM launched a freeform rock format in 1969, Bill with his signature deep voice was hired. In 1972, when the station flipped to Oldies, Bill adjusted. He would remain a constant at CBS-FM until the bitter end in 2005 when the “Jack” format took over, making the jocks obsolete. He then retired from CBS-FM after 33 years of playing oldies as well as nearly 36 years of service. He is the only air personality to be with the station through their first entire run using live on air personalities. He did one of their first shifts the day WCBS FM adopted the rock format in 1969 and the very last live airshift doing oldies in 2005 (?) b. August 15th 1942.

October 10th.
1964: Eddie Cantor/Edward Israel Iskowitz (72) American vaudeville performer, dancer, comedian, singer, actor, and songwriter. Familiar to Broadway, radio and early TV audiences, he was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about his wife Ida and five daughters. His eye-rolling song-and-dance routines eventually led to his nickname, Banjo Eyes. His eyes became his trademark, often exaggerated in illustrations, and leading to his appearance on Broadway in the musical Banjo Eyes in 1941 (heart attack) b. January 31st 1892.
1978: Ralph Marterie (63) Italian trumpet player and big-band leader born in Acerra, Italy. In the 1940s, he played trumpet for various bands. In 1953 he recorded a version of Bill Haley's "Crazy, Man, Crazy" which reached No.13 on the Billboard jockey chart, his highest success in the U.S. charts was a cover of "Skokiaan" in 1954. Other hits "Pretend", "Tricky", "Caravan" "Shish-Kebab", "Dancing Trumpet", "Dry Marterie", and "Carla" (?) b. December 24th 1914.
1979: Paul Paray (93) French conductor, organist and composer, born Le Tréport; in 1911, he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata Yanitza. After WW1, he was invited to conduct the orchestra of the Casino de Cauterets, which included players from the Lamoureux Orchestra, which led him to conduct this Orchestra in Paris. Later he was music director of the Monte Carlo Orchestra, and president of the Concerts Colonne. He made his US debut with the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in 1939. In 1952, he was appointed music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, conducting them in numerous recordings for Mercury Records' "Living Presence" series. He also was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity (?) b. May 24th 1886.
2002: Teresa Graves (54) African-American actress and singer; born in Houston, Texas, Teresa began her career singing with The Doodletown Pipers, before turning to acting and became a regular in Our Place in 1967, Turn On in 1969 and then the Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. She appeared in a number of films before her pivotal role in the 1974 television movie Get Christie Love! from which Teresa is credited as the first African American woman to play the lead in a police film and TV show. In 1983, she retired from show business to devote her time to the religion (died in a fire at her home) b. January 10th 1948.
2003: Eugene Istomin (77) American classical pianist, born in New York City; he was famed for his work in the piano trio, with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose, the Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio, with whom he made many recordings, particularly of music by Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert. He also played with them in orchestral music, with conductors such as Eugene Ormandy, Bruno Walter and also worked as as a soloist. He went on to win the Leventritt award, a Grammy Award in 1970, the Philhadelphia Youth Award, and also received the French Legion d'Honneur in 2001 (sadly Eugene died from liver cancer) b. November 26th 1925.
2005: Nick Hawkins (40) British guitarist born in Luton; he joined Big Audio Dynamite II in 1990, and went on to receive gold and platinum awards with the band for their hit singles, "Rush" and "The Globe". He left the band in 1997, but continued to write and produce music and moved to the USA, making his home in Las Vegas. Nick also scored for films as well as producing his wife, Jo Beng's debut album, which was released on his own record label, P-Phonic Records (died of a heart attack) b. February 3rd 1965.
2009: Luis Aguilé (73) Argentine singer and songwriter; he started his career in Argentina, before relocating to Spain in 1963, where he had a successful musical career, both as a songwriter and singer. In the 80s, he was the musical assessor of the Televisión Española multidisciplinary contest "1,2,3 Responda Otra Vez".He has more than 700 songs to his name but maybe best known for his worldwide hit song '"Cuando Sali de Cuba" ("When I Left Cuba"). Back in 1990, Luis Aguilé created the music and lyrics of the anthem of CF Monterrey. It is considered one of the best soccer anthems in the world. He has also worked as a music producer and author, mainly on children's books and novels. He has been finalist twice for the Premio Planeta of Spanish Novel (stomach cancer) b. February 24th 1936.
2009: Stephen Gately (33) Irish pop singer and actor, born in Dublin, along with Ronan Keating, he was one of two lead singers in the boy band Boyzone. The band was put together in 1993 by manager Louis Walsh and thier 1994 debut single "Working My Way Back to You" reached No.3 in the Irish charts; this was followed by 17 top ten hits in the UK singles charts, which included 6 chart toppers. They released 3 albums Said And Done, A Different Beat, and Where We Belong, all of which reached the No.1 spot in the UK. After the success of Boyzone, the band decided in 2000 to move on to solo projects. Stephen was the first with his debut solo single titled New Beginning and later a debut solo album of the same name. The album included "Bright Eyes" which he recorded for the soundtrack to the new TV version of Watership Down. He also became the voice of one of the characters, 'Blackavar', which was created to look like him. Stephen also took to the stage appearing in a various stage productions, which included the lead role in Bill Kenwright's new production of Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and he appeared on many television programmes. In 2008, he rejoined his bandmates as Boyzone reformed for a series of concerts and recordings (died suddenly while on holiday in Mallorca, the cause of death has yet to be determined) b. March 17th 1976.
2010: Solomon Burke (70) American Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, born in Philadelphia; he began his adult life as a preacher in Philadelphia, soon moving on to host a gospel radio show and met fellow preacher Martin Luther King, Jr. several times. His first hit was "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)", after he had signed to Atlantic Records. Solomon's best known song is "Cry to Me", was a hit twice: first in the 60's, and again in the 1980s when it was used in the film and appeared on the soundtrack for Dirty Dancing. He released his debut album ''Solomon Burke'' in 1962, this was followed by a further 35 albums ...READ MORE... (Solomon died of natural causes at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, immediately after his flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam, where he had been due to perform with De Dijk on October 12) b. March 21st 1940.
2011: Jagjit Singh (70) Indian ghazal singer, composer, music director, pianist and entrepreneur. Popularly known as "The Ghazal King" he gained acclaim together with his wife, another Indian Ghazal singer Chitra Singh, in the 1970s and 1980s, as the first successful husband-wife duo act in the history of recorded Indian music. They are considered to be the pioneers of modern ghazal singing and regarded as most successful recording artistes outside the realm of Indian film music. He has sung in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Sindhi and Nepali languages. He was awarded India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 2003 (sadly died of a brain haemorrhage) b. February 8th 1941.

October 11th.
1963: Édith Piaf/Edith Giovanni Gassion (47) French singer and actress; one of the most popular French singers of the 1940s and '50s, famous internationally for her husky, mournful voice and her songs of loneliness and despair. At aged 14, she joined her father in his acrobatic street performances all over France, where she first sang in public, before going it alone as a street singer at the age of 16. In 1935 she was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by nightclub owner Louis Leplée, whose club Le Gerny off the Champs-Élysées was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike. Louis taught her stage presense and nicknamed her La Môme Piaf ...The Waif Sparrow or Little Sparrow as she was only 4ft 8in tall. After the war, she became known internationally, touring Europe, the United States, and South America. Among her songs are "La Vie en rose", "Non, je ne regrette rien", "Hymne à l'amour", "Milord", "La Foule", "l'Accordéoniste", and "Padam... Padam..." Édith's signature song "La vie en rose" was voted a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. (sadly lost her battle with cancer) b. December 19th 1915.
1984: Tex Williams/Sollie Paul Williams (68) American Western swing guitarist and singer, born in Ramsey, Illinois. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)", which held the number one position on the Billboard charts for six weeks in 1947. "Smoke" was the No. 5 song on Billboard's Top 100 list for 1947, and was No.1 on the country chart that year. It can be heard during the opening scenes of the 2006 movie, Thank You for Smoking (sadly died of pancreatic cancer) b. August 23rd 1917.
1993: Jess Thomas (66) US Wagnerian tenor, born in San Francisco, CA. As a child he took part in various musical activities and later studied at the University of Nebraska and Stanford University. Jess made his operatic debut in 1957 for the San Francisco Opera performing in Der Rosenkavalier as the Haushofmeister. He went on to be awarded the Wagner medal at Bayreuth, Germany in 1963. His many appearances in North America and Europe between the late 1950s and early 1980s included 15 seasons in 109 performances of 15 roles at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City (?) b. August 4th 1927.
1996: Renato Russo/Renato Manfredini Jr (36) Brazilian punk rock bassist and songwriter born in Rio de Janeiro. At the age of 15, he suffered from epiphysiolysis, a disease that paralyzed his legs for two years. Renato had to have a platinum implant, which earned him the nickname "Six Million Dollar Man". During the years of 1978 and 1979, he was the bass player with the punk rock band Aborto Elétrico / Electric Abortion. Renato wrote many songs during this period, that would later become hits of a later band Capital Inicial. In 1982, the band broke up and developed into two bands Legião Urbana, they became widely famous in Brazil, with protest songs at first, then songs about love, spiritualism, family and sex. The other band formed was Capital Inicial recording seven albums from 1982 to 1996. Renato played in both bands writing many of the songs. In the 90s he released two solo albums, with English and Italian songs (Sadly died of an AIDS related illness) b. March 27th 1960.
2007: Werner von Trapp (91) Austrian-born musician and singer, member of the Trapp Family Singers who inspired the world-renowned Trapp Family Singers, who inspired the 1959 Broadway musical and the 1965 Academy Award-winning Best Picture The Sound of Music. The Trapps fled Austria after the German annexation of Austria, fearing reprisals resulting from declining to sing at Hitler's birthday party and Georg von Trapp's refusal to accept a commission in the German Navy. They went to America in 1938, settled in Vermont in 1942, and performed throughout the country. Werner became a naturalized US citizen while serving in the United States Army, serving with the 10th Mountain division in Italy during World War II. Sadly his father Georg Ritter von Trapp died in 1947 and the family eventually ceased performing. After which Werner then became a dairy farmer before eventually retiring in Waitsfield, Vermont. (?) b. December 21st 1915.
2008: Neal Hefti (85) American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger born in Hastings, Nebraska. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name. He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; when working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Neal concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute" (died at his home in Toluca Lake, California) October 29th 1922.
2008: Russ Hamilton/Ronald Hulme (76) British singer, born in Liverpool; he was one of the first singer-songwriters of pop music to have come out of the city, and the first Liverpool artist to hit the US music scene with his song "Rainbow" several years before The Beatles. In 1957, chart success in the U.S. was a very unusual feat for an English performer. "Rainbow" reached No.4 on Billboard Hot 100, sold over one million copies, and reached gold disc status. Russ followed this with another self penned item, "Wedding Ring" which managed to reach the Top 20. In 1960, he was invited to Nashville, and recorded "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" with The Jordanaires and Chet Atkins. Other hits include "I Still Belong to You", "I Had a Dream", "My Mother’s Eyes" and "Reprieve of Tom Dooley" (?) b. January 19th 1932.
2011: Kim Brown (66) British-born Finland-based musician, best-known for his band, The Renegades, born in Birmingham, England but lived much of his life in Finland. He played guitar and was the lead vocalist of the band and wrote many of the No.1 songs for The Renegades. From 1975 to 1982, he temporarily moved to Italy where he created a 1950's-styled classic rock'n'roll combo called Kim & The Cadillacs recording several hits and were regulars on all kinds of national television shows in Italy. He returned to Finland, returning occasionally to Italy appearing in oldies shows or dance hall gigs in resort towns (sadly Kim died battling cancer) b. June 2nd 1945.
UPDATING
2011: George "Mojo" Buford (81) American blues harmonica player () b.
2011: Freddie Gruber (84) American jazz drummer () b.

October 12th.
1956: Don Lorenzo Perosi (83) Italian composer born at Tortona, Piedmont; he was the most prolific and significant Italian composer of sacred music at the turn of the 20th century and the only member of the Giovane Scuola who did not write opera. In the late 1890s, while he was still only in his 20s, he was an internationally celebrated composer of sacred music, especially large-scale oratorios including La Passione di Cristo, La Trasfigurazione di Cristo, La Risurrezione di Lazzaro, La Risurrezione di Cristo, Il Natale del Redentore, La Strage degli Innocenti, Il Giudizio Universale and Transitus Animae. His masses and mottetti include, Missa In Honorem Ss. Gervasii et Protasii, Missa "Te Deum Laudamus", Missa Eucharistica, Missa [Prima] Pontificalis, Messa da Requiem, Missa a Tre Voci Maschili (Missa Cerviana), Missa "Benedicamus Domino", Missa Secunda Pontificalis, and Melodie Sacre (eight volumes). He also wrote secular music.. symphonic poems, chamber music, and concertos, as well as writing for the organ. According to musicologist Arturo Sacchetti's estimate, Lorenzo composed an incredable 3,000 - 4,000 works (?) b. December 21st 1872.
1971: Gene Vincent/Vincent Eugene Craddock (36) American singer born in Norfolk, Virginia, a pioneer of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top 10 hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula," is considered a significant early example of rockabilly. Other hits included "Race With The Devil", "Bluejean Bop", "Lotta Lovin'", "Bluejean Bop" and "Woman Love". Vincent also became one of the first rock stars to star in a film, 'The Girl Can't Help It' together with Jayne Mansfield. On April 16, 1960, while on tour in the UK, Gene , Eddie Cochran, and songwriter Sharon Sheeley were involved in a high-speed traffic accident in a private hire taxi. Gene broke his ribs and collarbone and further damaged his weakened leg, Sharon suffered a broken pelvis, but tragically Wddie Cochran, who had been thrown from the vehicle, suffered serious brain injuries and died the next day. He was the first inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame upon its formation in 1997. The following year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1749 N. Vine St. He is a member of the Rock and Roll and Rockabilly halls of fame (he sadly died from a ruptured stomach ulcer while visiting his father in California) b. February 11th 1935.
1978: Nancy Spungen (20) American paranoid schizophrenic girlfriend of Sex Pistol's Sid Vicious. Nancy left home at age 17 and moved to New York City. She followed bands such as Aerosmith, The New York Dolls and The Ramones. In 1977, at the age of 19, she moved to London, allegedly to win over Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers, but met The Sex Pistols instead. When lead singer Johnny Rotten rejected her, she pursued bassist Sid Vicious and they soon moved in together.During a tumultuous 23-month relationship, Nancy and Sid became addicted to heroin and other drugs. Sid was already an abuser of multiple drugs before he met Nancy, but many sources claim she introduced him to heroin; other sources claim that he had begun to use speed with his mother at an early age and then got into heroin after meeting Nancy. (she was found sprawled on the bathroom floor of their hotel room clad in a black bra and panties. She had bled to death from a single stab wound to the abdomen, later traced to a knife owned by Sid Vicious. Sid died of an overdose while on bail before he could be tried for murder) b. February 27th 1958.
1985: Ricky Wilson (32) American self-taught guitarist born in Athens, Georgia, he was the original guitarist and a founding member of the B-52's along with his sister, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland and Fred Schneider. They played their first gig in 1977 at a Valentine's Day party for friends. The band's quirky take on the New Wave sound of their era was a combination of dance and surf music set apart by the unusual guitar tunings used by Ricky. He also played the guitar on the song "Breakin' In My Heart" on the 1979 self-titled album by Tom Verlaine (Ricky sadly died prematurely from complications due to aids) b. March 19th 1953.
1989:Carmen Cavallaro (76) American pianist born in New York, who established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. In 1933, he joined the jazz band of Al Kavelin, where he quickly became the featured soloist. After four years he switched to a series of other big bands, including Rudy Vallee's in 1937. He also worked briefly with Enrico Madriguera and Abe Lyman. Starting his own band, a five-piece combo, in St. Louis in 1939, his popularity grew and his group expanded into a 14-piece orchestra, releasing some 19 albums for Decca over the years (Sadly passed to cancer) b. May 6th 1913.
1997: John Denver/Henry John Deutschendorf Jr (53) American singer-songwriter and guitarist born in Roswell, New Mexico. At the age of 12, he received a 1910 Gibson acoustic jazz guitar from his grandmother and he taught himself to play it well enough to play locally as a teenager in groups such as the folk-music group "The Alpine Trio". John went on to become one of the most popular acoustic artists of the 1970s in terms of record sales, he recorded and released around 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed himself. He was named Poet Laureate of Colorado in 1977. Songs such as "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Rocky Mountain High", "Sunshine on My Shoulders", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", "Annie's Song" and "Calypso" attained worldwide popularity. Among his varied projects and interests, John founded his own environmental group, the Windstar Foundation and had a keen interest in solutions to world hunger. He visited Africa during the 1980s to witness first-hand the suffering caused by starvation and to work with African leaders toward solutions. In 1983 and 1984, John hosted the annual Grammy Awards. In the 1983 finale, he was joined on stage by folk-music legend Joan Baez with whom he led an all-star version of "Blowing in the Wind" and "Let The Sunshine In". John has recieved 9 awards in honoor of his music, including 2 grammies and an Emmy, and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996 (tragically killed when the light aircraft he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay, California) b. December 31st 1943.
2001: Dan Del Santo (50) American steel guitarist, guitarist, singer-songwriter; having made his presence felt on Texas' outlaw country scene during the late '70s, he had left country music by the mid-'80s and launched an Afro-Cuban band, the Professors of Pleasures. Latin music remained his prime genre as he went on to host a third-world music show for an Austin-based radio station. Dan relocated to Oaxaca, Mexico, where he formed new band, Perros del Sol, and continued to perform his original songs in the Spanish language (esophageal bleeding) b. September 4th 1951
2002: Ray Conniff (85) American trombonist, strings, orchestra director; after serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, where he worked under Walter Schumann, he was hired by Mitch Miller, then head of A & R at Columbia Records, as their home arranger, working with several artists including Rosemary Clooney, Marty Robbins, Frankie Laine, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell and Johnnie Ray. He wrote a top 10 arrangement for Don Cherry's "Band of Gold" in 1955, a single that sold more than a million copies. Among the hit singles he backed with his orchestra (and eventually with a male chorus) were "Yes Tonight Josephine" and "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by Johnnie Ray; "Chances Are" and "It's Not for Me to Say" by Johnny Mathis; "A White Sport Coat" and "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins; "Moonlight Gambler" by Frankie Laine; "Up Above My Head," a duet by Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray; and "Pet Me, Poppa" by Rosemary Clooney. He also backed up the albums Tony by Tony Bennett, Blue Swing by Eileen Rodgers, Swingin' for Two by Don Cherry, and half the tracks of The Big Beat by Johnnie Ray. Between 1957 and 1968, he had 28 albums in the American Top 40, the most famous one being Somewhere My Love (1966). He topped the album list in Britain in 1969 with His Orchestra, His Chorus, His Singers, His Sound, an album which was originally published to promote his European tour (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) in 1969. He also was the first American popular artist to record in Russia—in 1974 he recorded Ray Conniff in Moscow with the help of a local choir. He sold about 70 million albums worldwide and continued recording and performing until his death (died after a fall and hitting his head) b. November 6th 1916.
2005: Baker Knight (72) American songwriter, singer and guitarist, born in Birmingham, Alabama and attended the University of Alabama, where he wrote music in his spare time. In 1956 he founded a rockabilly group, The Knightmares, releasing their debut single, "Bop Boogie to the Blues", that same year. Baker moved to Hollywood in 1958, he wrote the song "Lonesome Town"and other hits for Rick Nelson. He wrote "Just Relax", which he released as a solo single in 1959, with Cochran on guitar. He also wrote the song "The Wonder of You" followed by songs for Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Ernest Ashworth, Hank Williams, Jr., Jerry Lee Lewis, Dave & Sugar, and Mickey Gilley among others. Baker's last solo release was "If Only", in 1977 (?) b. July 4th 1933.
2006: Al Thompson (59) American musician, former Motown drummer and longtime drummer for Gladys Knight & The Pips, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole (?) b.????
2009: Dickie Peterson (63) American singer and bass guitarist born in Grand Forks, ND; although his first instrument had been drums he has played electric bass since the age of thirteen, citing Otis Redding as an influence to his music. He moved Davis CA, then to San Francisco in the early 60s. After playing in the band Andrew Staples & The Oxford Circle, he helped form the power trio Blue Cheer, with himself as lead singer/bassist, Leigh Stephens as guitarist and Eric Albronda on the drums, Eric was soon replaced by Paul Whaley. Their first hit in 1968 was a cover version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum. The single peaked at No.14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the album peaked at No.11 on the Billboard 200 chart. Dickie spent much of his last two decades based in Germany, playing with Blue Cheer and other groups including Mother Ocean in the early 2000s, the Hank Davison Band and as an acoustic duo with Hank Davison under the name "Dos Hombres" (Dickie sadly died while fighting liver cancer) b. September 12th 1946.
2009: Ian Wallace OBE (90) British bass-baritone opera and concert singer, he made his operatic debut with the New London Opera Company at the Cambridge Theatre, London, in 1946, as Schaunard in La bohème. Throughout the 50s, he was a feature at Glyndebourne, specializing in basso buffo roles, notably Dr Bartolo in The Barber of Seville. In the 1960s and 1970s he was closely associated with Scottish Opera. From the early 1960s to the 1980s, he performed a one-man show, featuring operatic excerpts, ballads and comic songs. He was particularly noted for his performances of the music of Flanders and Swann, and "The Hippopotamus" became his signature tune. He also acted occasionally on TV and in films, including Tom Thumb, made in 1958. Ian was well known for having been a panellist throughout the 27-year run of the radio panel game My Music, not missing a single episode of more than 520 that were broadcast (died after long illness) b. July 10th 1919.
2011: Joel "Taz" DiGregorio (67) American keyboardist born in Worcester, Massachusetts; in his mid teens he started out with the group Paul Chaplan and the Emeralds, best known for their 1959 hit "Shortnin' Bread". The group disbanded in 1961 and Joel found other gigs including playing in a lounge band in Florida. In 1964, aged 20, he met and joined Charlie Daniels who at that time was in a band called the Jaguars. After a stint in the army Joel resumed his longtime membership in The Charlie Daniels Band. In 1979, their signature hit "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" reached No.3 in US Pop Charts was co-written by Joel and was honored with a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance in 1979. In addition to his work with Daniels, he recorded 2 solo projects: 2008's "Midnight in Savannah" and "Shake Rag" also in 2008 (tragically Joel died in a car crash on his way to meet Charles Daniel's tour bus) b. January 8th 1944.

October 13th.
1974: Ed Sullivan (73) American TV host, band leader born in New York City; former boxer, sportswriter, theatre columnist for The New York Graphic and New York Daily News, show business news radio broadcaster, took on yet another medium in 1933 by writing and starring in the film Mr. Broadway, which has him guiding the audience around New York nightspots to meet entertainers and celebrities. Ed soon became a powerful starmaker in the entertainment world himself. In '48, the CBS network hired Ed to do a weekly Sunday night TV variety show, Toast of the Town, which later became The Ed Sullivan Show, famous for introducing new musical acts. Debuting in Sunday June 20th 1948, the show was broadcast from CBS Studio 50, at 1697 Broadway, at 53rd Street, in New York City, which in 1967 was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theatre, and is now the home of The Late Show with David Letterman. The last Ed Sullivan show telecast No.1068, was on March 28th 1971 with guests Melanie, Joanna Simon, Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass, and Sandler and Young. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd (sadly died of esophageal cancer) b. September 28th 1901.
1987: Kishore Kumar/Abhas Kumar Ganguly (58) Indian film playback singer and actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter. Kishore sang in many Indian languages including Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya. He can be heard solo or collaborating with other artists on hundreds of tracks. Kishore also starred in many films including New Delhi, Aasha, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Half Ticket, and Padosan (?) b. August 4th 1929.
2000: Britt Woodman (80) American jazz trombonist best known for his work with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus; he first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After service in World War II he played with Boyd Raeburn before joining with Lionel Hampton in 1946. In the 1950s he worked with Duke Ellington. As a member of the Duke's band he can be heard on The Complete Porgy and Bess, Such Sweet Thunder, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook, Black, Brown, and Beige and Indigos albums. In 1960 he moved on from Ellington to work in a pit orchestra. Later he worked with Mingus and can be heard on the 1963 album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus. In the 1970s he led his own octet and worked with Toshiko Akiyoshi (?) b. June 4th 1920
2001: Peter Doyle (52) Australian pop singer and songwriter born in Melbourne; he started his career at the age of 9 appearing regular over 5 years on a children's television talent show Swallow's Juniors. From 1965 to 1967 he released ten singles in Australia, including a cover of Conway Twitty's 'Speechless (The Pick Up)', and Solomon Burke's 'Stupidity'. May 1968 saw him join the vocal trio 'The Virgil Brothers', but after relocating to England they spit up and Peter joined the 3rd and most successful line up of the New Seekers recording hits such as "What Have They Done To My Song Ma", "Never Ending Song of Love" and "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". In 1972 they came second representing the UK, in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Beg, Steal or Borrow". Peter resumed his solo career in 1973, returning to Australia in 1981 to join the band Standing Room Only. The follinging year he moved to America to work with the group Regis for the next five years. Back in Australia he regularly performed on the club circuit. (sadly lost to throat cancer) b. July 28th 1949.
2009: Al Martino/Alfred Cini (82) American singer and actor; after servicing in the US Navy in WW II, including being a part of the Iwo Jima invasion where he was wounded, inspired by Al Jolson and Perry Como, he started his singing career, performing in local nightclubs for a time, before moving to New York in 1948. He went on to win first place on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts television program, thanks to a rendition of Como's "If," this led to a recording contract with the Philadelphia based independent label, BBS. Al had a string of hit singles and albums that stretched from the early 1950s all the way into the mid 1970s. His single "Here in My Heart" was No.1 in the first ever UK Singles Chart, published by the New Musical Express on November 14, 1952, putting him into the Guinness Book of World Records, it remained in the top position for nine weeks. One of his most successful hits was "Spanish Eyes", achieving several gold and platinum discs for sales. As well as his singing career, Al played the role of Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather, as well as singing the film's theme, Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from The Godfather). He played the same role in The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III, as well as The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 (died at his home in Springfield, Pennsylvania, 6 days after his 82nd birthday) b. October 7th 1927.
2010: Kostas Kafasis (70) Greek actor and singer (died after battling cancer) b. 1940
2010: Marzieh/Ashraf os-Sadat Mortezai (86) Iranian singer, Tehran-born singer of Persian traditional music. Known as the first lady of Persian music, she has been one of the most outstanding figures the artistic society of Iran has ever witnessed. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 she no longer appeared onstage and eventually would leave her homeland in the 1990s due to the political repression. She joined the Mujaheddin-e Khalq organisation (MKO). Soon after she left the country, she performed several concerts in Los Angeles, California in 1995, and later at the Earl's Court, London in 1996. Her hits include Az Atash Gozashtam, Dokhtare koli, Khoda koneh keh khabam, Bia Bia Benshin, Golhaaye Bahari, Ze Man Ay Negaaram, Soozeh Del, and Mayzadeh to mention a few (sadly died of cancer) b. 1926
2010: Huddy Combs/Huddy 6/Andre Hudson (?) American rap artist and promoter; he was an original member of the rap group Harlem World founded by Mase. The group consisted of six members Huddy, Mase's sister Baby Stase, Blinky Blink, Cardan, Meeno and Loon. They released their first and only album, The Movement on March 9th 1999, it reached No.11 on the Billboard 200 and went gold. Despite the success of the album, the group disbanded later in the year with their last appearance being Mase's "From Scratch" on his second album. Huddy became a fixture on New York's party scene promoting 100s of high-profile events. Although Huddy did appeared on Ray Benzino's 2003 anti-Eminem mixtape Die Another Day: Flawless Victory, as well as his album Arch Nemesis in 2005. In hip-hop circles, he is well known as a close associate of Cam'ron. In 2005, Cam'ron credited his childhood friend Huddy with saving his life when he was shot two times while leaving a party during the Howard University homecoming weekend in Washington, D.C. (tragically died when his car collided with a truck in New York, on the George Washington bridge) b. ????
2010: "General" Norman Johnson (67) American R&B singer songwriter and record producer, born in Norfolk, Virginia. He began singing in his church choir at the age of six. His recording debut came six years later on Atlantic Records, with his group the Humdingers, although the tracks remain unreleased. In 1961, and following a change in name to The Showmen, he and the group issued the single "It Will Stand." The track was a chart hit in both 1961 and 1964, they split up in 1968. Guided by Holland-Dozier-Holland, Norman recruited Danny Woods (ex-The Showmen), Harrison Kennedy, and Eddie Curtis and created Chairmen of the Board. Their debut single, "Give Me Just a Little More Time", a No.3 hit in the US Billboard R&B chart in 1969. Further hits included "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" and "Everything's Tuesday". Norman started a songwriting career with "Pay to the Piper," another hit for Chairmen of the Board, he wrote most of the band's material. Other songs he penned include the Grammy Award winning "Patches" for Clarence Carter, "Want Ads", "Stick Up," and "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" and "Bring the Boys Home" for Freda Payne. Chairmen of the Board's popularity diminshed in the middle of the 1970s, although Johnson and Woods remained together re-billed as the Chairmen. He went on to work the beach music circuit, and became beach music icon. In 1993, Norman and Woods released an album, What Goes Around Comes Around. In recognition of the contribution that Norman had made to American popular music, the Virginia General Assembly designated June 9th 2001 as General Johnson Day in Virginia (?) b. May 23rd 1943.
2011: Pavlina Nikaj (80) Albanian singer born in Korca, he sang on Radio Korca in the mid to late 40s and in 1950 he was appointed a singer in the Army Ensemble. After which in 1957 he became a professional singer in the Estrada Theater of Tirana, where he stayed nearly 20 years. He was considered a "pioneer" of easy interpretation of the Albanian music with songs such as "The Paths of Happiness", "Featureless Forget", "My Song Dedicated To You", "Among The Crop Have a Point" among many others. Pavlina was decorated by the President of Albania with the command "Frashëri", the silver, in 2005 (?) b. May 15th 1931.
2011: Chris Doig (63) New Zealand opera singer and sports administrator, in 1972 he won New Zealand's Mobil Song Quest and subsequently became principal tenor at the Vienna State Opera. Later in his career he was appointed chief executive of New Zealand Cricket and was a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union board. Chris was awarded an OBE for his service to the arts in 1992, and in June 2011 was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. (sadly Chris died while fighting bowel cancer) b. April 4th 1948.

October 14th.
1959: Alphonse Trent (54) American jazz pianist; he led one of the most fabled of the territory bands, an outfit that recorded just eight titles, but was legendary. He led his first band in the early '20s, and in 1924 he played with Eugene Cook's Synco Six. He then took over leadership of the band, which played until 1934, playing mostly in the American South and Midwest, as well as on steamboats. He left music in the mid-1930s but returned with another band in 1938. His sidemen included Terrence Holder, Alex Hill, Stuff Smith, Snub Mosley, Charlie Christian, Sweets Edison, Mouse Randolph, and Peanuts Holland (?) b. August 24th 1905.
1977: Bing Crosby/Harry Lillis Crosby (74) American singer, actor, singer of "White Christmas", and starred in the "On the Road" films with Bob Hope. One of the first multimedia stars, from 1934 to 1954 he was very successful across record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses. Bing and his musical acts influenced male singers of the era that followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. In 1926, while singing at Los Angeles Metropolitan Theatre, Bing and his vocal duo partner Al Rinker caught the eye of Paul Whiteman, arguably the most famous bandleader at the time. Hired for $150 a week, they made their debut on December 6th 1926 at the Tivoli Theatre in Chicago and their first recording was, "I've Got The Girl," with Don Clark's Orchestra. On September 2nd 1931, Crosby made his solo radio debut. In 1931, he signed with Brunswick Records and recording under Jack Kapp and signed with CBS Radio to do a weekly 15 minute radio broadcast; almost immediately he became a huge hit. His songs "Out of Nowhere", "Just One More Chance", "At Your Command" and "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store)" were among the the best selling songs of 1931. Bing's biggest musical hit was his recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", which he introduced through a 1942 Christmas-season radio broadcast and the movie Holiday Inn. According to ticket sales, he is, at 1,077,900,000 tickets sold, the third most popular actor of all time, behind Clark Gable and John Wayne. In 1962, Bing was the first person to be recognized with the Grammy Global Achievement Award. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O'Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way. Bing is one of the few people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in the radio division (He died of a heart attack on a golf course in Spain, having just completed the 18th hole) b. May 3rd 1903.
1985: Emil Gilels (78) Soviet pianist; he was the first Soviet artist to be allowed to travel extensively in the West. After WW2, he toured Europe starting from 1947 as a concert pianist, and made his US debut in 1955 playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Philadelphia. His repertoire was vast, ranging from Scarlatti to Stravinsky. He played all the concertos and sonatas of Beethoven, both concertos of Brahms, a large amount of Schumann and Chopin, some Schubert, Liszt and many of the Russian composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. The power and excitement that Emil generates in a live performance can still be felt more than forty years later (he was killed accidentally by the Russian doctor after a medical check-up) b. October 19th 1916.
1990: Leonard Bernstein (72) American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the USA to receive worldwide acclaim. He was probably best known to the public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, and On the Town. He was the first classical music conductor to make numerous TV appearances between 1954-89. He also wrote symphonies and other concert music (Leonard sadly died of emphysema) b. August 25th 1918.
1998: Frankie Yankovic (83) American singer and accordian virtuoso; America's undisputed Polka King, the first polka artist to score a million-selling single with 1948's "Just Because", the first to perform on television, and the first to win a Grammy for Best Polka Album "70 Years of Hits", in 1986. Of Slovene descent, he came from South Euclid, Ohio, he released over 200 recordings in his career. Frankie seldom strayed from the Slovenian-style polka, but did record with Chet Atkins, Don Everly, and did a version of the “Too Fat Polka” with comedian Drew Carey. Frankie also had a long standing relationship with accordion virtuoso Joey Miskulin (sadly died from heart failure) b. July 15th 1915.
2002: Norbert Schultze (91) German composer and pianist, most remembered for writing the famed WW II song, "Lili Marlene", he also wrote the music for the Luftwaffe's unofficial anthem, "Bomben auf Engelland"/Bombs on England. Educated in music in Cologne and Munich, he became a theatrical musical director in Heidelberg. After WW2 he worked as a bit-actor in two German movies including "Max und Moritz" in 1956 and "Zu jung fuer die Liebe?" in 1961 and wrote numerous operas, operettas such as Rain in Paris, musicals, ballets and "Max and Moritz", and music for more than 50 movies, and songs. He also served on the Executive Board of the German Society for Composing and Performing Music from 1973 to 1991, and in 1996, received its Ring of Honor for his contributions to music (?) b. January 26th 1911.
2006: Freddy Fender/Baldemar Huerta (69) American singer, songwriter and guitarist; he was the first and biggest pioneer in Tex Mex music, and one of the most important musicians in Tejano Music History, he is documented as The First American Hispanic and Hispanic Rock & Roll Recording Artist In Anglo Latino Musical History. He made himself a guitar at the age of six, at 10 he was singing on local radio stations and winning talent competitions. Then at 16, he joined the Marines for three years. After his discharge, he started playing Texas honky tonks and dance halls. His big break came with Falcon Records in 1957, when he recorded Spanish versions of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and Harry Belafonte's "Jamaica Farewell." The recordings both reached No1 in Mexico and South America. He signed with Imperial Records in 1959, renaming himself "Fender" after the brand of his electric guitar, and "Freddy", well.. because it sounded good with Fender.In 1974, he recorded "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" and on April 8, 1975, it reached the Number One spot on Billboard's pop and county charts, the first time in history an artist's first single reached Number One on both charts. With its success, he won the Academy of Country Music's best new artist award. Throughout his long career Freddy has appeared on 18 TV shows, in 8 films, 11 videos, and countless soundtracks, commercials, shows, tributes and is a triple Grammy Award winner. He won his first shared Grammy with the Texas Tornados, in 1990 for best Mexican-American performance for "Soy de San Luis", his second shared Grammy came in with Los Super Seven in the same category in 1998 for "Los Super Seven". Then in year 2002 he won his own Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in 2002 for "La Musica de Baldemar Huerta." (lung cancer) b. June 4th 1937.
2007: Big Moe/Kenneth Moore (33) American rapper born in Houston, known for a softer and slower style than other Houston rappers, including a mixture of rapping and singing that he called "rapsinging" as well as for his music that celebrated codeine-laced syrup as a recreational drug. He began his career free styling on DJ Screw's mix tapes before being signed to Wreckshop Records, releasing his debut album, City of Syrup in 2000 (died after suffering a heart attack one week earlier that left him in a coma) b. August 20th 1974.
2009: Johnny Jones (73) American R&B guitarist and bandleader; born in Nashville, he moved to Chicago in the '50s. Where he shared an apartment with harmonica player Walter McCollum. Together they formed a small group, working regularly with Junior Wells and Freddy King. Johnny moved back to Nashville in the early 1960s to become a session musician and formed a band the Imperial Seven. Johnny and Jimi Hendrix once faced off in a legendary guitar duel at the city's Club Baron in the early 1960s and he also appeared alongside Jimi on the regional TV music series 'Night Train,' where Johnny played in the House Band. In 1964, he assumed leadership of the King Casuals, the band founded in 1962 by Jimi Hendrix and bassist Billy Cox in Clarksville, he replaced Hendrix. They recorded a portfolio of singles in later years. The most recent recording with his band was the 2001, Blues Is In the House. After which he traveled and played in the UK 3 times, the last being in the spring of 2009. In the early 2000s, he and other players on the Jefferson Street scene were held in the spotlight by the Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945–1970 exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and its accompanying double-album (Johnny was found dead in his apartment) b. ??.1936
2011: Chuck Ruff (60) American drummer born in Reno, Nevada and went on to played in the rock group Sawbuck with Ronnie Montrose and Bill Church from 1968–1970. Chuck and Montrose later joined Edgar Winter with Dan Hartman to form The Edgar Winter Group in 1972. It was with this band that he had his biggest successes: first with the album They Only Come Out at Night-1973, featuring "Frankenstein" which reached No. 1 in the U.S. in May 1973, and the top 15 single "Free Ride", which reached No. 14 that same year. The album Shock Treatment, which featured the song "Easy Street", was also successful. In 1977, he joined Sammy Hagar and performed on the albums Street Machine-1979 and Danger Zone-1979, including the song "Bad Reputation" which is in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In his later years, Chuck continued performing music in Reno, Nevada with the Chuck Ruff Group and his last project, Geezersläw (sadly Chuck has died after long illness) b. May 25th 1951.

October 15th.
1942: Dame Marie Tempest DBE/Mary Susan Etherington (78) English singer and actress known as the "queen of her profession". She became the most famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, she became a leading comic actress and toured widely in North America and elsewhere. She was, at times, her own theatre manager during a career spanning 55 years. Marie was also instrumental in the founding of the actors' union Equity in England (?) b. July 15th 1864.
1964: Cole Porter (73) American singer, multi-musician, composer, songwriter born in Peru, Indiana, U.S. He e learned the violin at age 6, the piano at 8, and wrote his first operetta at 10. Cole wrote songs both words and music for over 30 stage and film musicals. His works include the musical including "Kiss Me, Kate", "Du Barry Was a Lady", "Gay Divorce" "Anything Goes", "Paris", "Fifty Million Frenchmen", "Can-Can", and "High Society". He has written songs persifically for greats such as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly among many others. Writing and composing songs such as "Begin the Beguine", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "In the Still of the Night", "Night and Day", "At Long Last Love", "From Alpha to Omega", "You Never Know", "Let's Misbehave", "From Now On", "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". He was one of the greatest contributors to the Great American Songbook and Cole is one of the few Tin Pan Alley composers to have written both lyrics and music for his songs (kidney failure) b. June 9th 1891.
1966: Colette Bonheur/Colette Chailler (39) Quebec Canadian singer born in Montreal, from 1954 to 1957, she worked with Jacques Normand, Gilles Pellerin starring in the variety show 'Door Open' on the Radio-Canada, and also sang in Montreal's top cabarets such as Cabaret Saint-Germain-des-Pres, Continental Café, and Quebec Chez Gerard. In the fall of 1954 she again worked with Jacques Normand, Gilles Pellerin, plus Normand Hudon, Pierre Theriault and others at The Three Beavers, above the Café Saint-Jacques. Her rendition of "Violets fields" won the prize in radio Canadian singing contest in 1957. In 1961 she married the saxophonist Gerry Robinson, and they relocated to the Bahamas (She died in the Bahamas under mysterious circumstances) b. September 20th 1927.
1980: Bobby "Lester" Dallas (50) American lead singer with the Moonglows, born in Louisville. Lester and high school classmate Harvey Fuqua started singing at parties as a duo in the 40s. They formed The Moonglows in 1951, originally calling themselves the Crazy Sounds, but were renamed by disc jockey Alan Freed as the Moonglows. They also cut some recordings as the Moonlighters. Their first major hit was the No.1 R&B "Sincerely" for Chess in 1954, which reached number 20 on the pop charts. They enjoyed five more Top Ten R&B hits on from 1955 to 1958, including "Most of All," "We Go Together," "See Saw," and "Please Send Me Someone to Love," as well as "Ten Commandments of Love." The different styles defined the Moonglows two lead singers, Harvey Fuqua favoured the up-tempo R&B/rock numbers while Lester sung more of the romantic ballads. (sadly died after fighting cancer) b. January 13th 1930.
1999: Terry Gilkyson (83) US singer, lyricist, composer; he wrote and recorded "The Cry of the Wild Goose," which became a hit song for Frankie Laine in 1950, as well as the 1953 hit song "Tell Me a Story" recorded by Jimmy Boyd and Laine. In the 1956, he formed a group called The Easy Riders with Richard Dehr and Frank Miller, having a major hit with "Marianne" selling in excess of one million copies, earning a gold disc. The three also wrote "Memories Are Made of This," which became a popular song in several versions, including an adaptation for the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Terry also appeared in, as well as wrote songs for, the 1951 Western film Slaughter Trail. In the 1960s, he left the group to work for the Walt Disney Studios, writing music both for movies and the television series The Wonderful World of Disney especially "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh." In 1968 he was nominated for an Academy Award for "The Bare Necessities" from the movie The Jungle Book (died in Austin, Texas, while visiting family) b. June 7th 1916.
2004: Dave Godin (68) English writer, critic and founder of the record labels, Soul City and Deep Soul, born in Rotherham, Sth Yorkshire, and who coined the term, Northern Soul. After working in advertising, Dave founded the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society, and in time was recruited by Berry Gordy to become Motown's consultant in the UK, setting up its distribution through EMI. In 1966, with colleague David Nathan and friend Robert Blackmore, he founded Soul City, a record shop and label on which he released such then-obscure soul classics. It was in their shop that Dave coined the term northern soul, a description that he would popularise through his work as a music journalist. In his career he also coined the term Deep Soul and he promoted the interests of a large number of US musicians whose work had fallen out of favour in their home country. In the mid 1990s he started to compile a series of CDs of rare and some not so rare, recordings - "Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures" - for Ace Records, which featured such artists as Loretta Williams, Eddie and Ernie, Jaibi, Ruby Johnson and Jimmy and Louise Tig. The albums were greeted with universal critical acclaim, and Dave described the series as the proudest achievement of his life (sadly Dave died fighting lung cancer) b. June 21st 1936.
2008: Edie Adams (81) American singer in Broadway and television making her Broadway debut in 1953, playing Rosalind Russell’s sister in the Leonard Bernstein musical “Wonderful Town". She starred on Broadway in Wonderful Town in 1953 and in Li'l Abner in 1956, and played the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's original 1957 Cinderella broadcast. She also played "Miss Olsen" in the 1960 film The Apartment. In 1962 she appeared on ABC with Duke Ellington. In 1963 she also began a variety show, “Here’s Edie,” in which she performed with the likes of Count Basie and Sammy Davis Jr. The show received five Emmy nominations. In 2003, as one of the last surviving headliners from the all-star movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Edie joined actors Marvin Kaplan and Sid Caesar at 40th anniversary celebrations of the movie (sadly died from pneumonia and cancer) b. April 16th 1927.
2008: Frankie Venom/Frank Kerr (51) Canadian lead vocalist, punk pioneer and founding member of the punk rock band Teenage Head, formed at Westdale High School in Hamilton, Ontario in 1975. 1980's "Frantic City" was the band's breakthrough album, producing the hit singles "Let's Shake" and "Somethin' On My Mind". They toured to support the album, including opening the major Heatwave festival in August. In June 1980 their performance at Toronto's Ontario Place sparked a riot. The incident made headlines across the country, and led Ontario Place to ban rock concerts for several years afterward. The band appeared, as themselves, in the movie Class of 1984 and performed "Ain't Got No Sense". Frankie left the band after the release of "Trouble in the Jungle", in 1985 (natural causes) b. 1957.
2011: Betty Driver (91) English singer, actress and 42 years as Coronation Street's Betty Turpin; born in Leicester, England, but at aged two Betty moved to West Didsbury, Manchester, with her family. At the age of 8, pushed by her mother, she began performing professionally with Terence Byron Repertory Theatre Company; singing for the BBC by the age of 10; and began touring across the UK in her first revue at the age of 12. Whilst performing in London at the age of 14, Betty was spotted by the agent Bert Aza, despite her young age, he booked her for the lead in a revival of Mr Tower Of London, which had brought Gracie Fields to prominence 19 years earlier. When she was still only 14, when she made her first record "Jubilee Baby", and had another major success with "The Sailor with the Navy Blue Eyes" and made several more hit records >>> READ MORE <<< (sadly Betty has died from pneumonia) b. May 20th 1920.

October 16th.
1945: James Vincent Monaco (60) Italian-born American composer of popular music; born in Fornia, Italy; his family emigrated to USA when he was six. He worked as a ragtime player in Chicago before moving to New York. His first successful song "Oh, You Circus Day" was featured in the 1912 Broadway revue Hanky Panky. Further success came with "Row, Row, Row" (lyrics-William Jerome) in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1912. Perhaps his best remembered song is "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)" (lyrics-Joseph McCarthy) introduced by Al Jolson in 1913. Other lyricists he teamed up with included Johnny Burke to produce songs for several Bing Crosby films. James was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 (?) b. January 13th 1885.
1957: Ralph Benatzky (63) Austrian composer of Czech origin, born in Moravské Budejovice. He composed operas and operettas, such as Cherchez la femme-1911, Casanova-1928, Die drei Musketiere-1929, Im weißen Rössl-1930, and Meine Schwester und ich-1930. (?) b. June 5th 1884.
1959: Minor Hall/Ram Hall (62) American jazz drummer born in Sellies, Louisiana; after studying at New Orleans University until 1914, Minor began playing with Kid Ory. He played in various New Orleans bands such as the Superior Band, then moved to Chicago in 1918. He took his brother, Tubby Hall's spot in Lawrence Duhe's band briefly before serving in the U.S. Army during WWI. In 1926 he played with Jimmy Noone, and then moved to California for an extended run with Mutt Carey's Jeffersonians from 1927 to 1932. He played in the Winslow Allen band in the 1930s, but took a hiatus from music for part of the decade, and served briefly in the Army again in '42. In 1945 he rejoined Ory in his Creole Jazz Band and became one of his most longstanding members, remaining with Ory's ensemble until 1956, when he retired through poor health. Minor recorded extensively with Ory and also did some recording with Louis Armstrong in the 1940s (?) b. March 2nd 1897.
1969: Leonard Chess/Lejzor Czyz (52) The founder of the Chess record label, played a pivotal role in the birth of the Chicago electric blues movement of the postwar era, launching the careers of legends. In the 1950s, Chess Records' commercial success grew with artists such as Little Walter, The Moonglows, The Flamingos and Chuck Berry, and in the '60s with Etta James, Fontella Bass, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Laura Lee and Tommy Tucker, as well as with the subsidiary labels Checker, Argo and Cadet. As the 1960s progressed, Chess's recording enterprise branched out into other genres including gospel, traditional jazz, spoken word, comedy, and more (heart attack) b. March 12th 1917.
1973: Gene Krupa (64) American jazz & big band drummer born in Chicago, Illinois. Many consider him to be one of the most influential drummers of the 20th century, particularly regarding the development of the drum kit. Many jazz historians believe he made history in 1927 as the first kit drummer ever to record using a bass drum pedal. Others, however, believe this was done earlier by Baby Dodds. His drum method was published in 1938 and immediately became the standard text. He is also credited with inventing the rim shot on the snare drum. The 1937 recording of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Gene on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Gene was the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1978. Sal Mineo starred as Gene Krupa in the Columbia Pictures movie The Gene Krupa Story in 1959. (leukemia and heart failure) b. January 15th 1909.
1982: Mario Del Monaco (67) Italian tenor and is regarded by his admirers as being one of the greatest dramatic tenors of the 20th century. Born in Florence career began with his debut on December 31st 1940, as Pinkerton at the Puccini Theater in Milan and made his first recordings in Milan in 1948 for HMV. He sang at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1959, enjoying particular success in dramatic Verdi parts such as Radames. He soon established himself as one of a quartet of Italian tenor "superstars" who reached the peak of their fame in the 1950s and '60s, the others being Giuseppe Di Stefano, Carlo Bergonzi and Franco Corelli. He retired from the stage in 1975 (Mario sadly died as a result of nephritis) b. July 27th 1915.
1982: Jakov Gotovac (87) Croatian composer, conductor of classical music. He is the author of the most famous Croatian nationalist opera, the comic Ero s onoga svijeta "Ero the joker", which has been performed on all continents except Australia, and translated into nine languages, with its libretto written by Milan Begovic. It has been performed in more than 80 theatres in Europe alone . In his works, he represents the late national romanticism, with national folklore being the main source of ideas and inspiration (?) b. October 11th 1895.
1983: George Liberace (72) American musician and television performer, born in Menasha, Wisconsin, he was the elder brother and business partner of famed US entertainer Liberace, Wladziu Valentino Liberace. He appeared regularly on his brother's syndicated TV show in the 1950s as violin accompanist and orchestral arranger (died of leukemia in Las Vegas, Nevada) b. July 31st 1911.
1986: Arthur Grumiaux (65) Belgian violinist, also proficient in piano, born in Villers-Perwin. He begin music studies at the age of only 4, and trained on violin and piano with the Fernand Quintet at the Charleroi Conservatory, where he took first prize at the age of 11. Arthur's playing was included on over 30 recordings. The titles on these releases favour the compositions of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, and Schubert, but he also including works by Corelli, Ravel, Debussy and Franck. In addition to his solo work, he recorded Mozart quintets with the Grumiaux Ensemble, and various selections with the Grumiaux Trio. His successful performance career led up to royal recognition, and in 1973 he was knighted baron by King Baudouin for his services to music, thus sharing the title with Paganini. (He struggled with diabetes, his heavy recording schedules and concert performances, sadly he died of a sudden stroke while in in Brussels) b. March 21st 1921
1990: Art Blakey/Abdullah Ibn Buhaina (71) US jazz drummer; one of the inventors of the modern, bebop style of drumming. He was known as a powerful musician and a ferocious groover. He is undoubtedly one of the most influential jazz musicians ever; his brand of bluesy, funky hard bop was and still remains profoundly influential on mainstream jazz. As a teenager he was playing the piano full-time, leading a commercial band, before teaching himself to drum.After which in the 1940s, Blakey was a member of bands led by Mary Lou Williams, Fletcher Henderson, and Billy Eckstine. In 1947 Art organized the Seventeen Messengers, a rehearsal band, and recorded with an octet called the Jazz Messengers. Over the years the Jazz Messengers served as a springboard for young jazz musicians such as Donald Byrd, Johnny Griffin, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Chuck Mangione, Woody Shaw, JoAnne Brackeen and Wynton Marsalis. Art made a world tour in 1971–2 with the Giants of Jazz including Dizzy Gillespie, Kai Winding, Sonny Stitt, Thelonious Monk and Al McKibbon. Up to the 1960s Art also recorded as a sideman with many other musicians including Jimmy Smith, Herbie Nichols, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Grant Green, and Jazz Messengers graduates Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley, amongst many others. However, after the mid-1960s he mostly concentrated on his own work as a leader (he sadly died while battling lung cancer) b. October 11th 1919.
2001: Etta Jones (72) American jazz singer; critical success and relative commercial obscurity earned her a reputation in her lifetime as a "jazz musician's jazz singer", a highly underrated singer who rarely received the recognition she so richly deserved. Her first recordings "Salty Papa Blues," "Evil Gal Blues," "Blow Top Blues," and "Long, Long Journey" were produced by Leonard Feather in 1944, featuring her in the company of clarinetist Barney Bigard and tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld. Her last recording, a tribute to Billie Holiday, was released 57 years later on the day of her death. Only one of her recordings, her debut album "Don't Go to Strangers" in 1960 was a big success with sales of over a million copies. Etta had three Grammy nominations, for the Don't Go to Strangers LP in 1960, Save Your Love for Me in 1981, and My Buddy in 1999. In 2008 the album Don't Go to Strangers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (sadly died after battling cancer) b. October 25th 1928.
2004: Doug Bennett (52) Canadian rock singer-songwriter, born in Toronto, he moved to Vancouver in 1973. In 1977, he formed the rock band Doug and the Slugs, they toured extensively through America in the 1980s. He wrote or co-wrote many of their songs such as "Too Bad," "Day By Day," "Making It Work" and "Tomcat Prowl." Besides numerous works with Doug and the Slugs, he released a solo album, Animato, in 1986. He also produced and directed music videos for artists such as Headpins, Trooper, Zappacosta, Images In Vogue and for the Slugs themselves (Doug tragacally died a week after falling into a coma) b. October 31st 1951.
2005: David Reilly (34) American singer, songwriting, multi-musician, production partner in the electro-rock band God Lives Underwater aka GLU. They released a self-titled EP, the album Empty, which produced the single "No More Love", after which he left to launch a solo career. Also with GLU bandmember Jeff Turzo, he produced and remixed for Skinny Puppy, Rob Zombie, and Messiah, and he organized and contributed to 1998's For the Masses: A Tribute To Depeche Mode (complications of a coma brought on by pain medication for an abscessed tooth) b. May 5th 1971.
2006: John "Tommy" Johnson (71) American orchestral tuba player. He performed on more than 2,000 film soundtracks, most notably John Williams' Jaws score, in which he played a high-register tuba solo as the melodic theme for the shark; born in LA, California. He received a bachelor's degree in music in 1956 and he played on his first film in 1958, the score for Al Capone. He went on to become Hollywood's "first-call" tuba player, playing for TV commercials and series, such as The Flintstones. In addition to Jaws, his films included, The Godfather, the Indiana Jones series, the Star Trek movie series, The Lion King, Titanic, The Thin Red Line (the 1998 remake), The Matrix, Cats and Dogs, Forrest Gump, Air Force One, Back to the Future, A Bug's Life and Lethal Weapon are just a few of the 2000 (sadly lost his battle with cancer and kidney failure) b. January 7th 1935.
2007: Steve J. Spears (56) Australian playwright, actor, writer and singer, born in Adelaide, after his parents separated,, he grew up with relatives in the suburb of Mile End. He studied Law at the University of Adelaide, but through writing and performing student revues, was distracted into a career in the theatre. His most famous work was The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin in '76. He was cited as "one of Australia's most celebrated playwrights". (sadly Steve lost his brave battle with lung cancer) b. January 22nd 1951.
2007: Todor "Toše" Proeski (26) Macedonian singer songwriter born in Prilep; a regurlar at the Eastern European festivals and represented Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. He was called "Elvis Presley of the Balkans". Todor was an established songwriter, he wrote several hits for himself including "Ima Li Den Za Nas"/"Is There A Day For Us", "Slusaš Li"/"Are You Listening", "Malecka"/"Little One" and "Polsko Cveke"/"Field Flower". In 2004, Proeski composed "Muza" ("Muse") for Martin Vucic, the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest representative for the Republic of Macedonia. Todor also held humanitarian concerts throughout the Republic of Macedonia. He was awarded with the Mother Theresa Humanitarian Award and in 2003 he became a Regional UNICEF Ambassador. (died near Nova Gradiška, Croatia, he was a passenger in a car accident when the airbags failed to activate) b. January 25th 1981.

October 17th.
1849: Frederic Francois Chopin (39) Polish composer, pianist; a child prodigy, performing in elegant salons & beginning to write his own pieces at the age of 8. He went on to compose 3 piano sonatas, 5 rondos, 4 scherzos, 4 ballades, 17 polonaises, including one with orchestral accompaniment and one for cello and piano accompaniment, 58 mazurkas, 20 waltzes, 3 écossaises, 26 preludes, 4 sets of variations, including Souvenir de Paganini, 4 impromptus, 21 nocturnes, 27 études (twelve in the Op. 10 cycle, twelve in the Op. 25 cycle, and three in a collection without an opus number), 2 concertos for piano and orchestra, Opp. 11 and 21. He also composed a fantaisie, an Allegro de concert, a barcarole, a berceuse, a bolero, a tarantella, a contredanse, a fugue, a cantabile, a lento, a Funeral March, and a Feuille d'album. Chopin's other works include a krakowiak for piano and orchestra; fantasia on themes from Polish songs with accompanying orchestra, a trio for violin, cello and piano; a sonata for cello and piano, a Grand Duo in E major for cello and piano with Auguste Franchomme on themes from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Robert le diable, and 19 Polish songs for voice and accompanying piano. (Chopin sadly died of tuberculosis in Paris) b. March 1st 1810
1972: Billy Williams (61) US singer, born in Waco, Texas; he had a highly successful cover, recording of Fats Waller's "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter" in 1957. His trademark hook for his songs was to shout "Oh, Yeah" at the end of lyrics. He was the lead singer of The Charioteers between 1930-50, after which he formed his own Billy Williams Quartet with Eugene Dixon, Claude Riddick and John Ball. Many appearances on TV followed, especially on Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar. By the early 1960s he had lost his voice due to diabetes. Billy moved to Chicago and worked as a social worker until his death (?) b. December 28th 1910.
1984: Alberta Hunter (89) American blues singer, songwriter, and nurse, born in Memphis. Her career had started back in the 1910s, and from there on, she became a successful jazz and blues recording artist, being critically acclaimed to the ranks of Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith. She first toured Europe in 1917, performing in Paris and London. In the 1920s and 1930s, she appeared in clubs and on stage in musicals in both New York and London. The songs she wrote include the critically acclaimed "Downhearted Blues"-1922. She recorded several records with Perry Bradford from 1922 to 1927. In 1928, she played "Queenie" opposite Paul Robeson in the first London production of Show Boat at Drury Lane. She subsequently performed in nightclubs throughout Europe and appeared for the 1934 winter season with Jack Jackson's society orchestra at London's Dorchester Hotel. Alberta spent the late 1930s on both sides of the Atlantic and the early 1940s performing at home. In 1944, she took a U.S.O. troupe to Casablanca and continued entertaining troops in both theatres of war for the duration of World War II and into the early postwar period. In the 1950s, she retired from performing and entered the medical field, only to successfully resume her singing career in her eighties, touring in Europe and South America, and made more TV appearances (?) b. April 1st 1895.
1991: Tennessee Ernie Ford (72) American singer and TV performer; his baritone voice is best known for his grim coal-mining song "Sixteen Tons". Born in Bristol, Te, he sang in the school choir and played the trombone. In 1937 he worked as an announcer for WOAI but left to attend the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He held radio jobs in Atlanta and Knoxville between 1939-41. In 1946 he went to live in San Bernardino, and landed an announcer’s job with KXLA in Pasadena. His comical Tennessee Ernie character “bless your pea-pickin’ little heart” caught the ear of disc jockey-TV host Cliffie Stone, who made him a regular cast member of LA’s Hometown Jamboree country music television and radio shows. He sang at the Grand Ole Opry in 1950, and in 1953 he became the first country singer to appear at London’s prestigious Palladium. His album "Great Gospel Songs" won a Grammy in 1964. Ernie has been awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for radio, records and television. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990. (liver disease) b. February 13th 1919.
1993: Christopher "Criss" Michael Oliva (30) American lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Savatage, born in Pompton Plains, NJ, before the Oliva family moved to Dunedin, Florida in 1976. It was here that Criss and his brother Jon formed a band Avatar, in 1978, but in 1983 they had to change their name, deciding on Savatage, they released their first two albums, Sirens in 1983 and The Dungeons Are Calling in 1985. Savatage continued to flourish, releasing a further 6 albums after signing with Atlantic Records in 1985. The band toured relentlessly, with Criss winning critical acclaim, his biggest dream was for Savatage's 1991 album Streets: A Rock Opera to achieve platinum status (An oncoming car operated by a drunk driver crossed the median and struck Criss' car head-on, tragically killing him instantly) b. April 3rd 1963.
1996: Chris Acland (30) British drummer; he played in bands such as The Infection and Panic, before becoming a founder member of the London-based shoegazing and britpop band, Lush. They went on to release 3 albums, several singles and EPs (Lush had just completed a tour and music festival appearances, then two days after bandmate Emma Anderson announced a desire to quit the band, Chris committed suicide by hanging himself in his parents' house in Cumbria. His bandmates were devastated and disbanded after a long period of mourning) b. September 7th 1966.
2000: Jokke/Joachim Nielsen (36) Norwegian singer, guitarist; he was the frontman and guitarist of the Norwegian rock band Jokke & Valentinerne, which he formed in 1982 with his long time partner May-Irene Aasen on drums and Håkon Torgersen on bass. The band went on to become one of the most popular bands in Oslo's underground rock scene. Their first album "Alt kan repareres"(Everything can be repaired) was released in 1986. Much of the band's lyrics were about alcohol, societal underdogs, misfits and so-called anti-heroes, Jokke himself had a reputation of frequently getting drunk on stage. In 1992, he created a scandal when he received Spellemannprisen, the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy awards, visibly drunk and/or under the influence of drugs (drug overdose) b. September 8th 1964.
2001: Jay Livingston (86) American songwriter, piano, composer and singer best known as half of a songwriting duo with Ray Evans. Their professional collaboration began in 1937, they won the Academy Award for Best Original Song three times: in 1948 for the song Buttons and Bows, written for the movie The Palefacen; 1950 for the song Mona Lisa, written for the movie Captain Carey, U.S.A.; and in 1956 for the song "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," featured in the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. They wrote popular TV themes for shows including Bonanza and Mr. Ed. They also wrote the Christmas song Silver Bells in 1951 for the film The Lemon Drop Kid as well as "Never Let Me Go" for the 1956 film The Scarlet Hour. Jay is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (?) b. March 28th 1915.
2002: Chuck Domanico (58) American jazz bass player; born in Chicago and settled in Los Angeles in the mid 1960s, and for nearly forty years was a central jazz figure in Hollywood as well as contributing to a huge number of films and television programs. As a West Coast sessionist he worked with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Carmen McRae, Joni Mitchell, Taj Mahal, Diane Schuur, Natalie Cole, Shelly Manne, Manhattan Transfer, Chet Baker, Oliver Nelson, John Klemmer, Roger Kellaway, Barney Kessel, Art Pepper, and many more. (sadly lost to lung cancer) b. January 20th 1944.
2002: Bashful Brother Oswald/Pete Kirby/Beecher Ray Kirby (90) American singer, guitar, banjo and fiddle player born in rural Sevier County, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. By his teens, he was playing for square dances. It was at one such party that he met a Hawaiian guitarist named Rudy Waikiki. Impressed Beecher bought his first resonator guitar. He visited the Chicago World's Fair in 1933, playing in clubs and gaining a following. Breecher moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1934. Taking the stage name Pete Kirby, he played resonator guitar with local bands, including Roy Acuff's Crazy Tennesseans, later to become the Smoky Mountain Boys. It was with Roy that he became introduced as Bashful Brother Oswald. He joined the Grand Ole Opry with Acuff's band on New Year's Day 1939 and stayed with the band until Roy's death in 1995. He was also a sort after session player; his session work included working with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on Will the Circle Be Unbroken, an album that paid tribute to the old-time, traditional country musicians of Nashville, Tennessee. For nearly 60 years, he was one of the most influential and talented resonator players in country music (died at his home in Madison) b. December 26th 1911.
2002: Derek Bell M.B.E. (66) Northern Irish harpist, pianist, oboist, musicologist, and composer, best known for his accompaniment work on various instruments with The Chieftains, he was the only member of the band to wear a tie at every public performance. Born in Belfast, he graduated from the Royal College of Music in 1957. Between 1958 and 1990 he composed several classical works, including three piano sonatas, two symphonies. In 1965 he became an oboist and harpist with the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra. He had been known to be able to skilfully play the pedal harp, neo-Celtic harp, and wire-strung Irish-Bardic harp and served as a Professor of Harp at the Academy of Music in Belfast. For two precarious years he recorded both with the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra and with The Chieftains, until finally becoming a full-time member of the Chieftains in 1975. Derek was awarded an MBE in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to traditional music. His final album was with Kriyananda, the Mystic Harp vol II, a collection of compositions in a new age style, for solo harp, quite different from the traditional and classical compositions for which he was otherwise known (Derek sadly died of a cardiac arrest) b. October 21st 1935.
2004: Uzi Hitman (52) Israeli singer, songwriter, and TV personality; he became popular during the 1980s and '90s. He composed and wrote over 650 songs, his most famous songs include Noladati Lashalom/I Was Born for Peace, Ratziti Sheteda/I Wanted You to Know, Todah /Thank you, Mi yada' sh'kach yihiye /Who Knew It Would Be Like This and Kan /Here, which reached 3rd place during the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest. Uzi also appeared on the 80s children's programmes Parpar Nehmad and Hopa Hei (sadly died of a heart attack) b. June 9th 1952.
2007: Teresa Brewer/Theresa Breuer (76) American pop and jazz singer who grew up in Toledo, Ohio; she was one of the most popular female singers of the 1950s with hits such as "Dancin' with Someone", "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall", "Choo'n Gum", "Ricochet", "Baby, Baby, Baby", "Bell Bottom Blues", "Our Heartbreaking Waltz", "Pledging My Love", "Tweedle Dee" and "Rock Love", "A Tear Fell" and "Bo Weevil". Teresa re-emerged as a jazz vocalist in the 1980's and 1990's recording a number of albums including tribute albums to Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Irving Berlin and recorded with such jazz greats as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Bobby Hackett. Over her career, she recorded around 600 song titles (sadly died of a neuromuscular disease) b. May 7th 1931.
2007: Clarence "Tater" Tate (76) American bluegrass fiddle player and bassist, a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and over the course of a 60-year-plus career, he lent support to many of the leading figures in the genre, from Bill Monroe to Jimmy Martin. Born in the south west Virginia he played the guitar as a child and had appeared on local radio by the age of 10. By 1950, he had become a much-sought-after sideman, and performed regularly on Knoxville's popular Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round. In 1956, received an invitation from Bill Monroe to join his seminal group, the Blue Grass Boys. He also worked alongside bluegrass notables including Carl Story, Hylo Brown, Jim Eanes, Red Smiley, The Shenandoah Cut-Ups, Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass and others along his long musical journey (sadly lost his struggle with lung cancer) b. February 4th 1931.
2008: Levi Stubbs/Levi Stubbles (72) American lead vocalist with The Four Tops; he began his professional singing career with friends Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton to form the Four Aims in 1954. Two years later, the group changed their name to the Four Tops. The group began as a supper-club act before finally signing to Motown Records in 1963. As an actor, he provided the voice of the carnivorous plant "Audrey II" in the movie version of the musical Little Shop of Horrors in 1986 and the voice of Mother Brain in the animated TV series Captain N: The Game Master in 1989 (complications of cancer and stroke) b. June 6th 1936... read more
2009: Carla Boni/Carla Gaiano (84) Italian singer; Carla started a long association on Rai, the Italian State Radio and TV network, as a singer in 1951. In '53 she won the Festival della canzone italiana with Flo Sandon, singing "Viale d'Autunno". In 1955 she won the "Festival di Napoli" with the song "'E stelle 'e Napule ", singing with her husband Gino Latilla and Maria Paris. During her career of over half a centry, she formed a band with her husband Gino Latilla, Nilla Pizzi and Giorgio Consolini, called the Flabby band, in which she sang a new version of Mambo Italiano (died in Rome, after a long illness) b. July 17th 1925.
2009: Vic Mizzy (93) American composer for television and movies whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms Green Acres and The Addams Family. He also penned top-20 songs in the 1930s and 40s including Doris Day's 1945 hit "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time"; "There's a Faraway Look in Your Eye" "Three Little Sisters", and "Take It Easy" all 3 co-written with lyricist Irving Taylor; "Pretty Kitty Blue Eyes", "The Whole World Is Singing My Song", "Choo'n Gum", "The Jones Boy", and "With a Hey and a Hi and a Ho-Ho-Ho". He broke into TV in 1959, composing music for Shirley Temple's Storybook and the themes for Moment of Fear, Klondike and Kentucky Jones. During the 1960s, he wrote themes and scores for the hit shows Green Acres, The Addams Family, as well as for other sitcoms including The Pruitts of Southampton, The Double Life of Henry Phyfe, Captain Nice, The Don Rickles Show, and Temperature's Rising, also five Don Knotts films including The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and The Reluctant Astronaut. Other work includes scores for the William Castle films The Night Walker and The Busy Body, and underscores for the TV series The Richard Boone Show and Quincy, as well as for such TV movies as Terror on the 40th Floor. He also worked with Sam Raimi for the outtake music of Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 (?) b. January 9th 1916.
2010: Eyedea/Oliver Hart/Micheal Larsen (28) American rapper born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, who went on to become a battle emcee, touring the circuit between 1997 and 2001. During this time he won top prizes at Scribble Jam ‘99, the Rock Steady Anniversary 2000, and Blaze Battle Chicago 2000. He contributed a track to the Anticon compilation, ''Music for the Advancement of Hip Hop''. Additionally, he toured extensively as second emcee and support DJ for Atmosphere. Eyedea and his friend Gregory Keltgen aka DJ Abilities formed a duo Sixth Sense, now known as Eyedea & Abilities and in 2001 released an album ''First Born''. In 2002, Eyedea, under his pen name "Oliver Hart", he released the self-produced ''The Many Faces of Oliver Hart''. In 2004, he and Abilities reunited to release the self-titled album E&A. The summer of 2009 saw Eyedea & Abilities joining the massive touring hip hop festival Rock the Bells (cause of death not yet released) b. November 9th 1981.
2010: Dennis Taylor (56) American saxophonist and author, born in New England and later relocated to Nashville, where he became a session and stage musician whose saxophone aided recordings by Delbert McClinton, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Michelle Shocked, Buckwheat Zydeco, Todd Snider, and many others. As an author his books include ''Blues Saxophone'', ''Jazz Saxophone'' and ''Amazing Phrasing''. In 2007 he became a full member of the Delbert McClinton's. After 30 plus years of studios, sessions and sideman stage performances, Dennis had just completed his first solo album (sadly died of a heart attack while on tour with the Delbert McClinton band) b. 1954
NOTE: not to be confused with New Jersey based singer Dennis Taylor

October 18th.
1944: Orwill "Hoppy" Jones (39) American jazz cello player which he played in the style of an upright bass, and he was the bass singer in the Ink Spots where he was an important and the stablising member. They first recorded for Victor Records in 1935, but although the group was growing rapidly in popularity their early record releases were not commercially successful. They had their first hit with "If I Didn't Care", in 1939. Other hits included "Address Unknown", "My Prayer", "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano", "Whispering Grass", "Do I Worry", "Java Jive", "Shout, Brother, Shout", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "I Can't Stand Losing You", and "Cow-Cow Boogie" before Hoppy's sudden death. The Ink Spots were the subject of a 1998 book by Marv Goldberg: "More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots And Their Music". The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and they were even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as influences, in 1989; this induction consisted of Hoppy Jones, Deek Watson, Bill Kenny, and Charlie Fuqua. (Hoppy collapsed on stage and died after being taken home. It turned out that he had been having cerebral hemorrhages for over a year) b. February 17th 1902.
1994: Lee Allen (68) American tenor saxophone player born in Pittsburg, Kansas, he played 4 decades on dozens of hits and many hundreds of sides. In 1947, he joined the Paul Gayten Band and later, the Dave Bartholomew's Band. Notable are his recording with singers Fats Domino and Lloyd Price; he also was the sax soloist on most of Little Richard's epochal hits from 1955 and '56. His own instrumental song "Walkin' With Mr. Lee", was a minor hit in 1958 and was played frequently on the TV program American Bandstand. The rockabilly revival of the late 1970s found younger musicians seeking his distinctive saxophone. In October 1981 he played three shows with the Rolling Stones, he recorded with the Stray Cats, and was a mentor and eventual member of The Blasters, recording with them on all of their LPs from their 2nd, he also toured with them from the early '80s until he died in 1994 (?) b. July 2nd 1927.
2000: Julie London/Gayle Peck (74) American actress and singer who was known for her smokey, sensual voice; born in Santa Rosa, CA, she moved with her parents to L.A. at 14, where she began singing in public in her teens before appearing in film. She recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles. Billboard named her the most popular female vocalist for 1955, '56, and '57. She recorded 100's of songs including 'Don't Worry About Me', 'Motherless Child', 'A Foggy Day', and 'You're Blasé', "Hot Toddy", "Desafinado", "Yummy Yummy Yummy", "Daddy","Go Slow" and "Cry Me a River". Her last recording was "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine in 1981. Primarily remembered as a singer, Julie also made more than 20 films and played many roles in programs made for TV (Julie sadly died of a stroke) b. September 26th 1926.
2002: Lo Man/Roman Tam (52) Hong Kong Cantopop singer, regarded as the "Godfather of Cantopop". Born in Guangzhou, China he later immigrated to Hong Kong in 1962 at the age of 12. After forming a short-lived band known as Roman and the Four Steps, he became a contract singer under studios term at Television Broadcasts Limited. He briefly switched to Asia Television Ltd in the early 1990s. During the 1990s he accepted many budding singers as his students. Some of which who became famous included Joey Yung and Ekin Cheng. He had sang many well known songs for various TV series including Below the Lion Rock and the 1982 TVB TV series The Legend of the Condor Heroes. He was also groundbreaking for being the first major Hong Kong singer to pose in drag and to pose in nude (sadly died after a brave battle with liver cancer) b. February 16th 1950.
2006: Anna Russell née Anna Claudia Russell-Brown (94) English–Canadian singer and comedienne. She was educated at St Felix School at Southwold, Suffolk, at Harrogate College and in Brussels and Paris and also studied at the Royal Academy of Music. Anna gave many concerts in which she sang and played comic musical sketches on the piano. Among her best-known works are her concert performances and famous recordings of The Ring of the Nibelungs (An Analysis), a humorous 30-minute synopsis of Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen", and on the same album, her parody "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera" (In her last years, she moved to Australia, in Rosedale near Batemans Bay, where she died) b. December 27th 1911
2007: Lucky Philip Dube (43) South African reggae musician, born in Ermelo, formerly of the Eastern Transvaal, now of Mpumalanga; while at school he joined a choir and formed his first musical ensemble, called The Skyway Band. It was here too he discovered the Rastafari movement. At the age of 18 Philip joined his cousin's band, The Love Brothers, playing Zulu pop music known as mbaqanga. He went on to become South Africa's biggest selling reggae artist, recording 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25 year period. In 1989 he won four OKTV Awards for "Prisoner", won another for "Captured Live" the following year and yet another two for "House Of Exile" the year after.His 1993 album, Victims sold over one million copies worldwide, and in 1995 he earned a worldwide recording contract with Motown. His album Trinity was the first release on Tabu Records after Motown's acquisition of the label. (Brutally killed in the Rosettenville suburb of Johannesburg, shot dead by carjackers; 3 men were tried, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison) b. August 3rd 1964.
2008: Dave McKenna (78) American jazz pianist; known for his "three-handed swing", and was the leading proponent of solo piano style. He started with Boots Mussulli and Charlie Ventura in the 40's, worked with many of top swing and Dixieland musicians including Woody Herman. Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Eddie Condon, Bobby Hackett but became primarily a soloist after 1967. Dave was also known as a wonderful accompanist, recording with such singers as Rosemary Clooney, Teddi King and Donna Byrne and recording a PBS special with Tony Bennett (sadly died while fighting lung cancer) b. May 30th 1930.
2008: Dee Dee Warwick/Delia Mae Warrick (63) American soul singer; born in Newark, New Jersey, she started out singing with her sister Dionne Warwick and their aunt Cissy Houston in the New Hope Baptist Church Choir in Newark, NJ. The trio formed the Gospelaires who often performed with the Drinkard Singers. At a performance at the Apollo Theater in 1959, the Warwick sisters were recruited by a record producer for session work and Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, along with Doris Troy, subsequently became a prolific New York City area session singing team. Dee Dee who is also cousin of singer, Whitney Houston is best-known for her hits during the 1960s, including the No.13 R&B hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", also she was a two time Grammy nominee for "Foolish Fool" and "She Didn't Know" (died after long illness) b. Sept 25th 1945.
2011: Bob Brunning (68) British blues bassist best known for his role as the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac. When Peter Green first formed Fleetwood Mac in 1967 he hired Bob as bassist on a on a temporary basis, hoping that John McVie would soon leave the Bluesbreakers to join Fleetwood Mac.. which he did. Bob contributed bass guitar to the track "Long Grey Mare" on the band's self titled debut album. After his stint in Fleetwood Mac, he joined Savoy Brown before embarking on a career in teaching which lasted 30 years. He did not abandon music however, and played in the Brunning Sunflower Blues Band, Tramp, and later the DeLuxe Blues Band. He also wrote several books about Fleetwood Mac, the British blues scene, and music in general. His works about his former group include Behind The Masks, published in 1990, 1998's Fleetwood Mac: The First 30 Years, and The Fleetwood M