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November 1 .
1942: Hugo Distler (34) German composer, born in Nuremberg, he is known mostly for his sacred choral music. He attended Leipzig Conservatory for composition and organ. He became organist at St. Jacobi in Lübeck in 1931. He also taught at the School for Church Music in Spandau, and became a professor of church music in Berlin in 1940. (Hugo became increasingly depressed from the death of friends, aerial attacks, job pressures, and the constant threat of conscription into the German army, he committed suicide) b. June 24th 1908.
1952: Dixie Lee/Wilma Winifred Wyatt (40) American actress, dancer, and singer born in Harriman, Tennessee; she married Bing Crosby at the age of 18, and had four sons with him, two of whom, eventually committed suicide. (sadly died from ovarian cancer) b. November 4th 1911.
1986: Serge Garant, OC (57) Canadian composer, conductor, professor of music at the University of Montreal and radio host of Musique de notre siècle on Radio-Canada. In 1966 he cofounded with Jean Papineau-Couture, Maryvonne Kendergi, Wilfrid Pelletier and Hugh Davidson the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec. In 1979, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.The Prix Serge-Garant was created in his honor by the Fondation Émile Nelligan (?) b. September 22nd 1929.
2003: Anton Maiden/Anton Gustafsson (23) Swedish singer and music fan born in Kinna, Västergötland, he achieved Internet fame around 1999 by singing over MIDI and MOD-versions of Iron Maiden songs. He started by publishing some songs on the Internet for a small group of friends. After being encouraged by them, he made some songs available to the public in his album Anton Gustafsson tolkar Iron Maiden, which was distributed under Lunacy and Nihilism record labels. In an interview with the Swedish newspaper Expressen, he told journalist Martin Carlsson that Iron Maiden fans "think that my interpretations are a disgrace to Iron Maiden. But that was never my intent." (Apparently led by feelings of depression Anton committed suicide) b. February 24th 1980.
2004: Terry Knight/Richard Terrance Knapp (61) American rock n roll music producer, singer-songwriter, radio personality, promoter and founded and frontman of The Pack. He enjoyed some success in radio, modest success as a singer, but phenomenal success as the original manager-producer for Grand Funk Railroad and the producer for Bloodrock. Between 1970-72, he was a successful and controversial promoter in the rock business, racking up an eight gold albums. He retired from show business in 1973, and evenually, after sorting his drug prblem out he settled in Yuma AZ with his wife and daughter Danielle. He jelled into the community working in advertising sales for a weekly newspaper. (died from multiple stab wounds in a fight with his daughter's boyfriend, Donald A. Fair, against whom Terry was trying to protect his daughter, in their apartment in Temple, Texas) b. April 9th 1943.
2004: Mac Dre/Andre Hicks (34) American gangsta rap artist,was one of the originators of hyphy and is generally considered the creator of Thizz music. He worked with well-known artists such as Snoop Dogg, Pisi-P,Warren G, Richie Rich, Keak da Sneak, E-40, Daz Dillinger, Baby Bash, B-Legit, San Quinn, Yukmouth, PSD, Andre Nickatina, Mac Mall, Ray Luv and Too Short. (shot to death while returning to his hotel after a performance in Kansas City, Missouri) b. July 5th 1970... read more
2005: Skitch Henderson/Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson (87) American bandleader, pianist, conductor, and composer, born in Halstad, Minnesota. He started his professional career in the 1930s playing piano in the roadhouses of the American Midwest, his major break being as an accompanist on a 1937 MGM promotional tour featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. After the war, he worked for NBC Radio, where he was the musical director for Frank Sinatra's Lucky Strike Show and The Philco Hour with Bing Crosby and he also played on Bob Hope's Pepsodent Show. He went on to found the New York Pops Orchestra in 1983 and served as the music director and conductor of the orchestra until his death. He conducted numerous symphonic orchestras throughout the world. Skitch also succeeded Toscanini as music director for NBC Television and was the original conductor of the orchestras for The Tonight Show and The Today Show (?) b. January 27th 1918.
2008: Yma Sumac/Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo (86) Peruvian soprano; one of the most famous proponents of exotica music, who became an international success, based on the merits of her extreme vocal range, a span of near five octaves. Born in Ichocán, Cajamarca, Peru, at the age of 13, she was invited to appear on Argentinean radio. Soon South America was quite enchanted with this amazing voice. In 1943, she recorded around 16 songs in Argentina, most have been released on CD in this last decade. A now classic record, 'Voice of the Xtabay' was recorded in 1950 and sold over 100,000 copies without major publicity. After a massively successful concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1950, Yma would became world famous and traveled the globe and become a vocal phenomenon. In the 50's, she also appeared in at least 4 films, had worldwide fan clubs and was eventually declared "the 8th wonder of the world." She performed globaly throughout her life and on May 6th 2006, Yma flew to Lima, where she was presented the Orden del Sol award by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and the Jorge Basadre medal by the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (cancer) b. September 13th 1922.
2008: Nathaniel Mayer (64) American rhythm & blues singer born in Detroit, Michigan, who started his career in the early 1960s at Fortune Records. He had a raw, highly energetic vocal style and wild stage show. At aged 18 years old he scored a Top 40 hit record in 1962 with "Village of Love," credited to Nathaniel Mayer and The Fabulous Twilights, followed by "Leave Me Alone," and "I Want Love and Affection (Not The House Of Correction)". After a 35 year absence from music, in 2002 Nat began recording and touring again, realeasing albums with Fat Possum, Alive Records and Norton Records. (stroke) b. February 10th 1944.
2008: Jimmy Carl Black/James Inkanish Jr (70) Cheyenne Native American drummer, vocalist and founding member of the Mothers of Invention; he also worked as a guest vocalist with Muffin Men, with Jon Larsen on the surrealistic Strange News From Mars project, featuring several other Zappa alumni, such as Tommy Mars, Bruce Fowler, Arthur Barrow and several of his own bands. His trademark line was "Hi Boys and Girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the Indian of the group." (lung cancer) b. February 1st 1938... read more
2008: Shakir Stewart (34) American record executive; afer graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, he build a small studio with a couple of friends. The group then signed several young producers in the Atlanta area. He went to work at Hitco Music Publishing, where he signed Beyoncé. He was then appointed A&R consultant at LaFace Records signing Ciara to the label. He stayed there until 2004. At the time of his death he was the Senior Vice President of Island Def Jam Music Group and the Executive Vice President of Def Jam (Shakir was found dead in the bathroom of his home in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta with a self-inflicted gunshot wound) b. April 12th 1974.
2011: André Hodeir (90) French author, jazz arranger and composer born in Paris. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, and won first prizes in fugue, harmony, and music history. While pursuing these studies, he discovered jazz, and embarked on an exploration of all music forms, jazz as well as classical. In 1954, he was a founder and directed the Jazz Groupe de Paris, made up of nine musicians, including Bobby Jaspar, Pierre Michelot and Nat Peck. He was the author of two books of Essais (1954 and 1956), of numerous film scores, including Le Palais Idéal by Ado Kyrou, the Jazz Cantata for the film Chutes de pierres, danger de mort by Michel Fano, anong others. André also founded his own orchestra during the Sixties. In 1966 he composed the monumental jazz cantata Anna Livia Plurabelle, on James Joyce's text, and in 1972 of Bitter Ending, by The Swingle Singers and a jazz quintet, on the final monologue of Finnegans Wake (?) b. January 22nd 1921.
2011: Christiane Legrand (81) French jazz singer born in Paris; she was the original lead soprano of the Swingle Singers and was the vocalist who dubbed the part of Madame Emery in Les parapluies de Cherbourg, the music for which was composed by her brother Michel Legrand. She also sang the part of Judith in his Les demoiselles de Rochefort. Christiane was also the featured soprano on the track "Fires (Which Burn Brightly)" on the 1973 Procol Harum album Grand Hotel. (?) b. 21 August 21st 1930.

November 2 .
1887: Jenny Lind (67) Swedish singer often known as the Swedish Nightingale; She is known for her performances in soprano roles in Sweden and Europe, as well as for an extraordinarily popular tour of America beginning in 1850, and for her philanthropic work. After years of world tours she retired to England (she died at Wynd's Point, behind the Little Malvern Priory, and is buried in the Great Malvern Cemetery, Worcestershire, UK) b. October 6th 1820.
1960: Dimitris Mitropoulos (64) Greek conductor and composer, born in Athens, he studied music at the Athens, Brussels and Berlin. From 1921 to 1925 he assisted Erich Kleiber at the Berlin State Opera and then took a number of posts in Greece. He went on to work with many top orchestras, he conducted opera extensively in Italy and from 1954 until his death was the principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He had made his U.S. debut in 1936 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he later settled in the country, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1946. He was noted for having a photographic memory, which enabled him to conduct without a score, even during rehearsals. (died of heart failure while in Milan, Italy) b. March 1st 1896.
1966: Mississippi John Smith Hurt (74) American blues singer and guitarist; his first releases had coincided with the Great Depression, his later career could hardly have been better timed. A stellar performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival saw his stardom rise amongst the new "folk revival" audience. He played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums. His influence spans music genres bluegrass, blues, country, folk and contemporary rock and roll (?) b. March 8th 1892. (date on his grave stone)
1996: Eva Cassidy (33) American vocalist born in Washington, DC, known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. She released her first album "The Other Side", a set of duets with Chuck Brown in 1992 followed by a live solo album "Live at Blues Alley" in 1996. Sadly she was virtually unknown outside of her native Washington DC at the time of her death. Four years later, Eva's music was brought to the attention of British audiences when her version of "Over the Rainbow" was played by Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2. Following the overwhelming response, a camcorder recording of "Over the Rainbow", taken at the Blues Alley, was shown on BBC Two's Top of the Pops 2. Shortly afterwards, the compilation album Songbird climbed to the top of the UK Albums Charts, almost three years after its initial release. The chart success in the United Kingdom and Ireland led to increased recognition all over theworld (melanoma) b. February 2nd 1963.
2007: Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka (23) Polish drummer and percussionist for the technical death metal band Decapitated. He had been with the band ever since it was founded in 1996, when he was only 12 years of age. He also did work for the heavy metal bands Dies Irae and Panzer X. (Decapitated's tour bus collided with a truck, he died from serious head injuries) b. January 24th 1984
2009: Beverley O'Sullivan (28) Irish singer born in the Donaghmede, Dublin. As a child she had glue ear and had to wear a hearing aid. She lost a further 10% of her hearing later as a result of a plane journey. Beverley was a member of the pop group Fifth Avenue and toured with Westlife for three consecutive years before they split. She also played a cabaret singer in the 2009 film "Happy Ever Afters", her voice is heard on six songs on the film's soundtrack. Her vocals also appeared on the tracks "Through the Light" and "Don't Look Back" on John O'Callaghan's 2009 album Never Fade Away (tragically died in car crash while holidaying in India) b. January 16th 1981.
2010: Eddie Hazell (76) American jazz singer-guitarist, who recorded his first album in 1961 at age 27. He was familiar to jazz aficionados from his numerous albums and TV appearances including the “Merv Griffin Show”, “AM New York”, the “Today Show”, “Kraft Music Hall” with Ed McMahon and “Broadway Tonight”. He performed for five decades in clubs and concerts in the U.S. and Canada, and he was particularly well known in the New York area, playing in clubs ranging from Michael’s Pub and Stryker’s in New York to the Newport Jazz Festival. His work was also popular in Japan. He also did TV commercial work as a singer and performer for various products including Chase & Sanborn coffee (died from Parkinson’s Disease) b. February 6th 1934.
2010: Jim Clench (61) Canadian bassist; he joined the rock band April Wine in 1972, he also took part in some lead vocals on songs such as "Oowatanite" and "Weeping Widow". His last album with the band was Stand Back, released just before he left in 1975. In 1978, Jim was asked to join Bachman Turner Overdrive as bassist, he stayed with BTO until its demise in the late 1970s, appearing on the albums Street Action and Rock n' Roll Nights. In 1992, April Wine was reformed and Jim recorded four more studio albums since the band Attitude, Frigate, Back to the Mansion, and Roughly Speaking in 2006. (sadly died after battling lung cancer) b. May 1st 2006.
2010: Rudolf Barshai (86) Russian conductor and viola player born in Stanitsa Lobinskaya, and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He performed as a soloist as well as together with Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, and as a member of a trio with Mstislav Rostropovich and Leonid Kogan. He won numerous Soviet and international competitions. He was the founding violist of the Borodin Quartet in 1945 and was a member until 1953. In 1955, he formed the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, which he led and conducted until he emigrated to the West in 1977. He was the artistic director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra from 1976 to 1981. From 1981 until 1982 Rudolf was principal conductor of Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestre National de France 1985-1986. He was principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1986. He achieved fame as a musical interpreter and arranger of Shostakovich's and Prokofiev's music. He is particularly noted for his arrangement of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 for chamber orchestra. In 2000, he produced a completion of Gustav Mahler's Tenth Symphony, which was left unfinished at his death (?) b. September 28th 1924.
2011: Richárd Weninger (77) Hungarian composer and harpist. Beginning of his career was répétiteur, chorus, musical director, between 1963 and 1977 he played as a member of the Szeged Symphony Orchestra and from 1976-2000 he was Division Director to the Franz Liszt Academy of Szeged. In 1979 he founded and has since conducted the Chamber Orchestra of Szeged Weiner. He has premiered many works or is associated with the Hungarian premiere of his name, together with success in Europe has occurred. He was honored in 1989 with the Liszt Prize; in 1992 the Artisjus Prize; in 1994 the Leo Weiner music teaching awards; commemorative medals in 1995 and in 2000 the Higher Education emlékplakettel recognized his work (?) December 21st 1934.
2011: Angelos Skordilis (52) Greek influencial rock guitarist, who got his break in 1986 as a member of the band "Knockout" recording the hit song "Do not cry for me Greece". That same year they released the album "On the way to Ithaca" which contained the hit "Lost One". For the last eight years he has worked with the band Chania, touring and regular visitors on the concert scene (?) b. December 12th 1959.
2011: Sickan Carlsson/Anna-Greta Carlsson Adamson (96) Swedish actress and singer, born in Stockholm. At the age of 10 she was already singing on radio and through the 1930s–50s, Sickan was Sweden's most popular film actress and its highest paid, topping the salary of the most popular male performer. She was also an accomplished singer recording artist performing on stage and in musical revues. In 2005 she was honoured with an Honorary Guldbagge Award at the Guldbagge Awards in Sweden (passed away peacefully) b. August 12th 1915.
2011: Papa Bue/Arne Bue Jensen (81) Danish trombonist and bandleader born in Copenhagen; after WW II, he became a sailor for a few years, visiting ports all around the world, fascinated by jazz he was able to listen and enjoy many lively music venues. In 1956, back in Copenhagen, along with six other jazz musicians, he founded the New Orleans Jazz Band, after a jam session in the establishment 'Cap Horn'. Since he was the eldest he became the bandleader and being a father he was given the nickname "Papa Bue" which stuck. Renamed, they released their first album as the Viking Jazz Band in 1958 and in 1960 their "Schlafe Mein Prinzchen" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. In 1969, Papa Bue's Viking Jazz Band was the only non-American band to participate in the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Arne was honored with the "Golden Keys to the City. The group remained active into the 1990s, and recorded with musicians such as George Lewis-1959, Champion Jack Dupree-1962, Art Hodes-1970, Wild Bill Davison-1970 & 1974, Wingy Manone, Edmond Hall and Albert Nicholas. They also played with George Lewis, Earl Hines, Stuff Smith, Ben Webster and recorded Bent Fabricius-Bjerre's theme music for the Olsen Gang series, now a legendary sequence for the Danes (?) b. May 8th 1930.

November 3 .
1964: John Henry Barbee/William George Tucker (58) American blues guitarist and singer born in Henning, Tennessee; he toured in the 1930s throughout the American South singing and playing slide guitar. He teamed up with Big Joe Williams, and later on, with Sunnyland Slim in Memphis. He also played with Sonny Boy Williamson I, on and off for several years. John was known for being an amazing storyteller. In the 60s the blues revival was in full swing, Willie Dixon searched out John and in 1964 he joined the American Folk Blues Festival on an European tour with fellow blues players, including Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf (he was involved in an auto accident and suffered a heart attack while in jail waiting for the case to come to court) b. November 14th 1905.
1976: Charles Dean Dixon (61) American conductor, born in New York City, where he later studied conducting with Albert Stoessel at the Juilliard School and Columbia University. When early pursuits of conducting engagements were stifled because of racial bias, he formed his own orchestra and choral society in 1931. In 1941, he guest-conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic during its summer season. He later guest-conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1948 he won the Ditson Conductor's Award. He went on to work in many major opera and music houses in Europe and America (?) b. January 10th 1915.
1983: Alfredo Antonini (82) Italian-American symphony conductor and composer born in Milan, who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the 1960s. In 1971 he received an Emmy Award for best musical performance on television for his conducting of the premiere of Ezra Laderman's opera And David Wept for CBS television (?) b. May 31st 1901.
1986: Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (64) American jazz tenor saxophonist, born in New York City; he played with, Andy Kirk, Cootie Williams, Lucky Millinder, Sonny Stitt, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie, as well as leading his own bands and making many recordings as a leader. He played in the swing, bop, hard bop, Latin jazz, and soul jazz genres. Some of his recordings of the 1940s also could be classed as rhythm and blues. Eddie can also be heard playing his saxophone on the 1973 CBS album "Ella Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival Live at Carnegie Hall" on the song "Young Man with a Horn" (?) b. March 2nd 1922.
1990: Mary Martin (76) US actress, singer; born in Weatherford, Texas, he originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She also became popular on Broadway and received attention in the national media singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". In 1955 and 1956, she received, first, a Tony Award for Peter Pan, and then an Emmy for appearing in the same role on television. She also received Tony Awards for South Pacific, and, in 1959 for The Sound of Music. Mary made an appearance in 1980 in a Royal Variety Performance in London, performing "Honeybun" from South Pacific (colon cancer) b. December 1st 1913.
1991: Chris Bender (19) American R&B singer from the Boston, Massachusetts area. At the age of 16, he recorded his first album, titled Baby Doll, which didn't chart. The album Draped hit No.92 on the Billboard R&B album chart. He charted two singles "I Knew" and "That's Not The Way" on the Hot R&B Singles chart. Other songs he was known for included "Who Will I Choose" and "Kiss and Make Up". (Chris was shot and killed in Brockton, while sitting in his car outside of the Crescent Court housing project where his mother lived) b. August 2nd 1972.
1991: Mort Shuman (55) American singer, pianist and songwriter; on his own or teamed with songwriting partner Doc Pomus, his songs were recorded by artists such as Dion, Andy Williams, Bobby Darin, Fabian, The Drifters, and Elvis Presley, among others, most famous songs include "A Teenager in Love", "Turn Me Loose", "This Magic Moment", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Little Sister", "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "His Latest Flame" and "Viva Las Vegas" (complications due to a liver operation) b. November 3rd 1991.
2002: Lonnie Donegan (71) Scottish singer, guitar, banjo, songwriter and pioneer, who launched the skiffle craze in the UK, sometimes called the King of Skiffle. Born in in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland he was a huge influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums states Lonnie was "Britain's most successful and influential recording artist before The Beatles. He chalked up 24 successive Top 30 hits, and was the first UK male to score two U.S. Top 10s". His many hits include "Rock Island Line", "Gamblin' Man", "Lost John", "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O", "Cumberland Gap", "My Dixie Darlin'", "Jack O' Diamonds", "The Grand Coulee Dam", "Sally Don't You Grieve", "Tom Dooley", "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour (On The Bedpost Over Night)", "Battle of New Orleans", and My Old Man's A Dustman (sadly lost to heart problems) b. April 29th 1931.
2004: Joe Bushkin (87) World renowned American jazz pianist, composer; he began by playing trumpet and piano with New York City dance bands. He joined Bunny Berigan's band in 1935, then left to join Muggsy Spanier's Ragtime Band in 1939. From the late 1930's through to the late 1940's he worked with Eddie Condon on records, radio and TV. After service in WWII he worked with Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. He might be best known for co-writing Oh! Look at Me Now, with John DeVries, when he worked in Tommy Dorsey's band. That song would become Frank Sinatra's first hit. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he aslo accompanied Artie Shaw, Judy Garland and many more. (sadly died of pneumonia) b. November 7th 1916.
2006: Paul Mauriat (81) French conductor, arranger, orchestra leader born in Marseille, a classically trained musician but decided to specialize in light music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot". He is best known in the US for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was No.1 for 5 weeks in 1968. Other recordings for which he is known include El Bimbo, "Toccata" and "Penelope". He has a large recording catalog, featuring more than 1,000 titles just from his Polygram era, 1965-1993. He sold over 40 million albums worldwide and held 28 tours in Japan from 1969 to 1998, where in the early-mid 1980s, Paul's orchestra featured in several Japanese coffee and wine TV commercials (?) b. March 4th 1925.
2009: Sotiris Sgouros (80) Greek folk musician, clarinetist and singer (?) b.????
2009: Erik Sædén (85) Swedish bass-baritone and hovsångare born in Vänersborg, his career was principally centred on Stockholm, both on the operatic stage as well as the concert platform. He made a few recordings and appeared in the 1975 Bergman film of The magic flute. He first appeared at the Royal Opera in Stockholm in 1952 and was a member of the company until 1981. Among over 100 roles which he sang were the Count (Le Nozze di Figaro), Beckmesser, Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Scarpia, Jochanaan, Golaud, Pimen, Wozzeck, and Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress. He appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 1959 and 1974, and at the Covent Garden in 1960 and 1981. He also appeared in Savonlinna, Hamburg, Montreal, Moscow, Munich and Oslo (?) b. September 3rd 1924.
2010: Jerry Bock (81) American musical theatre composer, born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Flushing, Queens, New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1955 when he and Larry Holofcener contributed songs to Catch a Star. In 1956 the duo collaborated on the musical Mr. Wonderful, designed for Sammy Davis, Jr., after which they worked on Ziegfeld Follies of 1956, which closed out-of-town. He went on to received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the '65 musical Fiddler on the Roof with Sheldon Harnick. Other collaborations with Harnick include Tenderloin, Man in the Moon, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, and The Rothschilds, and contributions to Never Too Late, Baker Street, and The Madwoman of Central Park West (?) b. November 23rd 1928.
2010: Rubén Basoalto (63) Argentine drummer and founder member of the legendary rock band Vox Dei, formed in 1967. Vox Dei is the oldest band in Argentina, and over the last 43 years which Rubén aka "The Octopus", has played in the band he recorded 17 albums, including their 2nd album the legendary "The Bible". They debuted in 1970 with the album ''Hot'' and their last album ''Live Vox Dei'' was released in 2007. Between 1982 - 85, he also formed the band "Break" with Raul Fernandez on guitar and Henry Diaz on bass and vocals, and later played in parallel >>> Read More <<< (sadly died in the Argerich Hospital, where he had been hospitalized for three weeks affected by lung cancer) b. July 9th 1947.
2010: Hotep Idris Galeta/Cecil Barnard Galeta (69) South African jazz pianist and educator; in his teens he played with some of the best jazz musicians in South Africa; Abdullah Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand and Lamie Zukufu introduced him to bebop and hard bop. In 1961 he left Sth Africa clandestinely, following many other Sth African performers to the UK, severe restrictions on public gatherings following the Sharpeville massacre had made entertainment careers impossible for any but white artists, and the already poor quality of life for non-whites was deteriorating rapidly as apartheid became ever stricter. After a year in the UK he moved to America, where he remained till 1991, when he returned to South Africa following the collapse of apartheid. In the US he played and recorded with Herb Alpert, John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones, Hugh Masekela, Jackie McLean, Mario Pavone, Joshua Redman, and Archie Shepp. Outside jazz he performed and recorded with David Crosby and the Byrds. He continued to record, perform, and teach in South Africa (died of an asthma attack) b. June 7th 1941.
2011: Ana Štefok (72) Croatian pop singer, born in Zagreb and often called Croatian Edith Piaf. She became well known for her numerous appearances in Opatija , Split , Krapina and Zagreb festivals, also her television and radio appearances (sadly died from a heart attack) b. 1940
2011: Cory Smoot (34) American heavy metal guitarist aka Flattus Maximus from 2002-2011 while he was lead guitarist in the heavy metal band Gwar, the fifth guitarist to play the character of 'Flattus Maximus'. He lent his technical skills to the recording of War Party, and co-produced, as well as co-mixed Gwar's 2006 release, Beyond Hell. The two albums were recorded at Karma Studios, owned and operated by Cory. He has been the longest running Flattus thus and is in the videos for "War Party", "Bring Back The Bomb", "Womb With A View", "School's Out" and "Eighth Lock" and is considered by Gwar fans to be the "True Flattus". Gwar's latest release, Bloody Pit of Horror, features a 12-minute epic of four songs strung together, which was largely the brainchild of Cory. Originally he wrote the music for a solo project of his, but by the suggestion of Dave Brockie, it was reworked to become new Gwar material. Before Gwar, Cory played with such bands as Misguided and Locus Factor and still played with Mensrea and his own solo project called the Cory Smoot Experiment. (tragically Cory was found dead in the band's tour bus as they prepared to cross the border into Manitoba, Canada from North Dakota) b. August 25th 1977.

November 4 .
1931: Charles "Buddy" Bolden/King Bolden (53) New Orleans jazzman and cornet player; the first New Orleans jazz musician to come to prominence, the first important name in jazz history, Buddy's career has long been buried in legend. Many early jazz musicians credited Buddy and the members of his band with being the originators of what came to be known as "jazz", though the term was not yet in common musical use until after the era of Bolden's prominence. At least one writer has labeled him the father of jazz. He is credited with creating a looser, more improvised version of ragtime and adding blues to it; his band was said to be the first to have brass instruments play the blues. He was also said to have taken ideas from gospel music heard in uptown African American Baptist churches. Instead of imitating other cornetists, he played music he heard "by ear" and adapted it to his horn. In doing so, he created an exciting and novel fusion of rag-time, black sacred music, marching-band music and rural blues. He rearranged the typical New Orleans dance band of the time to better accommodate the blues; string instruments became the rhythm section, and the front-line instruments were clarinets, trombones, and Bolden's cornet. He was known for his powerful, loud, "wide open" playing style. Joe "King" Oliver, Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, and many other early New Orleans jazz musicians were directly inspired by his playing. Also one of the most famous Buddy numbers is a song called "Funky Butt", known later as "Buddy Bolden's Blues", which represents one of the earliest references to the concept of "funk" in popular music (He was diagnosed with schizophrenia-dementia praecox; in those days, he was admitted to a mental institution in 1907, where he remained completely forgotten for the rest of his life. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Holt Cemetery, a pauper's graveyard in New Orleans. In 1998 a monument to Buddy was erected in the Cemetery) b. September 6th 1877.
1969: Ivory "Deek" Watson (60) American tenor singer, guitarist and trumpeter who in 1932 was singing in a group called "The Four Riff Brothers" who appeared regularly on radio station WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio., after which he formed "King, Jack, and Jester", changing the name to "The 4 Ink Spots" then The Ink Spots in 1934. They had their first big 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" among others. The group split in 1944 and Deek went on to form a group called the Brown Dots, which later became the 4 Tunes. He later formed a host of offshoot Ink Spots groups in the 1950s and 1960s until his 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 n Roll Hall of Fame, as influences, in 1989; this induction consisted of Deek Watson, Bill Kenny, Charlie Fuqua, and Hoppy Jones. (?) b. July 18th 1909.
1994: Fred "Sonic" Smith (45) US guitar player, who, in 2003, Rolling Stone magazine included in thier list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and the band Sonic Youth took its name from Fred's nickname "Sonic". Born in West Virginia but bought up in Detroit. As a teenger, he lived for music with speed, energy with a rebellious attitude and formed a rock group Smith's Vibratones, before joining up with his old school pal, Wayne Kramer to form MC5, short for Motor City Five. This influencial band released 3 albums before their break up in 1972, Kick Out the Jams in 1969, Back in the USA in 1970, and High Time in 1971. Fred went on to form Sonic's Rendezvous Band, which released one single, "City Slang". He and his wife, singer Patti Smith collaborated on her 1988 album "Dream of Life", and Patti's 1996 album "Gone Again" features a tribute to Fred. (heart failure) b. September 13th 1949.
2004: Robert Heaton (43) English drummer with the Bradford based punk band New Model Army. He wrote many of NMA's best known compositions, which are still played nowadays at their gigs. He left NMA in 1998 due to health reasons (pancreatic cancer) b. July 6th 1961.
2008: Jheryl Busby (59) American record executive; First worked at Stax Records as head of West Coast promotion and marketing. Moved to Motown Records in 1988 as the company's President & CEO. He fostered the growth of younger talent, including Another Bad Creation, Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill. In early 1989, he was able to sign Diana Ross back to Motown and he retained artists such as Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. When Polygram Records bought Motown he was retained as president. Jheryl was appointed head of the black music division at DreamWorks Records in 1998 till 2001. He was named president of Def Soul Classics in 2004. He also created Umbrella Recordings with producer Mike City (Found dead in the hot tub of his home in Malibu, cause not yet known) b. 1949
2008: Byron Lee (73) Jamaican musician and record producer; best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, they turned professional in 1956 and went on to become one of Jamaica's leading ska bands, continuing since and taking in other genres such as calypso, Soca, and Mas. He also purchased the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) recording studios, renaming it Dynamic Sounds it soon became one of the best-equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international recording artists, including Paul Simon and The Rolling Stones (bladder cancer) b. June 27 1935.
2010: James Freud/Colin Joseph McGlinchey (51) Australian vocalist and bassist; he grew up in Melbourne and formed his first band, Sabre, at the age of 16, with high school friends, but at 17 he left home pursue his musical dreams. After hearing the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" in 1977, he formed the band The Spred. By early 1979, with ex-members of Colt, he formed James Freud & the Radio Stars their debut single, "Modern Girl," was released in May 1980, which peaked at No.12 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. In 1982, he joined the successful alternative rock band Models as bass guitarist and shared lead vocalist duties on some songs, beginning with one of his compositions, "Facing The North Pole in August" from The Pleasure of Your Company, recorded in 1983. In 1985, two James-penned hits, "Barbados" and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", took Models to No.2 and No.1 on the Australian singles chart, respectively. He remained in the band until they split in 1988. He went on to launch a solo career, played in other bands including Beatfish and Moondog, and wrote his first autobiography in 2002, ''I Am the Voice Left from Drinking'' where he detailed his alcoholism. In 2007-09 James performed with Melbourne tribute band 80s Enuff and in 2008, he released his last solo album ''See you in Hell''. Prior to his death, James was manager for his sons' band, Attack of the Mannequins, on the development of an album entitled Rage of the World. A week before his death, 27 October, James with Models were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, but due to his alcohol illness he did not attend (James sadly committed suicide) b. 29 June 29th 1959.

November 5 .
1942: George M. Cohan (64) American musician, actor, writer, composer; he started his career as a child performing with his parents and sister in vaudeville as "The Four Cohans." He quickly started writing songs and sketches and went on to write some 500 songs in his lifetime. George was one of the founders of ASCAP. His many popular songs include "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway," and "The Yankee Doodle Boy." Beginning with Little Johnny Jones in 1904, he wrote and starred in over three dozen Broadway shows, continuing to perform until 1940. He appeared in films, including The Phantom President in 1932. Known in the decade before World War I as "the man who owned Broadway," he is considered the father of American musical comedy. His life and music were depicted in the Academy Award-winning film Yankee Doodle Dandy in 1942 and the 1968 musical George M!. A statue of Cohan is in Times Square in New York City. (abdominal cancer) b. July 3rd 1878.
1954: Oran 'Hot Lips' Page (46) American jazz trumpeter, singer, bandleader born in Dallas, Texas, known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. In his early years, he travelled the southwest backing such blues singers as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ida Cox. He moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1928 and played with leading bands, including the Walter Page's Blue Devils, Bennie Moten, and Count Basie's original Reno Club orchestra. A popular sessionist he was featured in Artie Shaw's Orchestra and played on many recording sessions, including duets with Pearl Bailey on "The Hucklebuck" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (?) b. January 27th 1908.
1956: Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. (47) American jazz pianist he is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Born in Toledo, Ohio he was a child prodigy with perfect pitch, he learned to play by ear, picking out church hymns by the age of three, learning tunes from the radio and copying piano-roll recordings. By 19, Art was playing with vocalist Jon Hendricks at Toledo's Waiters & Bellman's Club, many top artists took notice of the young house pianist, often stunned by his speed and dexterity. In 1932, Tatum traveled to New York with vocalist Adelaide Hall and the following year he released "Tea for Two," which became his signature tune. He went on to play with all the top musicians in all the top places on bothsides of the ocean. Although Art was not considered a bebop jazz musician, he had a legion of bop followers like the alto saxophone icon Charlie Parker and pianist Bud Powell, and he became a mentor for pianists Billy Taylor and Oscar Peterson. By 1952, he began showing evidence of euremia, a toxic blood condition resulting from a severe kidney disease. In in 1953, Art tracked a record 124 solos for noted producer Norman Granz and while the sessions were hasty, they yielded material for 13 albums (kidney failure) b. October 13th 1909.
1960: Johnny Horton (35) American country music singer who was most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which launched the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s. With them, he had several major crossover hits, most notably in 1959 with "The Battle of New Orleans" which won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the RIAA's "Songs of the Century". In 1960, Johnny had two other crossover hits with "North to Alaska", featured in the John Wayne's hit film, North to Alaska; and "Sink the Bismarck". He was also a rockabilly singer, with hits such as "Honky Tonk Man" and "I'm a One-Woman Man" and he was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. (fatal car crash, when a drunk truck driver hit his car near Milano, Texas) b. April 30th 1925.
1964: Buddy Cole/Edwin LeMar Cole (47) American jazz pianist, organist and bandleader; born in Irving, Illinois, he started his musical career in cinemas playing between movies. He moved to Hollywood and played with a couple of bands, most notably the Alvino Ray big band, before becoming a studio musician. He played piano for Bing Crosby for a number of years and also toured with Rosemary Clooney and backed the likes of Jill Corey, and The Four Lads. He also worked extensively with Henry Mancini, who used his distinctive Hammond organ sound for the sound track to the TV series "Mr. Lucky." He also recorded several albums for Warner Brothers records on piano, Hammond organ and theatre pipe organ. Buddy recorded for Capitol Records as both Buddy Cole and as Eddie LaMar and His Orchestra. (heart attacks) b. December 15th 1916
1967: Robert Lee McCoy/Robert Nighthawk/Robert Lee McCollum (57) American guitarist, vocalist and slide guitarist; born in Helena, Arkansas, he left home young working as a street busker. Under his real name Robert Lee McCollum, he settled for a time in Memphis, where he played with local orchestras and musicians, such as the Memphis Jug Band. Ann influence during this period was Houston Stackhouse, from whom he learnt to play slide guitar, and with whom he appeared on the radio in Jackson, Mississippi. Under the name of Robert Lee McCoy he moved to St. Louis, in the mid 1930s. He played the likes of Henry Townsend, Big Joe Williams, and Sonny Boy Williamson. This led to 2 recording dates in 1937, the four musicians recorded together at the Victor Records studio in Aurora, Illinois, as well as solo recordings including "Prowling Night-Hawk" recorded 5 May 1937, from which he would take his later pseudonym. Robert seemed to disappear, then in 1963, as Nighthawk, he was rediscovered busking in Chicago, this led to further recording sessions and club dates, and to his return to Arkansas, where he appeared on the King Biscuit Time radio programme on KFFA. (sadly he had a stroke followed by a heart attack and died of heart failure) b. November 30th 1909.
1970: Albert Ayler (34) American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer, born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, he was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s. He was first taught alto saxophone by his father. In 1952, at the age of 16, he began playing bar-walking, honking, R&B-style tenor with blues singer and harmonica player Little Walter, spending two summer vacations with Walter's band. He later studied at the Academy of Music in Cleveland with jazz saxophonist Benny Miller. Albert relocated to Sweden in 1962 where his recording career began, leading Swedish and Danish groups on radio sessions, and jamming as an unpaid member of Cecil Taylor's band in the winter of 1962-1963. Back in New York, US, he found respect and he influenced the new generation of jazz players, as well as veterans like John Coltrane who he worked with. In 1964 he toured Europe, with the trio augmented with trumpeter Don Cherry, recorded and released as The Hilversum Session. On his return from Europe, Albert embarked on his first major recording contract, since John Coltrane, recording The Village Concerts, New Grass, and Music is the Healing Force of the Universe (It is said that on November 5th 1970, he took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and jumped off as the boat neared Liberty Island. He was found dead in New York City's East River on Nov 25, a presumed suicide. Rumors circulated that he had been murdered, due to his involvement in the black power movement. There was no autopsy) b. July 13th 1936.
1977: Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (75) Canadian, then American bandleader and violinist born in London, Ontario. Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, he led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven''. The Lombardos are believed to have sold between 100 and 300 million phonograph records during their career. In 1938, Guy became a naturalized citizen of the United States. The Royal Canadians were noted for playing the traditional song Auld Lang Syne as part of the celebrations. Their recording of the song still plays as the first song of the new year in Times Square. He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007 (sadly died after suffering a heart attack) b. June 19th 1902.
1986: Bobby Nunn (61) American lead and bass singer born in Birmingham, Alabama; in 1955, he and Carl Gardner split from The Robins to form The Coasters with Leon Hughes and Billy Guy. After leaving The Coasters, he teamed with Leon Hughes to record as The Dukes in 1959, releasing two singles "Looking For You" b/w "Groceries, Sir" and "I Love You" b/w "Leap Year Cha Cha". He went on to work with both Dorsey Burnette and The O'Jays, before he put together his own Coasters, in 1985, they appeared on the NBC variety show "Our Time" hosted by Karen Valentine (heart failure) b. September 20th 1925.
1989: Vladimir Horowitz (86) Ukrainian-Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and composer. His technique and use of tone colour and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. He gave his US debut on January 12, 1928, in Carnegie Hall. He played Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham, who was also making his U.S. debut. (he died in New York of a heart attack and was buried in the Toscanini family tomb in Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, Italy) b. October 1st 1903.
1989: Lucius "Lu" Watters (77) American trumpeter and bandleader in the "West Coast revival" of Dixieland music. Born in Santa Cruz, California he played trumpet by the age of 11 and got his first work on a cruise ship. He then worked for Bob Crosby before deciding to form a Dixieland-style band. He founded the Yerba Buena Jazz Band in 1939 and it would be a leading force in the Dixieland revival for the next 11 years, with a small off-period caused by the war. In 1950 he broke up the band and in 1957 he retired from full-time playing. In 1963 he made a bit of a return by playing with Turk Murphy at anti-nuclear rallies. (?) b. December 19th 1911.
1996: Eddie Harris (62) American tenor saxophonist, though he was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-known composition is "Freedom Jazz Dance", recorded and popularized by Miles Davis in the 1960s. Born in Chicago, after college he was drafted into the United States Army. While serving in Europe he was accepted into the 7th Army Band, which also included Don Ellis, Leo Wright, and Cedar Walton. After getting out of the army he worked in New York City before returning to Chicago, where he signed a contract with Vee Jay Records. His first album Exodus to Jazz included his own jazz arrangement of Ernest Gold's theme from the movie Exodus. Eddie also came up with the idea of the reed trumpet, playing one for the first time at The Newport Jazz Festival of 1970. Until the mid 70s he experimented with new instruments of his own invention, the reed trumpet was a trumpet with a saxophone mouthpiece, the saxobone was a saxophone with a trombone mouthpiece, and the guitorgan was a combination of guitar and organ. He continued to record into the 1990s, but his experimentation ended and he mainly recorded hard bop (??) b. October 20th 1934.
1997: Epic Soundtracks/Kevin Paul Godfrey (38) English drummer, pianist; brought up in Solihull, with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden. In 1972 they formed the nucleus of the post-punk rock group Swell Maps, with "Epic" on drums and piano, and "Nikki" on guitar and vocals. He later played drums for both Crime and the City Solution, and These Immortal Souls. In 1991, he decided to focus on his own songwriting career, as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist he released three solo albums and two more "Everything is Temporary", and "Good Things" have been released posthumously. (Epic died in his sleep, speculation has been made of the manner of his death; however, the official cause of death was ruled as inconclusive) b. March 23rd 1959.
2002: Billy Guy/Frank William Phillips (66) American singer comedy singer but better known for being lead singer and baritone singer with The Coasters singing lead on such hits as "Searchin'," "Little Egypt," "Run Red Run," "Wait A Minute," among others. Before he joined The Coasters in 1955, he was part of a comedy singing duo called "Bip and Bop." One single called "Ding Ding Dong" b/w "Du-Wada-Du" was released on Aladdin Records in 1955. He did about a dozen or so solo recordings in 1963 for Double-L Records which later show up on collections as by The Coasters. Billy also made a number of solo records during the 1960s and 1970s including some X rated comedy albums. In 1977, he appeared, along with Grady Chapman and Jerome Evans, on a recording "Paid The Price" by Michelle Phillips on her album "Victim Of Romance." (?) b. June 20th 1936.
2003: Bobby Lee Hatfield (63) American singer-songwriter born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and moved with his family to Anaheim, California when he was four. A 1958 graduate of Anaheim High School, where he had sung in the school choir. He met his singing future partner Bill Medley while at California State University Long Beach. The pair began singing together '62 in the LA area in a group called the Paramours, sounding like African-American gospel singers, they renamed their act "The Righteous Brothers". Their first charted single was "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and their first No.1 was "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" came in 1964. Follow-up hits included the No.1 "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" and "Unchained Melody", the latter of which was a Hatfield solo performance that he recorded again after the success of the movie "Ghost", remarking that he had not lost any of the high notes in his tenor/falsetto range since the original recording, but had actually gained one note. The duo broke up in 1968 but returned with another hit in 1974, the No.3 "Rock and Roll Heaven." The duo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2003 by Billy Joel (He was found dead in hotel room in Michigan 30 minutes before he was due on stage, allegedly an overdose of cocaine had precipitated a fatal heart attack) b. August 10th 1940.
2005: Link Wray/Frederick Lincoln Wray (76) American singer, guitarist born Dunn, North Carolina; he was noted for pioneering a new sound for electric guitars, as heard in his hit '58 instrumental "Rumble", which pioneered an overdriven distorted electric guitar sound, and also for having, invented the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarist. Rolling Stone included Link at No. 67 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He was a great inspiration to Jeff Beck, Duff McKagan, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan, Pete Townsend, Bruce Springsteen, and countless others. He is also credited with inventing 'fuzz' guitar after punching a hole in a speaker (heart failure) b. May 2nd 1929.
2005: Virginia MacWatters (93) American coloratura soprano, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, and sang 611 Broadway performances of Adele in Rosalinda from 1942 to 1944. She made her formal operatic debut at the San Francisco Opera, as Musetta in La bohème, in 1944. She also appeared on Broadway in La serva padrona as Serpina, 1944 and Mr Strauss Goes to Boston as Brook Whitney, 1945. Virginia sang at the New York City Opera from 1946 to 1951, in The Pirates of Penzance as Mabel, Rigoletto as Gilda, Il barbiere di Siviglia as Rosina, The Old Maid and the Thief as Laetitia, Le nozze di Figaro as Susanna, Les contes d'Hoffmann as Olympia, and Ariadne auf Naxos as Zerbinetta. She appeared at the first season of opera in English at Covent Garden following World War II, in the name part of Manon and as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, in 1947. At the New Orleans Opera Association, the coloratura was seen in Il barbiere di Siviglia-1949, Die Fledermaus-1955 and Le nozze di Figaro-1956. She retired in 1982 (?) b. June 19th 1912.
2010: Michelle Nicastro (50) American singer, actress born in Washington D.C., she provided the voice of Princess Odette in The Swan Princess and its sequels, and the singing voice of Callisto for the Xena: Warrior Princess episode "The Bitter Suite". She also had guest starring roles in Airwolf and Knight Rider. She appeared, briefly, as the college sweetheart of Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally. In 1996 she played Snow White in Coach episode "Grimmworld" as the girlfriend of Michael "Dauber" Daubinski and had a role in Full House as Roxanne. On the stage, she created the role of Ariadne in the 1983 Broadway musical Merlin. She was the first Eponine in the second US tour of Les Misérables in 1988. She recorded 4 albums, 2 albums, ''Toonful'' and ''Toonful Too'' feature songs from animated musicals, ''Reel Imagination'' features songs from family musicals, and ''On My Own'' features songs from contemporary Broadway musicals (died after battling cancer) b. March 31st 1960.
2010: Shirley Verrett (79) American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato. Making her operatic debut in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia in 1957, she became particularly well known for her singing in French and Italian opera, particularly works of Verdi and Donizetti and went on to enjoy great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s and was much admired for her radiant voice, beauty, and great versatility (sadly died of heart failure) b. May 31st 1931.
2011: Bhupen Hazarika (85) Assamese singer, composer, lyricist, music director, filmmaker a from the state of Assam in India. He was a legend in Indian music, influenced many people throughout the country and neighboring countries. His song reflected his view on the current situations of society, culture, politics, corruption etc. He composed songs in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and English. He played an important role in visualizing the culture and art of Assam to other parts of India and world (sadly died of multi-organ failure) b. September 8th 1926.

November 6 .
1672: Heinrich Schütz (87) German composer worked most of Europe, including in the court of Prince Christian of Denmark and the court of Prince Johann Georg. He is regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi. He wrote what is thought to be the first German opera, Dafne, performed at Torgau in 1627, of which the music has since been lost. He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on July 28 with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel (stroke) b. October 8th 1585.
1893: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (53) Russia composer, pianist of the Romantic era, of often dramatic, richly expressive works. His wide ranging output includes symphonies, operas, ballets, instrumental and chamber music and songs. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, his last three numbered symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin (sadly lost to cholera) b. May 7th 1840.
1965: Clarence Williams (67) American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, and business man; born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, he ran away from home at age 12 to join Billy Kersand's Traveling Minstrel Show, then moved to New Orleans. Clarence started a music publishing business with violinist/bandleader Armand J. Piron 1915. He toured briefly with W.C. Handy, set up 3 music stores in Chicago, after which he settled in New York in 1923. He supervised African-American recordings for New York offices of Okeh phonograph company in the Gaiety Theatre office building in Times Square. He recruited many of the artists who performed on that label. He also recorded extensively, leading studio bands frequently for OKeh, Columbia and occasionally other record labels. He mostly used "Clarence Williams' Jazz Kings" for his hot band sides and "Clarence Williams' Washboard Five" for his washboard sides. His hits include "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate", "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", "Royal Garden Blues", "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do", "Shout, Sister, Shout" and many others. He also produced and participated in early recordings by Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Bessie Smith, Virginia Liston, and many others.His New York publishing company prospered, continuing to do business until 1943 when he sold its catalog of over 2,000 songs to Decca for a reputed $50,000. Clarence was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, (?) b. October 8th 1898.
1968: Charles Munch (77) Alsatian symphonic conductor and violinist, born in Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire now France, he is best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1920, he became professor of violin at the Strasbourg Conservatoire and assistant concertmaster of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. Over the next 2 decades he held a number of prestigious posts before he made his début with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on December 27th 1946. He was its Music Director from 1949 to 1962. Charles was also Director of the Berkshire Music Festival and Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood, from 1951 through 1962. He also received honorary degrees from Boston University, Harvard University, and Brandeis University. During the 1960s, Munch appeared regularly as a guest conductor throughout America, Europe, and Japan. In 1967 he founded the Orchestre de Paris (He died in Richmond, Virginia, of a heart attack while on an American tour with the Orchestre de Paris) b. September 26th 1891.
1972: Billy Murcia (21) Colombian drummer, born in Bogotá, and raised in Jackson Heights, New York. He started out in 1967, with Sylvain Sylvain in a band called "The Pox", before forming the punk band New York Dolls in 1971. He played during their now-legendary series of weekly shows at the Mercer Arts Center, and went on their 1972 UK tour (While on a UK tour Billy was at a party, and passed out from an accidental overdose. He was put in a bathtub and force-fed coffee in an attempt to revive him, but tragically resulted in asphyxiation and death) b. 1951
1975: François de Roubaix (36) French film score composer, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine; he did not receive any formal education in music, but began studying jazz on his own at age 15, forming a band and learning trombone as an autodidact. His father, filmmaker Paul de Roubaix, made educational films, and offered to let François compose scores for them. His first film score was for a 1961 film by Robert Enrico; through the late 1960s and early 1970s he scored films for Enrico, Jose Giovanni, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Pierre Mocky, and Yves Boisset. Notable in his style is his use of folk elements, as well as electronic musical instruments such as synthesizers and early drum machines. In 1976, his score for Le Vieux Fusil was awarded a César Award. (tragically François died in a car accident in Tenerife, Canary Islands) b. April 3rd 1939.
1986: Elisabeth Grümmer (75) German operatic soprano, born at Niederjeutz, near Diedenhofen; she studied theatre and made her stage debut as Klärchen in Goethe's Egmont. She married the concertmaster of the theater orchestra, Detlev Grümmer, and they moved to Aachen, where they met Herbert von Karajan. Elisabeth started to take singing lessons, von Karajan cast her as the first flower maiden in a performance of Wagner's Parsifal. She went on to perform in Duisburg and Prague. She performed in all the major opera houses in Europe and the United States, restricting herself to a small number of roles, primarily sung in German. She was also active in song recitals and concert performances, particularly of Brahms' German Requiem (?) b. March 31st 1911.
1987: Zohar Argov (32) Israeli singer and a distinctive voice in the Mizrahi music scene, born in Rishon LeZion. Zohar's debut album Eleanor in 1981 featured the title track, "Sod HaMazalot"/"The Zodiac Secret", and "Mah Lakh Yaldah"/"What's up Girl", a tribute to his ex-wife, Bracha. Among his other hits are "HaPerakh BeGani" /"The Flower in My Garden", "Mah Lakh Yaldah", "Ba'avar Hayu Zmanim"/"In The Past There Were Times" and "Badad"/"Alone", which are now considered Israeli classics and an integral part of national culture. (He committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell after he was arrested on rape charges) b. July 16th 1955.
1997: Epic Soundtracks/Kevin Godfrey (37) English piano, drums, singer, songwriter, born in Croydon, but brought up in Solihull, Midlands with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden; In 1972 the brothers formed the nucleus of what was to become the post-punk rock group Swell Maps, with "Soundtracks" on drums and piano, and "Sudden" on guitar and vocals. Soundtracks later played drums for Crime and the City Solution and These Immortal Souls. In 1991, he decided to focus on his own songwriting career. (died in his sleep, suicide was suspected) b. March 23rd 1959.
2005: Minako Honda (38) Japanese singer and musical actress born in Tokyo; she got famous and popular known as "Japan's Madonna" because of her sexy fashion and live performances in the mid to late 1980s. She was also one of the singers to sing Japanese and English languages. She took formal acting and singing lessons, and became a notable theatrical singer and actress. In auditions for the Tokyo production of Miss Saigon, she won out over 12,000 other candidates for the part of Kim, earning the nickname "Tokyo's Miss Saigon". She appeared in many other theatrical performances. (sadly died from complications from myelocytic leukemia) b. July 31st 1967.
2006: Jance Garfat (62) American bassist and a founder member in the pop-country rock band Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, later named Dr.Hook, from 1972 till they disbanded in 1985. At the height of their success Dr Hook were top of the charts in 42 countries, they amassed 60 gold and platinum singles and albums. Their hits include "The Cover of the Rolling Stone", "Sylvia's Mother", "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman", and "Sexy Eyes". (tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, while swirving to avoid a dog in Oakland, CA) b. March 20th 1944.
2007: Hank Thompson (82) American country music singer and songwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He sold over 60 million records worldwide. His musical style, characterized as Honky Tonk Swing, was a mixture of fiddles, electric guitar and steel guitar that featured his distinctive, gravelly baritone vocals. Born in Waco, Texas, Hank decided to pursue his musical career after serving in the US Navy in World War II, having a two-sided chart hit in the '40s, "Soft Lips"/"The Grass is Greener Over Yonder". In 1952, Hank with his backing band The Brazos Valley Boys had a huge hit with "Wild Side Of Life", the song became one of the most popular recordings in the genre's history, spending 15 weeks at No.1 Billboard country charts (lung cancer) b. September 3rd 1925.
2007: George Osmond (90) American patriarch of the Osmond singing family; he managed his sons' careers, and at an appearance at Disneyland, they caught the eye of Walt Disney, who took a personal interest in them. The boys auditioned for Andy Williams, whose father helped launch them into the national spotlight. As George's children's fortune rose, he put his career aside to focus on the family's musical interests and moved the family to California to place them closer to the heart of the entertainment industry (natural causes) b. October 13th 1917.
2007: Jimmy Staggs (72) American radio disk jockey; a longtime Chicago, USA radio disc jockey and record store owner. His radio career began in Birmingham on WYDE AM. From there, it was on to Philadelphia on WBIG, San Francisco on KYA, and Milwaukee on WOKY before his stint at KYW, Cleveland and others. At WCFL, the "Voice of Labor", he did the "afternoon drive" shift. He referred to the studio call-in line as the "Stagg Line" and produced a feature titled "Stagg's Starbeat" in-depth, provocative, and insightful interviews with local, national and international music celebrities. Staggs interviewed nearly every major rock star of the 1960s, including Neil Diamond, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, the Supremes, The Monkees, and Simon & Garfunkel. He left the radio business in 1975, and started a chain of record stores in the northern suburbs of Chicago. He opened a record store called "Record City," which eventually became a chain with locations in Lake Zurich, Skokie, Glenview, and Northbrook, with two more outlets in Orlando, Florida. The last Record City, in Lake Zurich, closed in 2005 (sadly lost to esophageal cancer) b. October 7th 1935.
2009: Jacno/Denis Quilliard (52) French musician, he was a founding member of the first French punk band The Stinky Toys. They took part in the 100 Club Punk Festival in London, sharing the bill with such bands as Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and Buzzcocks.The Stinky Toys released a self titled album brfore splitting in 1979. In the early 1980s, Jacno teamed up with former Stinky Toys singer Elli Medeiros to form the pop duo Elli et Jacno.They released three albums together before splitting up to cocerntrate on solo careers. Jacno had also released his debut solo album 'Jacno' in '79, followed by seven more, the last being Tant de Temps in 2006 (cancer) b. July 3rd 1957.
2011: Gordon Beck (75) British jazz pianist and composer born in Brixton, London, and studied piano in his youth, but went into a career as an engineering technical draughtsman. Largely self-taught, he returned to music after spending time in Canada where he was exposed to the works of George Shearing and Dave Brubeck. He joined Tubby Hayes group in 1962 back in England he and later formed his own trio, made up of Tony Oxley, Jeff Clyne, and himself. From 1969 to 1972 he toured with Phil Woods's European Rhythm Machine. He was a member of Nucleus during 1972-74 and after which he formed the group Gyroscope. Gordon also recorded albums with Allan Holdsworth, with whom he also toured the States and Japan, Henri Texier, Didier Lockwood among others and is maybe best remembered by many for his album Experiments With Pops (?) b. September 16th 1936.
2011: Mito Loeffler (50) French gypsy jazz guitarist, a perfect representative of the gypsy style of eastern France, solid right hand, phrasing and virtuosic percussive happy, thunderous chord bearing, his joy of playing was never hidden. This really great musician carried the legacy of Django Reinhardt with honor and his sudden death leaves a large gap in the Gypsy jazz scene (a possible heart attack) b. 1961.

November 7 .
1960: A.P. Carter/Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter (68) American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and founding member of The Carter Family group, one of the most notable acts in the history of country music. Born in Maces Spring, Virginia. He married Sara Dougherty on June 18th 1915, and they had three children: Gladys/Millard, Janette/Jett, and Joe. In 1927, he formed the Carter Family band together with his wife and Sara's cousin, Maybelle, who was married to Alvin's brother, Ezra Carter, and they together formed the first commercial rural country music group. Alvin traveling extensively throughout the country collecting and blending songs, particularly from Appalachian musicians. Alvin and Sara separated in 1932, they officially divorced in 1939, but the band remained together until 1943. Maybelle and her daughters continued to tour as The Carter Family, while Alvin left the music business to run a general store in Virginia. In 1952, Alvin reformed The Carter Family with Sara and some of their grown children; the reunion lasted until 1956. Despite dying in relative obscurity, Alvin was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and inducted as part of The Carter Family in the Country Music Hall of Fame both in 1970. In 1993, his image appeared on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the Carter Family. In 2001 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor (died in Kingsport, TN) b. December 15th 1891.
1964: Jasper Taylor (70) American jazz drummer; in his teens he performed in minstrel shows touring the American South and Mexico, and Wild West revues, including "Buffalo Bill" Cody's show. He played in Memphis, in 1913, on washboard, drums, wood blocks, and xylophone. As a xylophonist he collaborated with W.C. Handy, and later played with Jelly Roll Morton.In 1917 he moved to Chicago, where he was based out of for most of his career. He played with Handy, Will Marion Cook, Clarence Williams, and the Chicago Novelty Orchestra. He joined the military during World War I and served in France with the 365th Infantry Band. The 365th Infantry were nicknamed the "Buffalo Soldiers," the enlisted personnel were almost entirely African-American soldiers from Texas and Oklahoma. Next he worked with Dave Peyton, Fess Williams and again with Clarence Williams. In the 1930s, due to the downturn in opportunities to perform during the Great Depression, he quit music and became a cobbler. In the 1940s he returned to active performance with Freddie Shayne and others; in the 1950s he played for several years with Natty Dominique. Shortly before his death he led his own Creole Jazz Band (?) b. January 1st 1894.
1983: Germaine Tailleferre (91) French composer and the only female member of the famous composers' group Les Six. At the Paris Conservatory she was awarded prizes in several categories. Most notably she wrote 18 short works in the Petit livre de harpe de Madame Tardieu for Caroline Tardieu, the Conservatory’s Assistant Professor of Harp. In the 20s her 1st Piano Concerto, The Harp Concertino, the Ballets "Le marchand d'oiseaux" and "La nouvelle Cythère" and "Sous le ramparts d'Athènes" in collaboration with Paul Claudel, as well as several pioneering film scores, including "B'anda" in which she used African themes. The 30s produced the Concerto for Two Pianos, the Violin Concerto, Choeurs, Saxophones and Orchestra, Operas "Zoulaïna" and "Le marin de Bolivar", and "La cantate de Narcisse" in collaboration with Paul Valéry. In the 40s she composed orchestral and chamber music, plus many other works including the ballets "Paris-Magie" with Lise Delarme and "Parisiana", The Operas "Il était un petit navire" with Henri Jeanson, "Dolores", "La petite sirène" with Philip Soupault, and "Le maître" (?) b. April 19th 1892.
1986: Tracy Pew (28) Australian bassist, while attending Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, he joined a band called The Boys Next Door, along with schoolfriends Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Phill Calvert. In 1976 he band relocated to London and renamed themselves The Birthday Party but did not find success. The Birthday Party split in 1983, although Tracy briefly played bass for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on a live tour and contributed to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' cover LP Kicking Against the Pricks. He returned to Melbourne to study literature and philosophy and also performed on Lydia Lunch's concept album Honeymoon In Red (an epileptic seizure resulted in head injuries so severe he died from a brain hemorrhage shortly afterwards) b. December 17th 1957.
1991: Prince Gideon Israel/Carter Cornelius (53) American R&B singer born in Dania Beach, FL; he was part of his family group Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose, along with his brother Eddie, and his sisters Billie Jo, and Rose, formed in 1971. They scored hits with "Treat Her Like A Lady", "Too Late To Turn Back Now", and "Don't Ever Be Lonely (A Poor Little Fool Like Me)". In '76 Carter went into seclusion with Yahweh Ben Yahweh, founder of the a religious sect the Nation of Yahweh, whose followers adopt the surname Israel. He built a recording studio where he wrote, recorded and mixed the sect's music and videos (sadly died of a heart attack) b. October 5th 1948.
1994: Shorty Rogers/Milton Rajonsky (70) American jazz trumpeter and arranger, born in in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He went on to be one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. He worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and Red Norvo. From 1947 to 1949, he worked extensively with Woody Herman and in '50 and '51 he played with Stan Kenton. From '53 through '62 he recorded a series of RCA Victor albums and Atlantic albums with his own group, Shorty Rogers and His Giants, including Shorty Courts the Count, The Swinging Mr. Rogers, and Martians Come Back. In the early '60s he quit the jazz scene for many years. In 1982, he was persuaded to pick up his trumpet, playing first with Britain’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra and soon with Bud Shank and others. In the 1990s he formed a Lighthouse All Stars group along with Shank, Bill Perkins and Bob Cooper. (fell ill in the early 1990s and died during KLON's West Coast Jazz festival) b. April 14th 1924
1995: Jerry Daniels (79) American tenor singer, guitarist and ukulele player, in 1931 he and Charlie Fuqua formed a vocal duo "Kyle and Charlie", performing in the Indianapolis area, before joining Hoppy Jones and Deek Watson to form The Ink Spots in '34. He left the group in 1936 before their commercial success (?) b. December 14th 1915.
2004: Howard Keel/Harold Clifford Leek (85) American singer, actor; starred in many of the classic film musicals of the 1950s. In 1945, he briefly understudied for John Raitt in the Broadway musical hit Carousel before being assigned to Oklahoma!, written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. When performing this play during this period, Howard accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated: he performed the leads in both shows on the same day. In 1947, Oklahoma! became the first American postwar musical to travel to London, England, and Howard/Harold joined the production. On the opening night, 30 April, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience, which included the future Queen Elizabeth II, demanded fourteen encores. Keel was hailed as the next great star, becoming the toast of London's West End >>> READ MORE <<< (lost to colon cancer) b. April 13th 1919.
2008: Jody Reynolds/Ralph Joseph Reynolds (75) American rockabilly singer and guitarist, born in Denver, but grew up in Shady Grove, Oklahoma. Jody released 13 singles in the 60' & 70s, his biggest hit single was 1958's "Endless Sleep" which reached No.5 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. He wrote it in a single afternoon in 1956 while in Yuma, Arizona. (liver cancer) b. December 3rd 1932.
2011: Georgi Movsesyan (66) Russian composer, born in Kharkov, Ukraine; he graduated from the Gnessin State Musical College in 1964. Honored as a People's Artist of Russia in 2001, he is mostly known for his songs "Beryoza", "Moi goda", "Olympiada", "Nachalo" performed by Iosif Kobzon, Lev Leshchenko, Anna German, Vakhtang Kikabidze and others (Georgi sadly died of a heart attack) b. August 2nd 1945.

November 8 .
1974: Ivory Joe Hunter (60) African American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist, best known for his hit recording, "Since I Met You, Baby" in 1956. The Baron of the Boogie, is not to be confused with Motown producer-songwriter Joe Hunter. Born in Kirbyville, Texas, he was christened Ivory Joe, Ivory Joe Hunter is not a nickname, but the artist's real birth name. In the early 1940s, he had his own radio show in Beaumont, Texas, on KFDM, where he eventually became program manager, and in 1942 he moved to LA, joining Johnny Moore's Three Blazers. He wrote and recorded his first song, "Blues at Sunrise", with the Three Blazers on his own label, Ivory Records. Other hits include "I Quit My Pretty Mama", "Guess Who", "I Almost Lost My Mind", "Yes, I Want You", "Empty Arms" and "City Lights". Ivory was a prolific songwriter, some estimate he wrote more than 7,000 songs. Elvis Presley was among the many artists to record Ivory's songs, with "My Wish Came True", "Ain't That Loving You, Baby", "I Need You So", "It's Still Here" and "I Will Be True." (Ivory sadly lost his battle with cancer) b. October 10th 1914.
1983: James Booker (43) American jazz pianist, sax player and singer; he was highly skilled in classical music and played Bach and Chopin, among other composers, he mastered and memorized solos by Erroll Garner, and Liberace. His thorough background in piano literature may have enabled his original and virtuosic interpretations of jazz and other American popular music. These performances combined elements of stride, blues, gospel and Latin piano styles. He made his recording debut in 1954 with "Doin' the Hambone" and "Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby." This led to session work with Smiley Lewis, Fats Domino, and Lloyd Price. After attending University in 1960, his "Gonzo" charted on U.S. Billboard chart, and the R&B chart. This was followed by some moderately successful singles. In the 1960s, he turned to drugs, and in 1970 served a brief sentence in Angola Prison for possession. During 1976, he played and toured with the Jerry Garcia Band. James recorded a number of albums while touring Europe in 1977, including New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!, which was recorded at his performance in the 'Boogie Woogie and Ragtime Piano Contest' in Zurich, Switzerland This album won the Grand Prix du Disque. After which he continued recording and touring and playing major festivals. He performed is final concert at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans in October of 1983 (sadly died of renal failure while seated in a wheelchair, waiting to be seen at the emergency room at New Orleans Charity Hospital) b. December 17th 1939
1992: Larry Levan/Lawrence Philpot (38) American DeeJay who worked the New York City night club Paradise Garage, a prototype of the modern dance club, because it was entirely focused on dancing, and was the first to put the DJ at the center of attention. Larry developed a cult following, who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass". Influential US DJ François Kevorkian credits him with introducing the dub aesthetic into dance music. Larry experimented with drum machines and synthesizers which helped establish new electronic, post-disco sound and he was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004 (after returning home from Japan, Larry voluntarily entered the hospital. He died four days later of heart failure caused by endocarditis) b. July 20th 1954.
1998: Lonnie Pitchford (44) American blues diddley bow player, multi-musician and instrument maker from Lexington, Mississippi; he began making his one-stringed diddley bows as a five-year-old, fashioning them mostly out of parts from old electric guitars. He was also an accomplished six-string guitarist, acoustic and electric, and piano player, as well as playing the double bass and harmonica. Lonnie was "discovered" by ethnomusicologist Worth Long, after he had began to attract crowds playing the music of Robert Johnson, songs like "Come On In My Kitchen" and "Terraplane Blues," on his one-stringed didley bow. His albums include All Around Man in 1994, as well as several compilations, including Mississippi Moan, a 1988 release; Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era, released in 1992 and Deep Blues also in 1992. Lonnie was voted as one of Living Blues magazine's "top 40 under 40" new blues players to watch (Aids) b. October 8th 1955.
1999: Lester Bowie (58) American jazz trumpet player and composer; member of the AACM, he co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago remaining a member for the rest of his life. He was also a member of Jack DeJohnette's New Directions quartet and played and recorded with Fela Kuti. ( liver cancer, the following year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame) b. Oct 11th 1941
2003: Guy Speranza (47) American singer; best known as New York-based metal band Riot's original frontman, from 1976-1981. He sung on their first three albums, 1977's Rock City, 1979's Narita and 1981's Fire Down Under, before leaving the band in 1981. After which he returned to Florida and became an exterminator (Pancreatic cancer) b. March 12th 1956
2006: Basil Poledouris (61) Greek-American film score composer, Kansas City, Missouri; his score for Conan the Barbarian is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of motion picture scoring ever written. In 1996 he scored the "The Tradition of the Games" for the Atlanta Olympics Opening Ceremony that accompanied the memorable dance tribute to the athletes and goddesses of victory of the ancient Greek Olympics using silhouette imagery. Other notable film scores include The Blue Lagoon in 1980; Conan the Destroyer in 1984; Red Dawn in 1984; RoboCop in 1987; The Hunt for Red October in 1990; Free Willy in 1993 and its first sequel; Starship Troopers in 1997; and For Love of the Game in 1999. (complications from cancer) b. August 21st 1945.
2008: Jerry Fuchs/ Gerhardt Fuchs (34) American indie rock drummer, writer and graphic artist; he attended the University of Georgia, where he studied graphic design and drummed in the local Athens bands The Martians, Vineland, and Koncak before joining the dance-punk group !!!, performing on their album Myth Takes. He also played drums for The Juan Maclean during their live performances, and played live for other DFA Records' outfits including MSTRKRFT, LCD Soundsystem and Holy Ghost!. He then joined Maserati, playing on their albums 'Inventions for the New Season' and 'Passages' and had just completed a U.S. Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver tour this October. Jerry also did graphic design work for the magazine Chunklet and wrote articles as a freelance writer for Entertainment Weekly (He got was caught in a broken elevator in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, when he attempted to jump out of the car, he accidentally fell 5 stories down the elevator shaft to his death) b. 1974
2011: Heavy D/ Dwight Arrington Myers (44) Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer and singer who moved with his family to New York City when he was a young child. He was the former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, the influencial hip hop group which included G-Whiz, "Trouble" T. Roy, and Eddie F. His debut, Living Large, was released in 1987, but it was his 2nd album Big Tyme which was his breakthrough that included the hits "We Got Out Own Thang", "Somebody for Me", and "Gyrlz, They Love Me". Tragically Trouble T. Roy died at age 22 in a fall on July 15, 1990, his passing led to a tribute on the follow-up platinum album, Peaceful Journey, called "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" which is regarded as a hip-hop classic. >>> READ MORE <<< (he tragically died suddenly and unexpectedly due to "respiratory issues") b. May 24th 1967.
2011: Jimmy Norman (74) American rhythm and blues and jazz singer, songwriter; in his early career, he had a charting solo single "I Don't Love You No More (I Don't Care About You)", as well as performing session work with Jimi Hendrix. He was a noted lyricist and songwriter. He wrote the expanded lyrics of the song "Time Is on My Side", which became a hit for The Rolling Stones among others. After producing a single for The Coasters in 1969 for Lloyd Price's Turntable Records, Jimmy replaced Vernon Harrell as the regular substitute, then permanently, for Billy Guy in the group in the 70s. During his 30 years with the Coasters, he also teamed up with Eddie Palmieri as lead vocalist in the group Harlem River Drive, which released a self-titled album in 1971. Later in life he suffered multiple heart attacks and respiratory disease which restricted him. In July 2002, Jimmy's rare tape of his jam session with Marley reached considerably above its estimated value when auctioned at $26,290. Jimmy's last public appearance was for the Jazz Foundation’s Loft Party in New York City on Oct 29th 2011 where he performed two songs, “Collector of Keys,” and “Time is On My Side” (?) b. August 12th 1937.

November 9.
1951: Sigmund Romberg (64) Hungarian operetta composer; his adaptation of melodies by Franz Schubert for Blossom Time in 1921 was a great success. He subsequently wrote his best-known operettas, The Student Prince-1924, The Desert Song-1926 and The New Moon-1928, which are in a style similar to the Viennese operettas of Franz Lehár. He also wrote Rosalie-1928 together with George Gershwin. His later works, such as Up in Central Park (1945), are closer to the American musical in style, but they were less successful. Romberg also wrote a number of film scores and adapted his own work for film. Columbia Records asked him to conduct orchestral arrangements of his music, which he had played in concerts, for a series of recordings from 1945 to 1950 that were issued both on 78-rpm and 33-1/3 rpm discs. These performances are now prized by record collectors (?) b. July 29th 1887.
1968: Jan Johansson (37) Swedish jazz pianist; sadly he is little known outside Scandinavia, and his records are not widely available, though Jazz på svenska/Jazz in Swedish has sold more than a 1/4 of a million copies, and is the best selling jazz release ever in Sweden(died in a car crash on his way to a concert) b. September 16th 1931.
1991: Yves Montand/Ivo Livi (69) Italian-born singer, actor; in Monsummano Terme, Italy, but grew up in Marseille, France. He began a career in show business as a music-hall singer. In 1944 he was discovered by Édith Piaf in Paris and she made him part of her act, becoming his mentor and lover. His recognizably crooner songs, especially those about Paris, became instant classics. During his career, Montand acted in many American motion pictures as well as on Broadway. He was nominated for a Cesar Award for "Best Actor" in 1980 for "I comme Icare" and again in 1984 for "Garçon!" (died from a heart attack) b. October 13th 1921.
1999: Herb Abramson (82) US record producer in Brooklyn, New York City; he produced such performers as Billy Eckstineat, Joe Turner and The Ravens at National Records and founded his first record company Jubilee Records in 1946 with Jerry Blaine producing jazz, R&B and Gospel recordings, he went on to co-found Atlantic records. After leaving Atlantic, he set up his own recording studio A-1 Sound Studios, Hank Crawford, James Moody, Richie Cordell, Johnny Nash and Lloyd Price were among the artists who recorded there. In 1998 Herb received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation (?) b. November 16th 1916.
2003: Davy Chesterfield/David Goldsworthy (40) English singer, guitarist and founder member of the indie pop band The Chesterf!elds formed in 1984, Yeovil, Somerset. Signed to the label Subway Organization, they released an EP ''A Guitar In Your Bath'' and single ''Completely & Utterly'' before releasing an album ''Kettle'' in 1987. They moved to their own Household label, issuing 2 more singles and a third album, Crocodile Tears. The Chesterf!elds final single, "Fool Is The Man" was released in 1989, after which the band split. They did reformed in the 1990's to tour Japan after their material was re-issued there (tragically killed by a hit & run driver in Oxford, UK) b. 1963
2010: Jessica Sanso (95) American opera singer (?) b. September 24th 1915.
2011: Renée Franke (83) German pop singer, born in Hamburg, as a pop singer she had several hits including "C'est si bon" in the 50s. In 1954, she also appeared the film "The Lady of the office". From 1966 to 1993 Renée worked as a radio presenter at the Bayerische Rundfunk-NDR. (sadly died in Munich) b. May 4th 1928.

November 10.
1973: David "Stringbean" Akeman (57) American banjo player and comedy musician best known for his role on the hit television show, Hee Haw. He is one of the most celebrated performers of "old-time" banjo playing, also called "clawhammer" or "frailing", and he is listed along with Uncle Dave Macon, Grandpa Jones, and Ralph Stanley, as among the great old-time style banjo players (the Akemans returned home after performing at the Grand Ole Opry, and were shot dead upon their arrival. Thieves had lain in wait for hours. Their bodies were discovered the following morning by neighbour and fellow performer, Grandpa Jones aka Louis Marshall Jones) b. June 17th 1916.
1994: Carmen Mercedes McRae (74) American jazz singer, pianist; worked with Count Basie, Mercer Ellington, also a solo artist and was considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century. Drawing inspiration from Billie Holiday, she established her own distinctive voice, she recorded over 60 albums during her career (sadly emphysema took her breath away) b. April 8th 1920.
1997: Tommy Tedesco (67) American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist; described as the most recorded guitarist in history, having played on thousands of recordings, including the Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Zappa, Sam Cooke, Cher, and Nancy and Frank Sinatra. TV themes include Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special. Film soundtracks include The French Connection, The Godfather, Jaws, The Deer Hunter, Field of Dreams, plus several Elvis Presley films. He was also the guitarist for the Original Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show. He was one of the very few sidemen credited for work on animated cartoons for the The Ant and the Aardvark cartoons (Heart disease) b. July 3rd 1930.
2002: Johnny Griffith (67) American keyboardist, member of the Motown Funk Brother house band; he played the Steinway grand piano, the Hammond B-3 organ, the Wurlitzer electric piano, the Fender Rhodes, and the celeste and harpsichord. Among the many Motown recordings he played on are "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by Four Tops, and "Stop! In the Name of Love" by The Supremes (?) b. July 10th 1936.
2004: Katy de la Cruz (97) Leading Filipino singer born in Intramuros, Manila, she specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs in a performing career that lasted 8 decades. Hailed as "The Queen of Filipino Jazz" and as "The Queen of Bodabil", she was, by the age of 18, the highest paid entertainer in the Philippines. She also appeared in films and received a FAMAS Best Supporting Actress Award in 1953., ill health caused her to retire from public life in the 1990s (?) b. February 13th 1907.
2006: Gerald LeVert (40) American R&B soul baritone singer; He was the most sensual, powerful baritone R&B singer of his generation. He sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B musical group as well as recording solo (died at home in his sleep of a sudden, unexpected heart attack) b. July 13th 1966.
2008: Miriam Makeba (76) South African singer and civil rights activist often referred to as Mama Afrika. When in London she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including "Pata Pata", "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika". In 1966, she received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid. (heart attack) b. March 4th 1932.
2008: Wannes Van de Velde (71) Flemish singer, musician, poet and artist (?) b. April 29th 1937.
2010: Tony West (72) British bassist and founder member of the Liverpool rock and roll band The Searchers. The band was formed in 1957, it grew out of an earlier skiffle group formed by Tony, John McNally, and guitarist Brian Dolan. Tony left the band in 1960. In 1976 Tony established the highly successful Tony West Entertainment Agency in Liverpool arranging venues and supplying acts throughout Britain until his death (died peacefully in his sleep during the night at his Hightown home) b. 1931
2010: Lee Harper (65) American jazz trumpeter, born in Camp Le Jeune; he left this day job in late '71, to play professionally, most of 1972 he played in Seattle before moving to Europe late that year. His first locations were Paris, Salzburg and Munich, where he played with Günter Lenz, Al Porcino, Bobby Jones, Catharina Valente, Benny Bailey, Mal Waldron, Sal Nistico, Joe Haider, Boško Petrovic, Art Farmer, Charly Antolini, Bob Wilber, Billy Brooks, Allan Praskin, etc. In the Munich years he also appeared in several jazz recordings. In late 1979 Lee met Erich Kleinschuster and moved to Vienna to work in Erich's quintett and the Austrian Radio (ORF) Big-Band. In the Vienna years he worked with many great musicians, including Thad Jones, Leo Wright, Hans Koller, Fritz Pauer, Ernie Wilkins, Art Farmer, Paul Kuhn, Karl Ratzer, and Aladar Pege. In late 1985 Lee moved to Salzburg, where he lived till his death. He further played with Rudi Wilfer, Barbara Dennerlein, Charlie Mariano, Jarek Smietana, Renato Chicco, Carl Drevo, Frankfurt Jazz Connection, Robert Bonisolo, Connexion Latina, Heinz von Hermann, Alex Meik, Russ Spiegel, Karen Edwards, Franz Trattner, Wolfgang Pointner, Buddy Cattlet, Hadley Caliman, Al Cohn, Bill Elgart, Wayne Darling and Lee Harper's Little Big Band (sadly died of a heart attack) b. February 27th 1945.

November 11 .
1945: Jerome David Kern (60) American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Long Ago (and Far Away)" and "Who?". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and E. Y. Harburg. He was nominated 8 times for Academy Awards, winning 2 for "The Way You Look Tonight" in 1936 and "The Last Time I Saw Paris" in 1941 and Jerome was was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1970. (he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking at the south west corner of Park Avenue and 57th street, identifiable only by his ASCAP card, he was initially taken to the indigent ward at City Hospital, later transferred to Doctors Hospital in Manhattan, where he sadly died) b. January 27th 1885.
1968: Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Demessieux () French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue born in Montpellier, southern France. She entered the Montpellier Conservatory in 1928 and in 1932, she obtained first prizes in solfège and piano. In 1933, Jeanne Demessieux was enrolled as student at the Paris Conservatory; studying piano with Simon Riera and Magda Tagliaferro, harmony with Jean Gallon, counterpoint and fugue with Noël Gallon, and composition with Henri Büsser. She had a prodigious memory, she had memorized more than 2,500 works, including the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, César Franck, Franz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn and Marcel Dupré. Jeanne made numerous recordings, including the complete organ works of César Franck, which was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque in 1960 (died due to an embolism) b. February 13th 1921.
1972: Berry Oakley (24) American bassist and one of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band. He was known for his long, melodic bass runs underneath Duane Allman and Dicky Betts' furious guitar soloing. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" from the At Fillmore East live album capture Oakley at his best (died in a motorcycle accident at the same intersection as his friend and former band member Duane Allman, who had died a year earlier) b. April 4th 1948.
1977: Greta Keller (74) Austrian cabaret singer and actress; For over 45 years, her voice a legend-in radio shows, films, revues, concerts and musicals, but above all her records circled the globe. First called 'The Great Lady Of Chanson' in her native Vienna, it followed her to London and America. Her voice featured in the Oscar-winning movie, Cabaret, singing the song, "Heirat", she also appeared on Stage with Marlene Dietrich in "Broadway", in which she sang and danced. (?) b. February 8th 1903.
1979: Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (85) Ukrainian film score composer and conductor, he became a U.S. citizen in 1937. He scored American movies like Frank Capra's Lost Horizon- 1937; It's a Wonderful Life- 1946; and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington- 1939. He also worked on Cyrano de Bergerac-1950; Fred Zinnemann's High Noon-1952, for which he received a Best Song Oscar for “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'”/“The Ballad of High Noon”; Giant-1956; Friendly Persuasion-1956; Gunfight at the O.K. Corral -1957; Rio Bravo-1959; and The Alamo-1960. He also composed the music for Land of the Pharaohs - 1955; The Guns of Navarone -1961; Town Without Pity-1961; 55 Days at Peking-1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire-1964; and The War Wagon -1967, to mention a few. Dimitri also scored four films for Alfred Hitchcock: Shadow of a Doubt-1943, Strangers on a Train-1951, I Confess-1953, and Dial M for Murder-1954 (sadly died while in London, UK) b. May 10th 1894.
1983: Arno Harutyuni Babajanian (62) Soviet Armenian composer and pianist, People's Artist of the Armenian SSR -1956 and Soviet Union -1971. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, he went on to be a laureate of two Stalin State Prizes of the USSR 1951 and 1953 and honoured with two Armenian SSR State Prizes in 1967 and 1983. Much of his music is rooted in Armenian folk music and folklore. But generally, the way in which he uses Armenian folk music is in the virtuosic style of Rachmaninov and Khachaturian. His later works were influenced by Prokofiev and Bartók. He is also a noted pianist and often performed his own works in concerts. (?) b. January 22nd 1921.
1988: William Ifor Jones (88) Welsh conductor and organist raised in Merthyr Tydfil, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London from 1920 to 1925. He was for a time organist at the Welsh Baptist Church in Castle Street, London, worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and assisted with the British National Opera Company in the role of prompter. He emigrated to America in early 1930, where he taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD, and at Rutgers University - Douglas College in New Brunswick, NJ. While at Rutgers, he formed a glee club and also performed the complete Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1939, he made his debut as the third Conductor of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem with who he stayed until he retired in 1969, he also conducted The Choir and members of The Philadelphia Orchestra 1948-56. (?) b. January 23rd 1900.
1993: Erskine Hawkins (79) American trumpet player and big band leader; dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered as the composer of the jazz standard, "Tuxedo Junction" -1939, which became a popular hit during World War II. Vocalists who were featured with his orchestra include Ida James, Delores Brown and Della Reese. In 1978 he became one of the first five artists inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and 1989, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. From 1967 to 1989 he was trumpeter and band leader at the show nightclub in The Concord Resort Hotel, Kiamesha Lake, New York (?) b. July 26th 1914.
1998: Patrick Clancy (76) Irish folk singer best known as a member of the group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. After WW2 he went travelling to South America and ended up in New York. In 1955 Pat's younger brother Liam Clancy immigrated to New York, and met up with Tommy Makem, also from Ireland, they all teamed up and formed The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. The group achieved phenomenal success in America after an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which led to a contract with Columbia Records. They performed together for about eight years until Makem left the group to pursue a solo career. Patrick returned to Ireland to live in Carrick-on-Suir and bought a dairy farm. (died after a battle with cancer) b. March 7th 1922.
2004: Pete Jolly/Peter Ceragioli Jr (72) American jazz keyboardist, accordionist, pianist; best known for his performance of various TV themes, his music can be heard on television programs such as Get Smart, The Love Boat, I Spy, Mannix, M*A*S*H, and Dallas, as well as hundreds of movie soundtracks. With the Pete Jolly Trio, and also as a solo artist, he recorded several albums, the last in 2000, a collaboration with Jan Lundgren. He also worked with other notable jazz artists, including Art Pepper, Buddy DeFranco, and Red Norvo, and for many years with EZ music arranger and director Ray Conniff. (complications of bone marrow cancer) b. June 5th 1932.
2007: John Petersen (62) American drummer with The Beau Brummels appearing on their hits including "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", and appeared with the band in the 1965 sci-fi/comedy movie Village of the Giants. In late '66, he left the Beau Brummels for the band Tikis, who were in the process of changing their name to Harpers Bizarre. The group broke up in 1970, but John returned for a reunion album in 1976 and for occasional reunions with the Beau Brummels. In 1975, he played with and recorded on the band's self-titled album. He went on to become a successful producer (sadly died of a heart attack) b. January 8th 1945.
2009: Tom Merriman (??) American music composer and jingle writer based in Dallas, Texas, who in 1955 created the first production company specializing in radio station advertising campaigns and jingles. Merriman led the Liberty Network Band, and arranged and/or produced music for Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. In addition, Merriman created many national advertising jingles, corporate musical shows, Las Vegas shows, and theme park ride music. The companies that since 1967 have born his initials have had several incarnations; the latest is TM Studios (Sadly died after several months of declining health) b. ????
2010: Tony Edwards (78) British band manager of the British rock band, Deep Purple. He looked after the band from 1967-76 until they split. He was also instrumental in their early success and came up with the name of the band who were originally called Roundabout. Quote:"Without Tony Edwards there would be no Deep Purple" - Ritchie Blackmore (?) b. 1932.
2011: Michael Garrick (78) English jazz pianist and composer born in Enfield, Middlesex, he formed his first quartet, featuring vibraphonist Peter Shade while at University College, London, from which he graduated in 1959 with a B.A. in English literature. After which he became the musical director of the roadshow "Poetry & Jazz in Concert". He came to special prominence in the British contemporary jazz world initially as the pianist with the Don Rendell–Ian Carr quintet from 1965 to 1969, and led his own sextet from 1966. He is perhaps best known for his jazz-choral works, the first of which he started in 1967 Jazz Praises. Aside from his performing, recording, and composing, he was heavily involved in jazz education, and held teaching posts at the Royal Academy of Music and at Trinity College of Music, London. His own record label Jazz Academy Records features many albums by his Michael Garrick Jazz Orchestra and has trio, solo, quartet and other small groupings, some including singers Norma Winstone, Anita Wardell and Jacqui Dankworth. Michael was appointed MBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours (sadly died after suffering heart problems for some years) b. May 30th 1933

November 12 .
1972: Rudolf Friml (93) Czech composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as being a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, he moved to the United States, where he became a composer. His best-known works are Rose-Marie and The Vagabond King, each of which enjoyed success on Broadway and in London and were adapted for film. His last stage musical was Music Hath Charms in 1934. In 1967, Rudolf performed in a special concert at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, he began with a piano improvisation, then played special arrangements of his own compositions as well as composers who had influenced him (?) b. December 7th 1879
1976: Walter Piston (82) American composer of classical music, music theorist and influential professor of music at Harvard University whose many students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter. Born in Rockland, Maine his works included orchestral, band, concertante, piano, organ, chamber/instrumental, and choral, Hiss only ballet work, The Incredible Flutist, was written for the Boston Pops Orchestra. (?) b. January 20th 1894
1983: Preston Jackson/James Preston McDonald (81) American trombonist; played and-or recorded with Tig Chambers, Al Simone, Eli Rice, and Art Sims, Bernie Young and his Creole Jazz Band, Richard M. Jones, Dave Peyton, Erskine Tate, Benny Waters, Louis Armstrong, Half Pint Jaxon, Carroll Dickerson, Jimmy Bell, Jimmie Noone, Roy Eldridge, Walter Barnes, Johnny Long, Johnny Dodds and Zilner Randolph's W.P.A. Band among others as well as having his own band (?) b. January 3rd 1902.
1985: Dicky Wells (78) American jazz trombonist born in Centerville, Tennessee. He moved to New York City in 1926, and became a member of the Lloyd Scott band. He played with Count Basie between 1938-1945 and 1947-1950 and he also played with Cecil Scott, Spike Hughes, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Carter, Teddy Hill, Jimmy Rushing, Buck Clayton and Ray Charles. In his later years, he suffered a severe beating that affected his memory, happily he recovered and continued to perform. He played frequently at the West End jazz club at 116th and Broadway, most often with a band called The Countsmen, led by alto saxophonist Earle Warren, his colleague from Count Basie days. A trademark was Dicky's "pepper pot" mute which he made himself (?) b. November 12th 1985.
1997: Carlos Surinach (82) Catalan Spanish-born composer and conductor, born in Barcelona, where he conducted the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He studied composition at the Barcelona Conservatory, then went to Germany, where he studied in Berlin with Max Trapp and Richard Strauss, taking five of Strauss's seminars. In 1948 his opera ''El mozo que caso con mujer brava'' premiered in Barcelona. In 1951, he emigrated to the America, where he became a successful composer for the dance. He became a U.S. citizen in 1959. He composed three ballet scores for the renowned choreographer Martha Graham: Embattled Garden-1958, Acrobats of God-1960 and The Owl and the Pussycat-1978. He also composed Feast of Ashes for the Joffrey Ballet (?) b. March 4th 1915.
2000: Franck Pourcel (87) French orchestra leader and violinist; he studied violin at the Conservatoire in Marseille, led several jazz ensembles, including the French Fiddlers, and spent a year in Paris at the Conservatoire. By 1931 he was working as a violinist at the Théâtre des Variétés in Marseille, he then became the musical director for Yves Montand and Lucienne Boyer, with whom he went on a world tour. In 1953 he recorded "Blue Tango" and the follow up "Limelight". By 1958 Franck commenced recording classical music. His series of Pages Célèbres led to him conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, The Society of Concerts for the Conservatoirte, The BBC Orchestra, and the Lamoureux Orchestra at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. In 1962 he co-composed with Paul Mauriat and Raymond Lefèvre the hit, "Chariot", which was recorded by Petula Clark and followed up by Peggy March as "I Will Follow Him", which became the main theme for the film, Sister Act. (Parkinson's disease) b. August 11th 1913.
2001: Albert Hague (81) German born songwriter and actor, born in Berlin; he went to America in 1939 on scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. After graduating in 1942, he served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. His Broadway Musicals include Plain and Fancy-1955, Redhead-1959 and The Fig Leaves Are Falling-1969, with lyrics by Allan Sherman. Famous songs he wrote include "Young and Foolish", "Look Who's in Love", and "Did I Ever Really Live?". He was also the composer for the TV musical cartoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Albert also appeared on the TV series Fame, where he played Mr. Shorofsky, the music teacher, a part he originated in the film of the same name (sadly lost his battle with cancer at a hospital in Marina del Rey, California ) b. October 13th 1920.
2003: Tony Thompson (48) International session drummer with Rod Stewart, David Bowey, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Sister Sledge, Mick Jagger & manymore. He is best known for his work with Chic. In 2005 Tony and the Chic band members were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.(died within a month of being diagnosed with kidney cancer, just 3 days before his 49th birthday) b. November 15th 1954.
2008: Mitch Mitchell (61) English drummer of the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience, he was the last surviving member of the power trio which proved one of the most influential bands in the history of rock music. As well as playing in the Jimi Hendrix Experience and he played and/or recorded with the likes of Martha Velez, Junior Brown, Greg Parker, Bruce Cameron, Roger Chapman, Billy Cox, Buddy Miles, Jack Bruce among others>>>READ MORE<<< (He had just finished a coast to coast tour across America, and due to fly home to the UK, but was found dead that morning in his hotel bedroom at Portland, Oregon, Officals say he died of natural causes) b. July 9th 1947.
2010: Henryk Górecki (76) Polish composer of contemporary classical music in the village of Czernica; he studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice between 1955 and 1960. In 1968, he joined the faculty and rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Henryk became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during the post-Stalin cultural thaw. His Webernian-influenced serialist works of the 1950s and 1960s were characterized by adherence to dissonant modernism and drew influence from Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Krzysztof Penderecki and Kazimierz Serocki. He continued in this direction throughout the 1960s, but by the mid 1970s had changed to a less complex sacred minimalist sound, exemplified by the transitional Symphony No. 2 and the hugely popular Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). This later style developed through several other distinct phases, from such works as his 1979 Beatus Vir, to the choral 1981 hymn Miserere, the 1993 Kleines Requiem für eine Polka and his requiem Good Night (sadly died after a long illness) b. December 6th 1933.
2011: Doyle Bramhall (62) American drummer and singer-songwriter Doyle Bramhall was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and while still at high school, he and Jimmie Vaughan formed The Chessmen. The highly talented band opened for Jimi Hendrix when he played Dallas. In 1969, he moved to Austin and formed the band Texas Storm, with his friend Jimmie Vaughan and in the 70s, he founded The Nightcrawlers with Marc Benno, >>> READ MORE <<< (Doyle sadly passed away in his sleep of heart failure) b. February 17th 1949.

November 13 .
1967: Harriet Cohen CBE (61) British pianist born in London, Harriet studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay, having won the Ada Lewis scholarship at the age of 12. She was particularly associated with J. S. Bach's music: a few composers wrote music specifically for her, particularly her lover, Sir Arnold Bax, who wrote most of his piano pieces for her, including music for David Lean's 1948 film version of Oliver Twist. He also composed Concertino for Left Hand for her after she lost the use of her right hand in 1948. The Harriet Cohen International Music Award was introduced in her honour in 1951 (?) b. December 2nd 1895.
1973: Jerry Lee Lewis Jr (19) American drummer in his father's band (car accident) b.1954
1987: Harold Vick (51) American hard bop and soul jazz saxophonist and flautist born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, probably better known for his work with musicians like Grant Green, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff and Shirley Scott, among a host of others. He also played with Nat Adderley, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Mercer Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Taylor, Shirley Scott, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff. Harold played in films such as Stardust Memories and Cotton Club, in which he played a musician; was in the Spike Lee film School Days; and featured on the soundtrack for She's Gotta Have It. hey (?) b. April 3rd 1936.
1988: Antal Dorati (82) Hungarian conductorborn in Budapest, he studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Béla Bartók for piano, his links with Bartók continued for many years: he conducted the world premiere of Bartók's Viola Concerto, as completed by Tibor Serly, with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1949, with William Primrose as the soloist. He made his conducting debut in 1924 with the Budapest Royal Opera. As well as composing original works, he compiled and arranged pieces by Johann Strauss II for the ballet Graduation Ball, which he conducted the world premiere in Sydney in 1940, during the 1939-1940 Australian tour by the "Original Ballets Russes", as well as Jacques Offenbach's La belle Hélène and Bluebeard, and Modest Mussorgsky's The Fair at Sorochyntsi. His autobiography, Notes of Seven Decades, was published in 1979. In 1983, Queen Elizabeth II made Antal an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (?) b. April 9th 1906.
1988: Jaromír Vejvoda (86) Czech composer, he learned to play the fiddle and flugelhorn in a band led by his father. Later he played these instruments in a military band and started to compose in the 1920s. He was the author of the "Beer Barrel Polka", and he wrote many other hits, such as Kdyby ty muziky nebyly/"If those bands did not exist" and Já ráda tancuju/"I love to dance" (?) b. March 28th 1902.
1992: Ronnie Bond/Ronald James Bullis (49) British drummer born in Andover, Hampshire, he was a founding member of the rock band, The Troggs, originally called The Troglodytes. They had hits in the UK and the USA. Their songs include, "Wild Thing", "Anyway That You Want Me", "Love Is All Around" and "With a Girl Like You". The Troggs Billboard Hot 100 chart topper "Wild Thing" is ranked #257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock. Many of their hits have also been successful as covers, such as Jimi Hendrix with Wild Thing, Wet Wet Wet and REM with love Is All Around, and Spiritualized with "Anyway That You Want Me". Iggy Pop, The Buzzcocks and The Ramones are amongst punk bands who cited the Troggs as an influence. Ronnie also released a solo single "Anything For You" (?) b. May 4th 1940.
1996: Bill Doggett (80) US pianist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At 15, he had joined a combo, playing local theaters and clubs while attending high school. In 1947, he joined the Louis Jordan's Tympany Five as pianist pianist, it was here that he first achieved success playing the Hammond organ and in 1950 he is reputed to have written one of Jordan's biggest hits, "Saturday Night Fish Fry", for which Jordan claimed the writing credit. In 1951, Bill organized his own trio, his best known recording is "Honky Tonk," a rhythm and blues hit of 1956 which sold four million copies, and which he co-wrote with Billy Butler. He won the Cash Box award for best rhythm and blues performer in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He also arranged for many bandleaders and performers, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lionel Hampton. He continued to play and arrange until his death (died of a heart attack in New York City) b. February 16th 1916.
1999: Donald Mills (84) American lead tenor and member of the jazz and pop vocal quartet The Mills Brothers who made more than 2,000 recordings that combined sold more than 50 million copies, and garnered at least three dozen gold records. Their songs included "Tiger Rag", "Goodbye Blues", their theme song, "You're Nobody's Sweetheart Now", "Ole Rockin' Chair", "Lazy River", "How'm I Doin'", "Lazy Bones", "Sweet Sue", "Lulu's Back in Town", "Bye-Bye Blackbird", "Sleepy Head", "Shoe Shine Boy" and others. In 1934, The Mills Brothers became the first African-Americans to give a command performance before British royalty. They performed at the Regal Theatre for a special audience to King George V, Queen Mary, and their mother. The Mills Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998 (?) b. April 29th 1915
2002: Sir Roland Hanna (70) American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan ; a style diverse enough to fit into swing, bop, and more adventurous settings. He studied at Eastman School of Music and Juilliard School. He worked with several big names, such as Benny Goodman and Charles Mingus, in the 1950s although only briefly in both cases. From 1967 to 1974 he was a regular member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. During the 1970s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet. Roland was given an honory knighthood by the President of Liberia in 1970 in recognition for a series of concerts held to benefit Liberian children, thus the "Sir" (Roland sadly died from a heart attack) b. February 10th 1932.
2004: John Balance (42) English multi-musician and artist born in Mansfield; he was the founder and half of the experimental music group Coil. He was responsible for vocals, lyrics, chants, synthetics and various esoteric sound-making instruments and devices. Prior to this John's first known track is under the alias "Merderwerkers" titled "Blue Funk (Scars For E)" on the Sterile Records. He also published a magazine called "Stabmental" and released a track titled, "A Thin Veil Of Blood" under the alias Stabmental, after which he joined up with Peter Christopherson and Boyd Rice recording Nightmare Culture under the alias "The Sickness of Snakes" and performed alongside Christopherson in Psychic TV before the duo formed Coil. (lost his balance & tipped over the banisters at his home while under the influence of alcohol) b. February 16th 1962.
2004: Ol' Dirty Bastard /Russell Tyrone Jones (35) American rap artist born in Brooklyn, New York City, he was one of the founding members of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan in 1992. After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, in 1995, Ol' Dirty Bastard went on to a successful solo career, although sometimes hampered by legal troubles. March 28th 1995, he released Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version' which produced the hit singles "Brooklyn Zoo" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ya", the album went to platinum status. In 1997, he appeared on the Wu-Tang Clan's second and most commercially successful work, the double album Wu-Tang Forever. During the 1998 Video Music Awards, he performed "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" onstage with Pras, Mya. Between jail sentences he released his 'Nigga Please' albums this produced the single "Got Your Money". In 2003 he starred in a VH1 special, Inside Out: Ol' Dirty Bastard Life on Parole. He also managed to record a new album, originally scheduled to be released through Dame Dash Music Group in 2004; it was shelved indefinitely (collapsed and died of a drug overdose at a Manhattan recording studio in New York shortly after complaining of chest pain) b. November 15th 1968.
2007: Erik Kurmangaliev (47) Russian-Kazakh opera singer, actor and a leading public figure in Russia's perestroika music scene.; debuted in 1980 at the Leningrad Philharmonia. He later performed in Alfred Shnitke's Second Symphony and "Dr. Faust" cantata during his career. His career reached his peak when he teamed up with director Roman Viktyuk in the early 1990s, when he appeared in the Russian language version of David Hwang's M. Butterfly. He made his last appearance in film appearance in Rustam Khamdanov's "Vocal Parallels" (Erik sadly died fighting a liver infection) b. December 31st 1959.
2011: Diego Rivas aka El Guaruras (31) Mexican singer, born in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, and started singing in school contests. He later joined the band Arriba Mi Sinaloa, but split from them in 2006, after which he formed and performed with his own band Los Guaruras. He also had an online presence with a radio station. Diego was a singer of narcocorridos - songs glorifying drug traffickers. One of his songs is an ode to Joaquín Guzmán Loera, Mexico's most wanted drug lord. Other hits include "El Estándar", "Soy yo", "Dos celulares", "El Amor no se vende" among others (Diego and two companions were killed with an AK-47 in a drive-by shooting in Culiacan) b. May 18th 1980.
2011: Yvonne "Dixie" Fasnacht (101) American jazz singer, clarinetist and New Orleans' French Quarter club owner. She toured with the Southland Rhythm Girls, playing Dixieland Jazz in the 1930s. In 1939, she and her sister Irma opened the first of several jazz bars in New Orleans, all bearing the name Dixie's. Her Bourbon Street edition Dixie's Bar Of Music, was described as a place where rich and poor, famous and not, gay and straight felt totally comfortable. Truman Capote, Rock Hudson, Tennessee Williams, Danny Kaye and Gore Vidal were among those who visited the bar and it was one of the first that catered openly to gays. Dixie lived in her apartment on Bourbon Street, well into her 90s, still dying her hair red and dressing elegantly (?) b. July 7th 1910.

November 14 .
1944: Carl Flesch (71) Hungarian violinist, and teacher; born in Moson; he began playing the violin at seven years of age. At 10, he was taken to Vienna, and began to study with Jakob Grün. At 17 years old, he left for Paris and joined the Paris Conservatoire. He settled in Berlin, and in 1934 went to live in London. He was known for his solo performances in a very wide range of repertoire from Baroque music to contemporary, gaining fame as a chamber music performer. He also taught at Bucharest 1897-1902, Amsterdam 1903-08, Philadelphia 1924-28 and the Berlin High School for Music 1929-34. Carl published a number of instructional books, including the 1923 'Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels' (?) b. October 9th 1873.
1946: Manuel de Falla y Matheu (69) Spanish composer of classical music, born in Cádiz. He became interested in native Andalusian music, particularly Andalusian flamenco, specifically cante jondo, the influence of which can be strongly felt in many of his works. His first important work was the one-act opera La vida breve/Life is Short or The Brief Life, written in 1905, premiered in 1913. Manuel spent 1907 to 1914 in Paris, where he met composers who had an influence on his style, including the impressionists Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Paul Dukas. From 1921 to 1939 Manuel lived in Granada, where he organized the Concurso de Cante Jondo in 1922. In Granada he wrote the puppet opera El retablo de maese Pedro/Master Peter's Puppet Show and a concerto for harpsichord and chamber ensemble. He continued to work after moving to Argentina in 1939, following Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War (?) b. November 23rd 1876.
1968: Hilton Jefferson (65) American jazz alto saxophonist born in Danbury, CT; perhaps best-known for leading the saxophone section from 1940-1949 in the Cab Calloway band. In 1929 Jefferson began his professional career with Claude Hopkins, and throughout the '30s was busy working for the big bands of McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Chick Webb, and Fletcher Henderson. From 1952-53 Hilton performed with Duke Ellington. In the 50s he continued to perform, especially with Rex Stewart and former members of the Fletcher Henderson band (?) b. July 30th 1903.
1977: Richard Stewart Addinsell (74) British composer, best known for film music, notably his Warsaw Concerto, composed for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight, also known under the later title Suicide Squadron. Other film credits include Goodbye Mr. Chips-1939; Gaslight-1940; Blithe Spirit-1945; Tom Brown's Schooldays-1951; Scrooge-1951; The Prince and the Showgirl-1957; A Tale of Two Cities-1958; Beau Brummell-1955 and Life at the Top in 1965. In 1932, with Clemence Dane, he wrote the incidental music for the Broadway adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. He collaborated from 1942 with Joyce Grenfell, for her West End revues including 'Tuppence Coloured', 'Penny Plain' and her one-woman shows. He also wrote among many other works the orchestral piece 'Southern Rhapsody', which was played every morning at the start of TV broadcasts by the former Southern Television company in south of England from 1958 to 1981 (?) b. January 13th 1904.
1992: George Rufus Adams (52) American jazz tenor saxophonist, flutist and clarinet player, born in Covington, Georgia, also known for his idiosyncratic singing. At high school he was playing tenor in funk bands and in 1961, he toured with Sam Cooke, then in '63 he moved to Ohio where he played with organ based groups. He relocated to New York in 1968, where he played with Roy Haynes, Gil Evans, and Art Blakey, among others. George also co-led a quartet with pianist Don Pullen. One of his last recordings was America on the Blue Note label. The album consists of classic American songs like "Tennessee Waltz", "You Are My Sunshine" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as well as a few original songs that articulate his surprisingly positive view of his country and the gifts it had given him. It also includes "The Star Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful" (?) b. April 29th 1940.
1992: Theodore "Teddy" Riley (68) American jazz trumpet player and bandleader born in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he would spend most of his career; Mostly known for playing jazz, he also worked and recorded with various Rhythm & Blues bands. Artists and groups he worked with included Fats Domino, Champion Jack Dupree, The Dookie Chase Orchestra, Roy Brown's Band, The Olympia Brass Band, The Williams Brass Band, and The Royal Brass Band. In 1971 Teddy played on the cornet used by Louis Armstrong in his youth for the New Orleans ceremonies marking Armstrong's death (?) b. May 10th 1924.
2002: Elena Nikolaidi (93) Turkish-born American mezzo-soprano opera singer who went on to sing leading roles with major opera companies worldwide and made numerous recordings. She made her US operatic debut as Amneris in Verdi's Aïda with the San Francisco Opera and reprised the role for her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1951. In the early 60s she retired from opera but continued concertizing e for a number of years. In 1960 Elena accepted a position on the voice faculty of Florida State University in Tallahassee. In 1977 she went to Houston, Texas, as the primary voice instructor for the newly established Houston Opera Studio, a young-artist training program that was at that time a joint venture of Houston Grand Opera and the University of Houston (?) b. June 14th 1909.
2004: Gene Anthony Ray (41) American actor, dancer, vocalist and choreographer, born in Harlem, New York. He was best known for his portrayal of the street smart dancer Leroy in the 1980 film Fame and the TV spin-off which aired from '82 until '87. In 1987 he played Billy Nolan in the musical adaptation of Carrie by Stephen King in the original opening in Stratford-Upon-Avon which closed after less than a month, he then transferred to Broadway and continued to play the role until the musical closed after only five public performances (Gene died of a stroke, sadly due to aids) b. May 24th 1962.
2004: Michel Colombier (65) French composer, songwriter and conductor born in Lyon, by 14 years, he had discovered jazz and was performing with small combos and big bands. At 22 years, he was hired as musical director of Barclay Records, his first assignment was to arrange Charles Aznavour's first album in English for release in the US. He composed the music for 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'at the Comédie-Française, his only creation for stage. Michel entered the world of ballet with one of Maurice Béjart's masterpieces, "Messe Pour Le Temps Present", co-written with Pierre Henry, he also co-write for many years with Serge Gainsbourg. Michel worked with an extremely diversified array of artists, including the Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand, Wind & Fire, Supertramp, Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Johnny Mathis, Neil Diamond, Herbie Hancock, Charles Aznavour, Jean-Luc Ponty, Brigitte Fontaine, Catherine Deneuve, Herb Alpert, Earth, Joni Mitchell, Jeanne Moreau, Stephane Grappelli, David Sanborn, Branford Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Madonna and Jaco Pastorius to mention a few. He also wrote the music for more than twenty ballets, and worked with some of the world's greatest dance companies and choreographers (sadly died of cancer) b. May 23rd 1939.
2007: Bud Mills (40) American drummer and a founder member of the death metal band Insanity. It was formed in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area and unleashed some of the most intensely brutal death metal of that time. Bud created the 1-1 drum beat that was faster than the fastest thrash beat used at the time. (sadly died after a brave battle with esophageal cancer) b. April 17th 1967.
2011: Jackie Leven aka Sir Vincent Lone (61) Scottish folk musician and songwriter, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife. he started his musical career in the late 1960s under the pseudonym "John St Field", and recorded an album, 'Control', between 1973-1975. He found success with new wave band Doll by Doll which he formed in '77, releasing 4 albums between 1979-1982; after which he launched his solo career. He suffered a street assault and near strangulation during the recording of his first solo album in 1984, which left him unable to speak for nearly two years. During this time he sadly became addicted to heroin. In 1994 and thankfully clean, his solo career restarted with the release of the mini-album Songs from the Argyll Cycle and the full-album The Mystery of Love is Greater than the Mystery of Death. He went on to release more than twenty albums under his own name or under the pseudonym Sir Vincent Lone (sadly Jackie died battling lung cancer) b. June 18th 1950.
2011: Laura Kennedy (?) American musician and original bassist with the post-punk band Bush Tetras. The group scored two dance hits in the U.S. with "Too Many Creeps" peaking at No.57 Dance in 1981, and "Can't Be Funky / Cowboys In Africa" peaking at No.32 in 1982 (sadly passed away due to complications from Hepatitis C) b. ????.
2011: Lee Pockriss (87) American songwriter born in Brooklyn; along with Paul Vance he co-wrote "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", recorded in 1960 by Brian Hyland; the Grammy-nominated "Catch a Falling Star", recorded in 1957 by Perry Como; and the 1969 hit, "Tracy", recorded by The Cuff Links. He also wrote Anita Bryant's "My Little Corner of the World", Shelley Fabares' "Johnny Angel" recorded in 1962, and the Clint Holmes song "Playground In My Mind". With lyricist Anne Croswell he wrote the songs for the Broadway musical Tovarich, which received a Grammy nomination for Original Cast Album. He and Croswell have also collaborated on the frequently produced Ernest in Love and Bodo. Lee also wrote the music for the musicals Wonderful Olly, Dolley Madison, and Divorce Of Course.He wrote seven original songs for MGM's full length animated film The Phantom Tollbooth, scored the film The Subject Was Roses and wrote the title songs for One, Two, Three and the Western classic, Stagecoach. In the 1980s, Lee wrote several songs for the children's educational series Sesame Street, including "My Polliwog Ways"-Kermit the Frog, "Transylvania Love Call"-Count von Count, and "My Rock"-Bert (sadly died after a long illness) b. January 20th 1924.

November 15 .
1963: Fritz Reiner (74) Hungarian conductor, he moved to America in 1922 to take the post of Principal Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He remained until 1931, after which he taght at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1938 to 1948 and made a few recordings with them for Columbia Records, then spent several years at the Metropolitan Opera, where he conducted a historic production of Strauss's Salome in 1949, with the Bulgarian soprano Ljuba Welitsch in the title role, and the American premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in 1951. He also conducted and made a recording of the famous 1952 Metropolitan Opera production of Bizet's Carmen, starring Rise Stevens (heart problems) b. December 19th 1888.
1987: Ray Pablo Falconer (26) British Reggae producer in the 1970s and 1980s. Brother to Earl Falconer from UB40, he produced most of singles and albums for UB40. (died in a tragic car crash) b. ???
1991: Jacques Morali (45) French music producer, who is best remembered for being the creator and driving force behind the disco group, Village People. Also between 1974 and 1982 he wrote, co-wrote and produced over 65 albums, including hits like "Brazil", "The Best Disco In Town", "Life Is Music", "African Queens", "Quiet Village" and "American Generation" (sadly died from aids) b. July 4th 1947.
1997: Saul Chaplin (85) American composer and musical director; he worked on stage, screen and television since the days of Tin Pan Alley. In film, he won four Oscars for collaborating on the scores and orchestrations of An American in Paris, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and West Side Story as well as a nomination for High Society. Other films included Can-Can, I Could Go On Singing, The Sound of Music, STAR!, Man of La Mancha and That's Entertainment and the list goes on (suffered a bad fall and died as a result of his injuries) b. February 19th 1912.
2003: Wesley Webb "Speedy" West (79) Country Music Hall of Fame US pedal steel guitarist and record producer. Top session player until a stroke left him partilly paralized in 1981, just between 1950 and 1955 alone, he played on over 6,000 recordings with a total of 177 different artists, including Frankie Laine, Jo Stafford, and Paul Weston's Orchestra, Billy May's Orchestra, Betty Hutton, Helen O'Connell, Doris Day, Johnnie Ray, Ella Mae Morse, Spike Jones, Jean Shepard, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and many others. (Wesley sadly died after suffering long term heart problems) b. January 25th 1924.
2009: Derek B/EZQ/Derek Boland (44) British rapper, a pioneering figure on the UK hip hop scene in the '80s. He started DJing in a mobile unit around London at 15, before joining local pirate radio stations and finally starting WBLS, his own station, (not the one in New York). He was soon working as an A&R man for the Music Is Life label, where he recorded the track 'Rock The Beat' when a proposed compilation ran short of tracks. He used the pseudonym, EZQ, and also did his own DJing under the Derek B name. The song went on to be released as a single, and was followed by other releases including 'Good Groove' "Bad Young Brother" and "We've Got The Juice". He later released the album Bullet From a Gun while with Rush Artist Management. Derek B was the first UK rapper to achieve pop success, and appeared on BBC Television's Top of the Pops Derek was also successful as a producer and remixer, working with the Cookie Crew and Eric B and Rakim. He also helped write the 1988, Liverpool F.C. anthem, "Anfield Rap" (sadly died of a heart attack) b. January 15th 1965.
2010: Tetsuro Hoshino/Arichika Tetsuro (85) Japanes lyricist; he graduated from a nautical college and began working on a deep sea fishing boat. While receiving treatment for an illness in 1952, he submitted some lyrics to a magazine competition and won, leading to his debut as a lyricist the following year. Some of his best known works are “Hakodate no Hito” for Saburo Kitajima, “Sanbyaku Rokuju Goho no March” for Kiyoko Suizenji, and the theme song for the “Otoko wa Tsurai Yo” movie series. He also wrote songs for Miyuki Kawanaka, Ichiro Toba, Hibari Misora, and Harumi Miyako, among many others. Tetsuro had the honor of receiving the Shiju Hosho in 1986 and the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 2000. For a time, he served as chairman of JASRAC, and he was the current head of the Japanese Lyricists Association (passed away with heart failure at a Tokyo hospital) b. September 30th 1925.
2010: Roberto Pregadio (81) Italian pianist, orchestra director and television personality, born in Catania; he graduated from the Conservatory of Naples and in 1960 joined the Light Music Orchestra of the RAI. He accompanied the orchestra concert of Claudio Villa at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1961 . From the mid sixties for fifteen years he has composed and conducted numerous soundtracks for movies. In radio he worked in various programs, including Whole Town's Talking, Do you like Radio?, and The Microphone is Yours. In the 80s he formed the band "Swing Sextet of Rome" with Franco Chiari vibraphone, Baldo Maestri at the clarinet, Carlo Pes on guitar, Alessio Urso on bass and Roberto Zappulla on drums, the group has recorded for Fonit- Cetra the album Five Continents. Roberto was one of better known Spaghetti western composers who scored 9 films such as “Django the Last Killer”, “A Hole in the Forehead”, “Ciccio Forgives I Don’t”, “Paths of War”, “Twice a Judas”, “The Forgotten Pistolero”, “Mallory Must Not Die”, “Four Gunmen of the Holy Trinity”, “Three Supermen of the West”. (Roberto passed away from natural causes) b. December 6th 1928.
2011: Moogy Klingman/Mark Klingman (61) American rock keyboardist, producer, songwriter, founding member of Todd Rundgren's musical team Utopia, and later became a solo recording artist and bandleader. He grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, New York and at 16 he joined Jimmy James and the Blue Flames with Randy California and Jimi Hendrix. His association with Todd Rundgren began in 1969, when Moogy was the original keyboardist for Todd and also Utopia. In his Manhattan loft, he and Todd constructed the "Secret Sound" recording studio where they recorded Todd's 'A Wizard', 'A True Star', 'Todd', and other albums. He played on ten Todd Rundgren albums, as well as several Utopia albums. Over his long career, Moogy has played, recorded and/or had his songs recorded by artists including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Chuck Berry, Luther Vandross, Bo Diddley, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Allan Woody and Warren Haynes from the Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule and has also worked with Carly Simon, Cindy Lauper, Shawn Colvin, Irene Cara, and Thelma Houston. He was the co-founder of the band The Peaceniks, along with Barry Gruber, he also played in the "Moogy/Woody Band" with Allman Brothers alumni Allan Woody, and Warren Haynes, as well as having solo albums out on Capitol, EMI records, and on his own label (sadly Moogy died while bravely fighting cancer) b. September 7th 1950.

November 16.
1942: Joseph Schmidt (38) Jewish Romanian tenor and actor, born in Davideny, a small town in the Bukovina province of Austria-Hungary. His first vocal training was as an alto boy in the Czernowitz Synagogue, and by 1924 he was featured in his first solo recital in Czernowitz singing traditional Jewish songs and arias by Verdi, Puccini, Rossini and Bizet. He moved to Berlin and in 1929 Cornelis Bronsgeest, a famous Dutch baritone, engaged him for a radio broadcast as Vasco da Gama in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine. This was the beginning of a successful international career. He toured Europe and the United States performing in Carnegie Hall together with other prominent singers such as Grace Moore. When WWII broke out he was caught in France by the German invasion. He attempted to escape to America but, unfortunately, this failed and he made a dash for the Swiss border (he was interned in a Swiss refugee camp in Gyrenbad near Zürich in October 1942. He was already in frail health. Harsh camp life and lack of medical care sadly brought about a fatal heart attack) b. March 4th 1904.
1978: Jimmy Nottingham (52) American big band trumpeter, Flugelhorn; his first pro job was with Cecil Payne in 1943. Also played with Willie Smith, Charlie Barnet, Lucky Millinder, Count Basie and Herbie Fields. While working for CBS for over 20 years he played jazz in his spare time with Budd Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, and Clark Terry (?) b. Dec 15th 1925
1982: Al Haig (58) American freelance jazz pianist and best known as one of the pioneers and his distinctive bebop style; born in Newark, New Jersey; he started out playing with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in 1944, and performed with Eddie Davis and His Beboppers, the Eddie Davis Quintet, Stan Getz, he was part of the celebrated nonet on the first session of Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool (?) b. July 19th 1924.
1984: Leonard Rose (66) American cellist and pedagogue born in Washington, DC; after completing his studies at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music at age 20, he joined Arturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra, and almost immediately became associate principal. At 21 he was principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra and at 26 was the principal of the New York Philharmonic. He made many recordings as a soloist after 1951, including concertos with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, George Szell and Bruno Walter among others. Rose also joined with Isaac Stern and Eugene Istomin in a celebrated piano trio (sadly died of leukemia) b. July 27th 1918.
1984: Vic Dickenson (78) African-American jazz trombonist. His career started out in the 1920s and led him through musical associations with such legends as Jimmy Rushing, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Sidney Bechet, Earl Hines, Pee Wee Russell, Benny Carter, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Gerry Mulligan, Billie Holliday. At one time he was a member of "The World's Greatest Jazz Band," which was the house band at The Roosevelt Grill in NYC. Also a soloist of wide acclaim known for the distinctive sound he coaxed out of the trombone (?) b. August 6th 1906
1993: Lucia Poppová (54) Slovak operatic soprano, born in Záhorská Ves; she began her career as a soubrette soprano, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard Strauss and Wagner operas. Her career included performances at Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and La Scala. Lucia was also a highly-regarded recitalist and leader singer (sadly lost his battle against brain cancer) b. November 12th 1939.
1994: Dino Valente/Jesse Oris Farrow/Chester "Chet" William Powers Jr (56) American singer, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1960s he went under the name of Dino Valente, and while involved in the Greenwich Village folk music scene, he wrote "Get Together", a quintessential 1960s love-and-peace anthem. Moving west, he became a member of the band Big Sur and the San Francisco psychedelic rock group Quicksilver Messenger Service. Dino underwent brain surgery for an AVM in the late 1980s. In spite of suffering from short-term memory loss and the effects of anti-convulsive medications, he continued to write songs and play with fellow Marin County musicians. His last major performance was a benefit at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. (died suddenly at his home in Santa Rosa, California) b. November 7th 1937.
1999: Grady Owen (?) American guitarist and singer-songwriter; a one time member of Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps after which he worked solo and with a number of other acts, including Johnny Carroll, Howard Reed and the Levee Singers. Several of his songs have been recorded by Sonny James and other singers. Gene Vincent recorded some of Grady's songs, including "Lovely Loretta," Grady himself can be heard singing one of his own song's "I Don't Feel Like Rockin' Tonight" on the recently released album "Gene Vincent -- the lost Dallas Sessions" from Dragon Street Records (?) b. ??
2000: Ahmet Kaya (43) Kurdish singer-songwriter and composer, he generally sang in Turkish, some of his most popular songs include "Protect Yourself", "My Heart is Bleeding", "A Strange Man", "Ayrilik Vakti", Koçero, and Agladikça/"As We Cry". His first album, Aglama Bebegim, was released in 1985, his popularity continued to rise into the 90s when in 1994 he released the album Sarkilarim Daglara which sold 2.8 million copies. All of his 90s albums were chart-toppers. During his career he recorded around 20 albums. Ahmet relocated went to France in June 1999 escaping various charges arising from his political views (died from a heart attack in Paris) b. October 28th 1957.
2000: Russ Conway/Trevor Stanford (75) English pop music pianist, composer; his piano instrumentals dominated the UK Singles Chart during 1959, including two self penned No.1 hits "Side Saddle" and "Roulette". He maintained a chart presence in the early 1960s, with other hits including
"China Tea", "Party Pop", "More Party Pops", "More And More Party Pops", "Snow Coach", "Lucky Five" and "Lucky Five". Russ became a fixture on light entertainment TV shows and radio for many years afterwards. He wrote the music for the West End musical "Mr Venus" but his career was blighted by ill-health, and in his later life he was noted for his charity work. (cancer) b. September 2nd 1925.
2000: Joe C/Joseph Calleja (26) American rapper who became popular as part of Kid Rock's band.He was first featured on the demo "Cool Daddy Cool" in 1995. He also appeared on television, including a guest role on The Simpsons and as a celebrity deathmatch competitor on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch in 2000. In his songs he claims to be "3 foot 9 with a 10 foot dick". (He suffered and died from the effects of a digestive condition called Celiac disease, which caused him constant pain and his stunted growth, he died in his sleep) b. November 9th 1974.
2000: DJ Screw/Robert Earl Davis, Jr (29) US, DJ, and hiphop rapper with Screwed Up Click; born in Houston, Texas, he was a central figure in the Houston hip hop scene. He began deejaying at age 13, his innovation included the trademark technique of slowing down the basic tracks of a cut when he remixed it. This process is called "screwing" a song. Slowing down the song was supposed to recreate the effect of recreationally using Promethazine with Codeine (died of a heart attack. His cause of death was rumored to be either a codeine overdose or the result of long-term buildup of codeine in his system. However, Screwed Up Click member Z-Ro stated that Screw's death came from someone putting methamphetamine into his codeine, and he believes that it was someone very close to the Click who sabotaged him) b. July 22nd 1971.
2001: Tommy Flanagan (71) American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered as an accompanist of Ella Fitzgerald. He played on a number of critically acclaimed recordings, such as John Coltrane's Giant Steps, Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Art Pepper's Straight Life. During his career, he was nominated for four Grammy Awards, two for Best Jazz Performance as a Group and two for Best Jazz Performance: Soloist (Tommy died of a arterial aneurysm). b. March 16th 1930
2007: Grethe Kausland (60) Norwegian singer and performer; as a child star she was one of Norway's most popular singers, her debut single “Teddyen min” in 1955, sold more than 100.000 records. She sung and performed on stage,TV and films (lost his battle with lung cancer) b. July 3rd 1947.
2009: Jeff Clyne (72) British jazz bass and double bassist; born in London, he worked with Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott in their group 'The Jazz Couriers' for a year from 1958, and was part of the group of musicians who opened Ronnie Scott's Club in November 1959. He was a regular member of Hayes' groups from 1961. Jeff accompanied and or recorded with Blossom Dearie, Stan Tracey, Ian Carr, Gordon Beck,, Dudley Moore, Zoot Sims, Norma Winstone, John Burch and Marion Montgomery. He was a member of Nucleus, Isotope, Gilgamesh, Giles Farnaby's Dream Band and Turning Point in the 1970s and often worked with drummer Trevor Tomkins (sadly died from a heart attack) b. January 29th 1937.
2010: Mimi Perrin (84) French jazz singer and pianist; between 1956 and 1958 she was a member of Blossom Dearie's vocal group Blue Stars of France, after which she worked in studios as a background singer. In 1959, she formed the vocal sextet Les Double Six, which included, Louis and Monique Aldebert, Monique and Roger Guérin, Christiane Legrand, Ward Swingle, Eddy Louiss and Bernard Lubat. Her group completed several European tours and also traveled to North America, recording with Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Charles. In recent years she has worked as a translator, including translations of the biographies of Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, and Quincy Jones, as well as all the novels by John le Carré since 1989 with her daughter Isabelle (?) b. February 2nd 1926.
2011: René A. Morel (79) French-born American violin luthier who was highly regarded by leading international string players, and has been described as "arguably the best violin restorer in the world". He served on the juries of many violin-making competitions, and held offices in both the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers as well as the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers (sadly died while fighting cancer) b. March 11th 1932.

November 17 .
1955: James "Jimmy" Johnson (61) American jazz pianist and composer, maybe the most important pioneers of the stride style of jazz piano playing. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the teens, he gained a reputation as one of the premier ragtime pianists on the East coast, he became in demand as a recording artist, and made dozens of superb player piano roll recordings for Aeolian, Perfection, Artempo, Rythmodik, and QRS during the period from 1917 - 1927. As his piano style continued to evolve, his 1921 phonograph recordings of "Harlem Strut", "Carolina Shout", and "Keep off the Grass" were among the first jazz piano solos to be put onto records. His piano style later was to become a model for the early Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, and Thelonious Monk. Besides being a jazz piano pioneer, and a most spontaneously inventive performer, Jimmy composed many hit tunes in his work for the musical theatre: "Charleston" which became one of the most popular songs and the definitive dance number/theme tune of the Roaring Twenties. Others are "If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)", "You've Got to Be Modernistic", "Don't Cry, Baby", "Keep off the Grass", "Old Fashioned Love", "A Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid", "Carolina Shout", and "Snowy Morning Blues". He permanently retired from performing after suffering a severe, paralyzing stroke in 1951. Jimmy was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame-1970, Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame-1973, Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame-1980, and the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame-2007. In spite of the fact that Jimmy can arguably be considered to have been the first jazz pianist, the composer of the signature tune of the Roaring Twenties, as well as other enduring tunes, he remains largely unknown to the general public. (heart problems) b. February 1st 1894.
1959: Heitor Villa-Lobos (72) Brazilian composer born in Rio de Janeiro; he is described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works. His music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and by stylistic elements from the European classical tradition, as exemplified by his Bachianas brasileiras / "Brazilian Bach-pieces". (?) b. March 5th 1887.
1979: John Glascock (28) English bass player and electric guitarist with The Juniors, Head Medicine, The Gods, Toe Fat, Chicken Shack, Carmen, his last band being Jethro Tull. He played on the Jethro Tull albums Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!, Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, Live - Bursting Out, and Stormwatch (congenital heart defect) b. May 2nd 1951
1981: Bob Eberly (65) American big band singer and brother of well-known big-band singer, Ray Eberle. He is known for singing with Jimmy Dorsey's band and is most well-known for singing "Green Eyes". (?) b. July 24th 1916.
1982: Eduard Tubin (77) Estonian composer, born in Torila, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire, now Estonia. After the Soviet Union invaded in 1944, he fled to Stockholm, where he remained for the rest of his life. It was here where he wrote some of his greatest works, including much music for the choirs and symphonies 6-10. Towards the end of his life, he slowly began to gain recognition, particularly after the conductor Neeme Järvi, also an Estonian, moved to the USA in 1980. In the last year of his life his Tenth Symphony was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and he received several awards from Swedish music organisations (?) b. June 18th 1905.
1987: Irene Wicker/The Singing Lady (80) American singer and actress; The Kellogg Company sponsored "The Singing Lady," beginning in 1931. The show was billed as the nation's first radio network program for children. The show was always hosted by Irene, who was known for her melodic and soothing voice (?) b. November 24th 1905.
1995: Alan Hull (50) English lead singer, songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band, Lindisfarne, he also played rhythm guitar and keyboards. He was hailed as the most innovative songwriter since Bob Dylan. His most famous songs include "Lady Eleanor", "Fog on the Tyne", and "Run for Home" (died unexpectedly from a sudden heart thrombosis) b. February 20th 1945.
2001: Michael Karoli (53) German guitarist, violinist and composer, born and grew up in Straubing, Bavaria. He was a founding member of the influential krautrock band Can. His main role was guitarist, later also providing vocals. He was a constant member of the band, playing with it between 1968 and its break-up in 1979. They had singles such as "Spoon" and "I Want More" and albums including Tago Mago in 1971 and 1972's Ege Bamyasi. He also joined the band for its two reunions, in 1986 and 1991 (sadly died after a long battle with cancer) b. April 29th 1948.
2003: Arthur Conley (57) American horn player, vocalist, songwriter; born in McIntosh County, Georgia and grew up in Atlanta. He first recorded in 1959 as the lead singer of Arthur & the Corvets. With this group, he released three singles in 1963 and 1964, "Poor Girl", "I Believe", and "Flossie Mae". He launched a solo career, and is well known for his 1967 hit, "Sweet Soul Music". It shot to the number two spot on both the pop and R&B charts, earning Conley the number eleven male artist ranking for 1967. The song paid homage to other soul singers like Lou Rawls, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. He e relocated to England in 1975, and spent several years in Belgium, after which he settled in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in spring 1977, where he promoted new music (died in Ruurlo, The Netherlands after a long battle with intestinal cancer) b. January 4th 1946.
2003: Don Gibson (75) American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned and recorded such country standards as "Oh Lonesome Me", "Blue Blue Day", "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970's. He was nicknamed "The Sad Poet," because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love. was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973, and in 2001, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (natural causes) b. April 3rd 1928.
2006: Flo Sandon (82) Italian singer born in Vicenza, her musical career began in 1944 when she debuted in a Red Cross charity show and went on to be popular in the post-WWII years. She won the Sanremo Music Fest in 1953 with the song "Viale d'autunno". Her other hits include "Vorrei volare", "Kiss Me", "I Love Paris", "Passa il tempo", "Concerto d'autunno", "Verde luna", "Domani", "Que sera sera" and "Bevi con me" (?) b. June 29th 1924.
2006: Ruth Brown/Ruth Weston (78) American blues singer born in Portsmouth, Virginia; known as "Queen Mother of the Blues", you can hear her influence in everyone from Little Richard to Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and in today's divas like Christina Aguilera. She had a series of hit songs for fledgling Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean". For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built". She used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Ruth a Tony Award, and the original soundtrack won a Grammy Award. (stroke and heart attack) b. January 12th 1928
2007: Hy Lit/Hyman Litsky (73) American radio disc jockey; Philadelphia-area DJ since the 1950s, with WIBG-AM, WDAS-AM/FM, WKBS-TV, WSNI/WPGR. He also hosted the nationally syndicated "Hy Lit Show," from WKBS-TV in Philadelphia which aired in more than 30 markets nationwide (sadly he suffered with Parkinson's disease, and died of kidney and heart failure at Paoli Memorial Hospital ) b. May 20th 1934.
2010: Harry Whitaker (68) American jazz pianist, born in Pensacola, Florida, he began learning the piano at age 5, and began classical lessons at age 7. He moved to Chicago in 1948, and to Detroit in 1953 at age 11. In 1959, at age 16, he graduated high school and embarked on the road with dexterous bassist Ray McKinney. After two years, he moved to New York and started playing with Slide Hampton in 1965, before joining vibraphonist Roy Ayers band in 1970. He can be heard on the breakthrough Roy Ayers recording “We Live in Brooklyn Baby” and went on to work with vocalist Roberta Flack during her most commercial and successful years beginning in the mid-1970s. Although his health had been declining over the last couple of years, Harry performed frequently at Fat Cat Billiards and Smalls, both religious institutions in the West Village jazz scene (?) b. September 19th 1942.
2011: Gary Garcia (63) American guitarist, singer, songwriter from Akron, Ohio and was one half of the duo Buckner & Garcia along with Jerry Buckner. Their first collaboration was in 1980, when they wrote a novelty Christmas song, "Merry Christmas in the NFL," about Howard Cosell as Santa Claus. Performed under the pseudonym "Willis The Guard & Vigorish", the song reached No.82 on the Billboard charts despite limited airplay after Cosell found the song offensive. In 1981, the duo, who had been together since high school days, wrote a sentimental country song called "Footprints in the Sand," performed by Edgel Groves. They also wrote the lyrics for extra verses of an extended version of the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song in 1982. However, the duo is best known for the song "Pac-Man Fever", which became a large novelty hit in 1982, peaking at No.9 in the United States. Later the same year, they signed a record deal with Columbia/CBS Records. and they released Pac-Man Fever, a full album consisting entirely of songs about arcade video games (?) b. July 28th 1948.

November 18 .
1969: Ted Heath (67) English bandleader, composer and trombonist born in Wandsworth, London, he was the most famous and successful big band leader in Great Britain of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records. After playing tenor horn at the age of six, he later switched to trombone. His first real band gig was with an American band on tour in Europe - the Southern Syncopation Orchestra - which had an engagement in Vienna, Austria and needed a trombone player. The drummer for this band, Benny Payton, taught Ted much about Jazz and Swing. From 1925 to 1926 Ted played in the Kit Cat Club band led by American Al Starita. In 1928, he joined Bert Ambrose's orchestra at the Mayfair Hotel in London and played there until 1935 when he moved on to Sydney Lipton's orchestra at the Grosvenor House. It was during this time that Ted became the most prominent trombone player in England, he played on numerous recordings. In 1940, he joined Geraldo's orchestra and played hundreds of concerts and broadcasts during the war traveling to the Middle East to play to the Allied Forces based there. Inspired by Glenn Miller Ted formed his own band. The Ted Heath Band was first heard on a BBC broadcast in 1944. The band was organized originally as a British "All Star Band" playing only radio dates. Ted and his band went on to work with many of the world's great artists including Nat King Cole, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett to mention just a few. His band members included among others Ronnie Scott, the pianist Stan Tracey, trumpeters Kenny Baker and Duncan Campbell, sax players Red Price, Ronnie Chamberlain, Don Rendell and Tommy Whittle, trombonists Don Lusher and Wally Smith, drummer Jack Parnell. The addition of singers including Dickie Valentine, Lita Roza, and Dennis Lotis. Ted and his band also appeared in several films. (?) b. March 30th 1902.
1971: Herman 'Junior' Parker (39) American blues singer and harmonica player also known as Little Junior Parker or "Mr Blues"; he is best remembered for his unique voice which has been described as "honeyed," and "velvet-smooth". He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. His biggest influence as a harmonica player was Sonny Boy Williamson, with whom he worked before moving on to work for Howlin' Wolf in. He was also a member of Memphis's ad hoc group, the Beale Streeters, with Bobby 'Blue' Bland and B.B. King (died after a series of brain operations) b. May 27 1932.
1972: Danny Whitten (29) American musician, guitarist and songwriter best known for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want To Talk About It", a hit for Rita Coolidge, Rod Stewart and Everything but the Girl. Born in Columbus, Georgia, he joined Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina among others in the doo-wop group Danny and the Memories. After recording an single, "Can't Help Loving That Girl of Mine", they moved to San Francisco where they morphed into a folk-psychedelic rock act called The Psyrcle, then The Rockets. They joined up with Neil Young and the recording sessions led to Young's second album, 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' credited as Neil Young with Crazy Horse with Danny on second guitar and vocals. in 1970, Crazy Horse recorded its first solo album, released in early 1971, thier debut album included five songs by Danny. Sadly now into heroin he participated only in the early stages of Young's next solo album, "After the Gold Rush", performing on "Oh, Lonesome Me", "I Believe in You", and "When You Dance I Can Really Love". During this time, Neil wrote and recorded "The Needle and the Damage Done" with direct references to Danny's addiction and its role in the destruction of his talent (sadly overdosed on a mixture of Valium and Vodka) b. May 8th 1943.
1973: Alois Hába (80) Czech composer, born at Vizovice, Moravia, he began to compose during his earlier studies in Kromeríž 1908–12. In 1920, as a student of Franz Schreker, he composed his first quarter-tone work - String Quartet No. 2. In 1923–1948 he worked first as an instructor, later as professor at the Prague Conservatory. During World War II, he was endangered by Nazis, because he tried to help his Jewish pupils. After the war he lived in peace in the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia. His best known work is the opera Mother, which received its premiere at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich, Germany in May 1931; the cast included the Swiss tenor Max Meili, an early music specialist and primarily a recitalist rather than an opera singer (?) b. June 23rd 1893.
1994: Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (86) American jazz singer, bandleader; one of the great entertainers, a household name by 1932, and never really declined in fame. A talented jazz singer, a superior scatter, his gyrations and showmanship on-stage at the Cotton Club sometimes overshadowed the quality of his always excellent bands. Calloway's Orchestra featured performers trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. He continued to perform until his death (died after suffering a major stroke 6 months previously) b. December 25th 1907
1999: Paul Frederic Bowles (88) American expatriate composer, author, and translator. Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, he pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris in the 1930s. He studied music with Aaron Copland and in New York wrote music for various theatrical productions, as well as other compositions. He achieved critical and popular success with the publication in 1949 of his first novel The Sheltering Sky, set in what was known as French North Africa, which he had visited in 1931. In 1947 Bowles settled in Tangier, Morocco, except for winters spent in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) during the early 1950s, Tangier was his home for the remainder of his life. (heart attack) b. December 30th 1910.