Gone But Not Forgotten

As mentioned several times in theses pages already, it has been a VERY rough year for Rock And Roll ... and it's only APRIL!!! 

Joel Whitburn, who is currently doing the final edits to his revised "Top Pop Singles" book (due out in June), has put together a list of the rock and roll casualties thus far, as he's been having to update his thousands of bios lately on a weekly (and sometimes DAILY!) basis. Honestly, it's nothing short of staggering.  We added a few more from Ron Smith's oldiesmusic.com website to bring the complete list to 57 casualties so far.

It's been a very rough year ... like I said earlier this week, they're going to have to extend this year's Grammy ceremony by an hour just to squeeze in the "In Memoriam" segment!

Hi Kent, 
I thought you might be interested in the document I prepared, showing the incredible amount of deaths of our favorite music stars.  This document shows those artists with hits in “Top Pop Singles”, but I have also included a few more such as Robert Stigwood and Charlie Tuna.

It has been a tough year, indeed, for music fans worldwide!    
Joel   
http://recordresearch.com/

Sad indeed, Joel.  (Now I'll be the first to admit that there are several names on this list that are borderline recognizable ... truth be told, I actually had to look some of them up myself just to see what their musical contribution was ... and I doubt if there is even a handful of readers out there who can successfully name every band member of groups like The Fendermen, The Tempos, The Mar-Keys, A Tribe Called Quest or Brass Construction to know if one's gone missing ...  but there are some bonafide, MAJOR superstar names on this list, too ... check it out here:)  

GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN  
We began our final edit for the new edition of our "Top Pop Singles" book early in January and every week since the beginning of January, 2016, reports continue announcing the death of another star music performer.  It seems almost unheard of when you look at the long list of names, all found in this edition, that have passed on in the first four months of 2016.  
The list has now grown to a total of 57 names.  
As Marvin Gaye asked "What's Going On"!

2016

4/24   BILLY PAUL - “Me And Mrs. Jones” #1(3) / ’72

4/21   PRINCE - Five #1 Billboard Hits  

4/21   LONNIE MACK - “Memphis” #5 / ’63

4/12   MIKE LAZO of The Tempos: “See You In September” #23 / ’59

4/6     MERLE HAGGARD  (C&W Superstar)

4/6     LEON HAYWOOD - "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You" #15 / '75

4/4     CARLO MASTRANGELO of The Belmonts: “Tell Me Why” #18 / ’61

4/2     GATO BARBIERI  (bubbled under twice in 1976 - 77)

4/2     MIKE GIBBONS, lead singer of The Heywoods: “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” #1(2) / ’74

3/30   ANDY ‘THUNDERCLAP’ NEWMAN  “Something In The Air” #37 / ’69
3/29   PHIL HUMPHREY (The Fendermen -  "Mule Skinner Blues", #5 / '60)

3/29   PATTY DUKE  “Don’t Just Stand There” #8 / ’65

3/25   JAMES JAMERSON, JR. of Chanson: “Don’t Hold Back” #21 / ’79
3/24   PETER ANDERS [ANDREOLI]  (The Tradewinds, The Innocence and The Videls)

3/22   PHIFE DAWG   of A Tribe Called Quest (6 charted hits between 1992 and 1998)

3/21   LARRY PAYTON of Brass Construction: “Movin’” #14 / ’76

3/20   RICK PINETTE of Oak: “King Of The Hill” #36 / ’80
3/19   TERRY JOHNSON  (The Mar-Keys; "Last Night" #3 / '61)

3/17   STEVE YOUNG (wrote "Seven Bridges Road", a hit for The Eagles)

3/16   FRANK SINATRA, JR.

3/16   LEE ANDREWS  [& The Hearts: “Tear Drops” #20 / ’57]

3/10   GOGI GRANT  “The Wayward Wind”  #1(8) / ’56

3/10   ERNESTINE ANDERSON  ("A Lover's Question #98 / 1961)

3/10   KEITH EMERSON of Emerson, Lake & Palmer” “From The Beginning” #39 / ’72

3/9     RAY GRIFF  (Canadian country singer)

3/8     GEORGE MARTIN - Beatles Producer, who also charted with his orchestra with "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)", 1964

3/4     JOEY FEEK   [Joey + Rory]

3/3     GAVIN CHRISTOPHER - “One Step Closer To You” #22 / ’86

3/1     GAYLE McCORMICK - Smith: “Baby It’s You” #5 / ’69

2/26   LENNY BAKER (Sha Na Na)

2/22   SONNY JAMES  (C&W Superstar)

2/19   RUSTY BURNS of Point Blank: “Nicole” #39 / ’81

2/19   CHARLIE TUNA  (popular Los Angeles Discs Jockey)

2/15   VANITY  [Vanity 6]

2/6     DAN HICKS (leader of The Hot Licks)

2/4     MAURICE WHITE - Earth, Wind & Fire  (7 Top 10 Pop Hits)

2/4     JOE DOWELL - “Wooden Heart” #1(1) / ’61

2/2     BIG KAP  (hip hop deejay and a member of The Flip Squad)

2/1     JON BUNCH (Senserfield)
1/30   BOBBY "CROW" CALDWELL (organist for Terry Knight and the Pack)

1/28   SIGNE ANDERSON (Jefferson Airplane - original female vocalist before Grace Slick)

1/28   PAUL KANTNER - Jefferson Airplane / Jefferson Starship

1/24   JIMMY BAIN   [Dio]

1/18   GLENN FREY of The Eagles - five #1 Billboard hits

1/17   MIC GILLETTE of Tower Of Power: “So Very Hard To Go” #17 / ’73

1/17   CLARENCE REID  “Nobody But You Babe” #40 / ’69

1/17   DALE GRIFFIN of Mott The Hoople: “All The Young Dudes” #37 / ’72

1/16   GARY LOIZZO of The American Breed: “Bend Me, Shape Me” #5 / ’68

1/14   RENE ANGELIL  (Celine Dion's Husband and Manager)

1/10   DAVID BOWIE - Six Top Ten Billboard hits  

1/8     OTIS CLAY - R&B Singer

1/8     RED SIMPSON  (country singer / songwriter)

1/7     TROY SHONDELL - “This Time” #6 / ’61

1/7     KITTY KALLEN - “Little Things Mean A Lot” #1(9) / ’54

1/5     NICHOLAS CALDWELL of The Whispers

1/4     ROBERT STIGWOOD - President of RSO Records and Manager of The Bee Gees

1/3     JASON MACKENROTH of The Rollins Band
and, just missing the cut-off, 
12/31/15 - NATALIE COLE

>>>I'm telling you ... 74 is the new 27  (Jack)

God, I hope not!!!  Notable recording artists turning 74 this year include Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Carole King, Bob Gaudio, Wayne Newton, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Rivers, Danny Hutton, Chris Hillman, Andy Summers, Elvin Bishop and Gerry Marsden.  

Others born in 1942 who have already left us include Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Annette Funicello, Isaac Hayes, Frankie Lymon Tammy Wynette, Brian Jones, Sandra Dee, Bobby Fuller and Lou Reed.

Add these notables to the "74" list: Harrison Ford, Muhammad Ali, Stephen Hawking, Calvin Klein, Judge Judy, Dick Butkus, Martin Scorsese, Linda Evans, Stephanie Powers, Larry Flint.  (kk)