Rolling Obituary Thread 2023

New year, new passings...

Roll away the stone!

last post on the previous thread:

Jeremiah Green of Modest Mouse

https://pitchfork.com/news/modest-mouse-drummer-jeremiah-green-dies-at-45/

wonderful drummer. earlier modest mouse was instantly recognizable, even during instrumental sections, and Green's drumming was a huge part of that.

Frank McGarvey, footballer.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/frank-mcgarvey-dead-66-celtic-28851664

Gangsta Boo

No!

Just saw this on FB, but the 2022 thread is locked:

https://i.imgur.com/bOKywKE.jpg

I'm not spotting the late Col Harkness from NWoBHM Quo-worshippers Spider in there, but maybe I need to look harder

Earth, Wind and Fire Drumming Prodigy Fred White Dead at 67

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/earth-wind-and-fire-fred-white-dead-obit-1234655162/

"A child prodigy who began drumming at age nine before going on to earn his first gold record at the age of 16 for his work on Donny Hathaway’s Live — which made Rolling Stone’s list of 50 greatest live albums of all time"

Rally car driver and stunt driving sensation Ken Block, killed in snowmobile accident

From Katharine Hepburn’s 1981 interview with Barbara Walters:

Hepburn: “I have not lived as a woman. I have lived as a man…I’ve just done what I damn well wanted to and I made enough money to support myself. And I ain’t afraid of being alone.”

Walters: “Is that why also you wear pants?”

Hepburn: “No, I just wore pants because they’re comfortable.”

Walters: “Do you ever wear a skirt, by the way?”

Hepburn: “I have one.”

Walters: “You have one.”

Hepburn: “I’ll wear it to your funeral.”

That's up there with:

rip barbara walters thank you for giving us one of the best interview moments of all time pic.twitter.com/nKmYEd1Ppv

— matt (@mattxiv) December 31, 2022

incredible

Amazing.

Alan Rankine of the Associates.

Oh no, surely not?

Shit - that's a bad one.
Also
Kelly Monteith, who I haven't thought about in a very long time.

One of those terrible channels on Freeview should show Kelly Monteith's shows again, I bet they'd stand up a lot better than Hale & Pace or whatever rubbish they are showing.

As a small child it was one of those adult shows I'd sometimes see and always desperately want to see again.

Alan Rankine confirmed. Fantastic musician, responsible for some of the greatest records ever made.

Is the silly rabbit thing a reference to that one breakfast cereal, what's it called again?

yes, anyone born after 1969 knows the allusion

My wife tells me that when she was a child, Trix commercials struck her as needlessly cruel. The rabbit just wanted some cereal. It would have been harmless to let him have some.

Your wife otm

How did she feel about the way The Roadrunner treated Wile E. Coyote?

My wife tells me that when she was a child, Trix commercials struck her as needlessly cruel. The rabbit just wanted some cereal. It would have been harmless to let him have some.

― Immodest Moose (Ye Mad Puffin),

but the sugar

ugh, alan rankine.

Damn sad loss. I really appreciated how his teaching work and the creation of the Electric Honey label helped to pay things forward; even if I'm not a fan of acts like Belle & Sebastian and Snow Patrol, it's still good mentorship he provided.

Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham, 90. Wrote a pretty good tell-all about his NASA years The All-American Boys

RIP. Think that's one of the few nose cone histories I haven't read.

Worth checking out and iirc doesn't hold back on much of the behind the scenes politicking going on among the astronauts. Cunningham only flew once - he had the misfortune of having Schirra as his Apollo 7 commander. Try to get the second edition with a lot of typo/content fixes.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jan/03/tom-karen-designer-of-raleigh-chopper-and-marble-run-dies-aged-96

I met Tom Karen at a work event several years ago. He was squirrelish in his curiosity and kind in his conversation. It was before we had our son; I wish I could have told him the hours of joy our marble run has brought us.

Roger Kean, co-founder of classic UK 8-bit games magazines Crash and ZZAP 64:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/zzap64-magazine-and-crash-magazine-cofounder-roger-kean-has-died

Fay Weldon.

West Ham head honcho and one half of the 'Dildo Brothers' David Gold, 86

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/04/david-gold-joint-chairman-west-ham-dies-at-86

Cue champagne popping all over Newham

Lise Nørgaard, journalist, memoirist, and creator of the utterly brilliant and legendary-in-Scandinavia TV series Matador.

Gianluca Vialli

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/06/gianluca-vialli-former-italy-juventus-and-chelsea-striker-dies-aged-58

Wow. I had no idea he was ill. RIP.

Seeing on Facebook that Michael 'Wavelength' Snow has died

Fucking hell Vialli that's terrible

Yup seeing Michael Snow on twitter as well.

RIP Gianluca, awful news

Kenyan LGBT activist Edwin Chiloba

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/06/africa/kenya-edwin-chiloba-lgbt-activist-death-intl/index.html

Character actor Earl Boen, best know for his role as the psychiatrist in the Terminator movies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/earl-boen-actor-in-the-terminator-movies-dies-at-81/ar-AA163iun

xp
rip Luca. he along with cavani are my benchmarks for what 'good movement' at the centre forward position should look like.

Vialli was kinda weirdly important to me -- when I finally got a chance to follow UK club football on any sort of regular basis via the Fox Sports two hour weekly show they had (or whatever network it was on) in the late 90s, Vialli was doing his Chelsea run, and he quickly became a favorite of mine via the various post-game interview clips thanks to his good humor and approach to it all. Between him and Pierluigi Collina let's hear it for the bald Italians.

xps

fucking horrific

Edwin Chiloba was an amazing human. He was bold, passionate, his energy was immaculate. He embodied fashion. Someone murdered him cruelly, put his body in a box & dumped his body.

Edwin we speak your name. May yr blood not spill for nothing. Stop killing queer people. pic.twitter.com/aSgwyTSqnM

— Njeri Wa Migwi™ (@NjeriWaMigwi) January 5, 2023

Heh. Mrs. Redd has often referred to Colina as “Squidward” due to his purported resemblance to a certain cartoon co-worker.
(xp!)

this Grenadian UK guy who was known as "Chicken" - christian name William - died the other day. He was a crook and a conman, but the most hilarious person I ever worked with. His son is known as "Young Chicken" in Brackenhall and had to live with the curse of being quite an average person!

Are we doing the death pool for 23 or tallying up who won 2022?

Were we still doing that?

I think last time, I had Mark E Smith on my list...

The last year that Henry Kissinger will be worth any points!

Character actor Earl Boen, best know for his role as the psychiatrist in the Terminator movies

Also did a lot of narration and voices for WoW!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCr7y4SLhck

Russell Banks (announced by Paul Schrader on Facebook)

Adam Rich, ‘Eight Is Enough’ actor, dead at 54

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/08/entertainment/adam-rich-dead/index.html

"As part of a satire on celebrity death, Rich participated in a 1996 hoax which falsely reported his passing, as written by “Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” author Dave Eggers, for Might Magazine."

Owen Roizman, Cinematographer of The French Connection, The Exorcist and More, Has Died at 86

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/01/owen-roizman-cinematographer-of-the-french-connection-the-exorcist-and-more-has-died-at-86

Also seeing John DeVries of Agitpop

Singer Jeff Blackburn, of Blackburn & Snow and occasional Neil Young collaborator (The Ducks and most famously as co-writer of "My My Hey Hey (Out of The Blue)")

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnLUs5rsBI9/?hl=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lZGS99oRig

Poet Charles Simic:

We mourn the death of Charles Simic (1938–2023), who since 1999 wrote 175 essays and poems for The New York Review, on subjects ranging from Saul Steinberg to the Fourth of July to gun violence to Buster Keaton. https://t.co/uR7PCUTF5V pic.twitter.com/zomjn1wCUn

— The New York Review of Books (@nybooks) January 9, 2023

Silk, of right-wing grifters Diamond and Silk.

wait was she not just hospitalized with Covid

Yep.

Wow! Very strange!

Diamond, not Silk

Trump announces that Diamond of Diamond and Silk has passed away pic.twitter.com/TUhpEVUPiG

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2023

just came across this...her family, is already grifting off her deathhttps://t.co/kzHiBotMxU

— Art Martin (@gartmartin9) January 10, 2023

gofundme.com/DiamondsArentForever

New York Times writer (formerly of Politico) Blake Hounshell appears to have committed suicide. There's a Times email circulating on Twitter that says he "has suddenly died this morning after a long and courageous battle with depression."

Adolfo Kaminsky’s talent was as banal as could be: He knew how to remove supposedly indelible blue ink from paper. But it was a skill that helped save the lives of thousands of Jews in France during World War II. https://t.co/Lz9bYs38D4

— NYT Obituaries (@NYTObits) January 10, 2023

Singer Luqman Brown, who worked with Burnt Sugar and had his own project, Dope Sagittarius. Apparently he had a heart transplant late last year and it didn't take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9St-uddBmT8

Simic was a beast of bleak, bizarre poetry.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/charles-simic

Very subjective opinion there

OK

Sorry for the rudeness, I just can’t with him, not the thread for it tho.

Cardinal George Pell

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/11/george-pell-dead-australian-cardinal-dies-aged-81-rome-vatican

I was going to ask where to start with Simic; I know a handful of lyrics.

and, yeah, table, that was pretty fucking rude to an ILXer who also writes poetry. You could, like, explain why Simic's a mediocre or bad poet without insulting the poster.

And maybe better to do it in a poetry thread than here (although the spirit of Morbs in the room may disagree).

and, yeah, table, that was pretty fucking rude to an ILXer who also writes poetry. You could, like, explain why Simic's a mediocre or bad poet without insulting the poster.

(I mean that, the apology and the happy sentiment, sincerely)

lool

might have gone either way, whether table would use charles simic's death to establish his edginess by shitting on anyone who liked him vs. calling charles simic a dear friend whom none of you people truly understand

having chosen option one, he is truly, sincerely happy that you enjoy such dreck

Fuck's sake. Patti Boyd tweeted that Jeff Beck is dead. No other confirmation. People have then been sharing text starting "Jeff Beck Death Hoax Dismissed Since Guitarist Is ‘Alive And Well’"
Except THAT text is from a "satire" site with millions of articles

— Andrew Hickey (Specified Parody Account) (@HickeyWriter) January 10, 2023

Apparently Simic tweeted only once:

twisted my ankle this morning

— Charles Simic (@CharlieSimic) June 26, 2010

I am trying to move on from yucking others’ yums, I am sorry that I did so here.

Tatjana Patitz, whom you may remember from Freedom 90

O wow. RIP.

All good, table.

Jeff Beck

Holy shit. Truly one of a kind.

is it being reported officially now?

ya

damn :(

Apparently he was partying with Dave Davies the other night... the family said it was a quick bout of bacterial meningitis

What an extraordinary life https://t.co/icdrqfLYUV https://t.co/EabEbf7700

— James Mackenzie 🐀v (@mrjamesmack) January 12, 2023

RIP Jane Suck. We were compatriots and partners in strange for a crucial few months in later 1977 and early 1978. We concocted this editorial together in Nov 77: she had pride of place as she was the best writer out of all of us pic.twitter.com/90LMH90ZN1

— Jon Savage (@JonSavage1966) January 12, 2023

came here to post that, rip :(

i knew her a little in the mid-80s and always enjoyed chatting with her

Lisa Marie Presley

Super sad. Can’t help thinking how tough it must be for Priscilla, she lost a son just a couple of years ago too.

Honestly never knew Riley Keough was Elvis's granddaughter.

it makes sense once you know, you can really see it in her features imo

ffs Lisa Marie, only my age :(

Wow @ Lisa Marie RIP. Plus RIP Jane Suck, she made it to 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPO8DScjq-Q

Robbie Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive

https://pitchfork.com/news/robbie-bachman-drummer-and-co-founder-of-bachman-turner-overdrive-has-died/

Paul Johnson, conservative columnist and Beatles sceptic

once memorably described as looking like an "explosion in a pubic hair factory"

Johnson was another customer at the Notting Hill bookshop I worked in. He would always browse a big bookcase full of art books, on top of which perched the shop's speakers. I made a point of playing the most horrible sounds whenever he came in, in the hope of prompting an outburst, or an outraged of Notting Hill column somewhere, but he never batted an eyelid, the contrary fucker.

Noël Akchoté ... I think. Unless I'm misunderstanding the 1944-2023 tweet from his twitter, but haven't seen any reports elsewhere.

that's a picture of Jeff Beck on Akchoté's twitter

lol!

to a half blind fool like me everyone looks the same on my phone

he's way younger too, born in 1968

yes, an important detail that also escaped me!

while I'm here I'll offer a belated RIP to founding member of Dire Straits - Jeff Beck

Johnson was another customer at the Notting Hill bookshop I worked in. He would always browse a big bookcase full of art books, on top of which perched the shop's speakers. I made a point of playing the most horrible sounds whenever he came in, in the hope of prompting an outburst, or an outraged of Notting Hill column somewhere, but he never batted an eyelid, the contrary fucker.

I'm just a Ward standing in front of a Paul and (insert bad "Notting Hill" joke here)

Randy Bachman started Brave Belt and then BTO with his brother specifically because he felt he couldn't trust anyone else, and they spent almost the next 50 years in legal battles with each other.

I'm sure John Fogerty could understand.

I just found out that Johnson tried to cop off with Thatcher when they were at Oxford

He liked being spanked by his lover, so I'm guessing he would have happily been chastised by Thatcher too.

oooh tasty! - the gossip, not being spanked by Thatch obviously!

Rapid rescue operation there.

Robbie Knievel, daredevil son of Evel Knievel, dies at 60 (pancreatic cancer)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robbie-knievel-dies-age-60-evel-knievels-son/

Christopher Hitchens called him “Spanker Johnson”

Reports of Yukihiro Takahashi :(

Japanese sources are reporting that Yukihiro Takahashi, the former Yellow Magic Orchestra drummer and lead vocalist, has died. He was 70. He had an operation to remove a brain tumour in 2020, and in 2021 revealed further health problems. A sad loss of a prolific talent. pic.twitter.com/Fp9FZ0a9F2

— Electronic Sound (@ElectronicMagUK) January 14, 2023

Oh no, my favourite YMO!

Gina Lollobrigida, 95

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/16/gina-lollobrigida-dies-la-lollo-beat-the-devil

;_; I suppose she couldn't live forever.

rip

also confession i automatically think “Gina Lolajupiter” bc of the Jetsons

Gina Loadabricks for me (Flintstones)

Also Gina Lollobrickida on The Flintstones--must have been pretty iconic at the time.

There you go...Had to look up the spelling.

Doesn’t it half to rhyme with
“Your food I diggida”?

Took it from this piece, which is how I remember hearing it too:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-10-01/flintstones-rock-on-at-50/2281058

(Have) Anyway, RIP. Particularly liked her in Fanfan la tulipe with Gérard Philipe.

Good article, but I couldn’t quite tell, did she do the voice of that character?

I remember loadabricks and I confired (after posting) here
https://flintstones.fandom.com/wiki/Gina_Loadabricks

Feel like, despite the iconic nature of that character, there is a lack of parallelism in the piece clemenza linked. Maybe they should have mentioned Hoagy Carmichael or Jimmy O’Neill instead, if not the Bewitched-related episode, “Samantha,” which I have no recollection of.

anyway - sorry for starting that dumb derail - hail to the Queen

https://64.media.tumblr.com/e71e7f27022b9b75d833d83487373629/tumblr_n72sc8HD7y1sxj7qdo1_500.jpg

I want to try to check that, Nick (short of, you know, buying a Flintstones box set)--my memory of that is so clear, and for the joke (such as it was) to work, it has to end in a vowel.

Looked through her filmography, and Beat the Devil is all that I've seen, and ages ago at that. But immensely famous she was.

Good photographer too, what I've seen of her assignment or street scene stuff anyway. I think she did some hokey kids'n'animals photocollage in her later years, but fair dos.

anyway - sorry for starting that dumb derail - hail to the Queen

https://flintstones.fandom.com/wiki/Wilma_the_Maid

Interesting, but the maid wasn't supposed to be the actress.

Aw. Farewell Renée Geyer, Aus soul legend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RIIYWZgb4I

aw! loved her ;_;

my fave of hers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x92Trn2pMBs

Our amazing dad 💔. Piers Haggard, ‘Pennies From Heaven’ Director Who Worked With Liza Minnelli, Dies at 83 https://t.co/HkpRnf3GnL via @variety

— Daisy Haggard (@daisy_haggard) January 17, 2023

Most importantly for me, director of Blood On Satan's Claw.

Also I had never twigged Daisy was his daughter.

Also Gina Lollobrickida on The Flintstones--must have been pretty iconic at the time.

― clemenza, Monday, January 16, 2023 12:15 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Ha! I thought I was the only person who remembered this.

The Flintstones was the first thing my husband mentioned when the news came through. In the same ballpark, this is where my mind went first:

https://s1.dmcdn.net/v/C74zk1SRKTIfj-G-M/x1080

So I am still the only Fanfan la Tulipe stan? What about that other one about the card game (War?) in Sicily? Directed by Duvivier?

Or the other guy, Dassin.

Not War, The Law.

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/noir-takes-a-holiday-close-up-on-jules-dassin-s-the-law

Most importantly for me, director of Blood On Satan's Claw.

Indeed. Rest In Peace and infinite thanks for that weird little masterpiece!

(xp) Not currently showing on MUBI USA :(

Dassin = Never on Sunday

Yes, but he also did this one.

His wife is in it too.

Not quite Sicily, Apulia.

Gonna turn this thread into my own little memory palace before the day is through.

just watched Blood on Satan's Claw back in October, it has some cheezy elements but is overall effectively creepy

The Law is awesome

Also Gina Lollobrickida on _The Flintstones_--must have been pretty iconic at the time.

https://www.b98.tv/video/wilma-the-maid/

A prehistoric man needs a maid.

wrestler jamin pugh, aka jay briscoe, of beloved ring of honor tag team the briscoe brothers

Lucile Randon, 118.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/17/worlds-oldest-known-person-french-nun-lucile-randon-sister-andree-dies-at-118

Jonathan Raban, 80
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/18/jonathan-raban-travel-writer-and-novelist-dies-aged-80

Gary Smith, Fort Apache studio owner, producer of Throwing Muses' House Tornado, amongst many other things.

One of my very favourite records, despite sounding very 80s.

Van Conner of the Screaming Trees

Let me put this letter on Van’s grave.
🌲🌑🌲🌑🌲🌑🌲🌑🌲🌑🌲🌑🌲🌑🌲
Van Conner bassist and song writer of Screaming Trees died last night of an extended illness at 55 It was pneumonia that got him in the end. He was one of the closest friends I ever had and I loved him immensely.
I will miss him forever and ever and ever…

-Gwry Lee Conner on FB

Film Producer Edward Pressman

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/edward-pressman-dead-wall-street-conan-1235493386/

re: van, what? oh my god. was just doing a Trees relisten. he was so young

fuck ;_;

Gary Smith, Fort Apache studio owner, producer of Throwing Muses' House Tornado, amongst many other things.

one of those names that kept popping up on the records i bought in my teeange years - he also produced the pixies' 'come on pilgrim', scrawl's 'smallmouth' and the chills' 'submarine bells' to name a few

damn, love all those records especially the Scrawl, RIP

I own at least 50% of his production credited discography.

Wow, Van Conner ... and hell, wow, Gary Smith. Kinda shaken at the passing of these folks right outside my peer group.

Screaming Trees were huge for me from about '87 to '93.. sad to hear!

Veteran (and current) Bash Street Kids artist David Sutherland.

oh no!

89, apparently!

RIP

https://i.imgur.com/SwLIkNz.jpg

David Crosby

wow

Seems to be some confusion on that yet, haven't seen any sources beyond Yahoo Finance (of all places) reporting it yet and have seen some tweets saying his reps confirmed it's a hoax.

His Wikipedia page already reflects it.

Carry On...

He's in Rock and Roll Heaven now, yelling at Michael Clarke to play his harp right.

david crosby: classic or dead

variety confirms: https://variety.com/2023/music/news/david-crosby-dead-dies-byrds-crosby-stills-nash-1235495467

that's a serious bummer

(To be fair, he probably should've died about 35 years ago.. he got a second chance)

he had a lot of chances and remained outspoken if less of an outright asshole

To be fair, I laughed manically when Crosby started rating people's joint rolling capabilites on twitter.

Poor ...looks like a snake who swallowed a bowling ball https://t.co/pzI0z2pA6M

— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) March 5, 2020

(more here: https://wror.com/listicle/david-crosby-twitter-joint-rolling-feedback/ )

I completely forgot that he was the surrogate for two of Melissa Etheridge's kids.

Peak late career Crosby assholery:

Meh .... https://t.co/rncBUS0tnw

— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) October 10, 2020

lol that's actually polite?

Captain Save a Van Halen entering the thred

_____ __
ccccc\ / / /ccccc
ccccc\ / /___ /ccccc
ccccc\ / / /ccccc
\/ / /
/ /
/
/

ffs

Rip Bing Crosby

Luv yr Christmas record

He gets mad respect from me for disliking Jim Morrison probably more than I do. And - yes - he was part of some phenomenal music. RIP

He was an asshole to Gene Clark. Who I assume was also an asshole. He wrote some good stuff but wasn't 1/100th the songwriter that Gene Clark was.

Pretty solid on twitter though.

I love how the overall vibe on Twitter has been like, “damn, we’ve lost a really good one”

he was a damn fine poster

must be because he had the flu for christmas

No https://t.co/uMGJsSw2EC

— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) December 31, 2022

I completely forgot that he was the surrogate for two of Melissa Etheridge's kids.

this was very possibly the first i ever heard of him!

never forget

https://i.imgur.com/L7ow7dB.jpg

Crosby always looks like he's getting away with something. Martha Stewart has the same resting smug face.

You have to admit it's a pretty good story.

Dude looks like a walrus. Has the voice of an angel. Nearly destroys himself with Bacchanalian excess. Phil Collins buys him a new liver. He bounces back. Fathers Melissa Etheridge's children. Meets a son he never knew and collaborates with him. Dies at a ripe old age (presumably happy).

Had it been written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we'd consider it a trifle too picaresque.

Imagine being as wealthy as Phil Collins, able to buy livers for everyone.

Plus fava beans and a nice chianti

Or broad beans in Phil's case.

#onethread

TS: Phil Collins buying David Crosby a new liver vs. Henry Rollins buying Roky Erickson new teeth.

presumably happy

citation needed

I've been waiting for this liver

For all my life

"Hero" is so treacly that Collins should have had them install a new pancreas while they were in there.

He can always put that liver where his heart ought to be.

Crosby was pretty much the dictionary definition of jaundiced

Suite: Jaundiced Blue Eyes

Now I wish Elton John had sung "Suite: Blue Eyes."

Lord Alfred, I'm still laughing at the idea of Collins as an Organ Oprah.

YOU get a liver! and YOU get a liver!

I always liked Crosby.

And you comin’ back to me
Is against The Croz
etc

Selling England by the Pancreas

Tom Nairn :(

RIP

just saw that. RIP.

:( dropping this here as i was just rereading it without realising why someone had just retweeted it:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/scottish-independence-tom-nairn-gordon-brown/

Ort, aka William Orten Carlton, writer, record collector, scene elder, and relentless raconteur, best known outside his home town for his appearance in Athens, GA: Inside/Out

Korean actress Yoon Jeong-hee, star of Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry (among literally hundreds of other films)

https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.amp.asp?newsIdx=343991

Original Yardbirds guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham, 75

https://www.noise11.com/news/anthony-top-topham-the-original-yardbirds-guitarist-dead-at-age-75-20230124

Balkrishna (B.V.) Doshi, 95. Extraordinary architect --- a major figure in the post-WWII modernist conversation worldwide, probably the single most important architect of post-Independence India (due to his work, writing, and teaching), and according to everything I've ever heard, a genuinely nice and thoughtful person. He was arguably also the last of his generation's architectural titans; there are a few other big names around age 90, but they feel like a different micro-generation in terms of the state of the field when they rose to prominence, and their degree of connection to the prewar scene.

oh he was amazing

Lloyd Morrisett - founder of the Children's Television Workshop and co-creator of Sesame Street

from last june: Lucille Cataldo of Stairway to Stardom "Hairdresser" fame.
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/brooklyn-ny/lucille-cataldo-10789097
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu3VMqgx2MQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK-Kl1AN8EM

Original Yardbirds guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham, 75

Honestly, never heard of him. Not sure if that qualifies as a coincidence or not so close to Jeff Beck--people get old. I might tread lightly for the next while if I were a couple of other living Yardbirds guitarists.

eric clapton has been dead inside for 60 years tbf

And Page sold his soul to the devil so he'll never die.

I'm always kinda shocked at how apparently hale the surviving Zeppelin guys are, considering the excesses of their prime

When one guy out of four dies, the other three will sometimes take the hint.

70s teen heartthrob Lance Kerwin: https://variety.com/2023/tv/obituaries-people-news/lance-kerwin-james-at-15-1235502420/

Sylvia Syms, 89
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64426891

startled she was only 89!

but she was only 24 when she was in ice cold in alice

RIP. Every second film on Talking Pictures seems to star her. Not complaining though, she was gorgeous.

The well-respected Martin Clunes vehicle Staggered (feat. Sylvia Syms) filmed a scene opposite my parents house in Hendon. One of neighbours tried talking to Syms and she stormed off in a very “I am storming off” way

I'll always remember this scene from Return to Bosom Manor
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/14B25/production/_88937748_88937747.jpg

Fuck, seeing Tom Verlaine on twitter. Mentioned by someone who knew him.

nothing official yet?

Situations have ended sad
Relationships have all been bad
Mine have been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud's
But there's no way I can compare
All them scenes to this affair

RIP. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/arts/music/tom-verlaine-influential-guitarist-and-songwriter-dies-at-73.html

RIP.

Uncannily I've been reading Steve Kilbey's autobio and precisely last night was lol'ing at his account of misadventures with Verlaine while touring in the late '80s.

Alastair Brotchie, founder of Atlas Press, biographer of Alfred Jarry:

Very sad to learn of the loss of Alastair Brotchie - whose Atlas Press (founded with Malcolm Green) had a huge impact on my literary life. Many a glass will be raised to his memory tonight, mine among them.

— Kristofor Minta (@KristoforMinta) January 28, 2023

RIP

http://germinalproductions.com/Kevin/book-pics-bookartbookshop.jpg

^ that's him with his Atlas Press colleague, Tanya Peixoto

Oh yeah good publisher

This is the first time I’ve ever learned of the death of a non-ILx friend via ILx, it feels so strange.

I knew Alistair and he was a fine fellow, i loved drinking with him and I had a whole lot more to learn from him. He always had the best stories. Last couple of times I met Tanya, Alistair wasn’t well enough to come along. I’ll miss him.

Legendary in and around Toronto: Hazel McCallion.

https://www.cp24.com/news/hazel-mccallion-who-transformed-mississauga-during-36-year-tenure-as-mayor-dies-at-101-1.6250941

When she left office in 2013, she'd been mayor of Mississauga for 36 years and was over 90. She had some trouble near the end over conflict-of-interest charges.

xpost Sorry to hear that for sure. It's always nice to know someone had that good quality to them.

Tim, I'm so sorry you found out this way. Very glad to hear he was a good sort though. Really need to get hold of his Jarry book now

I'll be forever grateful to him and Atlas for publishing Desnos' "Liberty Or Love!" in English. Made an indelible impression on me. Rest In Peace.

My wife was complaining just this week about a ruling just made by some sort of environmental advisory board headed by Hazel McCallion.

Annie Wersching

https://deadline.com/2023/01/annie-wersching-dies-actress-in-24-bosch-and-timeless-was-45-obituary-1235243778/

Not mentioned from last week: Victor Navasky, journalist, former editor and later publisher of The Nation, 90

Barrett Strong

https://bestclassicbands.com/barrett-strong-obituary-motown-1-29-23/

Wow, RIP guy I had no idea you were still alive.

Annie Wersching

Very much a "oh, hey, it's her" performer; guest starred on a million things, often as a villain.

she had a good role as a somewhat bad-seed cop in Bosch season 1, she tended to elevate some often-thankless other supporting parts too and was usually memorable presence-wise in that respect vs a lot of other career tv actors.

Albert Okura, Juan Pollo founder, and owner of the old route 66 town of Amboy, California, which includes the famous Roy's Cafe used in many movies.

https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/328119101_914414913135744_5326408843079168149_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=-Dgu0F0cxKkAX_d0tBi&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-2.xx&oh=00_AfBuvy27shNTJU_-9xUXGfRgi_HSDvA67WBy0a857hA64Q&oe=63DCD4B9

https://www.sbsun.com/2023/01/27/albert-okura-juan-pollo-founder-and-san-bernardino-staple-dies/

And a story that focuses more on Amboy.

https://www.sbsun.com/2014/08/17/a-look-at-juan-pollo-founder-albert-okuras-success-big-dreams/

Lisa Loring, who starting at age six played "Wednesday" on The Addams Family TV sitcom of the 1960s.

Interesting biographical fact: she was born on an atoll in the Marshall Islands.

early electronic music composer jaap vink:

Le GRM est triste d’apprendre la disparition du compositeur Jaap Vink (1930-2023)

GRM is sad to learn the death of the composer Jaap Vink (1930-2023) pic.twitter.com/kvi9YlAHIi

— INA grm (@Ina_GRM) January 30, 2023

Shame. I think there's only one album of his music ever been released and it's excellent.

hockey goal scoring man Bobby Hull

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/35557785/hall-famer-bobby-hull-golden-jet-dies-age-84

notably a p awful person iirc

Hull's life off the ice was often marred by controversy. He faced allegations of domestic abuse with two of his three wives. His second wife, figure skater Joanne McKay, alleged that he held her over a balcony and hit her with a shoe in an incident in Hawaii in 1966 and threatened her with a loaded shotgun in 1978. His third wife, Deborah, filed charges after an incident in 1984 but later dropped them. Hull, however, later pleaded guilty to taking a swing at an officer during his arrest and was fined $150 and placed on six months of court supervision.

In 1998, Hull came under fire for telling The Moscow Times that the Black population in the United States was growing too fast and that "Hitler had some good ideas" but "just went a bit too far."

Yyyikes

rest in piss

Of local interest to Northeast Ohioans: John Adams, the man who sat in the bleachers with a drum and got the crowd going at Cleveland Indians/Guardians home games for some 50 years. He was at every game I ever attended.

https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2023/01/john-adams-cleveland-guardians-drummer-dead-at-71.html

RIP John. When I was a kid I thought every team had a guy who did that.

Cindy Williams

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/laverne-shirley-actor-cindy-williams-dies-at-75/

Aw.

Oh no!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1q-QWHUU0g

Great scene. Also her in the passenger seat with Harrison Ford: "Just don't say anything and we'll get along fine."

love this clip of her doing Mack the Knife on Andy Kaufman’s funhouse special

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bj3hnnxPxQ

The Conversation somehow slipped my mind. She's perfect in that--the look on her face when she's in the elevator with Gene Hackman. A friend tells me there's a film on YouTube, The Killing Kind (1973), with her and John Savage, that's worth watching.

Was gonna say.

Style icon!! I loved her growing up. RIP Shirley Feeney. She will join Booboo Kitty in heaven.

She was amazing in The Conversation.

I understand the nostalgia for Laverne & Shirley, I've got no shortage of equivalents in my own life, but I think it's too bad she got sidetracked. I look at The Conversation and American Graffiti, and I wonder if--to name another actress starting out around the same time--she could have gone on to have a career like Sissy Spacek's.

How did she get sidetracked?

By a hit television show, I would think.

People didn't move so seamlessly between film and TV in the '70s; there were exceptions, but a bunch of people who were TV icons got locked into that and never had much of a film career.

Weird to think Michael McKean is now the main surviving cast member, I guess:

Backstage, Season 1: I'm offstage waiting for a cue. The script's been a tough one, so we're giving it 110% and the audience is having a great time. Cindy scoots by me to make her entrance and with a glorious grin, says: "Show's cookin'!". Amen. Thank you, Cindy.

— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) January 31, 2023

yeah that’s a bummer to think about

Speaking of 'What It's...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ob-k0Rr6Fg

"What If's..." that is...

George Harrison's sister Louise, 91.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/us-celebrity-news/breaking-beatles-famous-sister-louise-29095820

RIP. Wasn't she the one who lived in America? Guess I will find out.

Laverne and Shirley was more impactful (and enjoyable and laugh-inducing) for more people than any imaginary prestige movie career would have been so I applaud her for spending her time making an accessible show and fuiud lol

Yep, she lived in southern Illinois, which is where George visited her in 1963:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/charming-story-george-harrison-vacationed-small-town-america-180974593/

George was the only Beatle who was able to walk around in parts of the US (he and his brother spent a few days in NYC before heading to Illinois) without anyone knowing or caring who he was.

xp

When I was a kid, watching Laverne and Shirley in syndication fed my imagination for what my mom's experience moving to the city, having roommates, and working as a young woman in the early 70s was like. Cindy Williams passing away makes me sad in an oddly personal way.

Knowing that she coulda been Princess Leia makes the Falfa/Laurie scenes in AG even funnier

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjMyYWNiMTQtMWJlMy00Yjc2LWFhOWYtY2FiNmY2OTVjNjkwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUyNDk2ODc@._V1_.jpg

"Help me, Leslie Nielsen, you're my only hope."

Dave Durenburger, former senator from MN, 88.

I conceded that it was enjoyable and greatly nostalgic for people, LL, also that I had lots of my own Laverne & Shirleys. I think it's a stretch to say the show had any impact beyond that in the sense of influencing television history or anything, which many shows from that era did.

cmon dude. it’s ok to let ppl love a thing and not align perfectly with yr own view of its importance or lack thereof

especially in the obit thread

I thought I was praising her! I said she was fantastic in two movies, ended up on a hit TV show, and that--because that was the way things were divided up at the time--her movie career was derailed. I said she might have a career as great as Sissy Spacek's. I love Spacek.

This is criticism?

no i meant just let LL feel how she feels about it and don’t respond! move on!

forget i said anything

Fine I will argue & explain. Laverne and Shirley was about friends. Not the workplace and not a family. Friends (female friends!) living independently of both men and their families (unless you count Laverne’s dad & landlady/stepmom Edna Babish) They were single, they worked, and weirdly no one shamed them for this. Sure they were constantly trying to snag a man but usually they failed. They were hilarious. Precursor to known classic female friendship sitcom Golden Girls? Friends? (Other?)
You were praising her by lamenting the highbrow career she didn’t have which (IMO) is not the greatest form of praise bc it’s imaginary & faint praise for what she actually accomplished.

I think the one thing that we can agree on is that Sissy Spacek should have starred in Laverne and Shirley, possibly with Shelley Duvall.

Sorry, I think you're being ridiculous. You have your version of Cindy Williams, I have my mine, and mine does not have to comport with yours. For you, she was the star of a TV show you loved when you were younger, and you feel a lot of nostalgia for that. First few words I wrote about Cindy Williams were that I understood--and shared in--that kind of experience. For me, she gave great performances in two of my favourite movies ever, and I feel sad that she never got to have the movie career I think she should have had, largely because iconic TV stars--with the exception of John Travolta--just weren't allowed to cross over then. (American Graffiti is now highbrow?) I've done nothing but praise her. Just not in the way you think I ought to be.

And American Graffiti and The Conversation aren't imaginary, they're very much part of what she accomplished. My guess is the former had at least something to do with her getting the part in Laverne & Shirley.

Forget it clemenza, it’s Somebody’s Favorite TV Show Town.

Did Cindy Williams ever express she wished she had that life? We celebrate the people who were, not the people who could have been

That's a good question, and I don't know. She surely wouldn't have while L&S was on the air; a hit TV show had a momentum all its own. What she thought twenty or thirty years later, who knows? I hope I've been clear that I think the film world's condescension to TV stars in the '70s was really unfortunate. There were so many amazing TV stars around then who were just partitioned off and not really given the chance to move back and forth like people do now.

Ron Howard and Penny Marshall knew they'd never get out from under their iconic characters, so they wisely turned to directing instead.

I mean, the other reason people jumped to television was predictable schedules, less fluctuation in pay, and the ability to have a family. I have no idea if that was the case, but the stars-in-eyes writer idea of what the stars of stage and screen are owed kind of clunks against reality if you read enough interviews

I had a coworker while I was still in college who was on the football team, and people would ask him if he wanted to go pro, etc, and he had a completely grounded answer that his knees would die in two years, he could go to Europe and do that league briefly, but he’d pay for it. Sometimes people are very canny in understanding exactly what their choices entail and you’re not them, where nor when

Ron Howard rolled through several iconic roles

I just read up on her a bit--curious about this now--and part of why she left the show was because she was pregnant and the show's producers weren't happy about that; sounds like she got screwed over. The fact that she auditioned for Star Wars and also did the sequel to American Graffiti suggests to me that a movie career was something she was at least interested in, even if not an obsession. She seemed to do a fair number of TV movies.

From an online interview, undated:

JL: Moving from comedy to drama, I went back recently and watched the episode you did on “Law & Order SVU” in which you played an evil woman who was trying to kill her little granddaughter. You also played serious roles in such films as “The Conversation” with Gene Hackman. Do you prefer doing drama over comedy, or wish you had done more?

CW: I’d like to have played more middle of the road parts, but I didn’t have a chance because no one was going to cast me after “Laverne & Shirley”. I remember going up for this big part, and I went in, and the producer said, “I’d love to cast you, but I can’t. You’re just too recognizable as Shirley Feeney.” And it’s the truth, and I understand that. Look, it’s a blessing that I got to play that character and it became so popular with people, so I never regret that.

http://www.tvparty.com/70-cindy-williams.html

Which is exactly what I'd expect: she loves the show because it was fun and people loved it and it made her rich (?) and famous, and she'd never criticize it, but that there was this other part of her that was very visible in those two movies that she was never given the chance to explore. That's all. I'm not criticizing her, not criticizing anyone who loves L&S, just saying there was another side there that I saw and that was important to me.

Just saw something on Friendbook about a pretty big deal writer who was a fan of hers and wanted to write a film role for her but it didn't work out.

And not that this kind of career-defining-TV-role problem has disappeared. James Gandolfini never got out from under Tony Soprano (he was great in Nicole Holofcener's Enough Said, which got very little attention), ditto Jon Ham and Don Draper. But at least now TV stars have easier access to big film roles. (I wish Elizabeth Moss hadn't kept going so long with The Handmaid's Tale. She should have won a couple of Academy Awards by now.)

Didn't expect to see a weird derail about someone's awkward designs on Cindy Williams' career opportunities after not visiting the thread for a few days. La Lechera and mh otm. She had (small) roles in Coppola and Lucas films, but not THE Coppola and Lucas films, so there's no reason to believe she'd have ever crossed over into bigger, more demanding roles even if we all acknowledge she had the talent to do so. Hollywood is littered with fantastic leading actors who never got a lead role.

Cindy Williams did. On TV.

sopranos or not, i don’t think gandolfini was ever likely to ‘get out from under’ being a large italian-american man

aaanyway she was funny as shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9egH-OEQYM8

If you all find "Cindy Williams could have made more movies" an awkward contention, wait till you hear that I think that Tom Verlaine could have expressed the same sensibility in his music if he was born twenty years earlier, played saxophone and recited Beat poetry.

Laverne & Shirley did way more to inform my worldview (and those of my peers) than American Graffiti.

I think y’all are confounding the fact that clemenza was not really a Laverne & Shirley fan (me neither although I liked most of the component parts, but don’t begrudge others for liking it) with the idea that actors might like the challenge of doing films as well as Neon Boystelevision.

I mean it’s not a great argument for every actor but in her case it seems to make some sense.(xp to self)

Sorry, I think you're being ridiculous. You have your version of Cindy Williams, I have my mine, and mine does not have to comport with yours. For you, she was the star of a TV show you loved when you were younger, and you feel a lot of nostalgia for that.

I think I was reacting to this condescending post in which I was called "ridiculous" and in debt to the lesser emotion of nostalgia when what I was expressing is that Laverne and Shirley was and remains important (and not just to me!) and therefore it's not a fluffy subpar substitute for a Serious Film Career.

Okay, yeah, you are right.

tbh any performer is lucky to find an iconic role whether it's on TV or in a movie, the match of performer and part doesn't come along all that often. The flipside of iconic roles is, sure, the performer may have a hard time eclipsing them — may be absorbed by them — but imagining their career without that role is pointless. Maybe they never would have found another one!

Anyway RIP to her, I never watched L&S regularly but I always had a good impression of it. And to LL's point, even as a kid I remember it being accorded some cultural cachet precisely because it was about two working women.

^otm on all points!

I think I had a bit of trouble with The Big Ragu. Also never really warmed up to David Lander until I watched Oswald. Always really liked the theme song and the title sequence though.

Totally forgot that Betty Garrett was on that show!

I'll apologize for that LL, but also point out that you had an earlier post with "FUIUD" included. There was an "LOL" attached, so I guess I was supposed to ignore that.

And believe, as someone who regularly comes on here and expresses nostalgia for any number of things, I don't consider that a lesser emotion. My nostalgia for American Graffiti is very much a part of my attachment to Cindy Williams. And I don't know why you keep characterizing the films I mention as some kind of art-school snobbishness--is there a more accessible, non-arty film than American Graffiti? (The Conversation, maybe, but I don't know, its artiness quotient seems at the mild end to me.)

Now, I suppose, I'll be accused of prolonging a derail that to my mind I didn't even initiate.

thanks to mookie for making me laugh this morning

Emily Rose Marcus, Greil's daughter. Sad, sweet obit by Christgau: https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/emily-rose-marcus-1969-2023

(Hits me a bit extra because she was three months younger than me.)

Jeez, that's a really sad piece - just a month younger than me

Between this and his own health issues, Marcus has had just a terrible year.

I just got home and haven't had a chance to read it, but Marcus himself has a piece up about his daughter (should be accessible).

https://open.substack.com/pub/greilmarcus/p/emily-rose-marcus-1969-2023?r=1jtu0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

From the comments section: FYI to everyone who has mentioned the author: I saw this post on Facebook, and it was written by Emily's sister, Cecily.

You're right. Like (almost) everyone else in the comments section, I assumed he wrote it. He actually does begin by saying "I am posting this because people have asked me to."

Cardiacs percussionist Tim Quy, after about 5 years of bad health.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid028zaezbJ9SeiEx3oG5LTr4s1pQZ6JKVUVTjVqLCS4TipTxwRp2fdgrTfEzHPK9AU5l&id=100032042187218&mibextid=Nif5oz

John Davis, disco producer/arranger who led the Monster Orchestra. “Up Jumped The Devil” and his version of “Bourgie Bourgie” are All Time stunners.

I had no idea this brand was a real person:

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/obituaries/article/2023/02/03/fashion-designer-paco-rabanne-dies-aged-88_6014298_15.html

Or as Prince called him in "Movie Star": Paco Ra-binny

Melinda Dillon, Who Appeared in ‘A Christmas Story,’ ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ Dies at 83https://t.co/UkQnwZHe0L

— Variety (@Variety) February 3, 2023

Ah that's a shame. Those two performances alone are for all time.

And Magnolia! (I suspect I am the only remaining person who loves that film, but she is fantastic in her small role.)

honestly she was iconic, she had so many great roles and she was always so good

XPS...and also a shocking (if you know her mainly from her 'Mom' roles) appearance in Slap Shot.

She's the true star of Close Encounters

xpost "Oglethorpe?"

She's the true star of Close Encounters

No lies told.

Loved her in Close Encounters; she had a small but harrowing part in Absence of Malice, too, that the rest of the movie hinged on.

She had one of the great 'origin stories' in all of showbiz: she was a waitress at Second City who volunteered her service as an actress one night when Barbara Harris was sick--Dillon had memorized the whole act from the pit and was a sensation on stage, quickly earning a spot in the repertory company.

Man that is awesome.

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed she was nearly 40 in Close Encounters. Good genes!

she pulled off a good 'harried'

And _Magnolia_! (I suspect I am the only remaining person who loves that film, but she is fantastic in her small role.)

Don't watch this if you plan to watch the film someday, but here's the Absence of Malice scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpnobabM8ZY

The way she tilts her head as she gets up at the end is unforgettable.

she also played honey in the original production of ‘who’s afraid of virginia woolf?’

Wow, first role seems to have been in "The Cry of Jazz", also featuring Sun Ra and Arkestra members, whose concept of interstellar music maybe points the way to CE3K

Per my former neighbor who was in the band, Dr. Hook lead guitarist Bob "Willard" Henke a couple of days ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Q6acCserQ

She's one of the great kooks of all-time in A Christmas Story -- crazier than her beloved sons! Seconding the admiration for her work in Close Encounters and Absence of Malice.

She deserved a higher profile, and plenty more roles than she got after her early era. She was so unflashy and understated and a born screen performer. From my small sample size of childhood films it seemed like she was everywhere.

She deserved a higher profile, and plenty more roles than she got after her early era.

Sorry, I can't resist: lord thunderin' Jesus, don't say that.

Seconding the admiration for her work in Close Encounters

Did a rewatch last night and was actually amazed in a good way she got a Supporting Actress nom for that -- not that she didn't deserve it, she absolutely did! But it's such a lived in and relentlessly unflashy role handled so well as opposed to a big performance; Spielberg didn't overburden the character with self exposition (is she a divorcee? a widower? neither? doesn't matter, she's just her and she has a young kid) and if Dreyfuss's character gets the lead nod by default, she is his equal in trying to figure out what is driving her, and maybe even more so in that the music (via Barry) is more a part of it for her than it is for Dreyfuss.

Not that I remember Julia all that well 45 years later, but my recollection is that it was slow, stodgy, and not all that interesting; can't believe that Vanessa Redgrave deserved the AA more than Dillon. (Did lead to a memorable speech from Redgrave.)

Charles Kimbrough, Sondheim vet & TV's "Jim Dial" on Murphy Brown

https://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles-theater/news/charles-kimbrough-company-broadway-obituary_94839.html?

^^also perfectly cast as a HUAC panel head in The Front.

steve sostak of sweep the leg johnny

https://www.stereogum.com/2213119/steve-sostak-sweep-the-leg-johnny-zzzz-dead/news/

oh fuck, sweep the leg johnny and zzzz were both great bands

I want to say a band I was in played on a few bills with them. Or maybe I'm thinking of Streganona, with whom Sweep released an early 7", who we definitely played with.

i always loved the combo of emo/math-rock and sax

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN3PLKDQZQI

^I was at this show, my friends and I still talk about it 20+ years later

i n s a n e

Longtime late night KCRW DJ Eric J. Lawrence, who also served as their music librarian, passed today too young at 52.

He was one of my key friends at KLA, UCLA's old radio station, in the late 80s and early 90s, and he made my life better and richer for it with all he loved.

I will miss him tremendously.

incredible guy. Via my S.O. I knew him well, as you probably maybe gathered via FB. A really genuinely interesting and singular individual, and a very nice human being. Of the many reasons to condemn the pandemic, it’s that the people you last saw before it all happened are sometimes people you never saw again, and there was no notion that this would be the case.

I was in L.A. when Bowie died and heard/loved Eric Lawrence's tribute show.

Upsetting news . I met him via Ned - we all drove together to Seattle for Terrastock 4 in Seattle. Loved running into him here and there at shows over the years since and of course his radio show was a must listen if I was awake.

I very much treasure that trip we did. A great experience.

A lovely three hour tribute mix from today:

https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/morning-becomes-eclectic/morning-becomes-eclectic-playlist-february-8-2023

Prominent death in Canada: Mendelson Joe/Joe Mendelson.

He was in a band called Mainline, who were sort of a Canadian Canned Heat. Their one hit was the excellent "Get Down To" (1972):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWpC5sgkjkY

After that he became a prominent artist. If you lived in Toronto in the '80s and '90s, you might remember him most for his non-stop published letters in a local weekly (that I used to hate with a passion--the weekly, not his letters; feels like forever ago).

https://www.torontomike.com/2023/02/mendelson-joe-dead-at-78/

I think my dad, in his role as a principal, had some sort of contretemps with Joe in the 70s (about inappropriate subject matter for kids) when he was some kind of painter-in-residence at the school.

Very intrigued!

Joe was already doing his paintings of authority figures with asses for heads, and though my dad wasn't personally offended he had to tell him they weren't suitable for the primary school kids. I imagine the "controversy" would seem silly now in a public school.

Honestly, in some ways I think things have gotten worse. There's stuff I'd show classes 20 years ago I wouldn't risk showing today.

Burt Bacharach, master of pop songwriting, dies aged 94 https://t.co/taiNYbwGaD

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 9, 2023

Oh no! Just last night I watched the Warwick doc and he was sharp as ever.

:( What a man.

RIP :(

Ugh. Some of us did a deep dive into his catalog and read his memoir in recent years. One special thing about that book is that he gives his exes a voice, so there is a lot from Angie about their relationship and their daughter. RIP.

94 is a pretty good run! loved his cameos in the Austin Powers films, very unexpected

Hugh Hudson, 86

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/10/hugh-hudson-director-of-chariots-of-fire-dies-aged-86

Carlos Saura

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/10/spanish-filmmaker-carlos-saura-director-of-ay-carmela-has-died-aged-91

This year will not let up. :((

The Garden of Delights and Cria Cuervos are two of Saura's great films. I'd actually say he had a stronger run in the 70s than his countryman Buñuel.

I may go back and rewatch Chariots of Fire (never have). Curious how it would hold up. Definitely a key film in putting an end to the New Hollywood era.

I'm curious: was Chariots' BP win an upset? Like, looking at the nominations, I suspect that On Golden Pond seemed like the surest bet that year (or maybe Reds).

I had to enquire why they didn't have no chariots in the movie?!?

Mon Capitaine, it's only February!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Welland: "Welland won the award for Best Original Screenplay for Chariots of Fire (1981) at the 1982 Academy Awards, and his acceptance speech included the phrase: "The British are coming!"[11][12] (a quotation from Paul Revere).[10]"

I seem to recall "Reds" as being the '81 favourite for BP, and Fonda/Hepburn favoured for the lead acting roles

Yeah, I think it would have been Reds.

Ugh. RIPs. Yes to Cría Cuervos.

Praying this isn’t true but seeing people saying DLS’s Trugoy has passed

Oh no :(

Fuck, it's confirmed

https://thegrio.com/2023/02/12/breaking-trugoy-founding-member-of-de-la-soul-dead-at-54/

that site is down but yes -- https://allhiphop.com/exclusives/de-la-souls-trugoy-the-dove-has-died/

i hate this

Goddammit. And right before the big De La re-entry/rediscovery etc. Just terribly sad.

Well, that’s depressing as all hell. RIP.

RIP Trugoy

RIP
My autocorrect apparently doesn't know the names of any of the members of De La Soul.

Friedrich Cerha, Austrian composer, 96.

The DJ Nathan Coles, part of Tech House originators, Wiggle has died.

https://ra.co/news/78521

horribly sad end to a life, RIP

Good riddance etc

you probably remember this photograph. it's one of the more iconic of the awful images of the nazi torch march at UVA on august 11, 2017.
on august 12, the man in the center was elated to see himself on the cover of papers across the county.
today, i can tell you he is dead. pic.twitter.com/ti5c1c0LT0

— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) February 14, 2023

that he was arrested for smuggling fentanyl over the border is just too perfect a detail

Good extended excerpts of interviews on Fresh Air this week:

Bacharach, who died Feb. 8, wrote hits in the '60s and early '70s with longtime collaborator Hal David. We listen to a 2010 interview with them, and a '98 interview with Bacharach and Elvis Costello.

Also: bigass The Songs of Bacharach and Costello out Mar. 3:
https://www.elviscostello.com/the-songs-of-bacharach-costello/

Even better from where I sit:

https://realgonemusic.com/collections/upcoming/products/dionne-warwick-the-complete-scepter-singles-1962-1973-3cd-set

Huey 'Piano' Smith :(

Yeah, damn shame but what a life!

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/new-orleans-rock-n-roll-pioneer-huey-piano-smith-dies/article_1a451915-0f9f-5e14-a98d-c1372185dc62.html

Rest in power to a legend there

I always thought he was, like, a 1940s swing/jump blues guy who lucked into a couple of hit records at the dawn of the rock 'n' roll era, so I assumed he'd died in the 80s or something.

Raquel Welch, 82.

https://www.tmz.com/2023/02/15/raquel-welch-actress-model-dead-dies-82/

RIP. Was just watching Bedazzled last night. Be careful of the prickles!

Watching The Last of Sheila the other month was a treat. (And learning she and Herbert Ross did not get along, well then.)

https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/medium/poster/5.5/8/break/images-medium-5/flareup-us-poster-raquel-welch-1969-everett.jpg

Too bad she’s not holding a horribly distended guitar for the full effect.

Beyond iconic growing up.

I interviewed her some years back, and this is what she had to say about the iconic "One Million Years" poster:

I always felt, when I analyzed that poster, that it had such a primitive feeling to it. People called it a bikini, but what it was was something made out of animal skin, and torn. The stance itself was totally different from any of the sex symbols we’d had up until that point. This was a much more athletic, aggressive woman. I’m fighting for my survival, ready for some kind of adversity coming over the mountain. I was primitive woman. I was the anti-Marilyn. I was part of the next generation of women who would be much more forthright.

She deserves to be better known by me, but according to Letterboxd I've only seen her in four movies: 100 Rifles, Myra Breckinridge, Naked Gun 33 1/3, and Legally Blonde (I didn't mark it as "watched," but I have vague memories of seeing bits of The Magic Christian on TV when I was young). A lot of her work seems very sixties-specific, for lack of a better term. She is also credited as appearing in The Flintstones: Hollyrock a Bye Baby (1993), in which I can only assume she played "Rock-el Welch."

I remember buying two posters at a local fair in the early '70s--the One Million Years B.C. poster, and a Paul Newman poster. My generation of straight men is being very careful about the words they choose on social media right now. I just messaged a friend that, as an adolescent, she was the most sexual woman I could even fathom--and then I remembered that she actually made a movie called Fathom. And now I'm going to shut up.

Another quote from my archives:

We had to get up at some ungodly hour and drive out into the middle of nowhere. I remember box lunches, and that it was snowing. I got terribly sick, because everyone else was all bundled up and I was out there in the middle of nowhere, on the top of this volcano in the Canary Islands, and it was really rugged to be out there every day. The rock was all sharp, and you could get cut. It was so uncomfortable. I had the most fun when we went back to the studios in London to do the fight sequences. But when I got off the plane the world was just a different place. Apparently that still of me had gone out from location. All of a sudden everyone knew who I was!

That costume used to shift around a lot, because I had to go into the water with it, and it would get stretched out and dry funny. As the movie went on, it seemed to get draped more provocatively each time. Some of the censors were apparently writing telegraphs in. "Ms. Welch’s costume is shifting this way and that way."

Once again, Brigitte Bardot smiles at the sky and lights another Gauloise in her pool cabana

One of the more bleak but funny details of in Steven Bach's Final Cut is United Artists' enthusiasm for an ultimately unrealized project wherein Welch was going to do her first proper nude scene.

She deserves to be better known by me, but according to Letterboxd I've only seen her in four movies: 100 Rifles, Myra Breckinridge, Naked Gun 33 1/3, and Legally Blonde (I didn't mark it as "watched," but I have vague memories of seeing bits of The Magic Christian on TV when I was young). A lot of her work seems very sixties-specific, for lack of a better term. She is also credited as appearing in The Flintstones: Hollyrock a Bye Baby (1993), in which I can only assume she played "Rock-el Welch."

You've never seen Fantastic Voyage!?!??!

her muppet show appearance is a vivid memory from my childhood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojegHx3LfE4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyiALn0e3P8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E24qwHLQNUM

With the giant spider? Haven't clicked yet.

yep! also w miss piggy, and with fozzie

Interesting that they did the Peggy Lee signature tune “I’m a Woman,” given the history of Miss Piggy being based on Peggy Lee, in fact named Miss Piggy Lee before Peggy Lee threatened to sue.

But Raquel… I mentioned it here recently but check out her 1970 TV variety special called Raquel! for some jaw-dropping concepts in choreography and visions of the future.

Her Seinfeld episode showed she had a great sense of humour about herself.

Was just listening to "One's On The Way" by Loretta Lynn (written by Shel Silverstein), and noticed that Welch was the last of the celebrities* namechecked in it to die.

*The others being Liz Taylor, Jackie O, and Debbie Reynolds.

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/15/spencer-wiggins-dies-obit-memphis-soul-music-history/69907734007/

Memphis singer Spencer Wiggins recorded soul for Fame and Goldwax labels and gospel for others. Was beloved by soul fanatics in UK, Italy, Japan, and in Memphis and New Orleans, but was never a big star. RIP

raquel in very "space is the place" mode here

RIP Raquel Welch. Her 1960’s TV special is a welcome addition to any YouTube gathering. pic.twitter.com/Hs7QCG7KKt

— Nicholas Verso (@NickVerso) February 15, 2023

Raquel Welch and her legendary Space Dance pic.twitter.com/YZVrZcJ9EC

— Nicholas Verso (@NickVerso) February 15, 2023

(clips retweeted by sometime-ilxor mc zirconium's project moonbase account)

My friend, the cartoonist and comedy club host Paul Jay aka Eugene Cheese:

https://beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/13123/eugene-cheese-dies

god how can i see the last of sheila in the uk it sound intersting

Sorry to hear about your friend, Ward

Thank you Alba. I'm hoping he makes the Guardian's 'Other Lives' column at least.

You've never seen Fantastic Voyage!?!??!

Nope! I'll get to it one day.

Thank you Alba. I'm hoping he makes the Guardian's 'Other Lives' column at least.

They can also upgrade to a regular obit if the person is deemed particularly noteworthy - we managed it for my friend’s dad across all the papers (he also wound up with a lovely slot on Last Word on R4).

link please?

The Guardian:

https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/01/john-wild-obituary

Last Word:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mrzf9

Aw, I was relating a Eugene Cheese/chuckle club/Lee Evans tale over the weekend!

xp Amazing, thanks, Suzy! I didn't know any of that---

Super Sky Point to Tim McCarver, who played 21 years in the big leagues before becoming one of the most prominent announcers in the game. 100% chance he greeted St. Peter with a Bob Gibson story before reuniting with his old friend. Maybe they’ll have a bullpen today. #RIP pic.twitter.com/ZW4D7pSNyj

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) February 16, 2023

Stella Stevens, Starlet of the Sixties and ‘Nutty Professor’ Actress, Dies at 84

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/stella-stevens-dead-nutty-professor-1235328909/

she was, as i've mentioned in other threads, my first moment of heterosexual realization at age 8 or so

Ann-Margret, happily still alive.

Damn, scared me for a moment there.

My best "found something stashed in a book/magazine" story is about how 10-something years ago I bought a huge lot of '60s Playboys on eBay, and found in one of the issues the unlisted bonus of a folded pin-up of Stevens from an issue of either Variety or the Hollywood Reporter, plus a personally autographed glossy headshot--both of which had seen better days, but it was still pretty cool.

Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu, in the Turkey earthquake.

Oh no. RIP Stella, what a babe. Interesting (to me) that she was in a relationship with guitarist Bob Kulick for nearly 40 years (he died a couple of years ago).

Yes, interesting to a few of us.

Also the "married at 15, kid at 16, divorced at 17" thing.

seeing word that Richard Belzer may have passed. no official reporting yet that I can find

A bunch of dorks on twitter are clouding the issue saying it's a hoax, but Belzer's irl friends are tweeting condolences and sharing thoughts about him, and I'm inclined to believe they have better sources than the usual "it's a hoax!" posts.

RS is reporting it now.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/richard-belzer-comedy-legend-law-amp-order-svu-detective-john-munch-dead-obit-1234682788/

;_;

CNN reporting too---did not know the character went back to these prev. shows (Homicide was based on David Simon's nonfiction book, maybe with a Munch-like cop? Seems likely, at least now)

Belzer was famed for his role as Detective Munch, first appearing on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” from 1993 to 1999. He reprised that role in the TV movie “Homicide: The Movie” in 2000 and also appeared as the famed detective in four episodes of “Law & Order.”

Belzer appeared as Munch again in “Law & Order: SVU,” where he became a series regular, appearing in 326 episodes between 1999 and 2016. Though his character retired in 2013, he returned in two additional episodes after his departure.

Like Belzer himself, detective Munch had a conspiratorial mindset, a Jewish background and a dry sense of humor. His scrawny, wisecracking, glasses-wearing investigator became over time one of the most recognizable cops in TV crime show history.

“I would never be a detective, but if I were, that’s how I’d be,” he said in a recent interview with The Boomer Tube. “The character is very close to how I would be. They write to all my paranoia and anti-establishment dissidence and conspiracy theories, so it’s been a lot of fun for me. It’s been a dream actually.”

Dickie Davies, ITV sports presenter, 89.

Munch character was based on irl Jay Landsman in Simon’s Homicide book

Thanks! Was thinking I should also check around for some of his 70s comedy albums (often compared to Lenny Bruce), as well as any bits of the music.

Dickie Davies is one for the people who you thought was at least in his 90's column.

Another regular in the people you thought were dead thread dead.

This is a really good book...

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/A1LakgMPJmL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

xp

Now that people who seemed like mouldering old corpses still in existence when I was 15 years old are only just dying now, it possibly gives me false hope ... or maybe even real despair that still I've got decades left to live yet.. lol.

RIP Belz. Munch was the lynchpin between many televisual worlds: https://www.ranker.com/list/all-the-tv-universes-unified-by-detective-munch/jacob-shelton

Homicide is fantastic and highly recommended for those who only know him from Law and Order.