After taking it fairly easy in the new year, in February The Reaper swung his scythe with fresh abandon (and not only in the world of music).
Numerologists might have had a bit of a freak out in February. In the space of just five days, we lost members of Three Dog Night, 3 Doors Down and Tres Chicas — and a member of the 5th Dimension.
And a quick reminder that all In Memoriams going back to January 2017 are back up. You can find them HERE!
The Sedaka
In 1959, young Neil Sedaka wrote a song inspired by his school friend Carole King called Oh Carol. Both went on to become legends in the Brill Building scene of hitmakers. Unlike many Brill Building writers who stayed behind the scenes, Sedaka insisted on performing most of his own material, thus opening a door for other Brill Bld writers with singing ambitions, most notably Neil Diamond.
Sedaka’s slightly nasal high tenor was instantly recognisable, as was his rhythmic piano (he had been trained in classical piano at the Juilliard School’s Preparatory Division) and his light yet often deceptively intricate compositions. Sedaka also worked as a session pianist, including on Bobby Darin’s 1959 hit Dream Lover.
His breakthrough came through a teenage partnership with lyricist Howard Greenfield. The pair worked in tiny offices alongside other songwriting teams, writing songs for the new teen market of the late 1950s and the 1960s. Among their great hits, aside from Sedaka’s run of hits, were Connie Francis’ Stupid Cupid and Where The Boys Are.
With the advent of the British Invasion, Sedaka’s chart presence faded in the US, and by 1966 he had lost his recording contract, but he remained popular as a touring act, especially in the UK and Australia.
In the early 1970s Sedaka reinvented himself. Collaborating with younger musicians, including Elton John — whose Rocket Records label released Sedaka’s comeback recordings — he embraced contemporary pop with hits like Laughter In The Rain, Bad Blood (the latter featuring uncredited backing vocals by Elton John), and a superb reworking of his earlier hit Breaking Up Is So Hard To Do. The latter features here; his 1962 original was included in last month’s In Memoriam, in tribute of backing singer Margaret Ross.
After his first retirement as a performer and following his comeback, Sedaka continued writing hits for others, such as The 5th Dimension’s Workin’ On A Groovy Thing, (Is This The Way To) Amarillo by Tony Christie, Andy Williams’ and the Carpenters’ Solitaire (a cover of Sedaka’s original, it features on Any Major Originals: Carpenters edition), and Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain & Tennille (also first recorded by Sedaka and featured on Any Major Originals: The 1970s Vol. 2). On the outro of the latter, Toni Tennille riffed on the album the original had appeared on as she ad libbed: “Sedaka is back.” Sedaka also helped with the English lyrics of ABBA’s Ring Ring.
Neil was a thoroughly uncontroversial man. Only once did Sedaka dip his musical toe into political waters. The Immigrant, written and sung by the grandson of immigrants, was inspired by John Lennon’ immigration troubles under Nixon, but spoke to a situation that has become even more acute in the intervening 50 years. “Now he arrives with his hopes and his heart set on miracles, come to marry his fortune with a hand full of promises; to find they’ve closed the door, they don’t want him anymore.”
The Snapping Singer
Before he became a singer in The 5th Dimension, Lamonte McLemore was the first African American to try out for the St Louis Cardinals. He later played briefly in the minor league with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
More important was his career as a photographer. He was the first African American photographer employed by Harper’s Bazaar magazine, and created the photographer for Stevie Wonder’s debut album cover. Even as a singer in a hit band, he photographed for Jet and Ebony magazines over decades.
At a photo shoot for the Miss Black Beauty pageant in 1963, the part-time doo wop singer met young singer Marilyn McCoo, an encounter that led to the formation of a jazz vocal group called The Hi-Fi’s. They were discovered by Ray Charles and toured with him, and then operated as The Vocals.
The Vocals soon split, and McLenmore roped in two of his friends from St Louis, gospel singer Billy Davis Jr and opera singer Ron Townson, to join McCoo and another new recruit, Florence LaRue. They went by the name The Versatiles.
Motown — for whom McLemore had been doing photo work — turned them down, but Johnny Rivers’ new Soul City Records signed them, and gave the five-some a new name: The 5th Dimension.
With their blend of pop, soul, jazz and psychedelia, their polished harmonies and sophisticated arrangements, The 5th Dimension soon started a streak of hits such as Up, Up and Away, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, Stoned Soul Picnic, Wedding Bell Blues, and One Less Bell To Answer.
Behind his role as the group’s tenor voice, McLemore shaped the group’s image, shooting many of the band’s promo photos and album covers.
As musical tastes shifted in the 1970s, The 5th Dimension’s commercial appeal faded, and in 1975 McCoo and Davis, by then married, went solo. McLemore and LaRue continued to perform with versions of the group for many years, while he also pursued photography and visual art.
After the death of Townson in 2001, Lamonte McLemore is only the second member of The 5th Dimension to die. He was 90.
The Three Dog Nighter
Three Dog Night was one of the most successful US bands of the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, with a knack for interpreting songs by other writers and turning them into big hits. Now Chuck Negron, the voice of many of these hits is gone.
As one of the band’s three lead singers, Negron took the lead on hits such as Joy To The World, Easy To Be Hard, One, Old Fashioned Love Song, Pieces Of April, The Show Must Go On, and ’Til The World Ends. On other songs he shared lead vocals or provided harmonies.
During their peak years, Three Dog Night scored more than 20 US Top 40 hits and was one of the most commercially successful acts of the era.
Behind the success, however, Negron struggled with heroin addiction. He achieved sobriety by 1991 and released several solo albums in the 1990s and into the new millennium. Negron later chronicled his experiences in the memoir Three Dog Nightmare.
His fellow co-lead singer Rory Wells died in 2015.
The Salsa King
Apparently the best-selling salsa artist of all time, Willie Colón is considered one of the architects of modern salsa. The trombonist, bandleader, singer and producer helped define Latin music in his home city of New York from the late 1960s into the new millennium.
Born in the Bronx in 1950 to Puerto Rican parents, Colón grew up immersed in Caribbean rhythms but also exposed to pop, rock & roll, R&B and jazz, He was just 17 when he signed with the famous salsa label Fania Records.
Colón first found success in a partnership with singer Héctor Lavoe in the early 1970s. Songs like Calle Luna, Calle Sol and Che Che Colé became anthems of the urban movement that incorporated jazz, rock and R&B into the Latin sounds and would be labelled “salsa dura”.
In the mid-1970s Colón began working with Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades, producing socially conscious albums such as 1978’s Siembra, one of the best-selling salsa records of all time. By the 1980s Colón became a vocalist in his own right, with his 1989 hit El Gran Varón becoming his signature hit.
Beyond music, Colón was also a social and political activist, especially in the areas of Latino rights, HIV/AIDS, ecological issues, and foreign debt relief. He worked for New York City mayors Dinkins and Bloomberg, and endorsed Hilary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries. He actively campaigned against Venezuela’s presidents Chavez and Maduro.
In 2014, at the age of 64 he graduated from the police academy was sworn in as a deputy sheriff. Colón attained the rank of deputy-lieutenant by the time he retired in 2022.
The Hitmaker
As a teenager, Jerry Kennedy attended an Elvis Presley gig on the Louisiana Hayride circuit, and was annoyed that he couldn’t hear the music amid all the pubescent screaming. And as a guitarist, his attention was more on Scotty Moore than on the budding King of Rock & Roll and his pelvis. Just a few years later, Jerry would play for Presley, including on the hit single Good Luck Charm, and even for Scotty Moore himself.
As a guitarist, Kennedy was part of Nashville’s elite session community, contributing to countless recordings during the height of the “Nashville Sound” era. Among the many acts he played for are Faron Young, Brenda Lee, Dave Dudley, Hank Williams Jr., Roy Drusky, Johnny Paycheck, Ray Stevens, Skeeter Davis, David Allan Coe, Jody Miller, The Statler Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Price, Tom T. Hall, Carl Perkins, and many others,
He played guitar on Roy Orbison’s Oh Pretty Woman, The Statler Brothers’ Flowers On The Wall (which he also produced), on Charlie Rich’s The Most Beautiful Girl, and the dobro on Jeannie C. Riley’s Harper Valley P.T.A.
He played on Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde album, including on Just Like A Woman, and on Kris Kristofferson’s string of early-1970s album, on tracks such as Sunday Morning Coming Down, For The Good Times, Me And Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through The Night, Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again), Josie, and From The Bottle To The Bottom.
He also played for non-country acts like Johnny Halliday, Clyde McPhatter, Joan Baez, Ringo Starr, and Al Kooper.
But Kennedy is perhaps even better remembered for his long association with Mercury Records. As a producer (and later head of the label’s Nashville division), he produced several albums by major acts like Tom T. Hall, The Statler Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller, Dave Dudley, Bobby Bare, Roy Drusky, Faron Young, Johnny Rodriguez, Mickey Newbury, Reba McEntire and Moe Bandy.
Among the big hits he produced — and, on some, played — were Roger Miller’s King Of The Road and England Swings, Faron Young’s It’s Four In The Morning, Tom T. Hall’s I Love and Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine, and a long list of Country Chart hits.
The Hitwriter
The lyrics of the Madonna hit Like A Virgin were written by a man who had been going through a break-up and really felt like he had been “beat, incomplete” and having “made it through the wilderness”. Billy Steinberg, who has died at 75, co-wrote an impressive string of hits.
These hits also include True Colors by Cyndi Lauper, Alone by Heart, So Emotional by Whitney Houston, I Drove All Night by Roy Orbison (and Lauper), Eternal Flame by The Bangles, Look Me In The Heart by Tina Turner, I Touch Myself by Divinyls, I’ll Stand By You by the Pretenders, Falling Into You by Celine Dion, Too Little Too Late by JoJo, All About Us by t.A.t.u., Over It by Katharine McPhee, Don’t Hold Your Breath by Nicole Scherzinger, and Give Your Heart A Break by Demi Lovato.
Steinberg’s first break came when he was the lead singer and guitarist of the group Billy Thermal, whose Steinberg-written song How Do I Make You, initially only a demo, was covered by Linda Ronstadt and became a US Top 10 hit in 1980. Soon he and long-time writing partner Tom Kelly were writing songs for the likes of Pat Benatar, Rick Springfield, Air Supply, Belinda Carlisle and Peabo Bryson.
Steinberg also produced some records, including the songs mentioned by Orbison, Dion, McPhee, Scherzinger and Lovato, as well as tracks by acts like The Corrs, Chynna Philips, The Veronicas, JoJo, Leona Lewis, Ashley Tisdale, and Melanie C.
The Funky Trumpet
Best known as the trumpeter and leader of the funk band Slave, multi-instrumentalist Steve Washington went on to have success as founder of soul-funk band Aurra.
Slave was one of the tightest funk outfits in the late 1970s. Before the group adopted the name Slave, Washington and his bandmates performed as Black Satin. Their brand of Mid-West funk was harder than its coastal counterparts.
With Aurra, an off-shoot of Slave, the hard edges were smoothed. The band was especially popular in the UK, where their single You and Me Tonight reached #12 in 1986.
The Afrobeat Pioneer
As one of the founding architects of Ghana’s highlife genre and a pivotal figure in the evolution of Afrobeat in general, Ebo Taylor was one of Africa’s unheralded greats.
Born in 1936, Taylor grew up immersed in local musical forms before studying music in London in the late 1950s. There he absorbed jazz, and the early stirrings of funk, soul and reggae. He would later fuse these influences with West African rhythms.
On returning to Ghana in the 1960s, Taylor worked as a guitarist, composer, arranger and bandleader, performing with groups such as the Stargazers and later forming his own ensemble, The Pelikans. His collaborated with other greats of African music, especially Nigeria’s Fela Kuti, with whom he shared ideas during the formative years of Afrobeat, and South Africa’s Hugh Masekela, whose Pan-African outlook reflected Taylor’s own musical philosophy.
Taylor’s layered guitars, punchy horn arrangements, and hypnotic grooves scored lyrics that often addressed social justice, political consciousness and African identity.
Taylor was huge in West Africa but never achieved widespread international fame. Some recognition came in the 2000s, when Taylor met the Berlin-based Afrobeat Academy band, an association that resulted in the 2010 release of his first internationally distributed album, Love And Death on Strut Records.
Subsequently international reissue labels introduced Taylor’s back catalogue to new audiences. His recordings gained cult status among hip hop DJs, collectors and younger musicians, leading to performances and collaborations into his later years.
The Clobberer
Nicknamed “The Clobberer”, Andrew Ranken’s powerful, sometimes quasi-martial drumming propelled the sound of The Pogues, whom he joined in 1982 and stayed with until the split in 1996. He was also part of the 2001-14 regrouping.
He was working towards a degree in media and sociology when his neighbours Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer, having heard him practising in his flat, asked Ranken to join their embryonic band Pogue Mahone (Irish for “kiss my arse”). With The Pogues, he played on UK hits like Sally MacLennane, Fairytale Of New York, The Irish Rover (with The Dubliners), Fiesta, and Tuesday Morning.
More recently, he fronted a blues-rock band called The Mysterious Wheels.
Ranken is the fifth Pogue to die, after Shane MacGowan, Phil Crevron, Darryl Hunt, and Joe Strummer (a member from 1991-92).
The Drummer Down Under
Australian drummer Mark Kennedy, who has died at 74, played with some of his country’s best known bands. As a teenager in 1969, he co-founded the prog-rock band Spectrum, but by 1970 left the group. Still, he appeared on their debut single, appropriately titled I’ll Be Gone, which topped the Australian charts.
He followed that by founding another prog band, King Harvest (not to be confused with the US band of that name), which he also left within two years. He then co-founded jazz-fusion outfit Ayers Rock, with whom he played from 1973–76, and then drummed for the band’s backing singer Marcia Hines from 1976–83. For one album, in 1985, he drummed for Men At Work. Subsequently, he worked extensively with Renée Geyer, whom we lost in August 2923.
Kennedy also played percussions alongside Rafael de Jesus on Duran Duran’s 1983 album Seven and the Ragged Tiger.
As always, this post is reproduced in illustrated PDF format in the package, which also includes my personal playlist of the featured tracks. PW in comments.
Wolfgang Heichel, 75, singer with German disco-schlager group Dschinghis Khan, on Jan. 20
Dschinghis Khan – Moscow (1979)
Wes McGhee, 77, English country guitarist and songwriter, on Jan. 30
Wes McGhee – Whiskey Is My Driver (1980)
Don Adams, 85, country singer, on Feb. 1
Don Adams – I Just Lost My Favorite Girl (1964)
Steve Washington, 67, funk and soul musician, announced Feb. 1
Slave – Slide (1977, as member, also as co-writer)
Aurra – In My Arms (1982, as member, co-writer, producer)
Chuck Negron, 83, co-lead singer of Three Dog Night, on Feb. 2
Three Dog Night – One (1969, on lead vocals)
Three Dog Night – Joy To The World (1970, on lead vocals)
Three Dog Night – ‘Til The World Ends (1975, on lead vocals)
Ken Peplowski, 66, jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, on Feb. 2
Bob Beeman, bassist of punk band Stick Men With Ray Guns, announced Feb. 2
James Moschello, 88, singer with doo wop band The Elegants, on Feb. 2
The Elegants – Little Star (1958)
Pete Devine, drummer of blues-rock band Howell Devine, announced Feb. 3
Lamonte McLemore, 90, singer with The 5th Dimension, on Feb. 3
The 5th Dimension – Working On A Groovy Thing (1969, co-written by Neil Sedaka)
The 5th Dimension – The Singer (1971, also as co-writer)
The 5th Dimension – (Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All (1972)
Ron Kenoly, 81, worship music singer and songwriter, on Feb. 3
Tommy Crook, 81, country guitarist, on Feb. 4
Fred Smith, 77, bassist of Television (and originally of Blondie), on Feb. 5
Television – Guiding Light (1977)
Helen Micallef, 75, half of Maltese duo Helen & Joseph, on Feb. 5
Lynn Blakey, singer, guitarist of alt.country group Tres Chicas, announced Feb. 6
Tres Chicas – Sweetwater (2004, also as writer)
Kåre Grøttum, 92, Norwegian jazz pianist and composer, on Feb. 7
Greg Brown, alt.rock guitarist and songwriter with Cake, Deathray, announced Feb. 7
Cake – The Distance (1996, also as writer)
Brad Arnold, 47, singer of alt.rock band 3 Doors Down, songwriter, Feb. 7
3 Doors Down – Here Without You (2203, also as co-writer)
Ebo Taylor, 90, Ghanaian highlife singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, on Feb. 7
Ebo Taylor & The Pelikans – Come Along (1976, also as writer)
Ebo Taylor – Heaven (1977, on guitar, as co-writer and arranger)
Ebo Taylor – Nga Nga (2010, on guitar and as co-writer)
Rafael Amador Fernández, 65, singer, guitarist of Spanish flamenco band Pata Neta, on Feb. 8
Matti Caspi, 76, Israeli singer-songwriter, on Feb. 8
Garland Green, 83, soul singer and pianist, announced Feb. 9
Garland Green – You Played On A Player (1969)
Ernesto Colon, guitarist of metalcore band Merauder, on Feb. 9
Andrew Ranken, 72, drummer of The Pogues, on Feb. 10
The Pogues – Streams Of Whisky (1984)
The Pogues – Bottle Of Smoke (1988)
The Pogues – My Baby’s Gone (1993, also as lead singer and writer)
Des de Moor, 64, English singer, musician and songwriter, on Feb. 10
Jerry Kennedy, 85, producer, songwriter and guitarist, on Feb. 11
Elvis Presley – Good Luck Charm (1962, on guitar)
Roger Miller – King Of The Road (1965, as producer)
Kris Kristofferson – From The Bottle To The Bottom (1973, on guitar)
Saúl Cornejo, 79, Peruvian singer, songwriter of rock band We All Together, on Feb. 12
Michel Portal, 90, French jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinettist, on Feb. 12
Michel Portal – African Wind (2021, also as composer)
Ken Walker, 66, jazz musician and composer, on Feb. 12
Milkman, 36, Mexican rapper and producer, on Feb. 12
Simon Harris, 63, British producer, DJ and electronic musician, on Feb. 13
The Real Thing – You To Me Are Everything (Decade Mix) (1986, as co-remixer)
Simon Harris – Bass (How Low Can You Go) (1988)
Wayne Proctor, guitarist of garage rock band We The People, on Feb. 13
We The People – My Brother, The Man (1966)
Tim Very, 42, drummer of indie-rock band Manchester Orchestra, on Feb. 14
Manchester Orchestra – The Gold (2017)
Anna Ranalli, 84, Italian singer, model and actress, on Feb. 14
Marzio Mazzanti, 80, bassist of Italian pop band Homo Sapiens, announced Feb. 16
Homo Sapiens – Tornerai, tornerò (1975)
Billy Steinberg, 75, pop songwriter, producer, singer, guitarist, on Feb. 16
Billy Thermal – How Do I Make You (1980, as member, co-writer, on lead vocals)
Cyndi Lauper – I Drove All Night (1989, as co-writer)
Katharine McPhee – Over It (2007, as co-writer and co-producer)
Shinya Yamada, 56, drummer of Japanese rock band Luna Sea, on Feb. 17
Lil Poppa, 25, rapper, suicide on Feb. 18
Nikolai Komyagin, 39, singer of Russian rock band Shortparis, on Feb. 19
Mark Kennedy, 74, Australian pop, rock and fusion drummer, producer, on Feb. 21
Spectrum – I’ll Be Gone (1971, as member on drums)
Doug Parkinson & The Southern Star Band – Now You’re On Your Own (1978, as member on drums and as producer)
Duran Duran – New Moon On Monday (1983, on percussions)
Pete Dello, 83, English singer and songwriter, on Feb. 21
The Honeybus – I Can’t Let Maggie Go (1968, as member on lead vocals and co-writer)
Willie Colón, 75, salsa legend, actor, and social activist, on Feb. 21
Willie Colón – The Hustler (1968)
Willie Colón feat. Héctor Lavoe – Che Che Cole (1971)
Celia Cruz & Willie Colón – Pun Pun Catalú (1977, also as producer)
Willie Colón – El Gran Varón (1989)
Luci4, 23, rapper, songwriter and producer, on Feb. 22
Sondra Lee, 97, musicals actress and singer, on Feb. 23
Monti Rock III, 86, disco singer, on Feb. 23
Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes – Get Dancin’ (1974, as Disco-Tex on vocals)
Héctor Zamorano, 47, Mexican pop singer, on Feb. 24
Brett Jones, 69, country songwriter, on Feb. 24
Rostislav Gepp, 74, pianist of Russian pop group Ariel, on Feb. 24
Jiří Valenta, 66, keyboardist of Czech band Olympic, suicide in Feb. 24
Oliver ‘Power’ Grant, 52, Wu Tang Clan co-founder, executive producer, on Feb. 25
Roscoe Robinson, 97, gospel and soul singer and songwriter, on Feb. 26
Roscoe Robinson – Do It Right Now (1966, also as writer)
Neil Sedaka, 86, singer, songwriter and producer, on Feb. 27
Neil Sedaka – Oh, Carol (1959, also as co-writer)
Neil Sedaka – Next Door To An Angel (1962, also as co-writer)
Neil Sedaka – The Immigrant (1974, also as co-writer and co-producer)
Neil Sedaka – Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (1975 also as co-writer and co-producer)
Travis Wammack, 81, rock guitarist and singer, on Feb. 27
Travis Wammack – Scratchy (1964, also as co-writer)
Travis Wammack – (Shu-Doo-Pa-Poo-Poop) Love Being Your Fool (1975)
Boncana Maïga, 77, Malian composer and musician, on Feb. 28
Terry Watkinson, 85, keyboardist of Canadian rock band Max Webster, on Feb. 28
John P. Hammond, 83, blues singer and guitarist, on Feb. 28
John Hammond – I Can Tell (1967)
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