MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN AUGUST 2023
MUSICIANS WHO DIED IN AUGUST 2023
AUGUST 4
JOHN GOSLING (75) / BRITISH ROCK KEYBOARDIST, PIANIST AND SINGER, KNOIWN AS A MEMBER OF THE ROCK GROUP THE KINKS. GOSLING AUDITIONED FOR THE "LOLA" SESSION, JOINED THE KINKS IN 1970 AND STAYED WITH THEM TILL 1978. HE PLAYED ON MANY ALBUMS INCLUDING MUSWELL HILLBILLIES AND EVERYBODY'S IN SHOW-BIZ - EVERYBODY'S A STAR AND ON ONE OF THE GREATEST KINKS' HITS "LOLA" (WENT TO #2 IN UK). IN 1994 GOSLING FORMED THE KAST OFF KINKS WITH EX-MEMBERS OF THE KINKS: JIM RODFORD, JOHN DALTON AND DRUMMER MICK AVORY (WHO WAS A FOUNDING THE KINKS MEMBER) AND PLAYED WITH THEM UNTIL HE RETIRED IN 2008. THE KINKS INFLUENCED LOTS OF ROCK GROUPS AROUND THE WORLD INCLUDING PUNK BANDS THE STOOGES, THE RAMONES, THE CLASH, THE JAM, BLONDIE, SEX PISTOLS, THE STRANGLERS. THE KINKS WERE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PROTO-PUNK BANDS, ESPECIALLY WITH SONGS LIKE "YOU REALLY GOT ME" AND "ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT" BY RAY DAVIS AND THEY THEMSELVES WERE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY R&B AND MODERN JAZZ.
AUGUST 5 ,
TRISTAN HONSINGER (73) / AMERICAN FREE JAZZ AND FREE IMPROV CELLIST KNOWN FOR HIS MANY COLLABORATIONS WITH PIANIST CECIL TAYLOR AND GUITARIST DEREK BAILEY. HONSINGER WAS A CLASSICALY TRAINED CELLIST WHO PLAYED PROFESSIONALLY SINCE 12. STUDIED AT THE NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY IN BOSTON, THEN IN 1969 ESCAPED TO MONTREAL TO AVOID THE DRAFT. IN 1974 MOVED TO EUROPE AND LIVED IN AMSTERDAM. IN 1979 WORKED WITH UK POST PUNK BAND THE POP GROUP, IN THE 1990s WITH THE DUTCH PUNK / UNDERGROUND BAND THE EX (INSTANT, 1995) AND IG HENNEMAN. WORKED ALSO WITH BUTCH MORRIS, ANDREW CYRILE, EVAN PARKER. IN 1991 FORMED STRING GROUP (VIOLIN, CELLO, DOUBLE BASS, DRUMS) FIELDS IN MINIATURE.
AUGUST 8
JAMIE REID (76) / BRITISH PUNK VISUAL ARTIST, ANARCHIST, SOCIALIST AND DRUID. USED THE TECHNIQUE OF DÉCOLLAGE. WAS A STRONG INFLUENCE ON THE IMAGE OF PUNK ROCK CULTURE WITH HIS LOGOS, POSTERS AND RECORD COVERS ESPECIALLY FOR THE SEX PISTOLS ONLY STUDIO ALBUM NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE'S SEX PISTOLS AND THEIR SINGLES "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN", "ANARCHY IN THE UK", "PRETTY VACANT" AND "HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN". PARTICULARLY "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN" COVER BECAME FAMOUS AND ICONIC AS IT DEPICTED QUEEN ELISABETH II WITH A SAFETY PIN THROUGH HER MOUTH AND SWASTIKAS IN HER EYES WHICH ALONG WITH JOHN LYDON'S LYRICS WAS A SHOCK AND THE SONG WAS CENSORED BY THE BBC AND ITS AIRING TOTALLY BANNED WHILE THE MAIN DISTRIBUTORS AND SHOPS REFUSED TO SELL IT. DESPITE THE BAN, THE SONG WENT TO #1 ON THE CHARTS. WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS ADMIRED THE SONG AND THE ATTITUDE AND SENT THE SEX PISTOLS A LETTER OF CONGRATULATIONS. THE COVER WAS SO CONTROVERSIAL THAT JOHN LYDON AND PRODUCERS BILL PRICE AND CHRIS THOMAS WERE ATTACKED WITH RAZORS AND JAMIE REID HAD HIS LEG BROKEN. THE "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN" COVER HAS OFTEN BEEN CHOSEN AS THE BEST RECORD COVER OF ALL TIME. JAMIE REID WAS ALSO A POLITICAL AND ECO ACTIVIST, TOOK PART IN ANTI-NUCLEAR AND ANTI-APARTHEID MARCHES, DESIGNED POSTERS AND ARTWORK FOR THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT, EXTINCTION REBELLION, PUSSY RIOT, POLL TAX AND IRAQ WAR PROTESTS. THE WORKS OF JAMIE REID ARE HELD IN MANY MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES LIKE TATE BRITAIN, MoMA, NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY IN LONDON OR MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS IN HOUSTON.
RODRIGUEZ (81) / AKA JESÚS RODRIGUEZ, BORN SIXTO DIAZ RODRIGUEZ, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER FROM DETROIT, MICHIGAN. FIRST SINGLE "I'LL SLIP AWAY" IN 1967. AFTER A THREE YEAR BREAK MADE TWO ALBUMS FOR SUSSEX RECORDS: COLD FACT (1970) AND COMING FROM REALITY (1971). BOTH SOLD VERY POORLY AND SO HE QUIT MUSIC CAREER, BECAME A LABOURER ALL THE TIME BEING POLITICALLY ACTIVE AND FIGHTING FOR THE WORKING CLASS RIGHTS. AT THE SAME TIME HE WAS HUGELY POPULAR IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND ESPECIALLY IN SOUTH AFRICA, SELLING MILLIONS OF RECORDS. HIS COMPILATION ALBUM AT HIS BEST WENT PLATINUM IN SOUTH AFRICA. BUT THESE WERE THE FACTS HE DID NOT KNOW. AND HIS AFRICAN FANS THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD. IN 1997 HIS DAUGHTER LEARNED ABOUT HIS AFRICAN POPULARITY FROM THE INTERNET AND EVERYTHING CHANGED. HE TOURED SOUTH AFRICA IN 1998 AND THEN IN THE NEXT YEARS. HIS MOST FAMOUS SONG "SUGAR MAN" WAS VERY POPULAR AND OFTEN COVERED.
AUGUST 9
ROBBIE ROBERTSON (80) / CANADIAN MUSICIAN, SINGER, SONGWRITER, FILM COMPOSER. PLAYED GUITAR AND KEYBOARDS. JOINED HIS FIRST BAND AT 13, THEN WAS IN OTHER BANDS AND IN 1959 STARTED WORKING WITH RONNIE HAWKINS AND NEXT YEAR JOINED RONNIE HAWKINS AND THE HAWKS AND TOURED AND RECORDED WITH THEM FOR ROULETTE RECORDS (1961-1963). WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE HAWKS LEFT AND THEY FORMED THE LEVON HELM SEXTET WHICH LATER BECAME LEVON AND THE HAWKS AND THEN THE BAND. THE HAWKS ALSO FUNCTIONED AS BOB DYLAN'S BACKING BAND.
AUGUST 17
GARY YOUNG (70) / AKA PLANTMAN , AMERICAN PUNK ROCK AND INDIE ROCK DRUMMER, SINGER, KEYBOARDIST AND MUSIC PRODUCER. THE ORIGINAL DRUMMER OF THE INDIE ROCK GROUP PAVEMENT (1989-1993). IN THE 1980s ORGANIZED GIGS FOR HARDCORE BANDS BLACK FLAG, CIRCLE JERKS, DEAD KENNEDYS AND PLAYED IN THE PUNK BAND THE FALL OF CHRISTIANITY. PAVEMENT WAS FOUNDED IN 1989 BY STEPHEN MALKMUS AND SCOTT KANNBERG AND WHEN THEY RECORDED THEIR DEBUT EP SLAY TRACKS: 1933-1969 IN GARY YOUNG'S STUDIO LOUDER THAN YOU THINK, HE GUESTED ON DRUMS. HE MADE THREE MORE EPs WITH PAVEMENT: DEMOLITION PLOT J-7 (1990), PERFECT SOUND FOREVER (1991), WATERY, DOMESTIC (1992) AND THEIR 1992 DEBUT ALBUM SLANTED AND ENCHANTED. IN 1993 YOUNG HAD TO LEAVE PAVEMENT POSSIBLY BECAUSE OF HIS EXTRAVAGANT BEHAVIOUR AND HIS ALCOHOLISM. HE THEN PLAYED THE ADDITIONAL DRUMS AND PRODUCED THE 1999 PAVEMENT EP MAJOR LEAGUES. IN 1993 HE FORMED HIS OWN BAND GARY YOUNG'S HOSPITAL WHO MADE THREE ALBUMS AND THEN HE MADE HIS SOLO ALBUM MALFUNCTION IN 2016. AFTER A LONG BATTLE WITH HIS ADDICTION, HE FINALLY BECAME SOBER IN 1998.
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