Rolling Obituary Thread: 2021

aw, damn. glad I was lucky enough to see him play live once

Losing Jon Hassell, Frederic Rzewski, and Peter Zinovieff in the course of a single day is a rough ride for all the gentle nerds — stay plugged in

— Sasha Frere-Jones (@zombiesfj) June 26, 2021

RIP Jon :(

mike gravel, 91

BREAKING: Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska, who read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record in 1971 and decades later ran for the Democratic presidential nomination as a critic of the Iraq war, has died at age 91. https://t.co/5wqxNsR83u

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 27, 2021

his twitter account might not have really been him, but he was a real one

pianist-composer Burton Greene, a collaborator with/contemporary of Marion Brown, Alan Silva, Sunny Murray, and many others.

Aw, man. RIP. He was Patty Waters' pianist, and his first album (on ESP-Disk, of course) had Marion Brown on alto and Henry Grimes on bass.

‘Cops’ Creator John Langley Dead at 78
Reality television pioneer suffers fatal heart attack while racing in Baja, Mexico

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/cops-creator-john-langley-dead-obit-1189920/

Cool, fuck that guy.

Rest In Tasers

Lauren Berlant.

I've cited Berlant frequently in my academic writing. RIP.

Manfred Fricke of MFB, designer of a huge number of great drum machines.

https://cdm.link/2021/06/rip-berlin-synth-drum-machine-legend-manfred-frickes-of-mfb/

David Gamble, drummer for the Method Actors

A statement from the family of Donald Rumsfeld: pic.twitter.com/AlKYxVvqgF

— Donald Rumsfeld (@RumsfeldOffice) June 30, 2021

Wow, Rumsfeld... some grave dancing is in order. History may remember him for a lot of things.

Wish Morbs were here to get a few kicks in.

hope whatever killed him was painful and drawn-out

Whenever God closes a door (Cosby released on a technicality), He opens a window (rest in shit, Rumsfeld)

jesus, I thought that piece of shit was already dead. At least now the cunt really knows the unknowns

earlier today on ILX:

i had a vivid feeling of the W years being well & truly over

― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), woensdag 30 juni 2021 14:39

He was doing a book tour not all that long ago

RIP Donald Rumsfeld, you taught me it was okay to be wired to a car battery

— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) June 30, 2021

He was surrounded by family, now he's surrounded by cackling demons

The obituary Rumsfeld deserves. It's not Hunter Thompson on Nixon; it's colder than that, a tallying of the bodies (to the degree that's possible).

be gone, creep

lol calzino

good obit imo.

louis andriessen, 82. composers dropping like flies these days

https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2021/07/01/960923935/louis-andriessen-influential-iconoclastic-dutch-composer-dies-at-age-82

RIP

Rick Laird, original Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist.

RIP to the guy that held the whole thing in check.

italian tv and music personality Raffaella Carrà

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/italian-tv-icon-raffaella-carra-dead-aged-78.884494

NOOOOOOOOOOO

RIP Raffaella Carrà, after a 70-year career where she crossed paths and bared navels with Frank Sinatra and the Pope (and that’s just the sixties), but she would have been a legend for this one song alone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5y1-Ru3Jpc

guess she’ll have to present next year’s Eurovision from heaven then...

His age and manner of death are startling--and in the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/05/sport/matiss-kivlenieks-death-spt-intl/index.html

https://deadline.com/2021/07/richard-donner-dead-superman-lethal-weapon-director-1234786372/

Director Richard Donner, 91

RIP. The first Superman still holds up beautifully (I last watched it when Margot Kidder passed), and there's a lot about Scrooged that still works. Haven't watched any of Lethal Weapon movies in forever, but I remember the first two fondly. For whatever reason, despite being what I imagine was exact target audience for The Goonies, it never really appealed to me.

I never saw Goonies until I was in my thirties. Liked it ok as an adult, unsure how I would've welcomed it as a child.

Directed one of the most famous Twilight Zone eps: "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet".

https://doyouremember.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/nightmare-at-20000-ft.jpg

Uber-famous--didn't realize that was Donner. (I was marking some music-video analyses from grade 6 students a couple of months ago, and I pointed out to one of them that his video--forget what it was--was probably paying homage to that episode.)

Didn't know that was him, either. Also, forgot about The Omen (I probably liked it way back when) and The Toy (ugh).

He made more movies I've enjoyed than many directors I'd consider among my favorites. Don't know what to make of that. Omen, Superman, Goonies, Lethal Weapon 1 &2, Scrooged ... I seem to recall people liking Conspiracy Theory? (Jeez, this man made six Mel Gibson movies.)

Statement from Gibson:

“Donner! My friend, my mentor. Oh, the things I learned from him! He undercut his own talent and greatness with a huge chunk of humility referring to himself as ‘merely a traffic cop.’ He left his ego at the door and required that of others. He was magnanimous of heart and soul, which he liberally gave to all who knew him. If we piled up all the good deeds he did, it would stretch to some uncharted place in the firmament. I will sorely miss him, with all his mischievous wit and wisdom."

Pauline Kael liked Conspiracy Theory--said so in an interview after she retired. Don't remember much.

Donner's best movies are light on their feet, balancing humor and action and eliciting winning, likable performances. A talented journeyman.

I guess I mostly agree with that.

Has Blame It On Rio been mentioned yet?

Wrong recently deceased director

Ha, sorry!