Rolling Obituary Thread 2023

Jerry Mander, ad man for non-profits and author of Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television. 86
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/obituaries/jerry-mander-dead.html

Tim Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive Member. 71
https://people.com/music/bachman-turner-overdrives-tim-bachman-dead-at-age-71/

That's a picture of Fred Turner on the People site, Tim is 2nd from right in the photo below.

There were some accusations of abuse against him in the last few years that don't appear to have been resolved one way or the other.

In high school science my teacher asked a dumb hockey player what BTU stood for and he offered Bachman Turner Underdrive as a suggestion which 30 years later is still the first thing I think about when they come up.

lol

Gordon Lightfoot, following recent bad health:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/gordon-lightfoot-dead-1.6828991

oh no :(

rip gord :(

wow. just the other week I had to confirm that he was still with us. what a songwriter.

He was the greatest. I’ve been on a kick recently, what an amazing body of work

Oh, my mom'll be bummed. Gord's Gold got a lot of play in our house when I was a kid.

I’ve said it elsewhere but set aside Gord’s Gold and spin the UA originals and you will never be the same, some of the greatest music ever recorded

Back Here on Earth from the UA era is maybe his best record.

can't rank 'em with Sit Down Young Stranger, Sundown, and Don Quixote but yeah they're super good. find the CD not the vinyl because the originals sound terrible!

Gordon Lightfoot's first greatest hits album was one of the six albums that made the jump from 8-track to cassette tape in my dad's cars through the 70s (Moody Blues' Days Of Future Past, Aretha's greatest hits, Chicago's Chicago IX, an Artie Shaw comp I can't remember, & Deutch Gramophone's Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" 6th Symphony were the other five). On a lot of cross-country driving, Gordon's slow, steady twelve string was the soundtrack to a lot of looking out the car window.

The If You Could Read My Mind documentary is totally worthwhile - especially when he breaks down songwriting and putting in the hard work to make it right. Mandatory viewing for anyone who claims to be a songwriter - especially if you need a motivating image of a fearsome Gordon Lightfoot ready to kick your ass if you do slipshod work. Sundown is all-time, all-time

yeah he was apparently a real perfectionist...I read some article talking a lot about how even in his 80's he was incredibly meticulous about everyone staying in tune. I saw him a few times around here and indeed, while Gord himself didn't sound so great the band was always very sharp

Ah shame, RIP.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/may/02/the-bedrock-of-my-life-michael-palin-announces-the-death-of-his-wife-helen

Michael Palin's wife Helen. If you've devoured his diaries, as I have, this is a bit of a heartbreaker.

Ah man, a bummer. That was a partnership, and after Jones being gone for a while too, my heart goes out to him.

And as mentioned in the piece, East of Ipswich is a lovely little film based on when they met.

World champion sprinter Tori Bowie, 32.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/may/03/tori-bowie-dies-age-32-olympic-world-athletics-championships-100m-champion

Linda Lewis

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/04/linda-lewis-death-british-singer-and-famed-backing-vocalist-dies-aged-72

i've picked up a few of her records over the years, some of which are not really my thing tbh, but i do like this 80s boogie record that she made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p985VoXNuqM
Linda Lewis - Class/Style (I've Got It)

It was good to hear a snippet of that on a Radio 4 news show earlier.

Rob Laakso, philly musician for hire... played in/with Wicked Farleys, Swirlies, Mice Parade, Kurt Vile/Violators, et al.

Passed at age 44 or aggressive cancer. RIP Rob.

The singular Bruce McCall, 87, has died. Illustrator, author, humorist, @NewYorker standout - and generous friend. In his honor, I shall wear the St. Louis Browns sweatshirt he once gave me. Onward, Zany Bruce. pic.twitter.com/cTyS8RcUlL

— Dan Barry (@DanBarryNYT) May 5, 2023

Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records. Don't know if it's public or not but Elijah Wald's memories just now make for a lovely read.

Newton 'vast wasteland' Minow himself, 97.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/06/newton-minow-fcc-chairman-vast-wasteland-dies/

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/09/demon-headmaster-actor-terrence-hardiman-dies

and yet jack straw still lives

david miranda

Rest in Power Rita Lee, 75, the queen of Brazilian rock. The former Os Mutantes vocalist who recorded 18 solo albums passed away this morning from lung cancer in her beloved home town of São Paulo. pic.twitter.com/BxUfHG0ZVo

— BrianMier (@BrianMteleSUR) May 9, 2023

Oh damn

RIP

Rock poster artist Frank Kozik at 61

Oh damn! Absolutely distinct work and the Man's Ruin label was a great effort.

oh shit … huge inspiration as a poster obsessed teen

Floored by this. His poster for the Spectrum, BJM, Low show at the GAMH is right here on the wall next to me.

John Albert, of Christian Death and Bad Religion, also the author of the baseball-addiction memoir Wrecking Crew. Dead at 58, a heart attack.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2023-05-09/john-albert-bad-religion-christian-death-author-the-wrecking-crew

Impressive obit on a remarkable person (whom I didn't really know about). What a life RIP.

RIP Ian Hacking.
Feb 18 1936 - May 10 2023
A very bright light has gone out. pic.twitter.com/Ukcuuw52Z6

— Cheryl Misak (@MisakCheryl) May 10, 2023

Oh wow - I read Mad Travellers a couple times, I recommend it to people all the time... his hypothesis about transient illnesses occupying a certain space & time is more germane than ever

Co-sign on the John Albert piece, I like that first CD album a lot (if I succeed in ignoring some of the lyrics).

Holy shit, Heather Armstrong, aka Dooce, one of the (the most?) formative mom bloggers. 47.

Yeah that shocked me. I hadn't followed her or anything, I just remember when she was a big deal. Sounds like she'd had a hard go of things. Sad.

Apparently suicide, after years of struggling with depression, something I believe she'd written about a lot. I had forgotten all about her, but her impact on internet culture felt pretty huge.

based on this later-deleted post from nine months ago, she was . . . not in a good place

xxxpost a very appealing Amazon customer review of Hacking's book ends with mention of follow-up:

For an updated account on contemporary travel madness, "Global Nomads" by Anthony D'Andrea is a must-read on how mobile practices in exotic lands gradually affect and transform the self.

hfs that armstrong post. peace to you, peace.

re: Hacking.

Ian Hacking, who died yesterday aged 87, wrote 28 pieces for the LRB between 1986 and 2013, on the philosophy of mind, deafness, Iris Murdoch, metaphysics and organ transplants, among other things.

You can read Hacking’s pieces in our online archive here:https://t.co/q59rA8TNQ4 pic.twitter.com/F63cdg9qQt

— London Review of Books (@LRB) May 11, 2023