Rolling Obituary Thread 2022

Jazz composer and arranger Sy Johnson.

Singer Jim Sohns of Nuggets Legends the Shadows of Knight

Tom Wright, photographer, manager of Detroit’s legendary Grande Ballroom, and onetime Who tour manager. He was roommates with art college classmate Pete Townshend in the early ‘60s, and Wright’s collection of then-unobtainable-in-the-UK records (Jimmy Reed, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, many others) would be massively influential on Pete’s music.

Beloved Australian singer-songwriter Archie Roach, 66

oh no! rip Archie ;_;

Dave Heckman, cofounder of Metropolis Records.

Metropolis Records is devastated to announce the death of our founder and label owner, Dave Heckman. https://t.co/HyNCmqpFy9 pic.twitter.com/hGoPUk4FzJ

— Metropolis Records (@MetropolisRec) July 30, 2022

not to jump on the true heart of the tom wright story (that he was a texan studying at ealing art college, that he personally opened townshend's ears to a wealth of sound townshend might not otherwise have encountered) but this or that specific rarity aside i don't believe anyone on that list was actually "unobtainable" in the west end of london in the early 60s (miles was on columbia aka cbs in the uk; ray charles was on atlantic, licensed to decca in the uk). "hard to obtain" certainly, for a couple of them: obviously you couldn't walk into a suburban or small-town uk high street woolworths and find a jimmy reed side… but the entirety of the cool mod ecology was based round hunting out obscure discs you knew abt before anyone else was hip to them, and every back-in-the-day read on this topic is flourishing jimmy reed almost before anyone else. he had been obtained: there were dedicated jazz shops and dedicated r&b market stalls and dedicated mods buzzed in and out of or around them -- so i guess the heart of the story is in the end also a known thing abt townshend, that he was never very deeply plugged into the actual real cool mod ecology lol

anyway RIP tom wright, he was a real one

True, “hard to obtain” is more accurate. But the artists I listed were only part of the collection. Richard Barnes, who moved in with Pete after Wright was deported for pot possession, gave a rundown of the collection: “…all of Jimmy Reed’s albums, all of Chuck Berry’s, all of James Brown’s, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Snooks Eaglin, Mose Allison, all of Jimmy Smith’s, Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Slim Harpo, Buddy Guy, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Joe Turner, Nina Simone, Booker T., Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, the Isley Brothers, Fats Domino, the Coasters, Ray Charles, Jimmy McGriff, Brother Jack McDuff, John Patton, Bobby Bland, the Drifters, the Miracles, the Shirelles, the Impressions and many jazz albums including Charlie Parker, Mingus, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Milt Jackson, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Giuffre, Dave Brubeck, plus albums by Jonathan Winters, Mort Sahl, Shelley Berman and particularly Lord Buckley. There were also about thirty classical albums.”

You’re right in that none of the above were technically unobtainable in the UK at the time, strictly speaking. But I doubt that anyone else in the scene had a collection as large, wide-ranging, and as consistently good as Pete’s/Tom’s. I would be surprised if anyone in the Stones or the Yardbirds or even anyone in the John Mayall/Alexis Korner/Graham Bond orbits had a collection like that in 1962-63.

And Townshend knew he wasn’t really a mod, but was happy to soundtrack and slightly engineer that movement anyway.

I don't really think the Who had much, if any, influence on the (original) Mod scene at all.

I remember eons back reading the entry in Dave Marsh's original Book of Rock Lists and when the Who was mentioned the only comment was "Dressed the part."

An announcement… pic.twitter.com/KMJ7pG4R5Z

— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) July 31, 2022

Nichelle Nichols.

Hold the front page! RIP ;_;

NOOOO ;_;

Bill Russell is up near the top of my wish-I'd-seen-him-play list; along with Jim Brown, one of the few non-baseball players on there.

I have this feeling Shatner is going to outlive the entire cast of Star Trek...RIP Nichelle :(

i thought the romulan commander was still with us but she died last summer : /

Oh no NN, we’ve been watching the original series and just passed the ep where she sings a song for the lonely engineer while he drinks poisoned milk. Such a presence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs4mbHLAFuU

What was Bill Russell's life like while he was racking up 11 rings? His daughter writes: pic.twitter.com/ETKKvEbDfX

— austin walker (@austin_walker) July 31, 2022

Our Uhura is far beyond the stars now. In January 1967, Ebony declared Nichelle Nichols the first Negro astronaut, a triumph of modern day television over modern day NASA.

We are here because you were there.

May our Queen Rest in Power and Forever Glory 🖖🏽

1932-2022 pic.twitter.com/c8ukMlRdS0

— Prof. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Child of Uhura (@IBJIYONGI) July 31, 2022

Pat Carroll

Mo Ostin -- 95!

https://variety.com/2022/music/news/mo-ostin-dead-warner-bros-records-chief-1235330951/

Ayman al-Zawahiri, assassinated by as yet unidentified US forces

Feeling safer already

Definitely someone I thought was already dead

John King, Ardent Records cofounder:

R.I.P. John King. Co-founder of Ardent Records & a brilliant promo man from Memphis music's golden era, he helped build the legend of Big Star (coming up with the idea for the 1973 Rock Writers Convention). Here's a look at his colorful life and legacy. https://t.co/SDn63gPOnF

— Bob Mehr (@BobMehr) August 2, 2022

RIP

Stepping back a bit to Nichols' passing, a truly lovely thread of memories from Takei

I have been truly moved by the tributes and messages honoring the life and work of Nichelle Nichols, our very own Lieutenant and later Commander Uhura on Star Trek. Although our original series ran only three seasons, we became bonded /1 pic.twitter.com/v1pZtQBU3a

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 2, 2022

Beautiful tribute.

John "Yogi" Hughes, Lisbon Lion.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/john-hughes-dies-79-celtic-27633326

The great one's gone -- RIP Vin Scully

pic.twitter.com/FloR9dBhZj

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2022

oh man. what a legend. him and Bill Russell in the same week.

greatest of all time

As a kid I only saw Braves, Cubs, and Yankees games because they somehow had national deals with cable providers, but I somehow still knew exactly who Vin Scully was despite ever seeing very very few Dodgers games. Loved him.

So many moments but this one, man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4nwMDZYXTI

boggles my mind that he started his career doing play by play for the **brooklyn** dodgers

All off the top of his head

https://www.salon.com/1999/10/12/scully_koufax/

he called henry aaron’s record-breaking homer and that dwight clark catch for the 49ers too. just the best

I love this one

how the hell do you tell the story of a wolf attacking a boy during an at bat calmly, colorfully and without missing a pitch? Vin Scully was an absolute artist pic.twitter.com/aLjUYv7mme

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 3, 2022

RIP Vin. Never will be another like him.

Nicky Moore, British blues-rock hollerer who sang with Samson, Uli Jon Roth, Big Jim Sullivan and shitloads more, 75.

Alistair Little, chef.

Vin's truest peer with the salute.

Se ha ido el más grande de los cronistas de béisbol y otros deportes. He perdido al arquitecto de mi vida profesional; un amigo entrañable: Vin Scully. Experimento ahora lo más difícil para hilvanar mis pensamientos y solo puedo decir paz en su tumba,volveremos a vernos pronto.

— Jaime Jarrín (@JaimeJarrin) August 3, 2022

Amazing

Oh, we’re all telling our Vin Scully stories? Alright, here’s mine.

I was working for a radio station in LA and helping where I could. They asked me to call Vin and get him ready to be on the radio in the next few minutes…

— John Gennaro (@johnmgennaro) August 3, 2022

Sam Gooden, vocalist with The Impressions.

Larry Josephson, pioneer of '60s New York liberal talk radio at WBAI alongside Bob Fass and Steve Post.

that absolutely awful slaphead cunt with the moustache from the recurring oxo family ads in the 80's. Can neither remember his name, nor do I care to find it. Special place in hell for people that accept gravy that looks like sewerage mixed with wallpaper paste.

That'll be Michael Redfern you're talking about, also notable for playing the copper who busts up the house party in an episode of The Young Ones. Plus he was in Terry and June once. Thanks, Wikipedia!

yeah I think he was a bald copper in Filthy, Rich & Catflap as well!

other people from awful recurring UK television ads like Kris Marshall and Maureen Lipman are probably far more annoying than he was tbf. But I really loathed that oxo family when I was a kid.