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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, January 12th, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. This week the Grim Reaper has selected a playlist that opens with a number one country crossover. We’ve also got a TV heartthrob one-hit wonder, some German and American hard rock, a triple shot of Indian music, and an African politician who composed his country’s national anthem. Get ready to expand your musical horizons on this global jam session from the great beyond. Let’s kick things off with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[05 Jan 2024] Larry Collins, 79, American guitarist (The Collins Kids) and songwriter (“Delta Dawn“).
Our opening act began as a child star. Larry Collins was part of a duo with his sister Lorrie called The Collins Kids. From 1954–1961, they had a few hits and appeared on radio and television. After breaking up the duo, Collins continued to perform as a solo guitarist until his death on January 5th. But Collins gained the greatest notoriety writing hits for well-known country stars, including this smash first recorded by Bette Midler, then made a top ten country hit by 13-year-old Tanya Tucker, before going to number one on the pop charts in 1973 for the late Helen Reddy.
Helen Reddy – Delta Dawn
Headliner:
[04 Jan 2024] David Soul, 80, American-British actor (Starsky & Hutch, Magnum Force) and singer (“Don’t Give Up on Us“).
On January 4th, we lost half of the 70’s TV detective team Starsky & Hutch. David Soul played the hunky blond cop Kenneth Hutchinson on the show, which ran from 1975–1979. But he’s on the Reaper’s Rotation this week as one of the greatest one-hit wonders of all time, making it all the way to number one on the US pop charts in April 1977. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, as Soul did manage to chart four more times in the UK, where he went on to become star on stage. Here’s David Soul’s #1 US and UK hit, “Don’t Give Up On Us.”
David Soul – Don’t Give Up On Us
Main Stage:
[05 Jan 2024] Del Palmer, 71, English singer-songwriter, bass guitarist, and sound engineer.
We welcome Del Palmer to the Main Stage, an English musician and sound engineer, best known for his work with Kate Bush, with whom he also had a long-term relationship from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. He engineered four of her albums and appeared in some of her music videos as well. Additionally, he recorded three albums of solo material on which he plays bass, keyboards, and percussion. Here’s one of Del Palmer’s original tracks called “Wendy.”
Del Palmer – Wendy
[08 Jan 2024] Guy Bonnet, 78, French author, composer and singer.
Now, we head to France, where author, composer, and singer Guy Bonnet has passed away on January 8th. Bonnet wrote and composed for numerous artists, including 1968 Eurovision contestant Isabelle Aubret. He competed himself in 1970 and again in 1983 with this composition entitled “Vivre.”
Guy Bonnet – Vivre
[24 Dec 2023] Willie Ruff, 92, American jazz musician and educator.
Let’s close the Main Stage with some blues from our oldest performer this week. On Christmas Eve last year, 92-year-old Yale music professor Willie Henry Ruff, Jr. left us. He’s a member of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame who played double bass and French horn. In his act, the Mitchell-Ruff Duo, he’s credited as performing in the first jazz band to ever play in the Soviet Union in 1959 and China in 1981. Here he is with “Sheffield Blues.”
Willie Ruff – Sheffield Blues
Mosh Pit:
[09 Jan 2024] James Kottak, 61, American drummer (Scorpions, Kingdom Come, Kottak).
James Kottak, who died on January 9th, was an American who was the longest-serving drummer for the German hard rock band Scorpions. He’s also played drums for Montrose, McAuley Schenker Group, Warrant, Black Sheep, and others. But for me, Kottak’s massive drum attack will always be attached to a hair band from 1988, when an early leak of this track on a Detroit radio station led to rumors of a long-awaited Led Zeppelin reunion. This is Kingdom Come with “Get It On.”
Kingdom Come – Get It On
[07 Jan 2024] Tony Clarkin, 77, English guitarist and songwriter (Magnum).
One of the most prolific artists to join us in the Mosh Pit is Tony Clarkin, the English guitarist and songwriter who composed all 22 studio albums of the rock band Magnum from 1972 to 2024, as well as two studio albums from a spin-off group called Hard Rain in the late 1990s. Clarkin died on January 7th. Here is Magnum with the title track from “On A Storyteller’s Night.”
Magnum – On A Storyteller’s Night
[27 Dec 2023] Michael Gibbons Jr., American guitarist (Leeway).
We close the Mosh Pit with a crossover thrash band that was well known at the late CBGB club in New York. While they played alongside such groups as Prong, Suicidal Tendencies, GWAR, and Bad Brains, they never achieved the same level of notoriety. Michael Gibbons Jr. played guitar for the group from 1987 to 1993, recording on their first two albums. Here is Leeway with “Enforcer.”
Leeway – Enforcer
The Amphitheater:
[06 Jan 2024] Iasos, 76, Greek-born American musician.
Let’s come down a bit with one of the pioneers of New Age music. Iasos was born in Greece and moved to America at the age of 4. He grew up playing in school band, then dedicated himself to becoming a professional musician. After undertaking spiritual guidance in the Bay Area, he began recording music inspired by his awakening, culminating in 1975’s Inter-Dimensional Music, considered one of the first New Age albums. Here’s the opening track of that album, “Libra Sunrise.”
Iasos – Libra Sunrise
[10 Jan 2024] Tamara Milashkina, 89, Russian operatic soprano.
To the opera we go, where Russian soprano Tamara Milashkina has joined the choir invisible on January 10th. Milashkina started with the Bolshoi Opera in 1958 and remained a leading soprano there until 1989. Here she is performing as Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades.
Tamara Milashkina – Uzh vecher
[06 Jan 2024] Sarah Rice, 68, American actress (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) and singer, cancer.
Now to the Great White Way, where the Broadway actress who created the original role of Johanna in Sweeney Todd in 1979, Sarah Rice, has passed away on January 6th. She is also known for her performance of The Phantom of the Opera, and her operatic performances in The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville and The Student Prince. This is Sarah Rice performing “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” from Sweeney Todd.
Sarah Rice – Green Finch and Linnet Bird
International Stage:
[04 Jan 2024] Ruy Mingas, 84, Angolan composer (national anthem), musician and politician, deputy (2017–2021).
Ruy Mingas, who died on January 4th, has one of the most interesting biographies on the Rest in Playlist. Born to an influential musical family, Mingas was a record-holding track athlete, a popular pro-independence recording artist, Angola’s first Minister of Sport (who readied the newly independent country for its first Olympics in 1980), Angola’s first ambassador to Portugal (the country it won independence from), a prominent businessman, and he wrote this song, “Angola Avante,” the Angolan National Anthem.
Ruy Mingas – Angolan National Anthem
[09 Jan 2024] Rashid Khan, 55, Indian Hindustani classical musician, prostate cancer.
We now journey to the subcontinent of India, where on January 9th, Hindustani classical musician Rashid Khan has passed on. He gave his first concert at age eleven and had completed academy musical certification by age fourteen. He recorded dozens of film scores and many more albums. This is “Allah Hi Reham.”
Rashid Khan – Allah Hi Reham
[31 Dec 2023] O. S. Thyagarajan, 76, Indian Carnatic musician.
Next up, we have O. S. Thyagarajan, a Carnatic musician from India who died on New Year’s Eve. Considered one of the eminent artists of his generation, Thyagarajan toured many countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the Middle East, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and South Africa. Here he is performing “Neene Anatha Bandu.”
O. S. Thyagarajan – Neene Anatha Bandu
[30 Dec 2023] Bhavani Shankar, 66–67, Indian pakhawaj drum player.
We close with Indian pakhawaj drum player Bhavani Shankar, who ascended on December 30th. He was born into a musical family, beginning his study of pakhawaj and tabla at the age of eight. In later years he made his mark as a composer for films and experimental fusion projects. This is his performance of “Mahamantra (Hare Krishna Hare Ram).”
Bhavani Shankar – Mahamantra (Hare Krishna Hare Ram)
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, January 12th, 2024. Join us here next week as we chronicle the latest musicians, singers, and songwriters to join the Great Gig in the Sky. Catch up on every year of Rest in Playlist back to 2016 on Spotify and RadicalRuss.com. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
