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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, January 26th, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. Let’s kick things off with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[24 Jan 2024] Frank Farian, 82, German singer, songwriter (“Rasputin“) and record producer (Boney M., Milli Vanilli).
Joining our playlist on January 24th, we have Frank Farian, a German singer and producer most infamously known as the man behind the Milli Vanilli scandal, when it was revealed that the Grammy’s Best New Artists of 1990 were actually lip syncing and never sang on their albums. But fourteen years earlier, Farian had done virtually the same thing, creating a disco group called Boney M, whose front man Bobby Farrell was lip syncing tracks sung by Farian. Here’s Boney M’s smash European hit, “Rasputin.”
Boney M – Rasputin
Headliner:
[24 Jan 2024] Melanie, 76, American singer-songwriter (“Brand New Key“, “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)“) and guitarist, Emmy winner (1989).
You couldn’t turn on a radio from 1970 to 1974 without hearing our headliner on the charts. Born Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk, she was known as just Melanie, and she left us on January 24th as well. Melanie’s mother was a jazz singer, and Melanie first sang on the radio at the age of 4. After performing in coffee houses and folk clubs in Greenwich Village, she signed with Columbia Records and then was one of three solo female performers at Woodstock. Here is Melanie with her #1 hit from 1971, “Brand New Key.”
Melanie – Brand New Key
Main Stage:
[19 Jan 2024] Mary Weiss, 75, American singer (The Shangri-Las), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The Shangri-Las were a girl group formed by two pair of Jewish sisters in Queens, New York: Mary Ann and Marge Ganser, and Betty and Mary Weiss. Mary Ann passed in 1970, Marge in 1996, Betty in 2010, and on January 19th, we lost the last surviving member, Mary Weiss, who sang lead on their #1 single, “The Leader of the Pack” and their first hit, this #5 smash from 1964 called “Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand).”
The Shangri‐Las – Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)
[19 Jan 2024] Marlena Shaw, 81, American singer (“It’s Better than Walking Out“, “California Soul“).
Marlena Shaw, who also joined the heavenly session on January 19th, was an American singer who came up singing jazz in the Playboy clubs and then moved into soul and R&B. She’s best known for this song that was written by Ashford & Simpson and originally recorded by the 5th Dimension. If this sounds familiar, it’s because her version made it into numerous hip-hop samples and television commercials. This is “California Soul.”
Marlena Shaw – California Soul
Festival Stage:
[19 Jan 2024] Pluto Shervington, 73, Jamaican reggae musician, pneumonia.
We begin with Leighton Keith Shervington, better known as Pluto, a winner of Jamaica’s Living Legend award who split his time between Kingston and Miami. He was a talented producer and bass guitarist. He made his early living recording jingles and made it to #6 on the UK charts with this track that tells the tale of a Rastafarian breaking his faith to surreptitiously buy pork so he can sell it for some marijuana. This is Pluto Shervington with “Dat.”
Pluto Shervington – Dat
[18 Jan 2024] Katelele Ching’oma, 32, Malawian musician, liver damage.
Katelele Ching’oma is our youngest performer on the Rest in Playlist, forever age 32 at his death on January 18th. Born in 1991 in Malawi, Ching’oma broke through with this song in 2009 called “Asowe,” translated as “She should pack.”
Katelele Ching’oma – Asowe
[09 Jan 2024] Vitalii Bilonozhko [uk], 70, Ukrainian singer.
Let’s close with Vitalii Bilonozhko, awarded the People’s Artist of Ukraine in 1995. He was a Ukrainian singer who taught at the Kyiv Conservatory and performed on numerous Ukrainian television shows along with his wife, Svitlana, also a People’s Artist of Ukraine. Vitalii met his maker on January 9th.
Vitalii Bilonozhko –
Country Bunker:
[22 Jan 2024] Margo Smith, 81, American singer (“Still a Woman“), complications from a stroke.
Betty Lou Miller was born in 1942 in Dayton, Ohio, and became a country music queen in the 1970s under the stage name Margo Smith, who died on January 22nd. She first hit #8 on the country charts in 1975, then hit her peak in 1978 with two #1 country singles, including this one that had been a #1 pop hit for Connie Francis in 1962. Here’s Margo Smith with “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.”
Margo Smith – Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You
[22 Jan 2024] Sergei Yefremenko, 51, Russian singer, guitarist, and lyricist (Markscheider Kunst).
Now to a place you wouldn’t expect country music, Russia. Sergei Yefremenko passed away on January 22nd. He’s the singer, guitarist, and lyricist for the band Markscheider Kunst. Their bio tells me they are a ska band, but this track I’ve got queued up for you, called “Babushka,” sounds like something a little like country jazz. Enjoy!
Markscheider Kunst – Babushka
The Jazz Cellar:
[31 Dec 2023] Jay Clayton, 82, American jazz vocalist.
It’s our last show for January 2024, which means it’s our last chance to honor a performer from the end of 2023. Judith Theresa Colantone, stage name Jay Clayton, joined the choir invisible on New Year’s Eve 2023. She became the rare jazz vocalist to become a part on New York’s burgeoning avante-garde jazz scene. She also taught jazz vocals for two decades at the Cornish College of the Arts. Here she is singing “My Silent Love.”
Jay Clayton – My Silent Love
[14 Jan 2024] Jerry Coker, 91, American jazz saxophonist.
Jerry Coker was a jazz saxophonist and teacher inducted into the Jazz Educators Hall of Fame in 1994. His career began back in 1953 with clarinet great Woody Herman. He focused on education beginning in 1960, teaching at Duke, Miami, North Texas State, and Tennessee. Jerry Coker died on January 14th. Here he is performing on a track by Dardanelle called “I’m Glad There is You.”
Dardanelle – I’m Glad There Is You
[07 Jan 2024] Germana Caroli, 92, Italian singer.
Off to Italy, where singer Germana Caroli is our oldest performer this week at age 92. Caroli had her greatest success in the 1950s and early 60s. Here she is performing “Gridare di gioia.”
Germana Caroli – Gridare di gioia
The Amphitheater:
[12 Jan 2024] Anthony Holt, 83, British baritone singer (The King’s Singers).
The King’s Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. Anthony Holt, who passed on January 12th, sang baritone for the group from 1969 through 1987, though the group has continued with other members to this day. Here’s a track from their 1986 album The Beatles Connection, their a cappella version of “Eleanor Rigby.”
The King’s Singers – Eleanor Rigby (Lennon_McCartney)
Encore:
[23 Jan 2024] Anders Sandberg, 55, Swedish singer (Rednex).
We opened this week with disco and we close this week with house. Anders Sandberg was a Swedish musician and singer who ascended on January 23rd. He was known as “Dagger” as part of the second lineup of the Swedish group Rednex, famous for the 1994 hit “Cotton Eye Joe.” Sandberg was with the group from 2001 through 2005, then again from 2009 through 2018. Here’s Rednex from 2002 with “The Chase.”
Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe [Original Single Version]
Rednex – The Chase
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, January 26th, 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.
