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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, March 22nd, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. We’ve got some soul / disco / rhythm & blues coming at you on the Main Stage this week, with grooves from America, France, and Ghana. We’ll also stop by the Country Bunker with two more Americans and a Welshman, before we get sophisticated in the Amphitheater with opera, trumpet, and piano from Georgia, France, and Israel. Then we’ll wrap up with our newest stage dedicated to the ghosts of the British Invasion. 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:
[20 Mar 2024] George Darko, 73, Ghanaian burger-highlife musician.
Our Opening Act hails from Ghana and is one of the progenitors of burger-highlife music, which is a fusion of highlife and reggae brought from African immigrants mixed with German disco and funk. George Darko, who passed on March 20th, was popular throughout the end of the 20th century, performing in Africa and Europe. Here’s a perfect example of the genre, a track called “Highlife Time.”
George Darko – Highlife Time
Headliner:
[18 Mar 2024] Kevin Toney, 70, American jazz pianist (The Blackbyrds) and composer, cancer.
While you’ll instantly recognize our headliner from his time with the 70s disco fusion band The Blackbyrds, keyboardist and arranger Kevin Toney, who died on March 18th, was also a sought after musician who performed with Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, just to name a few. Here he is with the Blackbyrds and their 1976 Grammy nominated song, “Waking in Rhythm.”
The Blackbyrds – Walking In Rhythm
Main Stage:
[17 Mar 2024] Cola Boyy, 34, American musician.
Our youngest performer this week was born Matthew Joseph Urango in 1990 but went by the stage name Cola Boyy. Born with severe birth defects, Cola Boyy taught himself how to play keyboards and first hit the stage at age 17. He made music to fight ableist stereotyping and to describe his experiences as a disabled person. Unfortunately, he died at home on March 17th at the age of 34. This is Cola Boyy with “Don’t Forget Your Neighborhood.”
Cola Boyy – Don’t Forget Your Neighborhood
[19 Mar 2024] Greg Lee, 53, American singer (Hepcat), brain aneurysm.
Hepcat is a ska and reggae band formed in southern California in 1989. They played in the Vans Warped Tour circuit throughout the 1990s. Greg Lee, who died on March 19th, was a singer for the band throughout their infrequent schedule since losing their label deal in the 2000s. Here is Hepcat with “I Can’t Wait.”
Hepcat – I Can’t Wait
[14 Mar 2024] Frank Darcel, 65, French guitarist (Marquis de Sade).
Frank Darcel was one of the great French rock guitarists with his band Marquis de Sade in the 1980s. Though they only released two albums and performed only from 1977 to 1981, they were considered highly influential in the post-punk scene, as new wave and funk took over in the 80s. Darcel left us on March 14th. This is Marquis de Sade with “Wanda’s Loving Boy.”
Marquis de Sade – Wanda’s Loving Boy
Country Bunker:
[09 Mar 2024] Malcolm Holcombe, 68, American singer-songwriter, respiratory failure.
Malcolm Holcombe was an American singer-songwriter born and raised in Weaverville, North Carolina. He moved to Nashville in 1990 to pursue music and was signed six years later by Geffen Records. He continued recording Americana, folk, and alt-country albums through 2022, until his battle with cancer sidelined him, ultimately taking him from us on March 9th. This is “Black Bitter Moon.”
Malcolm Holcombe – Black Bitter Moon
[10 Mar 2024] Karl Wallinger, 66, Welsh musician (The Waterboys, World Party) and songwriter (“Ship of Fools“).
Karl Wallinger was a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and songwriter known for his work in the groups The Waterboys and World Party. He was classically trained in music since age 9 and won music scholarships, leading to a professional career beginning at age 20. Wallinger passed away on March 10th. This is the biggest hit for World Party, reaching #27 back in 1987, it’s “Ship of Fools.”
World Party – Ship Of Fools
[12 Mar 2024] Russ Wilson, 62, American musician (Junkhouse).
Russ Wilson was a Canadian bassist who was a co-founder of the band Junkhouse. The group was active throughout the 1990s, getting considerable coverage on the Canadian pop and alt-rock charts. Wilson left the band in 1996, and Junkhouse disbanded two years later. Russ Wilson died on March 12th. This is Junkhouse with “Shine.”
Junkhouse – Shine
The Amphitheater:
[14 Mar 2024] Lamara Chkonia, 93, Georgian operatic soprano.
Lamara Chkonia was a Georgian soprano born in what was then a part of the Soviet Union. She was one of the few women to break through the Iron Curtain, performing in several concert tours outside of the USSR, where she received praise from critics. In 1976, Chkonia was awarded People’s Artist of the USSR, the highest artistic honor of the time. Twenty years later, she retired to Madrid, Spain, where she died on March 14th.
Lamara Chkonia – Before My Window
[09 Mar 2024] Guy Touvron, 74, French trumpeter.
Guy Touvron was a French classical trumpet player and music teacher who garnered a lifetime of accolades and prizes for his talent. Touvron, however, was also found guilty in 2020 of having sexually assaulted a young woman; he was given a six-month suspended prison sentence. He was also investigated for rape of another young woman from 2021, pleading innocent. Before that case could be resolved, Touvron died on March 9th.
Guy Touvron – Concerto Grosso
[09 Mar 2024] Jonathan Zak [he], 91, Israeli pianist.
Jonathan Zak was an Israeli pianist and teacher who graduated the Jerusalem Academy in 1955 and completed his studies at the Julliard School of Music in New York. After returning to Israel in 1969, he founded a chamber trio that was popular for 25 years. Zak died on March 9th.
Jonathan Zak – La Bas, vers l’eglise
British Invasion:
[13 Mar 2024] John Blunt, British drummer (The Searchers).
Our first foray into the British Invasion this week comes by way of the group The Searchers and their late drummer, John Blunt, who passed on March 13th. Blunt came on to the group in 1966, just after the Merseybeat wave they’d surfed in on with The Beatles and Gerry & the Pacemakers had crashed. This is the Searchers from an earlier recording with their cover of Jackie DeShannon’s “Needles & Pins.”
The Searchers – Needles and Pins
[18 Mar 2024] Jimmy Hastings, 85, British musician (Caravan, Soft Machine, Hatfield and the North).
Jimmy Hastings was a sax, clarinet, and flute player who played with the early 70s British bands Caravan and Soft Machine, a big part of the Canterbury scene that was a hotbed of British psychedelic and progressive rock. He also played some with Bryan Ferry, Chris Squire, and Radiohead. Hastings passed away on March 18th. This is Soft Machine with “We Did It Again.”
The Soft Machine – We Did It Again
[17 Mar 2024] Steve Harley, 73, English musician (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel), songwriter (“Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)“, “Mr. Soft“) and producer, cancer.
Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice, known by his stage name Steve Harley, was an English singer-songwriter and frontman of the glam rock group Cockney Rebel who died on March 17th. He beat polio as a child and was classically trained in violin and guitar. He had six UK hit singles with the band in the mid-1970s, including this number one UK hit “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me).”
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel – Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, March 22nd, 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.
