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INTRODUCTION
Welcome dearly beloved to this inaugural episode of The Rest in Playlist. I’m excited to bring to you what has been a little hobby of mine since 2016. That year, we lost Prince and David Bowie, and I thought to myself what an amazing jam session must be happening in the Great Beyond. Since then, I’ve been curating playlists on Spotify featuring music from artists who’ve passed away that year. It makes for some very eclectic listening, as I’m sure you’ll learn from this show.
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, March 17, 2023, featuring artists who passed in the week prior, from March 4th through 10th. This week features novelty music heavyweights; European, Jamaican, and Peruvian artists; music that goes to eleven; and the end of an era with the passing of our Headliner, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington. But first, let’s start the Rest in Playlist with our Opening Act.
Opening Act: The Notorious Cherry Bombs
[04 Mar 2023] Michael Rhodes, 69, American bassist (The Notorious Cherry Bombs).
I’ve been playing the bass since I was eleven years old and spent a good deal of my twenties playing in backing bands, so the passing of our Opening Act caught my eye. On Saturday, March 4th, 2023, American Musician’s Hall of Fame bassist Michael Rhodes of The Notorious Cherry Bombs passed away at age 69. Rhodes was born in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1953. The Cherry Bombs were a backup band for country artists Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash in the early 1980s that featured guitarist Vince Gill. The band fell apart after Crowell and Cash got divorced in 1991. In 2003, Gill and Crowell got the band back together, now called The Notorious Cherry Bombs, with session man Michael Rhodes taking over bass guitar duties from Emory Gordy, Jr. Their self-titled album produced this minor hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts that year with one of my favorite song titles ever, here’s “It’s Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long”.
The Notorious Cherry Bombs – It’s Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night
Michael Rhodes, bass player for The Notorious Cherry Bombs—Rest in Playlist.
Headliner: Gary Rossington
[05 Mar 2023] Gary Rossington, 71, American Hall of Fame guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rossington Collins Band).
Fans of Southern Rock were hit hard on March 5th, 2023, with the passing of the last founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall of Fame guitarist Gary Rossington. Born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1951, Rossington formed Lynyrd Skynyrd with friends Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, Larry Junstrom, and Allen Collins. He survived a car crash in 1976 while under the influence of drugs, then survived a plane crash in 1977 that took Van Zant’s life, as well as Steve and Cassie Gaines, who’d joined the band. We’ll have more on the life of Gary Rossington later in the show; for now, let’s salute our Headliner with this song he wrote about an experience in my hometown.
Lynyrd Skynyrd – What’s Your Name
Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd—Rest in Playlist
Fish Heads, Funny Farms, & Tongo
[04 Mar 2023] Robert Haimer, 69, American musician (Barnes & Barnes) and songwriter (“Fish Heads”).
On Saturday, March 4th, 2023, we lost someone whose name I never knew was Robert Haimer, but whose duo Barnes & Barnes holds a very special place in my heart. If you’re a certain type if Gen-X kid like me, you may consider yourself a “demention” or a “dementite.” Those are the fans of radio deejay Dr. Demento, who produces a weekly show featuring novelty songs and other oddities. This song is the all-time #1 request on that show. With apologies for one slightly culturally insensitive lyric, here’s the classic “Fish Heads.”
Barnes & Barnes – Fish Heads
Robert Haimer of Barnes & Barnes—Rest in Playlist.
[10 Mar 2023] Napoleon XIV, 84, American singer (“They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!“).
While “Fish Heads” may be the most requested novelty song among dementions and dementites, if you were to ask your average Boomer to name a novelty song, this next one might be one they mention. Born in 1938, a songwriter named Jerrold Samuels penned a couple of minor hits in the early 60s, including “The Shelter of Your Arms” that Sammy Davis Jr. took to the top 20. But it was in 1966 when Samuels took on the pseudonym Napoleon XIV and recorded this novelty record that got psychedelic with the audio effects. And again, with apologies for the ableism we reject nowadays, this is “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!”
Napoleon XIV – They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!
Jerrold Samuels aka Napoleon XIV—Rest in Playlist.
[10 Mar 2023] Tongo, 65, Peruvian singer and comedian, kidney failure.
One of the best parts about curating the Rest in Playlist is becoming exposed to artists of many styles from all around the world. This next artist passed on March 10th, 2023, and made me smile the moment I saw him. Once I heard him, he became my new favorite thing. Born in 1957, José Abelardo Gutiérrez Alanya, better known by his stage name, Tongo, rose from the lower classes to become one of the most popular artists in Peruvian show business. After making a purposefully goofy English language cover of his hit, “La Putica,” Tongo became a sort of Peruvian Weird Al Yankovic, performing bad English mistranslations of songs from Michael Jackson, The Eagles, and The Beatles that go viral. Here’s Tongo’s version of a tune from Foster the People called “Pumped Up Kicks.”
Tongo – Pumped Up Kicks
Tongo—Rest in Playlist.
Headliner: Gary Rossington
Continuing to pay our respects to our Headliner, Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Besides writing some of the group’s most iconic songs, Rossington was a fantastic guitar player whose lines in “Tuesday’s Gone” and slide work in “Free Bird” are some of the most iconic in rock. After the 1977 plane crash, Rossington recovered, but not without paying the price with a serious addiction to painkillers. In the 1980s, he and Allen Collins formed the Rossington Collins Band, which charted with “Don’t Misunderstand Me.” But throughout his life up until his passing, he was playing with Lynyrd Skynyrd, even as the only original surviving member following the 2019 passing of bassist Larry Junstrom. We salute Gary Rossington with one of his pieces, this is “Simple Man.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Simple Man
Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd—Rest in Playlist
Music ‘Round the World
The Rest in Playlist takes us all around the world. First, we’ll cross the pond and get continental for a moment in the country of France.
[08 Mar 2023] Marcel Amont, 93, French singer.
The oldest artist to pass this week is Marcel Amont, aged 93, who left us on March 8th, 2023. His name may not ring a bell here, but Monsieur Amont is a singer who’s sold as many albums as Elton John—over 300 million albums worldwide. He’s recorded about 1,000 songs in different languages (English, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, German, Irish and Spanish). This is a song in French called “Bleu Blanc Blond” from 1959.
Marcel Amont – Bleu Blanc Blond
Marcel Amont—Rest in Playlist.
[09 Mar 2023] Robin Lumley, 74, British jazz keyboardist (Brand X), heart failure.
On the next day, March 9th, 2023, we cross the channel to mourn British jazz keyboardist Robin Lumley, who passed at age 74. Lumley was a member of the band Brand X with guitarist John Goodsall, and bassist Percy Jones, and drummer Phil Collins—yes, the Phil Collins of Genesis. Lumley went on to record producing and writing. Here’s some music from 1975 featuring Collins and Lumley with Brand X, a track called “Nuclear Burn.”
Brand X – Nuclear Burn
Robin Lumley of Brand X—Rest in Playlist.
[10 Mar 2023] Junior English, 71–72, Jamaican reggae singer.
Finally, we cross the Atlantic again for a Caribbean stop on the island of Jamaica. On March 10th, 2023, reggae singer Junior English passed away at the age of 72. English was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1951, and performed as a teenager before relocating to England in 1964. He performed with The Magnets and The Nighthawks before launching a solo career that brought him great success, including this #1 single on the UK reggae charts on Christmas 1978, called “In Loving You.”
Junior English – In Loving You
Junior English—Rest in Playlist.
These Go to Eleven
Sometimes the Rest in Playlist goes to eleven. These are the artists from the harder edges of music, the experimental, or the bleeding edge of sonic art. We’ll give you just a little taste of these artists, but if you’d like to hear more of them or any of the artists on Rest in Playlist, you can subscribe to the Rest in Playlist on Spotify, just search “Rest in Playlist,” or you can find them all on my website at RadicalRuss.com.
It’s strange how the Rest in Playlist goes in threes. We had three novelty artists earlier with Barnes & Barnes, Napoleon XIV, and Tongo. We had three world artists with France’s Marcel Armont, Britain’s Robin Lumley, and Jamaica’s Junior English. Now in These Go to Eleven, we get three artists that will peel the paint off a barn at 500 yards.
[06 Mar 2023] Eric Alan Livingston, 38, American musician (Mamaleek).
On March 6th, 2023, San Francisco-based experimental musician Eric Alan Livingston is our youngest artist on the Rest in Playlist this week, passing at age 38. His band Mamaleek’s music has been described as “black metal — atonal experimental and avant-garde accents, guttural metal howls, and accessible electronic breakbeats.” Judge for yourself with a few seconds of the track “Sinner Won’t Die No More.”
Mamaleek – Sinner Won’t Die No More
Eric Alan Livingston of Mamaleek—Rest in Playlist.
[08 Mar 2023] Jim Durkin, 58, American thrash metal guitarist (Dark Angel).
Next, on March 8th, 2023, thrash metal guitarist Jim Durkin from the band Dark Angel passed away at age 58. Dark Angel rose in the San Francisco Bay Area metal scene and opened for bands like Slayer and Megadeth. Here’s some of his guitar work from the appropriately named track, “Death is Certain, Life is Not.”
Dark Angel – Death is Certain, Life is Not
Jim Durkin of Dark Angel—Rest in Playlist.
[08 Mar 2023] Josua Madsen, 45, Danish drummer (Artillery), traffic collision.
Also on March 8th, 2023, Josua Madsen, drummer from the Danish thrash metal band Artillery was killed at age 45 in a traffic collision. Madsen joined the band in 2012, long after the band’s initial successes in the 1980s and 1990s. Over the past decade Madsen drummed with Artillery, and when founding member guitarist Morten Stützer died suddenly in 2019, the band recorded this track, “The Last Journey,” as a tribute, which we play now as a tribute.
Artillery – The Last Journey
Josua Madsen of Artillery—Rest in Playlist.
Headliner: Gary Rossington
Our condolences go out to all the family, friends, and fans of the artists we’ve played here on Rest in Playlist. If you missed any of the songs or just want to know more about the artists, you can find the complete Rest in Playlists for every year since 2016 on my website at RadicalRuss.com or by searching for “Rest in Playlist” on Spotify. This has been Rest in Playlist for Friday, March 17, 2023. I’m your host, “Radical” Russ Belville. We leave you now with our headliner, Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, who left us on March 5th. “Don’t Ask Me No Questions.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Don’t Ask Me No Questions
Gary Rossington—Rest in Playlist.
Closing
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, March 17, 2023, featuring artists who passed the week before. Join us here next week for a tribute to the artists who have passed this week, including rap from South Africa, rock from Brazil, an opening act with a murderous past who wrote one of the most classic rock songs of all time, and our headliner, the late Bobby Caldwell. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
