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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, April 14th, 2023, featuring artists who passed in the week prior, from April 1st through April 7th. This week the Grim Reaper did some soul collections in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, featuring our headliner, Ian Bairnson from Scotland. We’ve got some pop, some rock, and some jazz this week, as well as a cinematographer who outran the Reaper for over a century. But first, let’s begin the Rest in Playlist with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[07 Apr 2023] John Regan, 71, American bass guitarist (Frehley’s Comet, Billy Idol, David Bowie, Peter Frampton).
Last Friday, April 7th, the Grim Reaper came to collect John Regan, an American bass guitarist who performed with John Waite, The Rolling Stones, Stephen Stills, Dave Edmunds, Robin Trower, Scandal, Billy Idol, David Bowie, and David Lee Roth. But Regan was probably best known for his time touring with Peter Frampton and his time in Frehley’s Comet, the side project of KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. Here’s Regan pumping out the bottom end with Frehley’s Comet on “Insane.”
Frehley’s Comet – Insane
Headliner:
[07 Apr 2023] Ian Bairnson, 69, Scottish musician (The Alan Parsons Project, Pilot, Kate Bush).
Our Headliner was also brought to the Great Gig in the Sky on Friday, April 7th. Ian Bairnson was a multi-instrumentalist on saxophone, keyboards, and guitar. He’d go on to play with Joe Cocker, Jon Anderson, Chris DeBurgh, Mick Fleetwood, Neil Diamond, Sting, and Eric Clapton, but his main band was as guitarist for The Alan Parsons Project. Here’s Ian Bairnson contributing the iconic guitar solo for this Alan Parsons Project hit, “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You.”
Alan Parsons Project – I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You
Main Stage:
[04 Apr 2023] Vivian Trimble, 59, American musician (Luscious Jackson, Dusty Trails, Kostars), cancer.
Opening up the Main Stage this week we said goodbye on April 4th to Vivian Trimble. She was keyboardist for the band Dusty Trails, and before that, the band Luscious Jackson. She concluded her battle with cancer at the age of 59. This is Luscious Jackson’s 90s hit, “Naked Eye.”
Luscious Jackson – Naked Eye
[06 Apr 2023] Paul Cattermole, 46, English singer (S Club 7).
Our youngest performer to join the Rest in Playlist this week on April 6th is 46-year-old Paul Cattermole from England, a singer with the pop group S Club 7. During five years S Club 7 released four number-one singles and one number-one album in the UK. They also appeared in a series of TV reality shows. This is their first UK #1 single from 1999, “Bring it all Back.”
S Club 7 – Bring It All Back
[07 Apr 2023] Lasse Wellander, 70, Swedish guitarist (ABBA).
Closing the Main Stage this week we have Lasse Wellander, guitarist for Sweden’s ABBA, who joined the Rest in Playlist on April 7th. He first recorded with the group’s backing band in 1974 and was featured on their debut album as well as on several subsequent hits. Here he is from ABBA’s eponymous 1972 debut album, with the Swedish version of “Ring, Ring” called “Bara Du Slog En Signal,” which translates to “If Only You’d Called.”
ABBA – Ring, Ring (Bara Du Slog En Signal) (Swedish Version)
Festival Stage:
[01 Apr 2023] Dario Campeotto, 84, Danish singer (Eurovision Song Contest 1961), actor (Peters baby, Han, hun, Dirch og Dario), and entertainer, cancer.
Opening the Festival Stage this week we have Danish singer and actor, Dario Campeotto, who passed on April 1st. Born to Italian parents in Copenhagen, Campeotto started performing at the age of ten, but his breakthrough was a victory in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in 1961 with the song “Angelique”, which went on to finish fifth in the Eurovision Song Contest. Here’s Campeotto dueting with Peter Belli on “Du Er Så Smuk Med Havet Som Baggrund,” which translates to “You Are So Beautiful With the Sea in the Background.”
Dario Campeotto & Peter Belli – Du Er Så Smuk Med Havet Som Baggrund
[03 Apr 2023] Rena Koumioti, 74, Greek singer.
On April 3rd, Rena KouMioti joined the Rest in Playlist. She was a Greek actress and singer known as one of the most influential performers in Greek New Wave music. Here she is with “Kainourio Mou Feggari,” which translates to “My New Moon.”
Rena Koumioti – Kainourio Mou Feggari
[04 Apr 2023] Rockstar Ramani Ammal, 69, Indian playback singer (Kathavarayan, Haridas, Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja).
Closing the Festival Stage this week we have the wonderfully named Rockstar Ramani Ammal, who left us on April 4th. She rose to prominence after taking part in a television reality show in 2017, but had been a playback singer in Indian films since 2004. Here she is on the soundtrack for the movie Junga with the track “Rise of Don.”
Rockstar Ramani Ammal – Rise of Don
In the News:
[05 Apr 2023] Bill Butler, 101, American cinematographer (Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Grease).
Whenever someone eludes the Grim Reaper for over a century, that’s newsworthy here on Rest in Playlist. Bill Butler was a cinematographer who left us at age 101 on April 5th. You’ve seen his work in Jaws (“We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat”), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (“Nurse Ratched”) and, you may have guessed, Grease.
John Travolta; Olivia Newton-John – We Go Together
Headliner:
[07 Apr 2023] Ian Bairnson, 69, Scottish musician (The Alan Parsons Project, Pilot, Kate Bush).
Our Headliner, Ian Bairnson returns to the stage. In addition to his work with The Alan Parsons Project, Bairnson went on to perform on the first four albums by singer Kate Bush. Here’s Bairnson adding another iconic guitar solo to Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights.”
Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights
The Amphitheater:
[02 Apr 2023] Pedro Lavirgen, 92, Spanish tenor.
Today in the Amphitheater we begin with some Opera from Pedro Lavirgen, a Spanish Tenor who is the oldest performer on this week’s Rest in Playlist. Born in 1930, he began his career after serving in the Spanish Civil War and became a first tenor by 1959. He left us at age 92 on April 2nd. Here he is performing “Luisa Fernanda, Act II: Mazurka de la Sombrillas.”
Pedro Lavirgen – Luisa Fernanda, Act II: Mazurka de la Sombrillas
[07 Apr 2023] Kidd Jordan, 87, American jazz saxophonist.
Now for some jazz. Kidd Jordan was an American jazz saxophonist caught by the Grim Reaper on April 7th. Born in 1935, he began playing R&B gigs in the 1950s with Guitar Slim, Ray Charles, Big Maybelle, Big Joe Turner, and Chuck Willis. Throughout his career, Jordan performed and recorded with a wide selection of musicians in styles ranging from R&B to avant-garde jazz, including Stevie Wonder, R.E.M., Ornette Coleman, and Ellis Marsalis. Here he is with the World Saxophone Quartet covering “The Dock of the Bay.”
World Saxophone Quartet – The Dock of The Bay
[07 Apr 2023] Guy Bailey, British guitarist and songwriter (The Quireboys).
We close the Amphitheater with music from Guy Bailey, who died on April 7th as well. Bailey was an original member of a British band called the Queerboys that subsequently became The Quireboys. Sharon Osbourne the manager during the 90s and helped get their debut album out on BMI records. Here’s a track from that 1990 debut that went to #24 on the UK charts, “I Don’t Love You Anymore.”
The Quireboys – I Don’t Love You Anymore (30th Anniversary Version)
Encore:
[03 Apr 2023] Andrew Laing, British drummer (Cockney Rejects).
It’s not often that a band names their own genre. Joining the Rest in Playlist on April 3rd was Andrew Laing, drummer for the British punk band Cockney Rejects, whose song “Oi Oi Oi” named their subgenre of punk. Laing played with the group mostly from 2007-2017, including on this 2012 track, “The Devil Went Down to Essex.”
Cockney Rejects – The Devil Went Down to Essex
[07 Apr 2023] Ian Bairnson, 69, Scottish musician (The Alan Parsons Project, Pilot, Kate Bush).
Our final encore from our Headliner, Ian Bairnson, may be one that has burned a whole in your ears thanks to a certain pharmaceutical ad in America. Before he played for Kate Bush, he had met Alan Parsons who was producing a record for a new group he’d joined with former members of The Bay City Rollers. That group was called Pilot, and it had this one maddeningly addictive hit, “Magic.”
Pilot – Magic
Closing
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, April 14th, 2023, featuring artists who passed the week before. Join us here next week for a tribute to the artists who have passed this week. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
