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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, August 4th, 2023, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away in recent weeks. This week we go on a Big Adventure, with musicians from Belgium, Italy, Greece, Kenya, Brazil, Sudan, France, and Romania. We also feature Americans who span the genres of soul, jazz, and death metal. And this week, the Reaper took a little piece of our childhood in our Headliner, actor Paul Reubens, [“I know you are but what am I”], who played the adorable Pee-wee Herman. But first, we head to Germany for our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[28 Jul 2023] Tommi Stumpff, 65, German EBM musician.
Our Opening Act this week is Tommi Stumpff, a German musician who played Electronic Body Music, an industrial type of dance music, in the 1980s. He passed away on July 28th at the age of 65. Here’s a track from his 1989 album, Ultra, entitled Massaker.
Tommi Stumpff – Massaker
Headliner:
[30 Jul 2023] Paul Reubens, 70, American actor (Pee-wee’s Playhouse, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Blow), cancer.
Our Headliner this week is actor Paul Reubens, better known as Pee-wee Herman. [Alamo basement] Upon announcement of his death on July 30th from cancer at age 70, the official account for the Alamo in San Antonio posted a tribute, noting that tourists are still asking about the basement. Reubens created the Pee-wee Herman character with the late Phil Hartman when the two performed with The Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Reubens turned that into The Pee-wee Herman Show, a live stage show, leading to his surprise 1985 hit movie, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. [I remember the Alamo] By 1986, Pee-wee was the star of his own children’s show, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, that ran from 1986 to 1991.
Pee-wee’s Playhouse (Main Theme)
Main Stage:
[03 Aug 2023] Wendell B, 65, American soul singer, cancer.
Opening our Main Stage this week we head to the city of St. Louis, where soul singer and record producer Wendell B has passed on August 3rd at the age of 65. Wendell made his foray into the music industry at the age of five by joining the gospel group the Sensational Wonders. After turning to soul music in stints in Minneapolis and Atlanta, he returned to St. Louis and mentored up-and-coming artists. This is Wendell B with Stl. Thang.
Wendell B – Stl. Thang
[01 Aug 2023] Dom Minasi, 80, American jazz guitarist, composer, and music producer.
Next on Main Stage we switch to acoustic jazz with American guitarist Dom Minasi, who left us on August 1st at the age of 80. A fixture in the avante-garde genre, Minasi started playing guitar at age 7, and despite his parents’ lack of support, his musical career took off, spanning seven decades of recording and teaching. Here he is with his rendition of What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life.
Dom Minasi – What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
[27 Jul 2023] Bea Van der Maat, 62, Belgian singer, television presenter and actress (Koko Flanel), assisted suicide.
Bea Van der Maat closes our Main Stage this week. She was a singer and actress in Belgium who got her start in 1982 and sang with various bands throughout the 80s before embarking on a TV career in 1989 and movie roles in the 1990s. Van der Maat was diagnosed with ALS in 2022 and took the Reaper’s hand on July 27th at the age of 62 by legally assisted suicide. This is her track called “The Pain.”
Bea Van der Maat – The Pain
Festival Stage:
[23 Jul 2023] Otello Profazio, 88, Italian cantastorie, folk singer-songwriter, and author.
For our Festival Stage this week we turn to Otello Profazio, the oldest artist in today’s set at age 88, who died on July 23rd. Profazio’s career began with a radio contest in 1953, leading to successful albums in the 1960s and 70s. He later became a television host and weekly newspaper columnist. He was one of Italy’s best-known cantastorie singers, a type of Italian folk music.
Otello Profazio – Ciuri ciuri
[25 Jul 2023] Andreas Tsoukalas, 60, Greek singer.
Next on the Festival Stage we have Greek singer Andreas Tsoukalas, who died on July 25th at the age of 60. Tsoukalas began his career in 1992 and had two albums in the Greek top ten. Here he is with Nomiza.
Andreas Tsoukalas – Nomiza
International Stage:
[26 Jul 2023] Roseline Damian, 39, Kenyan gospel singer, cancer.
We head to the African continent to set up the International Stage. First up, Roseline Damian, a Kenyan gospel singer who at age 39 is the youngest woman in the Reaper’s Rotation this week. Damian finished her battle with breast cancer on July 26th. Here’s her best known hit, Wuon Osimbo.
Roseline Damian – Wuon Osimbo
[29 Jul 2023] Edgar Pozzer [pt], 84, Brazilian singer.
Now over to South America, where Brazilian singer Edgar Pozzer has died on July 29th at the age of 84. Pozzer gained attention singing in his father’s restaurant in the 1940s and was soon winning awards on local radio shows. In addition to landing his own radio shows, in 1970 he invested in a nightclub that was in operation until 2017. Pozzer was married for 35 years and performed up until age 81. This is Ho Capito Che Ti Amo.
Edgar Pozzer – Ho Capito Che Ti Amo
The Amphitheater:
[21 Jul 2023] Hafiz Abdelrahman, Sudanese flautist.
In the Amphitheater this week we feature some great instrumentalists. First up is Hafiz Abdelrahman, a flautist from Sudan, who died on July 21st. He was one of the first Sudanese artists to present musical breaks at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. His music was used on a number of radio stations, both nationally and internationally, like BBC Radio and Voice of America (VOA).
Hafiz Abdelrahman – Ports
[24 Jul 2023] Denis Badault [fr], 65, French pianist, conductor and composer (Orchestre National de Jazz).
Next, we have Denis Badault, a French pianist and composer for France’s national jazz orchestra, who met his maker on July 24th at the age of 65. Here he is with Le papillon et la fleur, the butterfly and the flower.
Denis Badault – Le papillon et la fleur
[01 Aug 2023] Mariana Sîrbu, Romanian violinist.
We close the Amphitheater this week with Romanian violinist Mariana Sirbu, who passed away on August 1st. In 1968 she founded the Academica String Quartet, with which she went on to win four international competitions in the mid-1970s. She continued performing, recording, and teaching for the rest of her life. Here she is with L’estro Armonico.
Mariana Sîrbu – L’estro Armonico
The Mosh Pit:
[26 Jul 2023] James Harvey, 35, American bassist (Goatwhore).
For obvious reasons, the Grim Reaper is a huge fan of death metal. This week he snatched up the youngest artist in the Reaper’s Rotation, 35-year-old James Harvey, bass player for Goatwhore from 2009 through 2017. Harvey died suddenly in his sleep on July 26th, with no underlying medical reasons. Like I said, Reaper loves the death metal. This is Goatwhore with Apocalyptic Havoc.
Goatwhore – Apocalyptic Havoc
Encore:
[30 Jul 2023] Paul Reubens, 70, American actor (Pee-wee’s Playhouse, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Blow), cancer.
We bring back Paul Reubens to the stage for an encore. Besides working with director Tim Burton on the Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, he signed on to another Burton film, 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Here he is along with the great Catherine O’Hara on the track Kidnap the Sandy Claws.
Paul Reubens & Catherine O’Hara – Kidnap The Sandy Claws
One more from Pee-wee Herman, this time from his last film, 2016’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday. Reubens was now in his 60s, so to return to his youthful Pee-wee character, Reubens face was digitally altered to appear younger. Here’s Pee-wee singing about the joy he finds on his first visit to the Big Apple.
Pee-wee Herman – New York
Closing
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, August 4th, 2023, featuring artists who passed away in recent weeks. Join us here next week for a tribute to the latest artists to join the Great Gig in the Sky. Catch up on the entire year of Rest in Playlist and every year since 2016 at RadicalRuss.com. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
