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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, August 11th, 2023, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. This week, the leader of The Band has passed, the keyboardist for The Kinks has crossed over, and the DJ behind the Cha Cha Slide has up and died. We’ve also got a pioneer in psychedelic rock, a forgotten singer/songwriter with a miraculous second act, and musicians from around the world. Let’s get started with this week’s Reaper’s Rotation with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[04 Aug 2023] John Gosling, 75, English keyboardist (The Kinks).
The Kinks – Sleepwalker
John Gosling was an English keyboardist best known for his gig from 1970–1978 with The Kinks. Following his rock career, he opened a music shop and became a music teacher. He also formed a band called Kast Off Kinks, comprised of other former members of Ray & Dave Davies’ legendary band. Gosling met his maker on August 4th at the age of 75. This is the title cut from The Kinks’ 1977 album Sleepwalker.
Headliner:
[09 Aug 2023] Robbie Robertson, 80, Canadian Hall of Fame musician (The Band), songwriter (“The Weight“) and film composer (The Color of Money), prostate cancer.
The Band – The Weight
Our Headliner this week is Canadian Hall of Fame rocker Robbie Robertson, who came up as the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan before forming The Band, and later having a solo career. The Band is credited as one of the progenitors of the Americana music genre, and Robertson’s songwriting helped define its country/folk storytelling. Here’s one of those all-time great songs, The Weight.
Main Stage:
[07 Aug 2023] DJ Casper, 58, American DJ and songwriter (“Cha Cha Slide“), kidney and liver cancer.
DJ Casper – Cha Cha Slide (Original Live Platinum Band Mix)
Opening the Main Stage this week we have our youngest performer, 58-year-old American songwriter William Perry Jr., known by his stage name DJ Casper, who passed on August 7th. He composed his one hit in 1998 as workout music for his nephew, a personal trainer. It slowly caught on in his hometown Chicago in 2004 and became a hit nationwide, making it to an episode of the TV show Orange is the New Black. This is Cha Cha Slide.
[07 Aug 2023] David LaFlamme, 82, American singer and violinist (It’s a Beautiful Day).
It’s A Beautiful Day – White Bird
Next up we have 82-year-old David LaFlamme, the virtuoso violinist who formed the psychedelic rock band It’s A Beautiful Day in San Francisco during 1967’s Summer of Love. LaFlamme died from Parkinson’s disease on August 7th. It’s A Beautiful Day came up alongside Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and the Grateful Dead. Their 1969 eponymous debut album produced their biggest hit, heard here performed live at the Fillmore, White Bird.
[07 Aug 2023] Toussaint McCall, 89, American R&B singer.
Toussaint McCall – Nothing Takes The Place Of You
We close the Main Stage with our third artist to pass on August 7th, and our oldest performer at age 89, American R&B singer and organist Toussaint McCall. Another one-hit wonder, In 1967 McCall reached #5 on the R&B charts with this track, Nothing Takes the Place of You. He also made a cameo in the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray, singing his hit song.
Festival Stage:
[08 Aug 2023] Sixto Rodriguez, 81, American singer-songwriter (“Sugar Man“), subject of Searching for Sugar Man.
We open the Festival Stage with 81-year-old singer/songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, who passed on August 8th. He recorded as Rodriguez in the early 1970s but found no success in America. Unbeknownst to him, however, he went viral in South Africa and Australia. In 2012, an Oscar-winning documentary told the tale of how fans scoured the globe to find him again, living in poverty, and his return to the stage for long-overdue success. Here’s his biggest hit, Sugar Man.
Rodriguez – Sugar Man
[07 Aug 2023] Erkin Koray, 82, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist.
We close the Festival Stage with Erkin Koray, an 82-year-old Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist with a career spanning six decades, who met the Reaper on August 7th. He is considered one of the pioneering influences on Turkish pop music, beginning with his performance of Elvis Presley and Fats Domino covers in the 1950s. He also invented the electric version of the baglama, the traditional Turkish lute he plays.
Erkin Koray – Seni Her Gordugumde
The Amphitheater:
[03 Aug 2023] Carl Davis, 86, American-British composer (The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Pride and Prejudice, Liverpool Oratorio) and conductor, brain hemorrhage.
Carl Davis – The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Opening the Amphitheater this week is American-born British composer Carl Davis, who died on August 3rd at the age of 86. He composed music for over 100 British television programs, most notably Pride & Prejudice, and was also a composer and conductor for numerous film scores. Here’s his main theme for the film, The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
[05 Aug 2023] Tristan Honsinger, 73, American cellist.
Tristan Honsinger – A Camel’s Kiss
73-year-old American cellist Tristan Honsinger is next up, having joined the ethereal orchestra on August 5th. While well-studied in classical music at the New England Conservatory, Honsigner was best known for his work in free jazz and free improvisation. This is one of his less-experimental compositions called A Camel’s Kiss.
[01 Aug 2023] Theo van Tol, 66, Dutch accordionist (Amsterdam Klezmer Band).
Amsterdam Klezmer Band – Moroka
Our final performer in the Amphitheater this week is Theo van Tol, accordionist with the Dutch group Amsterdam Klezmer Band who died on August 1st at the age of 66. The group formed in 1996 as a group of buskers playing Yiddish dance music in Amsterdam. They produced their first album in 2000 and became known for fusing jazz, hip-hop, electronic, and ska music with their traditional Klezmer sound.
Encore:
[09 Aug 2023] Robbie Robertson, 80, Canadian Hall of Fame musician (The Band), songwriter (“The Weight“) and film composer (The Color of Money), prostate cancer.
We bring Robbie Robertson back to close the show. In addition to his work in popular music, Robertson collaborated on film and TV soundtracks, usually with director Martin Scorsese. Robertson passed away on August 9th at the age of 80, concluding his long battle with prostate cancer, but his songs will live forever, like the classic Up on Cripple Creek.
The Band – Up on Cripple Creek
In the beginning, Robbie Robertson got his break playing with Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks, and Arkansas-based rockabilly group. Drummer Levon Helm was already a member, and soon the Hawks added all the members who would eventually ditch Ronnie Hawkins and re-name themselves The Band. Here they are with another Robertson composition, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Closing
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, August 11th, 2023, featuring artists who passed away last week. Join us here next week for a tribute to the artists who have passed this week. For a review of every year’s Rest in Playlist going back to 2016, visit RadicalRuss.com. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
