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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, September 8th, 2023, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. Some weeks the Reaper takes us on a trip into the obscure. This week is definitely not one of those. The Reaper was busy Labor Day Weekend and took from us an All Star, a Dream Weaver, and the King of the Parrotheads, each of whom could be our headliner. Get ready to change your latitude on this global jam session from the great beyond. Let’s kick things off with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[04 Sep 2023] Steve Harwell, 56, American singer (Smash Mouth), liver failure.
Our Opening Act this week [Some!] no wait, not yet. Our Opening Act this week is Steve Harwell, who passed away in my old hometown of Boise, Idaho, on September 4th. [Some!] Hold on! Harwell was lead singer for the 90’s band Smash Mouth. Throughout his life, Harwell battled alcohol addiction, and finally succumbed to liver failure at the age of 56. Here’s Smash Mouth with their biggest hit, “All Star.” [Pause] Okay, go now.
Smash Mouth – All Star
Headliner:
Our headliner this week hits especially close to home for me. Jimmy Buffett was born on Christmas Day 1946 and became a self-made billionaire by creating the tropic rock genre, portraying a laid-back sailor lifestyle, and parlaying those into lucrative businesses. We could play any one of the so-called “Big 8”…
“Margaritaville”; “Come Monday”; “Fins”; “Volcano”; “A Pirate Looks at Forty”; “Cheeseburger in Paradise”; “Why Don’t We Get Drunk”; and “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”
…but so has everyone else this week. So, I turned to my oldest friend, Ricky Clark, for a special Jimmy Buffett deep track. Stay tuned in our encore for our salute to Jimmy Buffett.
Main Stage:
[04 Sep 2023] Gary Wright, 80, American singer-songwriter (“Dream Weaver”, “Love Is Alive”) and musician (Spooky Tooth), Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Opening our Main Stage this week is a former child actor on Broadway who broke out in London with the British blues-rock band Spooky Tooth in the late 60s. Gary Wright was a pioneer in progressive electronic rock who joined the gig eternal on September 4th at the age of 80. He also recorded extensively with George Harrison and composed numerous film soundtracks. Here he is with his solo hit, “Dream Weaver” from 1975.
Spooky Tooth – Evil Woman
Gary Wright – Dream Weaver
[06 Sep 2024] Larry Chance, 82, American doo-wop singer (The Earls).
Next up we reach way back to the era of doo-wop with Larry Chance, who said his farewell at the age of 82 on September 6th. Chance was the lead singer of The Earls, a four-man singing group who were big on the East Coast charts in the early 60s before the British Invasion turned audiences away from doo-wop. Chance continued performing as time gave way to a revival in oldies music. Here’s The Earls with “Never.”
The Earls – Never
[05 Sep 2023] Joe Fagin, 83, British singer (“Breakin’ Away / That’s Livin’ Alright”).
We cross the pond for our next artist, 83-year-old British singer Joe Fagin. Fagin barely made the charts in the U.S. with a song that went to #80 in 1982. It was on the U.K. charts where he found success in 1984 with this track, “That’s Livin’ Alright,” that made it to #3, thanks to its use as the theme song on a popular English television program.
Joe Fagin – That’s Livin’ Alright
Festival Stage:
[07 Sep 2023] María Jiménez, 73, Spanish singer.
This week our Festival Stage is decidedly Hispanic and Latino. We begin with Maria Jimenez, a singer from Spain who passed away on September 7th at the age of 73. She recorded her first album at the age of 16 and had a long career that included television hosting and movie acting. Here’s Jimenez with Armando Manzanero on “Parece Que Fue Ayer.”
Armando Manzanero & María Jiménez – Parece Que Fue Ayer
[04 Sep 2023] Teté Caturla, 85, Cuban singer (Cuarteto d’Aida).
Next up we head to the island of Cuba, where singer Tete Caturla has died at age 85 on September 4th. Caturla joined Cuarteto d’Aida, a four-woman singing group that blended jazz and bolero in the late 1950s and 1960s. Here they are performing “Oye Mi Ritmo.”
Cuarteto d’Aida – Oye Mi Ritmo
[25 Aug 2023] Carlos Gonzaga, 99, Brazilian singer.
We close the Festival Stage with our oldest performer this week, 99-year-old Brazilian singer Carlos Gonzaga. Born in 1924, Gonzaga began his career by entering singing contests in São Paulo. He soon became a regular singer on the radio in Brazil, covering popular music of the day in Portuguese. He’s probably best known for this cover of the Paul Anka hit, “Diana,” from 1958.
Carlos Gonzaga – Diana
Country Bunker:
[05 Sep 2023] Bruce Guthro, 62, Canadian singer-songwriter (“Walk This Road”, “Falling”) and musician (Runrig).
In the Country Bunker tonight, we take a turn toward folk and blues. First up, we have Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Guthro, who played his last lick on September 5th at the age of 62. In addition to his solo hits “Walk This Road” and “Falling,” Guthro also sang lead with the Scottish celt-rock band Runrig. Here they are with the radio edit of “Every River.”
Runrig – Every River (Edit)
[05 Sep 2023] Richard Laviolette, 41, Canadian singer-songwriter, assisted suicide.
Our youngest artist in the Reaper’s Rotation this week is another Canadian, 41-year-old singer-songwriter Richard Laviolette. He released his first album at age 21, then recorded more and performed for the next two decades, before he was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease in 2022. Laviolette chose to meet the Reaper through medically assisted suicide on September 5th. Here’s the title track from his last album, 2017’s Taking the Long Way Home.
Richard Laviolette – Taking the Long Way Home
[04 Sep 2023] Tail Dragger Jones, 82, American Chicago blues singer.
Closing the Bunker this week we head to the City of Big Shoulders for some authentic Chicago Blues. Tail Dragger Jones died on September 4th at age 82. He was a 1960’s protégé of Howlin’ Wolf, who gave him the moniker Tail Dragger because he was always late to gigs. In 1993, he was convicted for the second-degree murder of bluesman Boston Blackie in a dispute over money owed from their performances at the Chicago Blues Festival. That, my friends, is a bluesman. Here’s Tail Dragger Jones with “My Woman’s Gone.”
Tail Dragger Jones – My Woman’s Gone
Encore:
[04 Sep 2023] Steve Harwell, 56, American singer (Smash Mouth), liver failure.
For our first encore, we welcome back Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell. While 1999’s “All Star” was Smash Mouth’s biggest hit, they first came to our attention with this track that merges a 70s rollerdisco organ sound with a stony 90s vibe. This is “Walkin’ on the Sun.”
Smash Mouth – Walkin’ on the Sun
[04 Sep 2023] Gary Wright, 80, American singer-songwriter (“Dream Weaver”, “Love Is Alive”) and musician (Spooky Tooth), Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Now Gary Wright returns to the stage for our second encore, which features the second song from 1975’s The Dream Weaver Album to reach the second spot in the Billboard Hot 100. “Love is Alive” is ranked the #9 song for the year 1976 and spent 27 weeks on the chart, compared to “Dream Weaver’s” 20 weeks.
Gary Wright – Love Is Alive
[01 Sep 2023] Jimmy Buffett, 76, American singer-songwriter (“Margaritaville”, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”), founder of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Merkel-cell carcinoma.
Now for the Jimmy Buffett deep track you’ve been waiting for. Buffett passed away surrounded by friends and family on September 1st at the age of 76. I’ll always remember my Parrothead friends constantly, and I mean constantly, repetitively, and unceasingly, with disdain for any other musical request, playing Jimmy Buffett during our adventures. This is one of the tracks that always brought a smile to my face, live from 1978, it’s Jimmy Buffett with “God’s Own Drunk.”
Jimmy Buffett – God’s Own Drunk
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, September 8th, 2023. Join us here next week for a tribute to the latest artists to cross over to eternity. 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.
