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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, October 13th, 2023, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. The Grim Reaper loves himself a Friday the 13th show in October, so we’ve got quite the variety of music this week, from bluegrass to bubblegum, classical to classic rock, electronic to opera, and singers from Italy, France, Ukraine, and Australia. Get ready to expand your musical horizons on this global jam session from the great beyond. Let’s kick things off with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[09 Oct 2023] Buck Trent, 85, American country musician and television personality (Hee Haw).
One of the questionable joys I had being raised as a rural American was the syndicated TV show “Hee Haw,” which was the country version of Rowan & Martin’s “Laugh In.” Amid the corny comedy and corn-fed cuties were some excellent musicians like five-string banjo, dobro, steel guitar, mandolin, electric bass, and guitar player Charles Wilburn Trent, who died on October 9th at age 85. Better known as “Buck” Trent, he began playing at age 11, made it to the Grand Ole Opry stage at age 21 in 1959, and played alongside the late great Roy Clark on “Hee Haw” from 1974 to 1982. You may also recognize his work on this Dolly Parton hit, “Jolene.”
Buck Trent & Roy Clark – Bluegrass Breakdown
Headliner:
[01 Oct 2023] Ron Haffkine, 84, American record producer and music manager (Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show), leukemia and kidney failure.
The Reaper and I had quite the argument about whether a music producer could be considered a headliner for the Rest in Playlist. I pointed out that Ron Haffkine, who passed on October 1st at age 85, was also a musician and composer who wrote for Olivia Newton-John and produced for Helen Reddy and Lou Rawls. The Reaper wasn’t convinced until I pointed out he was also a close friend of poet Shel Silverstein and helped Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show turn two of Silverstein’s compositions into hits. The Reaper’s got a soft spot for “The Giving Tree,” so allowed Haffkine to headline with his production of Silverstein’s lyrics to “Sylvia’s Mother.”
Dr. Hook – Sylvia’s Mother
Main Stage:
[30 Sep 2023] Carol Buschmann, 96, American singer (The Chordettes).
Our only entry from September this week is also our oldest artist in the Reaper’s Rotation. In 1947, Carol Buschmann joined a group called The Chordettes that had formed in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the year prior. In 1949, they won a contest on Arthur Godfrey’s radio show Talent Scouts and they recorded their first album in 1950. The first few years of singles backing up Arthur Godfrey and Bill Lawrence went nowhere, but in 1954 they shot to #1 with one of the most iconic songs of the 1950s. Carol Buschmann was the last surviving member and she died on September 30th at the age of 96. Here’s the Chordettes’ #1 hit, “Mr. Sandman.”
The Chordettes – Mr. Sandman
[08 Oct 2023] Ritchie Routledge, 73, British singer and guitarist (The Cryin’ Shames).
Across the pond we go to Britain, where Ritchie Routledge met his maker on October 8th at the age of 73. But at the tender young age of 16, Routledge was working as a music reporter for a paper owned by Beatles manager Brian Epstein. He was tapped to replace John Bennett on guitar for a band called The Bumblies. They then changed their name to The Cryin’ Shames and had a minor hit that reached #27 on the UK charts, this cover of the Drifters tune “Please Stay.”
The Cryin’ Shames – Please Stay
[09 Oct 2023] Steven Lutvak, 64, American musician and composer (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder).
And now off to Broadway, where we mourn the passing of musician and composer Steven Lutvak, who won a Tony Award for his musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, which ran for over two years. Lutvak left us on October 9th at the age of 64. Here he is performing “Sibella” from that musical.
Steven Lutvak – Sibella
International Stage:
[05 Oct 2023] Bruno Filippini, 78, Italian singer.
Our first performer on the International Stage was born in Rome in 1945 and sang with the Sistine Chapel Choir. By age 18, Bruno Filippini won a singing competition at an Italian music festival for new talent. Throughout the 1960s, he enjoyed commercial recording success and some work as a film actor. Filippini died on October 5th at the age of 78. This is Filippini singing the duet “Io spera / Non ho che un canto” or “I hope / I have only one song” with Gianna Spagnulo
Bruno Filippini – Io speraNon ho che un canto
[08 Oct 2023] Nina Matviienko, 75, Ukrainian singer.
On to Ukraine, where the 2017 Person of the Year, Nina Matviienko, has perished on October 8 at the age of 75. Matviienko was a soloist of the Ukrainian Folk Choir from 1966 to 1991, promoting a philosophy of women’s equality and empowerment. In her career, she performed in Mexico, Canada, the United States, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland, Korea, France, and throughout Latin America. Her music has given great comfort to the people of Ukraine, including her performance of a Ukrainian opera banned by the Soviets that was live streamed during the 2022 Russian invasion. Here she is performing “Come Out Ivan.”
Nina Matviienko – Come Out Ivan
Festival Stage:
[04 Oct 2023] Dominique Perrier, 72–73, French electronic musician and composer (Space Art, Stone Age).
On the Festival Stage we welcome Dominque Perrier from France, who left us on October 4th at age 72 or 73–we only know he was born in 1950, so we don’t know if he made it to his 73rd birthday or not. Perrier had been working as an arranger in 1974 for another musician who lent Perrier one of the earliest analog synthesizers, the ARP Odyssey. Fascinated by its sounds, he recruited that musician’s drummer to form one of the first electronic music groups, Space Art. They recorded just three albums from 1977 to 1980. Here’s the track “Onyx” from their 1977 debut album.
Space Art – Onyx
[06 Oct 2023] Maurice Bourgue, 83, French oboist, composer, and conductor.
We go from the most experimental of French musicians to one of the most traditional. Maurice Bourgue was born in 1939 to an amateur clarinetist whose musical talent afforded him better treatment as a Nazi POW. His father made sure Maurice picked up an instrument, and that was the oboe. By his early 20s, he was winning international prizes and competitions on oboe and cor anglais (or English Horn—a sort of tenor oboe) and by age 28 had become the principal oboist for the Orchestra of Paris from its founding in 1967 to 1979. From there, he continued his career leading a famed wind octet until his passing at age 83 on October 6th.
Heinz Holliger, Hans Elhorst, Maurice Bourgue – Trio For 2 Oboes And Cor Anglais In C, Op. 87 – 4. Finale. Presto
The Amphitheater:
[03 Oct 2023] Jacqueline Dark, 55, Australian opera singer, cancer.
We open the Amphitheater with Australian mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Dark, who joined the choir invisible on October 3rd at age 55 following her battle with cancer. She performed with many Australian opera companies and also toured Australia and New Zealand in 2015 as Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music. Here she is from that musical with what one reviewer called, “a stunning rendition of ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’.”
Jacqueline Dark – Climb Ev’ry Mountain
[01 Oct 2023] Patricia Janečková, 25, Slovak soprano, breast cancer.
Our youngest performer on the stage eternal with week is 25-year-old Patricia Janečková, a German-born Slovak soprano who concluded her battle with breast cancer on October 1st. She began singing at age 4 and was the winner of a 2010 Czech/Slovak TV talent show called “Talentmania” at age 12. In 2014, she won an international singing competition in Rome. Here she is singing “Vtedy na západe,” or “Once Upon a Time in the West.”
Patricia Janečková – Vtedy na západe
[07 Oct 2023] Reiner Goldberg, 83, German operatic heldentenor (Berlin State Opera).
Closing the Amphitheater we head to Germany, where operatic heldentenor Reiner Goldberg has passed on October 7th at age 83. Well known for his performances of Wagnerian works, Goldberg first sang opera in 1966, then appeared as a guest singer at the Berlin State Opera in 1972, becoming a member of the ensemble in 1981. Here he is performing Beethoven’s “Prison Chorus” from Fidelio.
Reiner Goldberg – Prison Chorus
Encore:
[30 Sep 2023] Carol Buschmann, 96, American singer (The Chordettes).
The Chordettes – Lollipop
We’ve got a triple encore of Americans to close the Playlist this week. First up, Carol Buschmann is back with The Chordettes. After landing the #1 hit “Mr. Sandman,” they had four more top 20 singles in 1956 & 57, leading to their appearance on the first nationally televised American Bandstand on August 5, 1957. Then, in 1958, they almost made it all the way back to #1 with this smash from 1958 that stalled out at #2 behind “Tequila.”
[09 Oct 2023] Buck Trent, 85, American country musician and television personality (Hee Haw).
I couldn’t let Buck Trent make the Playlist without including his longtime friend and recording partner, the late great Roy Clark. Here they are on the classic “Beer Barrel Polka” from an album they recorded together in 1978 called Banjo Bandits.
Buck Trent & Roy Clark – Beer Barrel Polka
[01 Oct 2023] Ron Haffkine, 84, American record producer and music manager (Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show), leukemia and kidney failure.
We close out the week with another track produced by Ron Haffkine and written by Shel Silverstein, this is Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show with “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone’.”
Dr. Hook – The Cover of “Rolling Stone”
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, October 13th, 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.
