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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, March 29th, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently. It’s Good Friday and we’ve got a special new stage debuting gospel performers who’ve recently met St. Peter. We’ll start you off with an Ace in the Hole fiddler before we showcase our Headliner, Raydio singer Vincent Bonham. We’ve got rap and pop on the Main Stage, a visit to the International Stage, and a trio of pianists in the Amphitheater. Then we close the shop by waking you up with some hard rock and industrial in The Mosh Pit. 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:
[20 Mar 2024] Gene Elders, 80, American fiddler (Ace in the Hole Band).
The Ace in the Hole Band is the group that has backed up its lead singer, George Strait, for half a century. Since 1985, the fiddle and mandolin player in that band has been Gene Elders, who passed away on March 20th. Strait paid tribute online to Elders and drummer Mike Kennedy, who passed in 2018, writing, “Me and the band won’t ever be the same without our brother Gene. We loved him so much. Go play with Mike again Geno. We’ll come join you guys later.” Here’s Gene Elders on fiddle on George Strait smash, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.”
George Strait – All My Ex’s Live in Texas
Headliner:
[24 Mar 2024] Vincent Bonham, 67, American singer (Raydio).
From 1977 to 1981, Ray Parker Jr. of Ghostbusters fame had a band called Raydio, which he formed with our headliner, singer Vincent Bonham, who left us on March 24th. They managed to land five singles on the Billboard Top 40 off of four studio albums. After Parker split the group, Bonham went on to be a supporting musician for such notable acts as Prince, Chaka Khan, and Evelyn “Champagne” King. Here’s Raydio’s first hit from 1978, the top ten single “Jack and Jill.”
Raydio – Jack And Jill
Main Stage:
[24 Mar 2024] Def Rhymz, 53, Surinamese-Dutch rapper, heart failure.
Dennis Bouman, known professionally as Def Rhymz, was a Surinamese-Dutch rapper best known for his humorous raps. He was the first Dutch rapper ever to hit the number 1 spot on the Dutch charts. Besides performing, Bouman also worked as a head-chef. Bouman died of heart failure on March 24th. This is Def Rhymz performing “10 Miljoen.”
Def Rhymz – 10 Miljoen
[23 Mar 2024] Ulf Georgsson, 61, Swedish songwriter and drummer (Flamingokvintetten).
Ulf Georg Georgsson was a Swedish songwriter and drummer for Flamingokvintetten, a Swedish dansband that recorded over three dozen albums from 1967 to 2012. Georgsson was also a composer of numerous soundtracks for Swedish film and television. He went to the great beyond on March 23rd. Here is Flamingokvintetten with “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.”
Flamingokvintetten – Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen
[08 Mar 2024] Ľubomír Stankovský, 72, Slovak pop rock musician (Modus).
On March 8th we lost Ľubomír Stankovský. He was a Slovak pop rock musician who co-founded the rock band Modus in 1967, playing drums with the group until 1973. Following his departure from Modus, Stankovský continued his career with a variety of artists. In the 1980s, he started to play with Modus again. In 1984, they broke through with this hit, Ty ja a môj brat, which is still considered one of the most recognizable Slovak rock songs.
Modus – Ty ja a môj brat (Sklíčka)
The Church:
[17 Mar 2024] Sandra Crouch, 81, American gospel singer, Grammy winner (1984), and minister.
Christening our new stage, The Church, we welcome 1984 Gospel Grammy Winner Sandra Crouch, who joined her twin brother Andraé in heaven on March 17th, nine years after his passing. In addition to her award-winning gospel work in the 80s, during the late 1960s through the early 1970s, she played the tambourine on a number of Motown recording sessions in Los Angeles, including the Jackson 5 hits “I Want You Back” and “ABC.” Here’s Sandra Crouch singing praise with “Glorify the Lord.”
Sandra Crouch – Glorify The Lord
[12 Mar 2024] Michael Knott, 61, American singer-songwriter (Lifesavers Underground).
Michael Knott, who passed away on March 12th, was an American singer-songwriter who has been credited for pioneering the “alternative Christian rock scene.” He drew some controversy in Christian music circles for lyrics which challenged church morality and abusive church leaders, getting one of his albums banned in Christian bookstores. Here’s a track from one of the ten bands he performed in, Lifesavers Underground, called “Die Baby Die.”
Lifesavers Underground – Die Baby Die
[12 Mar 2024] James Whitbourn, 60, British composer and conductor, cancer.
James Whitbourn, a British composer who met his maker on March 12th, wouldn’t be considered a gospel performer, per se. But his immensely popular Son of God Mass, along with various choral and orchestral works celebrating faith and Christmas, make him a natural fit for The Church. Here is one of his many compositions, entitled “Give Us the Wings of Faith.”
James Whitbourn – Give Us the Wings of Faith
International Stage:
[13 Mar 2024] Sadi Mohammad, 70, Bangladeshi singer and composer, suicide by hanging.
Sadi Mohammad, who took his own life on March 13th, originally started out as an engineering student in Bangladesh. But two years after starting his studies, he got a music scholarship and changed his life’s course, singing and playing the tanpura. By the 2000s, he was composing music and served as the director of the cultural organization, Rabi Raag. But depression over his mother’s death last year proved too much to bear.
Sadi Mohammad – Esho Hey Boishakh
[07 Mar 2024] Joe Cutajar, 83, Maltese singer (Helen and Joseph).
Joe Cutajar, who died on March 7th, first arose as the winner of the 1969 Malta Song Festival. There he met 2nd place finisher Helen Micallaf, who had won the festival the year prior. They teamed up on this next track as the duo “Helen & Joseph,” a song Cutajar had performed solo to win the Maltese National Final in 1972. They took this song to the Eurovision contest later that year… and finished dead last. Judge for yourself, this is Helen & Joseph.
Helen & Joseph – L’imħabba – ESC 1972
[06 Mar 2024] Dimos Moutsis, 85, Greek singer-songwriter and composer.
Closing the International Stage we welcome Dimos Moutsis, a Greek singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who recorded albums from 1968 through 2009. He also composed music for film and theater, and in 2019 stood for election in the 2019 European Parliament. Moutsis passed away on March 6th.
Dimos Moutsis – Eisagogi
The Amphitheater:
[23 Mar 2024] Maurizio Pollini, 82, Italian pianist.
Maurizio Pollini was an Italian pianist and conductor known for his performances of Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy, as well as more modern composers. Pollini was also a left-wing activist in the 1960s and 1970s, and he remained politically engaged in his later life. He also won a Grammy award in 2007. Pollini left us for the hereafter on March 23rd. This is “La Puerta Del Vino.”
Maurizio Pollini – Préludes-Book 2, L.123-3. La Puerta Del Vino
[21 Mar 2023] Laurens van Rooyen, 88, Dutch pianist and composer.
Laurens van Rooyen was a Dutch pianist and composer who died on March 21st. He composed many pieces for the piano and wrote the score for several Dutch films. Van Rooyen also wrote two books on his experiences as a musician and another ten books on piano itself. His music has been played on radio worldwide. This is one of his pieces entitled “Sequidilla.”
Laurens van Rooyen – Sequidilla
[14 Mar 2024] Byron Janis, 95, American classical pianist.
Our oldest performer this week is our third pianist in the Amphitheater, America’s Byron Janis, who expired on March 14th at the age of 95. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records and occupies two volumes of the Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. He began studying piano at age 8 and by 15 was studying with the great Vladimir Horowitz. Here he is performing “Rachmaninoff’s Prelude In E-Flat Major, Op.23, No.6.”
Byron Janis – Rachmaninoff’s Prelude In E-Flat Major, Op.23, No.6
Mosh Pit:
[10 Mar 2024] Blake Harrison, 48, American musician (Pig Destroyer, Hatebeak).
Now to our youngest performer, Blake Harrison, the 48-year-old sampler for American grindcore band Pig Destroyer. Formed in 1997, Harrison joined the band in 2006 and provided noise and samples until his battle with melanoma sidelined him in 2022. On March 10th, he succumbed to pneumonia and a heart attack. This is Pig Destroyer with “Army of Cops.”
Pig Destroyer – Army Of Cops
[05 Mar 2024] Pavel Zajíček, 72, Czech poet, musician (DG 307) and visual artist, pneumonia.
Pavel Zajíček was a Czech poet and musician who founded the experimental band DG 307, which is named after the mental health code that disqualifies one from military service. The band was persecuted by the communist regime at the time, making “Pavel Z” one of the prominent figures in the Czech underground scene during the 1970s. He fled Czechoslovakia in 1980 and then returned after the fall of the Eastern Bloc of the Soviet Union. Pavel Z passed away on March 5th. Here’s a bit from DG 307.
DG 307 – Prebeh I. (New York – Praha – Paris)
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, March 29th, 2024. Join us here next week as we chronicle the latest musicians, singers, and songwriters to join the Great Gig in the Sky. 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.
