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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, May 24th, 2024, featuring recording artists from around the world who passed away recently.
This week, The Reaper has claimed a couple of names you don’t know from a couple of bands you do know, one of whom is our headliner, drummer Charlie Colin from the band Train. Our Main Stage features an Australian crooner and an American Idol vocal coach, and our Festival Stage features artists from Brazil and Peru. We visit the French-speaking countries of Belgium and Canada in Le Cabaret, then we introduce our two newest stages, featuring music from Eastern Europe in Solidarność, and music from Africa in Utendaji.
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:
[18 May 2024] Jon Wysocki, 53, American rock drummer (Staind).
On May 18th, we lost one of the four founding members of the Massachusetts hard rock band Staind, drummer Jon Wysocki. From 1995 to his departure in 2011, Wysocki recorded on the band’s first seven studio albums. The band hit their stride in 2001 with the album Break the Cycle, which featured their #5 Billboard Hot 100 hit, “It’s Been Awhile.”
Staind – It’s Been Awhile (radio edit)
Headliner:
[22 May 2024] Charlie Colin, 58, American bassist and guitarist (Train, The Side Deal), fall.
Our headliner this week comes to us from the San Francisco band Train. Charlie Colin, the bassist who died on May 22nd from a fall in the shower, was a founding member of the band in 1994. It was in 1999 that they released their first eponymous album, and their first single to make the Billboard Hot 100, this #20 hit from 2001 called “Meet Virginia.”
Train – Meet Virginia
Main Stage:
[18 May 2024] Frank Ifield, 86, Australian singer (“I Remember You“, “Lovesick Blues“, “The Wayward Wind“).
One of Australia’s most beloved country artists was passed on May 18th. Frank Ifield began teaching himself guitar in 1949 to the music of Hank Snow. He was a famous child artist Down Under in the 50s before moving to the UK in the 60s, where he had four #1 singles on the UK charts between 1962 and 63. Here’s the one that also went #1 in Australia and #5 in the USA, a cover of the 1941 Jimmy Dorsey tune, “I Remember You.”
Frank Ifield – I Remember You
[19 May 2024] Peggi Blu, 77, American singer and vocal coach.
Before there was American Idol, there was Star Search, and our next artist had a part in both. Peggi Blu, who died on May 19th, was the 1986 Female Vocalist Champion of Star Search. She went on to do session vocals on recordings for Stephanie Mills, The Weather Girls, Bob Dylan, Brian Setzer, Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Tracy Chapman, Kylie Minogue, Laura Branigan, Melissa Manchester, and Young MC—quite the eclectic list. That variety led to her being a longtime vocal coach on American Idol. Here’s a track she recorded in 2010 with the duo Cool Million called “When We Loved.”
Peggi Blu & Cool Million – When We Loved
Festival Stage:
[17 May 2024] Missinho, 64, Brazilian singer (Chiclete com Banana), multiple organ failure.
Off to Brazil we go where Missinho, singer for the popular band Chiclete com Banana, has departed on May 17th. The band is named after a popular song, which means “chewing gum with banana.” They’ve recorded over two dozen albums from 1983 to 2005 and are one of the fixtures of the Carnival parade in Bahia, with hundreds of thousands of revelers gathered around their sound truck. Here you can hear them performing live the song “100% Vocé.”
Chiclete com Banana – 100% Vocé
[03 Apr 2024] Muñequita Milly, 23, Peruvian folk singer, complications from surgery.
Our youngest performer this week joins us from Peru. Muñequita Milly was born in late 2000 and by age five was already performing in local talent shows. By age 12 she began recording albums, producing 14 of them by the time of her death at the age of 23, brought about, sadly, by complications following liposuction surgery. Here is Muñequita Milly performing “Curvecita Mia.”
Muñequita Milly – Curvecita Mia
Le Cabaret:
[14 May 2024] Mélanie Renaud [fr], 42, Canadian singer, ovarian cancer.
Bon jour, it’s time again to visit the French speaking countries in Le Cabaret. First up, we head to Quebec, Canada, where Mélanie Renaud has met her maker on May 14th. Born in Haiti, at age 8 she was adopted by her parents in Quebec. She hit it big with this next track that won the Felix Prize, from the album Ma Liberté, which won French speaking album of the year in Canada for 2002, this is “J’m’en veux” or “I Blame Myself.”
Mélanie Renaud – J’m’en veux
[06 May 2024] Christiane Stefanski, 74, Belgian singer.
Now to Belgium, where francophone singer Christiane Stefanki takes the stage. Born of Polish parents in 1949, Stefanski sang with folk groups in the 1970s before pursuing her own music direction in the 1980s. She recorded her final album in 2008. Here she is singing “Chanson d’amours” or “Love Song.”
Christine Stefanski – Chanson d’amours
Solidarność:
[22 Apr 2024] Dušan Grúň [sk], 81, Slovak singer, pneumonia.
Solidarność, Polish for Solidarity, is the name of our new stage featuring the music of Eastern Europe. We christen the stage with one of Slovakia’s best-known singers, Dušan Grúň, who left this plane on April 22nd. Grúň only recorded 3 albums but packed 53 songs onto them. His radio performances greatly outnumbered his recordings, having performed for six decades. Here he is with “Nalej mi vina, Malvína” or “Pour me some wine, Malvina.”
Dušan Grúň – Nalej mi vina, Malvína
[20 Apr 2024] Josef Laufer [cs], 84, Czech singer and actor (Starci na chmelu, Cirkus Humberto, The Last Butterfly), cardiac arrest.
Now to the other half of the former Czechoslovakia, where famed Czech singer and actor Josef Laufer has perished on April 20th. In addition to singing and acting, he translated fluently in English, Spanish, and German, and worked as a television screenwriter and director. Tragically, Laufer had been in a coma for the past four years following a cardiac arrest during a heart valve operation in 2020. Here he is singing “Sbohem, Lásko, Já Jedu Dál” or “Goodbye, Love, I’m Moving On.”
Josef Laufer – Sbohem, Lásko, Já Jedu Dál
Utendaji:
[15 May 2024] Ahmed Piro, 92, Moroccan singer.
Our next new stage this week is called Utendaji, from the Swahili word for “performance.” We’ll begin in North Africa, where Ahmed Piro is our oldest performer of the week, passing on at the age of 92 on May 15th. Piro sang Andalusi classical music in Morocco, winning the Wissam Arida award for notable cultural personalities in the kingdom. Here he is with Amina Alaoui performing “Li Ayyi Sabab” or “I Have No Reason.”
Amina Alaoui, Ahmed Piro – Li Ayyi Sabab
[05 May 2024] Belgaçem Bouguenna, 61, Tunisian singer and teacher.
Now to the North African country of Tunisia, southwest of Italy across the Mediterranean Sea. We don’t have much information on Belgaçem Bouguenna, besides that he was a singer and teacher in Tunis who died at the age of 61. Here he is singing “El Ghorba.”
Belgaçem Bouguenna – El Ghorba
Encore:
[22 May 2024] Charlie Colin, 58, American bassist and guitarist (Train, The Side Deal), fall.
We welcome back Train’s Charlie Colin for an encore. With their second album, Train shot to superstardom on the strength of the album’s title cut, which hit #5 on the Hot 100 in 2001. That led to national tours opening for Hootie & the Blowfish, Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows, and Barenaked Ladies. Alas, problems with substance abuse resulted in Train firing Colin in 2003. Here’s that megahit to close the show, “Drops of Jupiter.”
Train – Drops of Jupiter
Closing:
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, May 24th, 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.
