Just read this news at the “Treasure Island Oldies Blogspot”. First Ron Banks now the lead singer of another favorite groups of mine – Redbone! Now I fear for the proverbial third round of bad news. ;-(
Lolly Vegas, 70, the lead singer and guitarist for Redbone, a Native American rock band that had a million-selling hit in 1974 with the bouncy”Come and Get Your Love,”died in his sleep Thursday at his home in Reseda.
He had lung cancer and had been in poor health since suffering a stroke 15 years ago, said the band’s manager, Michael Stone.
This afternoon while at work I checked my email only to find this distressing news in the form of an email with the subject line “R.I.P. -- Ron Banks of the Dramatics” from the Publisher of the “Soul Tracks” website. I read the post and could barely get it back together to continue working.
As with the loss of MJJ, the loss of Ron Banks is another blow that shook me to the core as if he were a family member.
Although I never met him personally, we were two years apart in age and grew up musically together. Mr. Banks was a great admirer of the late great Eddie Kendricks as was I. But Ron had a sound all his own.
Just listen to this to hear for yourself. I blogged about this song here on OSML before: but since it is my favorite Dramatics song of all here it is again!
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I can always pick the sweet tenor stylings of Eddie, Ron Banks and Ronald Isley out of a sea of voices. It doesn’t matter if they are singing lead or are in the background I can always pick them out. These three gentleman are at the top of the heap in terms of tenor vocals in the entire history of modern pop music IMHO.
My condolences go out the the Banks family, friends and all the the fans that loved him as I did for bringing so much joy and pleasure into my life.
Published February 14th, 2010 7:53pm EST @ STARPULSE.COM
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Doug Fieger, leader of the power pop band The Knack who sang on the 1979 hit “My Sharona,” died Sunday. He was 57.
Fieger, a Detroit-area native, died at his home in Woodland Hills near Los Angeles after battling cancer, according to The Knack’s manager, Jake Hooker.
Fieger formed The Knack in Los Angeles 1978, and the group quickly became a staple of Sunset Strip rock clubs. A year later he co-wrote and sang lead vocals on “My Sharona.”
Fieger said the song, with its pounding drums and exuberant vocals, was inspired by a girlfriend of four years.
“I had never met a girl like her — ever,” he told The Associated Press in a 1994 interview. “She induced madness. She was a very powerful presence. She had an insouciance that wouldn’t quit. She was very self-assured. … She also had an overpowering scent, and it drove me crazy.”
“My Sharona,” an unapologetically anthemic rock song, emerged during disco’s heyday and held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard pop chart for six weeks, becoming an FM radio standard.
It became a pop culture phenomenon, parodied by Weird Al Yankovic and others and sampled by rap group Run DMC.
In 1994, “My Sharona” re-entered the Billboard chart when it was released as a single from the soundtrack of the Ben Stiller film “Reality Bites.”
“My Sharona” gained attention again in 2005 when it was reported that George W. Bush had the song on the presidential iPod.
Their songs, about young love and teenage lust, included the hits “Good Girls Don’t,” “She’s So Selfish” and “Frustrated.”
The Knack continued to release albums and tour through the mid-2000s but they never replicated the success they enjoyed with their first two albums, “Get the Knack” and “… But the Little Girls Understand.”
Fieger battled cancer for six years. In 2006 he underwent surgery to remove two tumors from his brain.
He is survived by a sister, Beth Falkenstein, and a brother, attorney Geoffrey Fieger of Southfield, Mich., who is best known for representing assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian.
A Los Angeles memorial service for friends and family is being planned.
Robert “Squirrel” Lester was a troubadour of slow dances and long kisses whose fans told him he was partly responsible for the births of their children.
The silky-voiced singer with the internationally renowned Chicago vocal group the Chi-Lites died Thursday of cancer at Roseland Hospital. He was 67.
He was born in McComb, Miss., where his tree-climbing ability earned him the nickname “Squirrel.” He went on to attend Hyde Park High School in Chicago.
“He’s one of the prettiest tenors we have seen in the world,” said Chi-Lites leader Marshall Thompson, who announced his passing. He performed with Mr. Lester more than 50 years.
When I saw the Chi-Lites perform on a recent PBS oldies special, watching Mr. Lester brought me to tears. He bears a strong resemblance to my late Father and the combination of the music and seeing the group perform was somewhat overwhelming.
Thank you so very, very much for being part of my formative years Mr. Lester. May you rest in peace.
My condolences to the family and Chi-Lite fans everywhere.
Willie Mitchell, who shaped the elegant yet gritty sound of Al Green, Ann Peebles and other stars of soul music as the house producer at Hi Records in the 1960s and ’70s, died Tuesday in Memphis, where he lived. He was 81.
The cause was cardiac arrest, his son Lawrence said.
The Willie Mitchell sound — prominent horns, delicately strummed guitars, some sweet organ and a steady, straightforward beat — is instantly recognizable on records by singers like Mr. Green, Ms. Peebles, Syl Johnson and O. V. Wright, and on the instrumentals Mr. Mitchell recorded as a bandleader. Both raw and sensuous, it became Hi’s signature sound as the label rose to prominence with Mr. Green in the 1970s.
Richard Nader, whose wildly popular oldies concerts at Madison Square Garden in the 1970s helped jump-start a revival of classic rock ’n’ roll and open up second careers for many former stars, died Dec. 1 in Stony Brook, N.Y. He was 69.
The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, said his ex-wife, Deborah Nader.
