Sweet Pea Atkinson was an American singer best known for his vocal contributions to the releases of the band Was (Not Was) (I like their “Wheel Me Out”).
His solo singles include “Dance or Die” (1982) which was played at the Paradise Garage.
Tag Archives: American music
RIP Hamilton Bohannon (1942 – 2020)
Hamilton Bohannon was an American musician best known for the disco hit “Let’s Start the Dance” (1978).
Other compositions of note include “I Remember” (1981, the basis for “From: Disco To: Disco”, 1996), “Me and the Gang” (1978, the basis for “Get Get Down”, 1999), “Truck Stop” (1974), “South African Man” (1975) and “The Beat (Part 2)” (1979).
His instrumentals have a mesmerizing repetitiveness and a lack of violins which went down well with the people who liked to dance but were not into the kitsch of disco.
RIP Eddie Cooley (1933 – 2020)
Eddie Cooley was an American songwriter best known for co-writing “Fever” (1956).
That song has become a pop standard and is best known in the Peggy Lee rendition.
However, I I give you the version of The Cramps from their debut album Songs the Lord Taught Us (1980).
After all, as I explained before, I like all roads to lead to Rome, and The Cramps are central to my archive.
RIP Andy González (1951 – 2020)
Andy González was an American musician and bassist.
In my book he is noted for his contribution to the oddball Latin jazz album Concepts in Unity (1975) by Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorquino which I discovered in the 1990s when I was collecting releases by Salsoul Records.
RIP Onaje Allan Gumbs (1949 – 2020)
Onaje Allan Gumbs was an American pianist, best-known for having played with the fine fleur of American jazz.
As I prefer all roads to lead to Rome, and Rome is my book, the death of Onaje Allan Gumbs must inevitably lead to Strata-East Records, more specifically to Charles Sullivan’s album Genesis (1974) on which mister Gumbs played piano.
RIP Hal Willner (1956 – 2020)
Hal Willner was an American music producer and facilitator.
In my book Willner is primarily noted for his album Dead City Radio (1990), a spoken word album of William S. Burroughs recitations.
I cannot remember if it was Gus Van Sant’s video “A Thanksgiving Prayer” (1991) or his film Drugstore Cowboy (1989) which visually introduced me to Burroughs.
Today, I learn that “A Thanksgiving Prayer” was a promotional video to Dead City Radio.
In the documentary Words of Advice: William S. Burroughs on the Road (2007) there is an interview with Willner on the making of Dead City Radio at 1:07:40 and the recording of of a “Thanksgiving Prayer” is at 1:11:23, sadly without the Gus Van Sant footage.
RIP Vaughan Mason (1951 – 2020)
Vaughan Mason was an American musician and producer.
His claims to fame are “Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll” (1979) and “Break 4 Love” (1988).
RIP Bill Withers (1938 – 2020)
Bill Withers was an American singer-songwriter known for songs such as “Lean on Me”, “Use Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine”.
I give you “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” (1972) because it’s one of the best adultery songs ever with the unforgettable opening lines:
A man we passed just tried to stare me down
And when I looked at you
You looked at the ground
While researching this death, I came across a rather smart piece of music criticism by the American author Robert Christgau (born 1942):
“Withers sang for a black nouveau middle class that didn’t yet understand how precarious its status was. Warm, raunchy, secular, common, he never strove for Ashford & Simpson-style sophistication, which hardly rendered him immune to the temptations of sudden wealth—cross-class attraction is what gives ‘Use Me’ its kick. He didn’t accept that there had to be winners and losers, that fellowship was a luxury the newly successful couldn’t afford.
RIP Cristina (1959 – 2020)
Another coronavictim.
Cristina was an American singer who belongs to the entourage of August Darnell and ZE Records.
By extension she was part of the whole ‘artistic disco’ stable of Patrick Adams, Arthur Russell, Larry Levan and Bob Blank.
You might also call the field she was active in self-conscious or tongue-in-cheek disco or sarcastic disco.
Too many words, I stop here.
RIP Ruth White (1925 – 2013)
This has happened seven years ago but even Wikipedia only noticed it in 2018.
Personally, I only noticed it today.
Ruth White (1925 – 2013) was an American composer noted for her work in early electronic music.
Of interest to me is her 1969 Baudelaire album, on which she reads 10 poems from The Flowers of Evil. This is really bizarre and reading her liner notes makes the experience only weirder. “The Litanies of Satan” is one of the poems that got him in to trouble.