The musician, known for co-writing hits such as "Ladies’ Night" and "Celebration", died of lung cancer in Los Angeles
Quote: According to an official biography of the drummer-songwriter posted by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Jersey City, N.J., native had developed an early affinity for jazz drummers Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Jack DeJohnette when he met neighbor and future Kool & The Gang keyboardist Ricky West. West introduced Brown to the band’s future saxophonist and musical director Ronald Bell and future trumpeter Robert Mickens, and by the mid-1960s they were playing jazz clubs while still in high school.
In 1969 the group, which had performed under various names includes the Jazziacs, became Kool & the Gang and began to develop the blend of jazz, soul, funk, rock and pop music that would become their trademark. The band’s breakthrough came in 1973 with the album Wild and Peaceful, which included the hits “Jungle Boogie” and “Hollywood Swinging.”
Throughout the ’70s and well into the ’80s Kool & the Gang scored a string of hits including “Ladies’ Night,”“Get Down on It,”“Joanna,” “Cherish” and the chart-topping “Celebration.”
The group won a Grammy in 1978 for their work on the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever, which has sold more than 16 million copies in the U.S. alone. Kool & the Gang’s song “Open Sesame” also was featured in the movie.
In all, Kool & the Gang won two Grammys, seven American Music Awards, and was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. They sold 7.5 million albums in the U.S. and more than 70 million worldwide.
Brown spoke about his cancer battle in an interview with TV station KCAL News just last month.
Artist: Kool & The Gang
Album: Wild and Peaceful
Groove: "Hollywood Swinging"
April 6, 1974 De-Lite Records
“When asked to describe his music, Brown always replied, ‘The sound of happiness.’”
(This post was last modified: 11-18-2023 10:58 AM by GoodOwl.)
Quote:“I don’t know anyone else who’s able to go one night from playing a rock concert in front of 5,000 people to playing at the Beat Kitchen in front of 10, and taking both contexts absolutely seriously,” saxophonist Dave Rempis told the Tribune recently. “It’s not even rare; it’s unheard of to move back and forth between all the worlds that he does.”
Williams died Nov. 20 from ampullary cancer, a rare cancer affecting the area around the small intestine, after being diagnosed almost a year ago. He was 68. His death was confirmed to the Tribune by his brother Paul Williams.
“Mars Williams is one of the true saxophone players — someone who takes pleasure in the sheer act of blowing the horn and there are not many saxophone players I can truthfully say this about,” Zorn wrote in the liner notes to “Eftsoons,” Williams’ 1984 duo album with multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell.
Williams also kick-started his parallel career in the rock world in New York, playing punk shows at the music club CBGB and picking up gigs by word-of-mouth. That path eventually led him to the Psychedelic Furs, becoming the band’s longest-serving member after founders Richard and Tim Butler. He played with the Furs from 1983 to 1989, then again from 2005 to the present.
As is the sideman’s lot, Williams was never a household name, though many of the acts he performed with are: Billy Idol, The Killers, Ministry, the Power Station, Billy Squier, Massacre, Die Warzau, Dirty Projectors and Jerry Garcia, to name a few. As a core member of short-lived hit magnets The Waitresses, Williams ripped all over that band’s most enduring tunes, like “Christmas Wrapping” and “I Know What Boys Like.”
Artist: The Waitresses
Album: A Christmas Record
Song: "Christmas Wrapping"
1981 ZE Records
Artist: The Waitresses
Album: Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?
Song: "I Know What Boys Like"
January 11, 1982 ZE Records/Polydor Records
That's Mars Williams in the grey and white striped jacket blowin' his horn at Patty Donahue.
Artist: The Psychedelic Furs
Album: Mirror Moves
Song: "Heartbeat"
August 1984 Columbia Records
That's Mars' signature horn with one of his trademark riffs kickng off this killer tune for the Furs from back in their heydey.
(This post was last modified: 12-30-2023 03:11 PM by GoodOwl.)
Sid and Marty Krofft began their Hollywood careers by designing the characters and sets for Hanna-Barbera live-action series “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour,” which ran on NBC from 1968-70. In 1976 the Kroffts were asked to develop an amusement park for the new Omni International complex in downtown Atlanta. The World of Sid and Marty Krofft was one of the world’s first indoor amusement parks featuring a ride inside a giant pinball machine, located at the top of the Omni International Center complete with an ice skating rink and a ride up to the theme park on what was then the World's Longest Escalator, but attendance was poor and it closed after six months. The building that contained the park was renamed the CNN Center when the site was converted to the headquarters of CNN in Atlanta, Georgia.
Disgusting comment. Whether you were a fan or not, the man just died.
Say what you want to about the man. I know from personal experience that he prevented at least one nuclear war, one that I would have been right in the middle of.
Sandra Day O’Connor. It hasn’t been a good week for 90-100 year old political figures (I think it’s fair to put Supreme Court Justices into a category of political figures -although she may have been one of the few recent ones who seemed to mostly be apolitical in her judgements).
(12-05-2023 02:40 PM)WestGrayStreetOwl Wrote: Denny Laine, Paul McCartney's Wingman, is gone now.
Also, less know than his involvement with Wings, he was co-founder of the Moody Blues in 1964 (and original lead singer), staying with them through their breakout in 1969 - '70.
(This post was last modified: 12-05-2023 04:32 PM by waltgreenberg.)
(12-05-2023 02:40 PM)WestGrayStreetOwl Wrote: Denny Laine, Paul McCartney's Wingman, is gone now.
Also, less know than his involvement with Wings, he was co-founder of the Moody Blues in 1964 (and original lead singer), staying with them through their breakout in 1969 - '70.
Denny left the Moody Blues in 1966. The remaining key members, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas added Justin Hayward, Graeme Edge and John Lodge.
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