Rolling Obituary Thread 2025

Wayne Osmond, 73, of the Osmonds

also

Russ North, 59, former singer of Clover Hoof, and runner-up to replace Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKUjuKjeCsk

Jocelyn Wildenstein has sadly used up the last of the 9 lives

Pippa Garner, whose work i only encountered for the first time at the most recent hammer museum biennial

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/pippa-garner-dead-1234729124/

David Lodge

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2025/01/david-lodge-obituary

Someone who felt everywhere when I was an Eng Lit teenager, & I read and enjoyed the campus trilogy, but then never anything else.

Britt Allcroft, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine.

RIP, David Lodge. Read most of what he wrote through the campus trilogy and then a few things after that. Seem him give a reading from Paradise News at Books, Inc. on the Upper East Side when it came out.

I gave up on him after his terrible book ‘Thinks…’. He was good when he was at his peak, but he couldn’t seem to shake off his rather tiresome obsessions in his later work.

Yeah, he became a bit of an old bore, sorry to say.

Adam Roberts said it better in his review of his H.G. Wells book.

Mick Hobbs of the Work, Officer! And other This Heat type adjacent arty stuff.

Soulman Brenton Wood

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/brenton-wood-dead-the-oogum-boogum-song-soul-singer-1236265160/

"CheckOutTheBootsEh CheckOutTheBootsEh CheckOutTheBootsEh"

Heh, Adam Roberts wrote something nice about David Lodge in his new(ish) substack and now says his H.G. Wells book is “better than its reputation.”

Jeff Baena, 47, filmmaker and Aubrey Plaza’s husband

Absolutely tragic. Reports suggest it was suicide

Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was the world's oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died, an Ashiya city official said Saturday. She was 116.

https://abc7news.com/post/is-oldest-person-alive-tomiko-itooka-japanese-woman-was-worlds-116-has-died/15751689/

I wish I could have the extra years now, not when I'm 112

The Jeff Baena thing is mind wrecking

The Vivienne, winner of Rupaul's Drag Race UK Season One, 32.

this is just awful

Experimental playwright and one of the real heroes of the Downtown scene, Richard Foreman.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/04/theater/richard-foreman-dead.html

Per a post from Steven Krakow just now on FB, ESP-Disk veteran/painter Ed Askew, who had a good second run these past twenty five years with a full series of albums following the debut back in 1968.

xp wow i was just talking about Richard Foreman with someone the other day. learned about his work from my favorite college professor who had us read pages from some of his scripts. RF more or less retired from theater while i was living in nyc; sad i never got to see any of his productions, they seemed like quite the trip.

Think I only ever got over to see one production of his, which I enjoyed, but always found him interesting and intriguing. RIP.

Per a post from Steven Krakow just now on FB, ESP-Disk veteran/painter Ed Askew, who had a good second run these past twenty five years with a full series of albums following the debut back in 1968.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, January 5, 2025 4:00 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I shared a bill with him at a Greenpoint loft party about ten years ago now— Ka Baird introduced him. Tons of people came out despite what was essentially a hurricane going on outside. He was a lovely person, chatted with him for a while. RIP.

"Goin' Down" Dude Don Nix

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/01/01/don-nix-obituary-stax-artist-songwriter-producer/77388086007/

Alfa Anderson, the lead singer of Chic from 1978-1983, aged 78

https://ra.co/news/81880

Alfa Anderson passed in 2024 and already posted on the old thread.

oops i missed that!

Mike Rinder, 69, ex-Scientologist and Leah Remini’s co-host on several shows.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, French fascist, 96

good

Good riddance.

God that fucker was still hanging around, huh

Gunvor Nelson, one of the greatest experimental filmmakers. would encourage everyone to seek out red shift

Reuters describing him as an unabashed nationalist (not like those many meek, humble ones) and a 'pugnacious mix of populism, eloquence and charisma'.

🤮🤮🤮

Fascist ghouls tend to live forever unfortunately, or what seems like it. Unless they're shot and hung upside down from a lamppost first of course.

"oh I'm angin from a lamppost at the corner of the street .."

© Alexei Sayle

Peter Yarrow, 86

Wow!

Aww, the Italian 'Robinson Crusoe' Mauro Morandi has died... they killed him when they forced him off his island

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/07/hermit-guardian-budelli-island-off-sardinia-dies

Beej Chaney from Minneapolis greats the Suburbs:

https://www.startribune.com/beej-chaney-suburbs-death-guitarist/601203171

I just bumped the Suburbs thread to post this. I’m really sad.

RIP Pete Yarrow bc Peter Paul & Mary were a childhood cornerstone … but it’s hard to square that with the fact that Carter pardoned him for his ~admitted~ sexual assault of a 14yo girl and not scream into the void

Just read this now. So weird--I was in a theatre yesterday rewatching A Complete Unknown (Yarrow's in there two or three times, including the guy who reintroduces Dylan for his crowd-calming acoustic number at Newport '65). Fan from childhood too; didn't know about the assault at all.

apparently there may have been other incidents

https://web.archive.org/web/20210517122113/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/05/17/peter-yarrow-carter-pardon-assault/

wow just read some of that, he was puff the magic scumbag

Paedo, Paul & Mary

I just bumped the Suburbs thread to post this. I’m really sad.

Possibly, but can we not, please?

I’m sorry

https://variety.com/2025/music/obituaries-people-news/anita-bryant-dead-pop-singer-anti-gay-oranges-1236271244/

well ain't that a shame

I told a local conservative politico that his LGBTQ-bashing "protect the children" talking points were just reheated Anita Bryant, and he said he'd never even heard of her. How quickly they forget.

good fucking riddance!

today I hope hell exists

we should have negronis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS91gT3XT_A

negronis with a splash of pure Florida orange juice

Le Pen, Bryant... 2025 cleaning house early. Where's the line to piss on their graves?

add the pizzagate gunman clown being shot dead by cops to the grave pissing queue, not even going to dignify him by naming him

next do trump

https://www.newsfromme.com/2025/01/09/michael-schlesinger-r-i-p/

Michael Schlesinger, film producer and preservation advocate.

I mean, if the death of the pizzagate guy caused any of those loons to think more critically about situations where the cops say someone had a gun so they shot him, that wouldn't suck, but they won't.

Ooof, I didn't realise that his sentencing judge was Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Pizzagate guy having a gun is not too hard to believe

Sam Moore, of Sam & Dave, 89

RiP :(

He’s with Steve Alaimo now. RIP.

I bought The Best of Sam & Dave on cassette for at most $6 (possibly $5) when I was in high school, maybe 1988 or 1989, and it took the top of my head off. They've always been my favorite soul act; more than Otis, more than Aretha, I always go back to Sam & Dave.

They’re amazing in those Stax review videos.

Revue even

RIP

Last I heard of him he was playing the Trump inauguration so my recent memories of the man are not positive.

Sam & Dave made some really amazing music though.

Yeah, he was a longtime Repub, once sang "(I'm A) Dole Man" at a '96 Bob Dole campaign event :(

But I'm with unperson, preferring Sam & Dave's records to Otis Redding's.

RIP

Oh man I can't rank Sam and Dave vs. Otis, they were all great! R.I.P. Sam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_jH-TXUhzU

Didn't know Moore was a Miamian! Also:

Moore sang for six United States presidents — Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. He and Joyce were invited guests for the state funeral for the senior President Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in 2018. The Moores and George and Barbara Bush were friends for more than 30 years, exchanging personal letters and invitations, after Moore sang at Bush’s inauguration in 1989 at an event his wife co-produced.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article298356513.html#storylink=cpy

if only Hitler could have had lived on a few more decades.

Hitler was more a northern soul fan

…he could have sued people using his name in idiotic comparisons.

comparing fascist scum to fascist scum is considered idiotic now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emkef_SG0rs

Tony Slattery, 65
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93lqxgznnwo

Tony Slattery, British comedian and actor.

His whole post-fame life is a tragedy that younger celebrities could do well to look at.

X post

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

Oh man... What a shame.

First two sentences of a Miranda Sawyer interview with him 22 years ago:

Having never really bothered about Tony Slattery, I'm surprised to find how quickly he gets under my skin. Within 10 minutes of meeting him, I have a strong urge to put my arm around his shoulders and say, 'It's all right.'
https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2003/jul/06/features.magazine17

RIP Tony, the only working class kid from that 80s footlights bunch. bit upsetting to read that interview having watched the documentary from a couple of years ago, not only was he still clearly in the bad place in 2003, he was still making sure references to his sexuality were not included, don't think he came out until his mum died. I'm glad that he at least had some catharsis and redemption in the last few years.

Charles Person, last remaining (and youngest) member of the Freedom Riders

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/14/headlines/charles_person_youngest_of_the_original_freedom_riders_has_died_at_82

Teddy Osei, 89, saxophone player, drummer and vocalist, and best known as the leader of the Afro-pop band Osibisa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm0Fy5KEbAo

Peter Forrest aka P. Fluid of 24-7 Spyz

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/01/14/bronx-man-found-beaten-death-ambulette-was-groundbreaking-rocker

Linda Nolan, of The Nolan Sisters and daytime TV

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/15/linda-nolan-singer-and-television-personality-dies-aged-65

That's a shame.

Wow, that's really fucked up (the P. Fluid murder). I saw 24-7 Spyz live in about 1990 or 1991; they were really good, every bit as hard onstage as Bad Brains or certainly Living Colour. I remember they invited as many people onstage at the end of their set as wanted to come up, and eventually there were so many people that the club panicked and turned the lights on to end the show.

Hollyoaks actor Paul Danan

don't have a clue who he was, but noticed the reports that he was recently hospitalised with respiratory problems after vaping too heavily.

I know him as the sex pest from the original Celebrity Love Island

I remember him from Hollyoaks yes, played a naughty teenager iir, don't recall anything about him after that

he turned on the Preston Xmas lights one year and got hit with an on-the-spot £80 fine for starting the show by coming on stage shouting "ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS READY?!?"

also when Dean Sullivan (who played Jimmy Corkhill in Brookside) died he left the oddest tribute:

"I'll never forget when he hit my car in the car park by accident and completely denied it and we ended up not talking to each other for years at work. Such a shame as I would liked to have gotten to know him better. #ripdeano"

That's an amazing Accidental Partridge moment right there.

bob uecker, 90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUPeO0MbBgc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TeOCy0lA8M

With John Goodman!

Bob Uekcker! I'm amazed to find out he was still with us, RIP.

https://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0322/pg2_e_giant-uecker01_300.jpg

He was still calling games!!

RIP, of course, but I can't think of Uekcker without thinking of Mr. Belvedere, and I can't think of Mr. Belvedere without thinking of that story, relayed by Gilbert Gottfried (and confirmed by another actor on the show), where production of the show had to shut down for a day because the actor who played Belvedere needed to be taken to the hospital after sitting on his balls.

lol that story-- Doug Benson said he told it to Adam Sandler and Sandler told so many people that Jay Mohr wrote in his memoir that Sandler was there when the ballsitting happened

Which is why I wrote the story off when I first heard about it, because it didn't make sense that Sandler would have been present for said ballsitting. Still hilarious though.

(I mean, yes I know the story was sort of proved to be true, or truth adjacent, but the Sandler involvement originally had me file it away as urban legend)

"I must be in the front row!" - my favorite Uekcker line (said as they're ejecting him from the stadium)

RIP David Lynch

wut

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-dead-director-blue-velvet-twin-peaks-1236276106/

Oh no!

Fuck

rip to the best

too many cigarettes

RIP Bob Uecker. He always killed on Carson. “I signed with Milwaukee for five thousand dollars. That was a lot of money in those days, but eventually my dad scraped together the dough.”

Gus Williams, two-time NBA All-Star and member of the 1979 NBA champion Seattle SuperSonics. My favorite player as a kid.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Williams_(basketball)

Crying
And not about Bob uecker

Crrrryyyyyyying over U

Orbison otm

one of my earliest posts to ilx was slagging any poseur pretending to lile david lynch's movies

twenty odd years later and rip to one of the greatest

In dreams I walk with you

speechless.

RIP to the greatest of the great ones ;_;

Don't think any piece of television has made as much an impression on me as Part 8 of Twin Peaks: The Return did

RIP

Joan Plowright, 95.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jan/17/joan-plowright-dies-after-long-stage-and-screen-career

R.I.P., I was always happy to see her. I think I first encountered her in the somewhat horrific Brimstone and Treacle. Delightful in Enchanted April.

Denis Law ;_;
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jan/17/denis-law-manchester-united-scotland-legend-dies

fucking legend. His sale to Man City paid for the first floodlights at Leeds Rd. I love the storiedness of a wee lad from Aberdeen coming to a shithole town in N England and lodging in a modest terrace house in Milnsbridge. Getting built up and nurtured into greatness by Bill Shankly (who took him too a Leeds Rd cafe for steak and milk on the reg cos he was too skinny). RIP legend.

also I love the story that the only reason he didn't sign for Liverpool was that the chairman would only offer Shanks an amount that he'd already dismissed as derisory when he was at Hudds. Back in them days, especially for Shanks, your word was your bond.

Country singer Melba Montgomery, 86.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0GmaR8L9jE

RIP The Lawman. Fantastic player and always looked cool as fuck on a football pitch.

Left Scotland when he was 15 but still said England winning the World Cup in 1966 was the worst day of his life

just adding that Denis Law recounted in his autobiography about the first time he signed for the mighty Man City; he was shocked at what a fucking tinpot operation they were and that the players kits were tossed in a haphazard heap on the floor on a match day. Even at shithole Hudds Town there were neatly laundered kits hanging from personal kit pegs in the dressing room.

RIP Melba.

Ah no my mum is on holiday. She'll be really sad when she finds out about Denis.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/cecile-richard-planned-parenthood-dies

Scottish football manager Jimmy Calderwood. Thought he'd been at more clubs to be honest.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c15zzee1dkno

Another ex-footballer dying of dementia, it's like an epidemic.

Thin Lizzy / Whitesnake / Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist John Sykes, 65

https://blabbermouth.net/news/legendary-guitarist-john-sykes-dead-at-65

There’s some epic shredding from him on that whitesnake self titled

Whoa RIP - loved his run in Whitesnake and I kinda (with reservations) like his 1989 iteration of Blue Murder

I knew that Sykes & Coverdale would prob never patch things up, but man that was a killer combo while it lasted.

Killer hairdo back in thhe day too. That’d be at least 5 bags of hair these days.

jules feiffer

Oh man, RIP Feiffer. When I was in high school and would go to a newsstand to read the Village Voice, Feiffer's cartoons were among its hallmarks. I didn't exactly love them (or necessarily get them), but they were sort of beacons of a form of urban/urbane intellectualism that I aspired to. I didn't want to be like the people in Feiffer cartoons, but I wanted to be the kind of person who read them knowingly.

Feiffer’s passing really hurts. I own a few pieces by him, including a 1987 strip.

Bertrand Blier has passed as well

https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2025/01/21/bertrand-blier-realisateur-et-scenariste-auteur-des-valseuses-est-mort-a-85-ans_6508368_3382.html

RIP Jules Feiffer. The work that immediately leapt to mind was his 1965 edited collection The Great Comic Book Heroes, which fascinated me as a child and which helped revive interest in Golden Age comics and especially the work of Will Eisner.

His earliest comic “Sick, Sick, Sick” were pretty great.

Feiffer was just an incredible novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. Alain Resnais, Robert Altman, and of course, Mike Nichols, all leaned on his amazing talent

Garth Hudson

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/garth-hudson-the-last-living-member-of-the-band-dead-at-87/article_983498e8-d7fc-11ef-ac3c-4b6836c7f137.html

oh :( rip garth xxx

Oh bummer. Last of the band. RIP Garth.

RIP :(

RIP :(

RIP Garth, legend

aw

Another full band down :(

RIP

My living room piece is now officially a memorial
https://i.imgur.com/NvcfZ5C.jpeg

Garth was one of those living links to original rockabilly, not many of those left around

My living room piece is now officially a memorial
🖼

The Last Waltzer

xpost Yep! It's one piece, I guess a ... quintych?

It's beautiful, Josh. I am experiencing considerable envy!

Yeah, cool piece.

Years ago, when I got my first real job and steady paycheck, I knew I wanted to eventually buy something from Langford. My wife had sort of worked with him or around him at her old job, and we had a few friends in common, so when I got a tax refund one year I dropped him a line. I'm not sure I had seen this Band piece somewhere already, but I noticed it when I got to his studio, and iirc he told me it had sold already, but he was able to find or create another version/edition of it for me, for a fair price. I love seeing it every day, even if it's sad that three of the five have passed since I purchased it.

Bernard Blier's Buffet Froid is one of my favourites, I'd put it up with the best of Buñuel. None of the other films of his managed to capture that perfect, funny dreamlike atmosphere, and I think he ended up relying too much on "outrageous" premises to carry the films.

Bertrand Blier, sorry; Bernard was his actor father.

RIP Bertrand Blier.

Brian Bothwell of Boston industrial band Manufacture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqcq1SOSKK8

I had a single when I was new to "industrial" music. It's pretty dated, like a parody/pop version of skinny puppy or soemething. But listening now this pop song with Nettwerk label mate Sara McLachlan is absolutely lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqcq1SOSKK8

sorry, first link should be:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/brian-bothwell-obituary?id=57310371&fbclid=IwY2xjawH99jVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHX0z6547oFG2n4bhPR4wwYcU90HRr1uayVhVlgatQwnanf_uv4oZgzIVJA_aem_l-xEV9_I2T2IPbkzh6QvHQ

Guitarist Elliot Ingber, of The Mothers of Invention; Fraternity of Man; and as "Winged Eel Fingerling" in the Magic Band.

Charlotte Raven, 55, after dealing with horrific disease Huntingdon's

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jan/22/charlotte-raven-exhilarating-trail-blazing-journalist-dies-aged-55

This column she wrote in 2023 about the need for legal assisted death is linked in that obit, it is so maddening that there are so few places where it's available. Just incomprehensible that we all choose to put our loved ones and ourselves through agonies that we routinely spare our beloved dogs and cats, because of misbegotten religious notions of "the sanctity of life." If you really value life, you should allow it a good ending.

Oh, forgot the link: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/02/author-charlotte-raven-at-this-point-of-no-return-assisted-dying-feels-like-the-best-solution

can't imagine the suffering that poor woman went through, having a relationship with Julie Burchill

J Nash - cult hero computer games writer best known for Your Sinclair and Amiga Power
https://kotaku.com/jonathan-nash-games-critic-amiga-power-obituary-1851745081

The Center for Visual Music list is reporting that early San Francisco liquid light show pioneer Bill Ham has passed at age 92.
https://billhamlights.com

xxp

I figure it's not too soon for the Lool, now!

Edweena Garrity, aka Edweena Banger, ex-Nosebleeds/Slaughter & the Dogs

https://www.nola.com/news/pableaux-johnson-dies/article_8dcbe608-dc49-11ef-93af-ebc56bc9752d.html

Oh no, photographer Pableaux Johnson known for his second line photos and his red beans and rice dinners for guests at his home died after collapsing at a second line while taking photos. My wife and I met him once years ago and he was such a nice and interesting person. He was just 59

The now late Pableaux is getting lots of praise online from the foodie community, New Orleans second line fans, people who attended his his traveling red beans and rice dinners, and city of New Orleans fans. His Facebook, Instagram, and website have lots of impressive photos

Marianne Faithfull, aged 78.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8k931j423o

Oh no, just noticed it on the news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIg49PAM2CY

I was thinking about her this week and wondering how her health was doing... I think she was pretty much a lifelong smoker

I think she was pretty much a lifelong smoker

Don't forget the years of heroin addiction.

She nearly died from Covid.

Barry Goldberg, of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Electric Flag, and tons of sessions

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/barry-goldberg-dead-blues-keyboardist-bob-dylan-newport-electric-flag-1236282797/

xpost RIP. I was just thinking about her, too. I interviewed her hears ago. It was half her answering a handful of questions for me, and half her yelling at her manager Francois, telling him how to arrange and where to put some flowers she had been sent.

A horrible timing given the DC crash and some of the people on it but: Dick Button, the acerbic master. 95!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/sports/dick-button-dead.html

Pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn. She did a ton of amazing work on her own and in various ensembles; one of my favorite albums featuring her is Mary Halvorson's Away With You, from 2016:

https://maryhalvorson.bandcamp.com/album/away-with-you

Oh shit!!!!!!!

Saw her a lot when she was a Baltimore resident

oh dear. RIP Susan

RIP, love her work so much.

Nimby #1 Tony Martin

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/02/farmer-tony-martin-who-shot-dead-teenage-burglar-in-1999-dies-aged-80

rest in piss, Farmer Palmer assed freak.

Sal Maida of Milk N Cookies and Roxy Music.

Shawn Brighton of second generation CBGBs power pop/new wave band.

Sal Maida also played with Sparks on their Big Beat album.

Brian Murphy, British sitcom actor who looked much older than his years even at his 70s peak, at 92.

big fan of his 1970s novelty single 'Jogging' (recorded in character as George Roper)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbG0wWPSKdc

Another one gone from the "still alive" cohort.

Poster Artist Donald Edward Byrd

https://www.theatermania.com/news/david-edward-byrd-artist-behind-1960s-rock-posters-and-follies-logo-dies-at-83_1762857/

David Edward Byrd, that is.

I was surprised Brian Murphy was only 92. i'd have guessed 110.

Saxman Gene "Daddy G" Barge, 98

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/arts/music/gene-barge-dead.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF69PoyXskY

Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine, 81.

Oh wow, RIP Mike.

RIP, Soft Machine needed someone relatively sensible to hold it all together in the early days. First few records are all-time.

His organ playing was anything but sensible though!

I said relatively! Relative to Ayers and Wyatt that is. So that's them all gone now from that era of the band.

Not quite.

yeah Robert still with us!

Yeah dunno why I convinced myself Wyatt was dead! Sorry Robert. Also Andy Summers who was in them for a brief period.

His birthday was this week! But he hasn't appeared live in years, I don't think he's in the best health. Hope he's having a peaceful retirement.

Robert was 80 only the other week, wasn't he? xp

Ratledge was the biggest contributor to Third not just one of the best prog-rock albums, but one of the greatest rock albums (and toss in jazz if you like).

I believe there was a health update on Robert which indicated that he was in pretty bad shape. but yeah - Ratledge...I only know those first 3 albums, but he's so good on them.

Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean are important members on Volume Two / Third. Both also dead of course. Lyn Dobson plays flute & soprano sax on Facelift, and is still with us.

I love his solo album Riddles Of The Sphinx which is a trippy organ/spoken word thing that Mordant Music put out about ten years ago or so at the height of the whole hauntology thing. Wasn’t ever sure if it was an archival project or what, but it’s pretty cool imo

The Aga Khan, 88. (aka Prince Karim Al-Husseini, 49th imam of Isma’ilism)

I don’t think I’d ever fully grasped who (or what) this was until today. I was never sure, when mentioned in horse racing, if this was some royal personage or some sort of organisation.

Turns out he was a bit of both man and org

For Bay Area peeps, I've heard that longtime KTVU anchor Dennis Richmond signed off for the final time

(x-post)

Yes, that was really puzzling when I saw the headline 'Spiritual leader dies', and it seems to be about someone I vaguely associate with the more glamorous side of horse racing and hanging out with the British Royal Family.

I think I first heard of him as a friend of My Lovely in the Peter Sarstedt song.

The only time I think I've heard of him was a mention on Steptoe and Son.

RIP Diana Melly 87, writer, Soho bohemian, and wife of jazz singer George Melly.

As the rather breathless Times obit says:

By the time she met George Melly in 1961 she was 24, married to her second husband and the mother of two children. Melly was 35, also married, bisexual, and the singer in Mick Mulligan’s jazz band; they met at Muriel’s (the Colony Room Club), a drinking club in Soho, and ended the evening in flagrante on Hampstead Heath. A fortnight later, she moved in with him....

They had an open marriage, and she arranged for 4 of George's mistresses to visit him on his deathbed.

Irv Gotti, 54, rap producer and Murder Inc. label head

Various reports Dave Jerden has passed -- producer, engineer, made a WHOLE lot of bands sound amazing: Jane's Addiction, Alice in Chains, Fishbone, engineered a little record called My Life In The Bush of Ghosts...

Produced the first two major label Social Distortion albums, too, which are easily their best work.

Worked on Tom Verlaine's Words From The Front and Cover too

Tony Roberts:

https://apnews.com/article/tony-roberts-dies-e4aef9f7fa10479ba73b5528816bc6da

It's a good name for you, Max.

Trånn Ciekals of Djevel

Maria von Braun, 96

https://www.rocketcitynow.com/article/news/local/maria-von-braun-widow-of-rocket-pioneer-passes-at-age-96/525-2e2230ae-08ee-4659-8b50-cce042db9d09

Howard Riley, aged 81, Huddersfield's own jazz legend

Sad to report that the great jazz pianist Howard Riley died yesterday, aged 81. He leaves so much great music, made in collaboration with the likes of Barry Guy, Tony Oxley, Jaki Byard and Keith Tippett, as well as his many extraordinary solo recordings. RIP pic.twitter.com/9mqX5fBkDW

— Richard Williams (@rwilliams1947) February 9, 2025

oh no .. that's really sad. Another Hudds legend, my stepdad just passed last Sunday as well :( RIP Howard.

Sorry for your loss, man

I'm used to everyone dying, my younger brother though - it's really hit him hard. He was probably the most influential person in his life and I doubt he's ever missed one daily meeting or phone call with him in 30 years.

Also going back to Howard Riley, it's impressive how much of a contribution he made to UK avant garde jazz, he really should be more well known for such a great player he was.

RIP Lionel Soukaz, (in)famous experimental gay film director. More here:
https://denniscooperblog.com/lionel-soukaz-day-2/

Tom Robbins, age 92

Rutherford Chang, the artist who opened a store that stocked nothing but copies of the Beatles White Album. Only 45.

ah man, rip Tom Robbins - loved his books in my younger years. Another Roadside Attraction & Jitterbug Perfume were faves.

My parents owned a couple of his — I think I read Still Life With Woodpecker and possibly one other. They were probably my dad's, since he owned a bunch of Richard Brautigan books, too.

feels like every bookcase had at least one Robbins paperback in the 70s/80s... right next to Jonathan Livingston Seagull

He seemed like one of those writers you outgrow. Like if I met a 40+ person who had all of Robbins' books on their shelves I'd assume they hadn't read much else in the past few decades.

totally
this sounds snarky but when someone tells me their favorite book is something like A Confederacy of Dunces or Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, I just assume that's maybe the only novel they've ever finished and it was a long, long time ago

otm

urban planner and noted hater of parking donald shoup, 86

Tom Robbins was the first author I thought of when the "novelists no one reads anymore" thread was created.

Legendary grime producer Rodney Price aka Terror Danjah

Beloved, highly underrated Italian pianist Maria Tipo, at 93. Leaving behind great recordings of Bach, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Schumann, etc on EMI, Vox and several Italian labels.

Irv Gotti, 54

sorry totally missed that's from a week ago

He's still dead tbf

still r.i.p.

RIP visual artist and actress Niké Arrighi. A slight but impressive career - roles in The Devil Rides Out, Countess Dracula, an episode of The Prisoner, Truffaut's Day for Night, The Devils.

https://exclusivefilms.wordpress.com/2025/02/12/nike-arrighi-1947-2025/

Wow, RIP Tanith.

Japanese musician Magical Power Mako

Sad to hear, only 69 too. His "Hapmoniym 1972-1975" 5-disc set of outtakes is quite the trip.

Aw, RIP. Fond memories of discovering his first two albums in the early days of mp3 blogs

Tommy Hunt, 91: originally in The Flamingos, later big on the UK northern soul scene.

^^Recorded the original version of "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"

Jimi Mbaye, 67, long-time guitarist in Youssou N'Dour's Super Étoile Band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iwtJwyMzGc

A 71-year-old woman has died after her oxygen supply was cut off when the United States announced a freeze on aid funding. Pe Kha Lau, a refugee from Myanmar living in a displacement camp in neighbouring Thailand, died four days after she was discharged from a USAID-funded healthcare facility operated by the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

She is thought to be one of the first people to have died as a direct result of Washington’s decision to freeze all funding for aid projects for 90 days.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/us-aid-freeze-claims-first-victims-as-oxygen-supplies-cut

that can't be true, Rubio guaranteed that any lifesaving spending would continue, I heard him say it

Missed this from a few weeks ago: Bob Kuban of "The Cheater" fame.

https://deadline.com/2025/01/bob-kuban-dead-the-cheater-hit-single-1236262675/

#onethread

Beloved, highly underrated Italian pianist Maria Tipo, at 93.

I never heard of her until the Scarlatti thread here a few months ago set me off on a Spotify safari to explore interpreters new to me. He recordings from as far back as nearly 70 years quickly became my favorite piano versions of all. Underrated is an understatement.

Biff Wiff, actor (perhaps best known from I Think You Should Leave)

Noooo. RIP Shirt Brother

He’ll always be Santa the action movie star to me

Actress Geneviève Page, 97

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/genevieve-page-dead-belle-de-jour-el-cid-private-life-sherlock-holmes-1236137297/

RIP. She is great in "Belle de Jour".

RIP Julian Holloway, until now one of the last surviving actors to have appeared in more than one Carry On film, among many other UK film and TV credits (A Hard Day’s Night, The Great Rock n Roll Swindle to name just two). He was the son of Stanley Holloway and the father of Sophie Dahl.

Jamie Muir, percussionist for the best lineup of King Crimson, the quintet that made Larks' Tongues in Aspic.

RIP. This one is all-time for me:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5a/Bailey_Muir_Dart_Drug.jpg

Bad times for drummers, Rick Buckler of the Jam has also died.

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/2016287/the-jam-rick-buckler-dead-death

oh no, what a great drummer.. their output has really held up over the years

https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2025/02/19/souleymane-cisse-un-des-chefs-de-file-du-cinema-africain-est-mort_6554682_3382.html

Per Severin Films social media, Rossella Drudi, screenwriter of dozens of bizarro Italian knock-off genre movies in the 70s and 80s, mainly directed by Bruno Mattei and her husband, Claudio Fragasso. Probably most famous for Troll 2, but Strike Commando, Robowar, and Shocking Dark are all also musts.

Troll 2, wow!

Kim Sae-ron, probably best known over here for her really outstanding performance in the film The Man From Nowhere, at age 24

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kim-sae-ron-death-discussion-toxic-online-comments-south-korea/

filmmaker Souleymane Cissé

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/obituaries/souleymane-cisse-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yU4.pLvj.JrJk5qbV-Zbh&smid=url-share

Former US Senator David Boren (D-OK)

Form his 1978 campaign:

Anthony Points, who ran under an assumed name and faced charges for passing bogus checks, accused Boren of being gay. Following his victory, Boren swore an oath on a family Bible, that "I know what homosexuals and bisexuals are. I further swear that I am not a homosexual or bisexual. And I further swear that I have never been a homosexual or bisexual. And I further swear that I have never engaged in any homosexual or bisexual activities nor do I approve of or condone them."

Form = From

i misread the final sentence as 'nor do i approve of or condom them'

i misread the final sentence as 'nor do i approve of or condom them'

Jerry Butler

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/21/jerry-butler-iceman-soul-singer-illinois-politician-dies-aged-85

Another artist whose initial hits were in the '50s.

re-posted in the yawnsomely literal album cover thread 4 hours ago:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6e/Jerry_Butler_-_The_Ice_Man_Cometh.jpg

It’s a bad day for soul legends: Gwen McCrae, 81.

RIP :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tw_Fii__Zs

Film Director & Screenwriter George Armitage

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/george-armitage-dead-grosse-pointe-blank-miami-blues-1236316150/

Grosse Pointe Blank is a pretty perfect movie.

Lynne Marie Stewart, best known as Miss Yvonne on Pee Wee’s Playhouse

Just got word that the most beautiful girl in puppet land has passed away.

Millions of us loved Lynne Marie Stewart who played Miss Yvonne on Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Not only a groundlings legend, but truly an actor that could do anything. pic.twitter.com/HOOLLGMHCk

— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) February 22, 2025

RIP Larry Appelbaum whom I first met at the University of Maryland radio Station WMUC where Larry was a jazz dj. He moved on to the Library of Congress where he found a previously unavailable Thelonious Monk tape (and got some acclaim for this) , programmed jazz movies and concerts for the Washington dc area public and did so much more there. He also dj'd at WPFW for years (his show was called "The Sound of Surprise") and wrote for Jazz Times and others. He programmed concerts with Transparent Productions in DC for awhile too. He had a stroke some years back and did his best since that time. He frequently honored musicians and other artists on Facebook with posts, and also shared photos he had taken himself over the years with jazz musicians and jazz scholars. I knew him and will miss him.

This Film Comment interview with Armitage is great.

Yeah that was a great read, thanks. Also a nice detail from the Variety obit:

He was 83 [...] He is survived by his wife of 63 years

Singer-songwriter Bill Fay?

Bill Fay seems confirmed, sad sad news

https://www.instagram.com/stereogum/p/DGZR2PmM4xt/?img_index=1

Sorry to hear about Larry Appelbaum, I listened to the sound of surprise a lot back when I drove more.

Roberta Flack

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/roberta-flack-singer-killing-me-softly-dead-1236318888/

ohh

People you thought were... RIP

That first album never leaves my rotation. What a voice.

RIP

No other song like "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"--almost wrote a book about it.

What a shit few days for great soul voices.

I was just going to say: one song I would compare to "First Time" in the absolute-stillness department would be the Impressions' "For Your Precious Love," and Jerry Butler just died too.

I don't think we mentioned Gerry Arling, of the electronic group Arling & Cameron

Clint Hill, former Secret Service agent, known for his vv brave leap onto the back of JFK's car after he was shot

I wonder if Line of Fire was based on him?

You're thinking of Clint Eastwood.

RIP Clint

Good job Stevie!

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/24/roberta-flacks-performances-softly-burned-with-the-fire-of-life-itself

Thanks Andy!

a very nice eulogy, makes me want to track down some of the records you mentioned

You absolutely should! And that Lost Takes LP is remarkable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwC6B-txlzo

Yeah, really well done. Kudos!

As mentioned over on their ILM thread: Chris Jasper, of the 3+3-era Isley Brothers & Isley-Jasper-Isley

american sports commentator al trautwig, 68

As mentioned over on their ILM thread: Chris Jasper, of the 3+3-era Isley Brothers & Isley-Jasper-Isley

Roberto Orci, Kelvin timeline Star Trek guy among other franchises and things:

https://deadline.com/2025/02/roberto-orci-dead-star-trek-transformers-writer-producer-1236301807/

...though notably this obit leaves out the whole 'oh yeah he was a 9/11 Truther' deal:

https://www.cracked.com/article_33816_the-time-star-trek-made-a-911-truther-movie.html

rip al trautwig, ny sports legend

Wow, RIP Orci. Fringe ruled (still one of my alltime favorite tv shows), and I loved that first Star Trek reboot movie and he is connected to a lot of stuff i like (Xena! Hercules! Sleepy Hollow!)

Into Darkness is a turd with or without Trutherism, the less said abt that movie the better

Jennifer Johnston, Irish novelist, aged 95

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2025/02/26/writer-jennifer-johnston-dies-aged-95/

Missed this one last week, former Celtic goalkeeper Evan Williams who played (and lost unfortunately) in the 1970 European Cup Final.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cly4zlxn7r3o

Henry Kelly of Going For Gold fame

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn04y7dg68ko

RIP Evan. I briefly worked with him when I first moved to Glasgow. It was a horror-show of a job, but he was friendly and fun.

Henry Kelly, host of everyone’s favourite euroquiz.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/26/tv-presenter-henry-kelly-dies

Michelle Trachtenberg from Harriet the Spy and Buffy at 39

holy shit

wtf

damn that's so sad!

Awful news. RIP.

I guess she had recently had a liver transplant?

that's wild! Pete & Pete was one of my favorite shows growing up, always loved seeing her pop up in various things :/

This is very sad.

that’s really sad, ‘pete & pete’ was really major for me too.

Gene Hackman

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/sheriff-gene-hackman-wife-found-dead-in-santa-fe-home-no-foul-play-suspected/article_2ea8855a-f4b8-11ef-b501-73232a2b5213.html

And his wife Betsy

And his dog

What?

Gas leak?

Good morning Britain reported it this

"Gene Hackman has died aged 95. He was found at his Hollywood Hills home, next to his wife and dog"

I mean, ok it was the showbiz reporter, but.

This bizarre thing is on his Wikipedia page right now, unsourced.

‘Witchcraft’ medicine and God’s ‘healing power’: inside the American ‘cult’of Santa Fe that killed Gene Hackman and his wife
They said he was “appointed by God”. They called him “the pastor”, “the messenger” and “the healer”.

For 17 years, Gene Hackman led his small congregation known as the Saints, a religious sect based in Santa Fe.

i dunno about all that but if he lived til 95 or whatever still riding bikes about the trails id be inclined to at least lend an ear

Even if it's true, I don't give a fuck - he was a great actor and he'd retired.

Details on this one very unsavoury tbh, best outcome might be like a carbon monoxide leak or something. Otherwise it gets very bad very fast.

There's been mention of "no suspicious circumstances" so..

that covers basically no other parties

anyway

my fave actor, rip, one of the great listeners in film imo

Yeah, one of the greatest RIP

It's from some Wiki editor who joined nine hours ago and keeps putting that back when others delete it

Never in a Harry Potter film so the British media are at a loss as to what to say about him.

if they gave him the "French Connection star" headline most of their readership would probably assume it must be some model or fashion designer

Pink News: Gene Hackman, star of iconic gay film The Birdcage, found dead with wife Betsy Arakawa

I mean, yeah, Pink News is a queer news site, but still weird.

maybe my favourite American actor.

hoping this was a carbon monoxide leak or similar.

“Picking your feet in Poughkeepsie” is eternal.

top 100 hackman moments!

I kinda forgot Gene was still alive. Absolutely an all time great, an incredible actor

62. The way he says “cigars!” in Young Frankenstein

Oops wrong thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODR-M0sPvaY

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/feb/01/saints-conservative-christian-sect-brendan-stevens-elizabeth-struhs-insulin

This is the link about the cult from the Wikipedia article. Doesn’t to have anything to do with Hackman.

Seem

Damn, I mean, at his age I knew it was inevitable soon, but still stings to see it. RIP to an all time great.

There were pics of him pumping gas a few months ago and people were shocked by how old he looked. But really, a 95 year old pumping his own gas? That's pretty cool.

you'd have to set that against how fuckin great he looked buying his electric bike at 88 tbf

Cannot make any sense of the latest details of the scene of death

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewkkkvkzn9o

Doesn't sound deliberate though

The fire department detected no indication of a carbon monoxide leak, according to a search warrant.

Huh. And even weirder that there was another dog found alive inside the house.

Super weird. Food poisoning?

But really, a 95 year old pumping his own gas? That's pretty cool.

I don't want to jinx anything, but Clint is about that age and still working! Speaking of which, wtf was this?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Eastwood_%26_Company

God that’s awful.

RIP Gene, why don’t we have a thread for this man?

People are posting to here, Raymond.

Thank you, Alba!

Not knocking his films but it’s a shame nominative determinism didn’t prevail and Gene Hackman had instead come up with like one weird trick to prevent me getting my mother’s varicose veins or something

"You won't have to fear sciatica when you get older, because I am the Gene Hackman"

Or perhaps he could have formed a Captain Planet-style superhero team with these people:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/16/the-gene-hackers

"The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom." very strange. I suppose the scattered pills could have nothing to do with the death though, some people are just messy and/or she might have knocked something over while ill

I heard the dead dog was in a closet?? Weird detail.

Also I once named a dog Gene Hackman, had to rehome him and he was renamed Roy and lived to be 18. Which is older than Gene Hackman in dog years!

The couple's German Shepherd dog was found dead in a bathroom closet near to Ms Arakawa.
[...]
Two other, healthy dogs were discovered roaming the property - one inside and one outside.

Keeps getting weirder and weirder, now at least one detective IS saying the deaths are "suspicious":

The 911 call surfaced shortly after an affidavit for a search warrant was made public, in which a Santa Fe police detective said the deaths of the pair seemed "suspicious." The detective said pills were scattered near Arakawa’s body; the door was open and there was "no obvious sign of a gas leak." (TMZ was the first to report on the affidavit.)

They were discovered after a wellness check, right? So it's possible they'd been gone a while, which means the dog might have just starved or died of dehydration? But why in a closet?

exactly -- why is there a DOG (dead or alive) in the CLOSET

yeah, BBC reported his wife was semi-decomposed & 'mummified'

Wonder if they have any home security footage to help unravel this

a closet in gene hackmans house could be a fairly large space right?

I could definitely see a confused 95-year-old putting a dog (dead or alive) in the closet.

xp bigger than my studio apartment, no doubt

mummified wife
space heater
dead dog in the closet (regardless of size)

i am v curious whether we will ever know what actually happened since everyone in the house (with the exception of the other two dogs) is dead. my first thought was that the two living dogs clearly had something to do with it*

*kidding!!

mummified can just mean "dried up and shrivelled" as opposed to being in a state of decomposition, guessing they've just latched on to that phrase in the police report and misinterpreted it

if she was by the space heater that would explain how that would've happened

Read the Search Warrant Affidavit in the Gene Hackman Death Inquiry

Wow, sounds like a lot of unknowns. So very sad.

a closet in gene hackmans house could be a fairly large space right?

Also, no mention of closet door being opened or closed.

This makes it somewhat clearer. I don't have the impression the heater was running.

Further questions were raised on Thursday in a search warrant, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian, which gave new details about what deputies found during their initial visit. The search warrant revealed that Hackman and Arakawa had been dead for some time before their bodies were discovered as “the body was in a state of decomposition with bloating in her face and mummification in her hands and feet”.

A prescription bottle was also found on a countertop in the house, with pills scattered around.

According to the search warrant, Arakawa was found on the floor of a bathroom near the countertop beside a space heater that the deputies believed could have toppled and knocked her over. Hackman’s body was in the mud room of the house, fully clothed in gray sweatpants and a long-sleeve T-shirt and with a cane.

Deputies believed he might have had a sudden fall.

(I kind of assume every American bathroom plausibly has a bottle of prescription pills, if it can be afforded)

Dog may have eaten the pills from the floor

maybe we should fly down there to assist with the investigation

it's what a Gene Hackman character would've done

Digging my raincoat out now

Dog - pills from floor
Betsy - space heater fallen on head
Gene - old age

if she had brought him his pill, he'd still be alive
but she was conked out by the space heater
then, the dog ate the pills

These new "Marie Prevost" verses suck.

A dog that willingly eats pills?

my sister-in-law's dog ate her whole tube of canesten

(didn't die though)

A genuine conversation I had earlier:

"It's like a suicide pact."
"Yes, but what about the dog?"
"Yeah, the dog couldn't have committed suicide."
"Exactly. I mean it's like Blondi didn't have any choice on whether to live or die."
"Blondie?"
"Yeah, Blondi."
"Debbie Harry didn't commit suicide, did she?"
"No, Hitler's dog Blondi. He had it shot before he killed himself."
"That's so typical of Hitler."
"Yes, killing his dog along with himself."
"No, I meant calling his dog Blondi."
"Why?"
"Like an Aryan dog."

Just had to look up what a mud room is, I was imagining something like the bathing room for the Stink God in Spirited Away but no such luck.

Tom which side of the conversation are you?

I assumed it was a euphemism for shithouse

xp

usually a little room between outdoors and the kitchen

For dirty boots and shoes, or coats. Sometimes shares functions with a utility room.

or laundry room

Nothing odd here. Just two people in different rooms falling and dying independently.

while one of their three dogs lies dead in a closet (of indeterminate size)

The dog is also of indeterminate size.

the frenchie connection

Boris Spassky, 88, best known as one of the “Russian Boys” played out of town in Prefab Sprout’s “Cue Fanfare”.

I think he's referenced on an Orb album too

Yep! On Prism.

On Game 6 of the 1972 World Chess Championship:

“With thousands of spectators applauding Fischer's classical style win in the sixth game, Spassky did the same, while offering his hand to the challenger. In order not to be touched by his opponent's gracious behaviour, 'I had to go away' said Fischer to friends afterwards.”

He was magnanimous that championship. Fischer pulled a lot of stunts, but Spassky played the sportsman

Tom which side of the conversation are you?

The one who knows who Hitler's dog was.

space heater somehow involved with initial cause of her fall
hackman was outside front, heard her possibly scream, panics and tries to
get to her at speed causing him to have fall and hence the open front door
dog in closet not sure, unless dog was going nuts because of the chaos and he just quickly shut it in there.

If there really is no foul play, then given the info so far, it would be really sad if this was the tragic result of a panicky series of unfortunate incidents. It would be like something out of a cruel Coen brothers movie.

I'm reminded of this. Wish I could find a cleaner version of the gif

https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/11/12437266/breaking-down-the-best-slapstick-gif-we-ve-ever-seen

I think a messy series of unfortunate events sounds about right here.

I feel as if Gene Hackman's death is part of a Gabriel Knight adventure. His wife was trying to mock up a passport photograph of him by making the dog run through a hole in their garage, which was lined with maple syrup - she wanted to gather dog hair to fashion an impromptu moustache - but in a twist typical of point-and-click adventures she forgot to collect an object from near the beginning of the game, and so she died.

Suddenly this equally convoluted mystery comes to mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RouxCGls5m8

Joseph Wambaugh, 88. The New Centurions and The Onion Field are the classics, but my fave is Fire Lover - a non-fiction account of the Glendale fire department captain who was also a murderous serial arsonist.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/joseph-wambaugh-dead-onion-field-new-centurions-author-1236150512/

Now reported that Gene Hackman's pacemaker stopped on February 17, meaning he wasn't found until 10 days after he died. Really sad.

Both him and Betsy Arakawa tested negative for carbon monoxide.

Jeez. Where the hell were his kids?

There's a whole bunch of kid-shaming on social media right now which is somewhat unedifying, but Hackman's daughter saying they were close doesn't really square with that. Even with nothing to say, I have checked in with my parents every couple do days since forever ago when I moved away and they got old, and my mum even more so since we lost my dad. And she lives in a small community with neighbours who look out for each other.

RiP Joseph Wambaugh - Elvis otm - Fire Lover is excellent, really enjoyed his writing

Since you two endorse, I'll check it out---how are the novels?

i'm close with my 89 year old step mother but it's not unusual for me to go ten days without checking in. shame me!

x post

Since you two endorse, I'll check it out---how are the novels?

It's been some time, but The Delta Star is bonkers great - possibly the closest Wambaugh ever gets to writing a Pynchon novel rather than a procedural.

Pat Ingoldsby, a poet who had a few kids shows on RTE when I was a kid, and then became a Dublin Figure, much to his annoyance. I have a book of his, I think, which I got the same way that most people did, by him walking up to me on the street and selling it to me. I don't know if it's good poetry (I suspect not), but I liked that he wrote well about what he saw on the street - and I think also about the Electroshock Therapy that, lining things up, must have been when he stopped having kids shows on TV.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FEKxSQjSm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Some of his books since 1998 have carried a note that they are protected by the "Bratislava Accord 1993, section 2 cre/009 manifest-minsk", the terms of which allegedly protect his book's content from being included in:

school textbooks
examinations
elocution classes
anything with the word "Arts" in it.

David Johansen

Breaking News: David Johansen, the singer and songwriter who was at the vanguard of glam rock and punk as the frontman of the New York Dolls, has died at 75. https://t.co/ctMJDlJFVQ

— New York Times Music (@nytimesmusic) March 1, 2025

Oh no. RIP DJ. They're all gone now.

Hey, we've still got Blackie Lawless

That's such a beautiful picture of him. Gawww. RIP.

He was beautiful.

One of the great lead singers. Had it all except commercial success. I watched Scrooged again around Xmas and had forgotten he was hilarious as the Ghost of Xmas Past.

Of course, I know you never know how long a patient has left to live, but I wonder if the family's recent request for medical donations was at least partly so JoHansen could see how he was appreciated while he was still here.

I watched Scrooged again around Xmas and had forgotten he was hilarious as the Ghost of Xmas Past.

Scrooged might be my favourite Christmas movie, and I def saw it years before I discovered the NY Dolls. Blew my mind that that was the same guy.

I watched Scrooged again around Xmas and had forgotten he was hilarious as the Ghost of Xmas Past.

when I was a kid I could not tell the difference between David Johansen/Buster Poindexter and Tom Waits

Had it all except commercial success

Hey! What about 'Hot, Hot, Hot'?

I first heard the Dolls from my sister's copy of the ROIR cassette.. all demos of the songs from the first album. That's what I'm used to, so the actual album sounds too polished to me. They were a hell of a band in their prime

Never been a Dolls fan, but the first Buster Poindexter album is mostly a solid jump blues/R&B record, maybe 5% goofier than the Blasters. And he was definitely able to make his persona work in movies and whatnot. It's a shame he and Richard Edson were never a comedy team.

xxpost RIP David Johansen. One of a kind.
I worked for someone (RIP Rick) who toured * a lot* with David J's Buster Poindexter incarnation. He had nothing
but great things to say about him as a bandleader. Sad day.

Angie Stone, 63, car accident after performing in Atlanta.

Damn. What a day.

wtf

Canadian esoterica (from a Facebook post--can't find anything else, but seems credible): SCTV's Juul Haalmeyer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juul_Haalmeyer

Joey Molland, the last of Badfinger

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/joey-molland-badfinger-guitarist-dead-obituary-1235285292/

RIP Juul, what a choreographer

omg RIP Juul! so many excellent dance numbers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCDW-HA2Vtc

'70s Pop Singer Robert John

https://deadline.com/2025/02/robert-john-dead-sad-eyes-singer-1236302030/

Jack Vettriano, Scottish painter, 73.

Carl Dean, Dolly Parton's husband of 60 years, aged 82

oh RIP :(

That first Angie Stone album is lovely.

Bill Dare, British radio and TV producer and creator of Dead Ringers, The Now Show and The Mary Whitehouse Experience.

angie stone also has a few writing credits on d’angelo’s voodoo, including my favorite, “send it on”

They had a child together, which I don't think I realised until the weekend.

yes, and “send it on” was supposedly written for that child

George Lowe, voice of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast?

also had no idea that angie stone was in the sequence, the first successful all-female rap group

RIP British mail artist Mark Pawson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0V7ez5UP1w

Seeing reports from car pages on FB the noted Car Customizer Gene Winfield has passed away from cancer at the age of 97. In addition to his own work, he was a consultant and designer for AMT Models for several years, and also built futuristic cars featured on TV series like Star Trek: TOS, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Mission: Impossible, as well t feature films such as Sleeper, Blade Runner, The Last Starfighter, and RoboCop.

Aw man... Years ago he used to throw big public open houses at his custom shop in Mojave. In addition to the cars, he built the Galileo 7 for Star Trek: TOS and a few interior sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT8YhCurNDA

On January 24th: Jane McGarrigle, older sister to, manager of, and occasional musician and singer with her sisters Kate and Anna, aged 83.

Charles Chambers aka techno and ghetto house pioneer DJ Funk

i missed the George Lowe news, RIP Space Ghost :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8maqTEaj4

Also RIP Brak's dad. :(

Roy Ayers at 84

RIP Roy you absolute legend

Oh no

one of the all time greats

vibes are a weird instrument - not exactly portable, but you'll need to lug them around anyway as it's unlikely the venue will provide like a piano

Are you saying Roy always brought the vibes?

Eleonora Giorgi, Italian exploitation actress best known for Dario Argento's Inferno, and as the lead in Story of a Cloistered Nun.

Brian James from The Damned

FB statement:

GOODBYE TO A PIONEER & TRUE GENTLEMAN

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of the true pioneers of music, guitarist,
songwriter, and true gentleman, Brian James.

Founding member of The Damned, writer of the first ever UK punk single, New Rose, Brian was the
principal songwriter of the band’s debut album, Damned Damned Damned, which was released in
February 1977. Parting ways with the Damned following the release of their second album, the Nick
Mason-produced Music for Pleasure, Brian created the short-lived Tanz Der Youth, before he formed
The Lords of the New Church with his friend and fellow rocker Stiv Bators.

In a wave of excitement, headed by the twin powers of Brian James and Stiv Bators, three successful
studio albums followed for The Lord of the New Church, spawning singles such as Open Your Eyes,
Dance with Me, and Method to My Madness. Always looking for new challenges and keen to work
with different musicians, over the years that followed, Brian formed The Dripping Lips and guested
on different records, while creating the Brian James Gang and working on his solo albums.

Incessantly creative and a musical tour de force, over a career which spanned more than six
decades, with his music also gracing film and television soundtracks, in addition to The Damned and
The Lords of the New Church, Brian worked with a plethora of punk and rock ‘n’ roll’s finest, from
Iggy Pop to Wayne Kramer, Stewart Copeland to Cheetah Chrome. Most recently, more than four
decades after the release of the epoch-making New Rose, the original members of The Damned
reformed for a series of very special and emotional UK shows in 2022.

With his wife Minna, son Charlie, and daughter-in-law Alicia by his side, Brian passed peacefully on Thursday 6 th March 2025.

RIP Brian… love Lords of the New Church

RIP

Truly sucks. But that's a legacy to leave.

:-(

Oh FFS, what a shit couple of weeks. The Damned's New Rose changed everything for me.

Oh fuck, RIP Brian.

The Damned's New Rose changed everything for me

kinda changed everything, period

really hate losing guys like James & Johansen, once they’re gone it feels more & more like maybe you imagined them :(

yeah, the hippies are going fast but a lot of these proto/punkers lived pretty hard lives and maybe didn't make as much money to get their teeth looked after etc. (except for Billy Idol, of course)

Had a pretty good song on an I.R.S. compilation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2p0RuoO-a4

"New Rose" is pantheon.

Tanz Der Youth single cool to but if all he ever did was the opening riff of New Rose we’d still be talking about him.

Architect Ricardo Scofidio, of Diller & Scofidio (the High Line, the Broad Museum, the Lincoln Center re-do, many more), 89.

Fred Stolle, 86 - Aussie tennis great, two singles Slams in the mid-'60s (and three Wimbledon finals), and a stack of doubles titles. (Many of that generation still with us: Roche, Laver, Rosewall, Newcombe, Emerson).

Per Tony! Toni! Tone!'s FB account, D'Wayne Wiggins, 64, due to cancer.

oh now, I just read that he was ill

oh no! i thought i read that they were planning a reunion this year

Gene Hackman died of heart disease and Alzheimer's. Wife died of hantavirus a week earlier. They think he may have not even known she was dead, his alzheimer's was so bad.

no word on the dog but I imagine it starved to death

that sucks, I don’t know their music very well but I heard an interview with D’Wayne a couple years ago and he seemed like an EXTREMELY cool person.

xposts

The cause of death for the dog is yet to be determined, officials say.

x post

I guess the dog was in a kennel/crate thing?

the whole thing is so gothic

God the Hackman/Arakawa death details are just unimaginably bleak. And they were undiscovered for a while too. Fucking awful.

yeah, I just imagine him wandering the house, finding her deceased, and then forgetting about it and doing the whole thing again

it’s so fkn sad

not to get too derailed but my MiL was diagnosed w pancreatic cancer while her husband was deep in the throes of dementia, and every morning when they woke up, he would say “you look sick, what’s wrong” and every day she would tell him she had cancer

Ugh sorry

We had to stop telling my aunt that her sister had died because she kept wondering why she didn't visit. It was easier to just tell her she'd be there tomorrow.

<3

Apparently my cousins didn't tell my uncle - who was in a home - that my aunt had died and he would ask why she hadn't come to visit. He died not longer after she did, which may have been a blessing.

Fernando "Nan Ding" C. Pajo Jr.

father of David (among others), immortalized on Tweez

still thinking about the Hackman/Arakawa deaths. When you are a long-term carer for a partner with an advanced health condition and who can't look after themselves anymore, all your contingency planning is around them. It doesn't occur to you that you might actually die before them. That's what went tragically wrong here.

I have talked about this before with someone from mental health services. I told them if I was having a stroke or whatever kind of medical emergency, I'd literally have to phone social services before the ambulance. I could imagine Arakawa was in a similar situation. Trying to carry on as per when ill is a thing I know a lot of carers do, and you can't always get away with it.

With Alzheimers and other forms of dementia, everyone thinks about the memory loss but there are a whole side serving of other issues you don’t really know about until you’re close to it. Having no carer to deal with your double incontinence (very common in late-stage dementia) would be pretty nasty.

also? hantavirus? that doesn't happen in a clean environment aiui :(
the whole thing reminds me of my worst case scenario nightmare when both of my parents were still alive

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/mar/09/athol-fugard-south-african-political-dissident-playwright-dies-aged-92

Hantavirus can come in through air con iiui.

Midnight Riot founder and Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy collaborator Andy 'Yam Who?' Williams

https://ra.co/news/82301

Political blogger Kevin Drum

Rock & theater poster artist David Edward Byrd, 83
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/arts/design/david-edward-byrd-dead.html
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/david-edward-byrd-poster-artist-died-at-83-1234735100/

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61gQevH-6RL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

https://images.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2014320438.jpg

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20250311/veteran-reggae-singer-cocoa-tea-has-died

RIP Cocoa Tea, sweet-voiced reggae dancehall vocalist at 65 due to a heart attack

https://www.boyculture.com/boy_culture/2025/03/david-ehrenstein-walking-encyclopedia-of-film-beloved-fanged-gay-critic-has-died-78.html

Film critic David Ehrenstein, 78

sofia gubaidulina

RIP Sofia, you wrote some super interesting music

Stimmung… is a stunning piece of music (sorry can’t remember the second word of the title!)

Great rocker Bruce Joyner, who led Bruce Joyner and the Unknowns. The early 80s releases on Bomp are great new wave era rockabilly/garage efforts that avoided a lot of the stiffness of 1980s glossy roots rock, and he was clearly a hell of a frontman.

Stimmen Verstummen thats the piece. brilliant.
xpost

sportswriter john feinstein, 69

Pretty sure I read Ehrenstein's Open Secret; I've had Feinstein's A Good Walk Spoiled on the shelf for years and will read it one day.

Oh man I know Gubaidulina was no spring chicken but she is one off my favorite living composers and she’s been composing right up to now.

Ron Nessen, Press Secretary for Gerald Ford

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/us/politics/ron-nessen-dead.html

Nessen was also the first of many political stunt hosts on SNL, with his '76 episode featuring Musical Guest Patti Smith

https://www.instagram.com/snlreelz/reel/DG-REq6Ogfy/

Bummed to hear about Bruce Joyner. Always a fun conversation whenever he called into Bomp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaogFsZMhaY

Shame about Ehrenstein— he was a regular commenter on Dennis Cooper's blog, and had some nice words to say to me about a guest post I curated there many years ago. Loved "Open Secret" when I read it.

He would pop up out of the blue on comment threads -- he even entered my blog about 15 years to insult what he thought was a stupid commenter.

Yeah, Ehrenstein was a good and interesting dude. We had some friendly exchanges going back 20+ years now. I wish he'd been half as well known as Armond White (who's tragically still alive and writing).

Celebrated Norwegian author Dag Solstad, 83

Just saw that :-(

emilie duquenne

Rosenstolz singer Andrea "AnNa R." Neuenhofen, aged 55.

https://www.focus.de/kultur/musik/anna-r-saengerin-von-rosenstolz-stirbt-unerwartet-mit-55-jahren_id_260760426.html

emilie duquenne

― tuah dé danann (darraghmac)

:-(

Rosetta--the film, and her leading role--were both amazing. RIP

Retired AT&T telecom engineer and whistleblower Mark Klein, 79. In 2006 he went public with the NSA's domestic spying program embedded within the major telecommunications networks (the infamous "Room 641A"). Arguably the first domino leading up to Snowden, etc.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/15/rip_mark_klein/

Jesse Colin Young, 83

https://variety.com/2025/music/obituaries-people-news/jesse-colin-young-dead-youngbloods-get-together-singer-1236339723/

John "Paddy" Hemingway, last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, 105
https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird-articles/the-last-battle-of-britain-pilot-john-paddy-hemingway-passes-away-at-105.html

so like was his second name patrick or what

I'd guess probably not!

it's so charming isn't it? If he had been an Italian and flying on dangerous missions for the RAF would they have awarded "wop" as a middle name.

Classy.

You wince at the thought of what name he might have given his dog

Yeah I don’t think he gave himself his own nickname

Honduran Garifuna musician Aurelio Martínez, in a plane crash with several others.

Eddie Jordan, former Formula 1 team owner and TV pundit, aged 76.

a sad loss to the rich wanker community

lol

Steadman Pearson of Five Star, aged 60 on the 10th March.

Oh man, that's a shame. Rain Or Shine is all-time for me.

Character actor Wings Hauser?

George Bell, 68-- the tallest man in the US: 7 ft. 8 in.
Player for Harlem Globetrotters

Xp
V sad about Wings. Became a big fan of his when trawling Tubi over the past few years. Always brought a unique unhinged energy to all his roles and seemed to pick bizarre and amusing genre material often too.

Few people are as terrifying as Wings Hauser in Vice Squad. I spent most of his brief run on Roseanne (as a neighbour) waiting for him to snap and beat someone with a coat hanger.

And of course:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNKmmA6_oTQ

Should give Tough Guys Don't Dance another viewing - massively polarizing for obvious reasons, but he deserved an Oscar for his performance. It's not one of his lines, but "oh God...oh man" were the first words that came to mind when I heard the news.

Thought he was already gone but realize that was Powers Boothe. Add them to the "get these two mixed up". Not that they look the same, but they both have weird first names that are plural and often took crazy roles in genre movies.

Rutger Hauer is my mix-up with Hauser.

Reading about his separeate career as Wings Livinrtyte

Wings Overlondon

He co-founded Wings and inspired the band's name. True story.

Then why'd this never make it onto a Wings album?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM-NF9CuaAI

It's Paul's fault. He took out all Hauser's songs. He's such a control freak!

Grenville Collins, first manager of the Kinks (heard answering the phone at the beginning of "Party Line" and later got called out in the lyrics to "The Moneygoround")

RIP John Peck aka the Mad Peck , cartoonist who did rock concert posters, comic reviews of music for Creem magazine, hosted an oldies radio show that played obscure songs, and more . Contributed to East Village Eye

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2025/03/19/john-peck-rip/

Boxer and grill master George Forman at 76

*Foreman

Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't!

I had a George Foreman grill that i used as a panini press & it was ok. RIP George.

Man, Don King is gonna outlive all of those guys.

We also use our Foreman grill for panini and toasties.

may they all haunt him as ghosts for the rest of his days

“yoouuuuuu sliiiiiimmmy motherfuuuckerrrr youuuu stole allll my priiiizzzemoneyyyyyy wooooooaaaaaaaahhhhh “

(xpost)

On the wrong end of the most stunning 15 seconds in sports history (even more than any baseball equivalent for me).

In a roundabout way responsible for one of the greatest sitcom episodes of the 21st century:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Cqt6kQsas

The Foreman grill is a genuinely great invention. We've had one for years.

in what way is it a genuinely great invention? (honestly asking; i have no knowledge of grills)

Super efficient, easy to use, easy to clean, cooks things really well without giving off a lot of smoke, so you can use it in an apartment kitchen. It's small, so it's perfect for one or two people.

I have in the past made some sick homemade egg McMuffins with the grill, rip champ

Larry Tamblyn, singer/drummer of the Standells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=721awq58Zd8

Oh wow, a song that was inescapable growing up in Boston. Also, brother of Russ. RIP

My George Foreman grill was kinda newfangled too, you could swap out the grill plates & use it to make waffles :D

Love my Foreman. Chicken, salmon, whatever. Mourn you ‘til we join you.

RIP but just want to point out that Larry was the singer and KEYBOARDIST of The Standells.

The drummer was Dick Dodd and he passed away in 2013.

somebody I used to work with, who I doubt is still alive tbh. Once he came home from work incredibly drunk/zonked on m-cat and passed out on the sofa. He regained consciousness and realised his wife was beating him to death with a George Foreman grill. There were scars!

Super efficient, easy to use, easy to clean, cooks things really well without giving off a lot of smoke, so you can use it in an apartment kitchen. It's small, so it's perfect for one or two people.

RIP George ... and Larry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTPa40Cgs6o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8XMedD6jOE

On the wrong end of the most stunning 15 seconds in sports history (even more than any baseball equivalent for me).

As seen the whole world over, which is the significant difference.

RIP George

this scared up my worst tic = checking out ilx of yore

in conclusion: i thought we were making jokes abt the GRILL SHILLA (various spellings) for weeks back in 2002 but unless the search function is busted we mentioned it like 3 times 😔

sad to see him go, clearly don king made an arrangement w/the devil and the devil LOST

Don King's longevity can probably be attributed to the fact that he wasn't the one getting punched in the face over and over.

a friend of mine used to say "never lie down in front of Don King, he'll kick you to death"

As seen the whole world over, which is the significant difference.

True, but I don't even need to factor that in--it would still be #1 for me. I do need the context of the moment, though: the round, the whole fight, the weeks leading up to it, Foreman's reputation going in, Ali's story to that point, etc. No exaggeration: I've seen it 30 or 40 times showing it to classes, and I get chills every time when Foreman hits the canvas (helped even more by the audio call of the fight).

i was listening to that commentary again earlier, so amazing, none of them were close to a match for Ali but jeez the sport wished they was

I'm always stopping the YouTube clip during the 8th round to point out how slow the announcer is to picking up on to what Ali is up to:

(50:54) "I caution you to look for the one punch that George Foreman can throw at any time."

(51:37) "Maybe this could be the tactic of Ali, to let the man punch himself out."

Maybe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55AasOJZzDE

Wasnt floyd patterson on the call with Cosell?

It does sound like Cosell, but it's not; the listed announcers are Bob Sheridan (main announcer, I assume), Jim Brown, David Frost, and, yes, Patterson. (Unless it's a non-football Jim Brown who's the main guy, which probably makes more sense.)

Harry Carpenter's commentary for the BBC is the one I hear in my head - here w/ Romanian subtitles for those that need them. Harry was almost as unprepared for what happened next as George!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkZjyWvQmiY

It was the Carpenter commentary I was listening to: great moments in cluelessness

Lol

Still shocking to see just how out on his feet Foreman was. Carpenter's surprise feels emblematic of the time though: even with the evidence in front of his eyes, he (along with everyone else) didn't really believe Ali could win.

From this distance, knowing how much was stacked against Foreman, it still feels unlikely, if understandable.

Andy Peebles, Radio 1 DJ throughout the 80s and the last person to interview John Lennon before he was shot.

Good interview too.

Jessica Eber, former US Attorney for Eastern Virginia

https://nbcnews.to/4ixCt5H

Worth nothing that Eber worked on several very high-profile cases that are certainly going to stoke a lot of FUD over the investigation into her death