Died On This Date (August 1, 2011) Jevon Hollywood / Popular Detroit Disc Jockey

Jevon Hollywood (Born Jevon Hotchkiss)
DOB Unknown – August 1, 2011

Jevon Hollywood was a popular radio disc jockey, most recently heard on Detroit top-40 station, WDTW-FM (106.7 The Beat).  In his early days at the station, Hollywood built a following as an intern for on-air personality, Lisa Lisa.  He eventually landed his own program, the “Late Show,” which aired from 10pm to 1am throughout the week.  He was also a popular draw at station events around town.  Early reports indicated that Hollywood was walking along the shoulder of  a Novi, Michigan-area road (just northeast of Detroit) near his home around 5:30 am, when he was struck by a 61-year-old driver.  The apparent accident occurred on  July 28, with Hollywood ultimately dying of his injuries on August 1, 2011.  He was 34.

Died OnThis Date (July 30, 2011) Trudy Stamper / Grand Ole Opry Pioneer

Trudy Stamper (Born Gertrude McClanahan)
DOB Unknown – July 30, 2011

Trudy Stamper was a country music pioneer who is perhaps best remembered for her tireless work on building the Grand Ole Opry brand.  Born and raised in Nashville, Stamper moved to New York City after college in order to pursue a career on the stage.  It was while back home visiting and talking up the theater scene, that she was overheard by an executive at the powerful WSM radio station and offered the chance to be one of the first female radio personalities in the United States.  While at WSM, Stamper hosted a shopping program and acted in several of the station’s soap operas until eventually moving off microphone to a position in artist relations for the Grand Ole Opry.  Through her New York connections, Stamper was able to bring the Opry to Carnegie Hall for two nights in 1947.  The performances which included Minnie Pearl and Ernest Tubb, helped introduce the Opry and country music in general to more “cosmopolitan” audiences.  She also handled Opry bookings and artist contracts for many years and eventually became the Public Relations Director for WSM and the Opry.  In 1961, Stamper publicized the Opry’s second event at Carnegie Hall.  That bill included Bill Monroe, Jim Reeves, Grandpa Jones, Faron Young, and one of her best friends, Patsy Cline.  She retired from the music business in 1964.  Trudy Stamper was 94 when she passed away on July 30, 2011.



Died On This Date (June 13, 2011) Mario Comesanas / DJ on SiriusXM

Mario Comesanas
September 7, 1980 – June 13, 2011

Mario Comesanas was a popular DJ on SiriusXM’s Liquid Metal channel. He launched his radio career at New Jersey’s Seton Hall University legendary college radio station, WSOU where he quickly built a sizable following for his passion for all things metal.  He eventually got hired on as a host on Sirius’ Hard Attack channel which was later re-branded as Liquid Metal following the merger with XM.  Comesanas also wrote for Revolver magazine and  sang for hardcore bands December Aeternalis and Low Road.  Mario Comesanas died of an apparent brain hemorrhage on June 13, 2011.  He was 30.

Died On This Date (April 9, 2011) Randy Wood / Founder Of Dot Records & Ranwood Records

Randy Wood
March 30, 1917 – April 9, 2011

Randy Wood was a successful music industry executive who is perhaps best remembered for being the man behind Dot Records.  Wood had just returned home after serving in World War II when he opened an appliance store in Gallatin, TN.  When he started music – mostly pop and classical albums – young customers began coming in, but asking for the rhythm & blues records they heard on a powerful station from faraway Nashville, Tennessee.  Wood quickly realized there was a need for a mail-order record business, and 78RPM was born.   By sponsoring a show on that Nashville station, WLAC-AM, spots for Randy’s Record Shop’s mail-order services could be heard clear across the United States and beyond.   With the income he was realizing from orders, Wood soon launched Dot Records out of the store.   The label quickly turned a profit as Wood figured out that white performers singing watered-down R&B songs was a recipe for success.   His artists like Pat Boone were turning songs by Little Richard and Fats Domino into pop hits while helping to further popularize the R&B singers as well.  Others he signed to Dot included Lawrence Welk, Tab Hunter, Debbie Reynolds, and the Mills Brothers.  The label was one of the most successful independent record companies of its time.  In 1968, Wood partnered with Welk to launch Ranwood Records in order to release records by artists mostly associated with the Lawrence Welk Show.  Welk purchased the label from Wood in 1979.  Randy Wood passed away on April 9, 2011.  He was 94.



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Died On This Date (March 14, 2011) Sherman Washington Jr. / New Orleans Gospel Great

Sherman Washington Jr.
DOB Unknown – March 14, 2011

Photo by David Grunfeld

Sherman Washington Jr. was a beloved New Orleans Gospel singer, radio host and promoter.   As a member of Zion Harmonizers for the better part of 60 years, Washington was there for the birth of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, playing at its first gathering in 1970.  Two years later, he took over the Gospel Tent and turned it into one of the most popular venues at the festival ever since.  In the early years of Jazz Fest, the Gospel Tent was the place many white visitors experienced Gospel for the first time.  Washington was also the host of the popular Sunday morning Gospel program on New Orleans radio station, WYLD-AM.  The show became much more than a jukebox of the latest Gospel hits, but rather a community of sorts with Washington serving as its beloved “mayor.”   In ailing health in recent years, Sherman Washington Jr. passed away in his home on March 14, 2011.  He was 86.

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