Died On This Date (October 12, 1985) Ricky Wilson / The B-52s
themusicsover Ricky Wilson
March 19, 1953 – October 12, 1985
Ricky Wilson was the founding guitarist for popular ’80s pop band, The B-52s. He, along with his sister, Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland, and Kate Pierson were responsible for some of the most fun and popular songs of the era. Their hits included “Rock Lobster,” “Dance This Mess Around,” “Planet Claire,” and “Private Idaho.” Ricky Wilson died from complications related to AIDS at the age of 32.
What You Should Own
Amos Heilicher was a Minneapolis music industry icon whose impact was felt well beyond the Twin Cities. Heilicher was still in high school when jumped into the record business by purchasing five jukeboxes. Mercury Records soon came and asked him for help getting their latest singles into other area jukeboxes as well. After that, he brought on RCA and Columbia along with other labels, and quickly became one of the country’s leading jukebox record suppliers. Heilicher soon expanded his distribution, or “rack-jobbing,” to include drug stores, department stores, and eventually, such chains as Discount Records and Musicland. He also had his own label, Soma Records for many years, and has been credited for breaking such hits as the Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” and 
Born into a musical family, Dickie Peterson knew from an early age that he wanted to be a professional musician, so he picked up the bass at thirteen and never looked back. In 1966, he helped form Blue Cheer, a San Francisco based psychedelic blues rock band that is considered by many to to be the first “heavy metal” band. Peterson played bass and sang lead in the band. In 1968, they released a heavy electric blues version of 
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