Died On This Date (July 25, 2008) Michael Berniker / Produced Barbra Streisand
themusicsover Michael Berniker
June 30, 1935 – July 25, 2008
Michael Berniker was a nine-time Grammy Award winning record producer who worked with such superstars as Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, and Perry Como. After studying music in college, Berniker came out swinging by producing Streisand’s first three albums, considered her best by many. And this was all before he even turned 30. In later years, as an executive for RCA Records, Berniker signed such acts as Juice Newton and Hall & Oates. He died of kidney disease at 73.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the lead.
Hiram Bullock, known to David Letterman fans as the “barefoot guitarist” in Paul Shaffer’s World’s Dangerous Band has passed away on July 25, 2008 after battling throat cancer for several months. Besides his work on the Letterman show, Bullock lent his talents to recordings by some of music’s greatest artists. He can be heard on Sting’s Nothing Like The Sun, Paul Simon’s One Trick Pony, and Billy Joel’s The Stranger. Bullock also released several of his own albums throughout his career. He was 52 when he passed away.
Rob Collins was the original keyboardist for British alternative pop band, the Charlatans (Charlatans UK in the States). His psychedelic organ added an edge to such Charlatans hits as “The Only One I Know” which introduced the band in 1990. In 1992, Collins was convicted of “assisting an offender after an offense” for picking up a friend who had just performed an armed robbery. Collins claimed to have had no knowledge of the crime. He served four months in prison. On July 22, 1996, while working on the Charlatans Tellin’ Stories, Collins was involved in a car accident during which he was thrown through the windshield. Official reports indicate that he had consumed a large amount of alcohol just prior to the accident and had not been wearing a seat belt. Collins died from head injuries at the scene. He was just 31. Bandmate