Died On This Date (June 4, 2011) Martin Rushent / Prominent English Record Producer

Martin Rushent
January 3, 1948 – June 4, 2011

Martin Rushent was a successful record producer who could count records by Shirley Bassey, the Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley, the Human League, XTC, Joy DivisionGeneration X, and the Stranglers among his best work.  Picking up the production bug while still in high school, Rushent found work soon after graduation, working as a tape operator alongside Tony Visconti on records by T-Rex, Jerry Lee Lewis, Yes, and Petula Clark.  Eventually advancing to the ranks of recording engineer, Rushent went to work for United Artists where he was instrumental in getting the Stranglers signed and subsequently recording their UA releases.  By the early ’80s, Rushent grew tired of producing guitar bands, so he opened his own studio and began working with synth-driven groups, helping launch the synth-pop movement of the ’80s.   By the late ’80s, he was all but retired from the music business to raise his family, but resurfaced to run his own dance club, Gush in the mid ’90s.  He went back to producing during the mid 2000s, working with the likes of Hazel O’Connor, the Pipettes, and Does It Offend You, Yeah? which is fronted by his son, James Rushent.  Martin Rushent was 63 when he passed away on June 4, 2011.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at number1albums for the assist.

Died On This Date (June 4, 2011) Frankie Toler / Acclaimed Southern Rock Drummer

David “Frankie” Toler
DOB Unknown – June 4, 2011

Frankie Toler was a rock drummer who, over the course of his career, played with the Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts,  and the Marshall Tucker Band.  He joined his brother, guitarist Dan Toler in the Allman Brothers in 1981 and stayed for the next year or so.  They both played on the group’s 1981 release, Brothers On The Road.  The brothers then went on to perform with Gregg Allman for several years, and played on his landmark I’m No Angel album of 1986.  Frankie played in the Marshall Tucker Band from 1992 to 1994, playing on their Walk Outside The Line album.  He also made a couple of albums with his brother.  Toler continued to stay active until he needed a two liver transplants in 2009.  Thankfully the local Southern Rock community joined together and played to raise money to help offset his medical bills.   Frankie Toler was 59 when he passed away in hospice care on June 4, 2011.

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I'm No Angel - The Gregg Allman Band

Died On This Date (June 4, 2011) Kevin Kavanaugh / Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

Kevin Kavanaugh
DOB Unknown – June 4, 2011

Kevin Kavanaugh was a New Jersey keyboardist who is perhaps best remembered for his many years playing alongside John Lyon in his legendary band, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.  Kavanaugh can be heard on the Jukes’ outstanding This Time It’s For Real, Hearts Of Stone, and I Don’t Want To Go Home albums.  In Kavanaugh’s early days as a musician, it was Bruce Springsteen who inspired him to look for a band that would command the same adulation from its audience.  It wasn’t long before he was actually playing with Springsteen, in his Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom, and eventually in the Jukes.  In 1982, Kavanaugh played on Little Steven’s first album away from Springsteen, Men Without Women.  After leaving Southside Johnny in the early ’90s, Kavanaugh continued to play with numerous Jersey Shore bands like the Bobby Bandiera Band, High Voltage Brothers and Cats On A Smooth Surface, the so-called house band of Asbury Park’s storied Stone Pony club.  Kevin Kavanaugh passed away on June 4, 2011 following a long illness.

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Hearts of Stone - Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

 

Died On This Date (June 3, 2011) Benny Spellman / R&B Singer Who Gave Us “Fortune Teller”

Benny Spellman
December 11, 1931 – June 3, 2011

Benny Spellman was an R&B singer who released two significant hits during the 1960s.  His “Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette),” written by Allen Toussaint, cracked the Top 30 on the R&B charts, while his original version of “Fortune Teller” went on to be recorded by the likes of the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Hollies, and more recently, as a duet by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.  Spellman also collaborated with Huey “Piano” Smith and sang back up on the Ernie K-Doe hit, “Mother In Law.”  Although he went on to work outside the music business by the early ’70s, Spellman continued to perform at festivals and such for many years.  Benny Spellman died of respiratory failure on June 3, 2011.  He was 79.

What You Should Own

Benny Spellman Selected Favorites - Benny Spellman


Died On This Date (June 3, 2011) Andrew Gold / Popular ’70s Singer-Songwriter

Andrew Gold
August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011

Andrew Gold was an American Singer-Songwriter who, over a career that spanned nearly four decades, scored hits with “Oh What A Lonely Boy,” “Thank You For Being A Friend,” “Never Let Her Slip Away,” and “Final Frontier.”  Born into a show business family – his mother, Marni Nixon provided the singing voices for many actresses in musicals, while his father, Ernest Gold was an Oscar-winning composer, Gold joined their ranks by his early 20s.  His first band of note, Bryndle, included Kenny Edwards, Karla Bonoff, and Wendy Waldman.  During that period, he played a key role in the early popularity of Linda Ronstadt.  Gold played on most of her early solo albums, including Heart Like A Wheel.  He was also a part of her band for several years.   As a solo artist, Gold released (and wrote for others) numerous singles that helped define the ’70s southern California sound and later found homes on popular television and film soundtracks.  “Lonely Boy” can be heard during pivotal scenes in Boogie Nights and Water Boy, while “Thank You For Being A Friend” became the iconic theme song to The Golden Girls.   His “Final Frontier” went on to become the theme to another hit show, Mad About You, and was the wake-up call aboard the Mars Pathfinder in 1996.  Over the course of his career, Gold played on countless major hits for a who’s who of popular music.  That list includes Art Garfunkel, Eric Carmen, Stephen Bishop, Cher, 10cc, and Jackson Browne.  Andrew Gold died of a heart attack on June 3, 2011.  He was 59.

Thanks to David Plastik of eRockPhotos for the assist.

What You Should Own

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Thank You for Being a Friend: The Best of Andrew Gold - Andrew Gold