Died On This Date (January 31, 2012) King Stitt / Legendary Jamaican DeeJay
themusicsover King Stitt (Born Winston Spark)
September 17, 1940 – January 31, 2012
King Stitt was, until the time of his passing, recognized as Jamaica’s oldest living deejay. Stitt’s career dated back to the mid ’50s when he began deejaying for the legendary Coxsone Dodd on his Sound System. Before he knew it, Stitt was releasing such influential deejay tracks as “Lee Van Cleef,” “Dance Beat,” and “Fire Corner” with such producers as Clancy Eccles and of course, Dodd himself. In recent years, Stitt was featured in the The Studio One Story documentary and the to-be-released Legends Of Ska concert doc. King Stitt was 71 when he passed away on January 31, 2012. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Thanks to Eric Foss at Secret Stash Records for the assist.
What You Should Own
Leslie Carter was an aspiring pop singer and songwriter who happened to be the sister of world-famous singers, Nick Carter and Aaron Carter. Singing since a young age, Carter was signed to Dreamworks Records in 1999 and released the moderately successful single, “Like Wow” in 2001. The song received a fair amount of airplay and was featured on the Shrek soundtrack. Carter and Dreamworks parted ways before her debut album, Leslie Carter, could be released. In 2006, Carter relaunched her career with a new band, The Other Half, who had a more rock-leaning sound than her early pop days. The band broke up in 2009. Carter was also featured with her family on their own House Of Carters reality show in 2006. Leslie Carter was 25 when she passed away on January 31, 2012. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Tony Tecumseh was the founder, guitarist a lead singer of influential ’60s psychedelic pop band, Afterglow. Tecumseh, who was a Modoc Indian, was a direct descendent of Winema. Formed during the mid ’60s, Afterglow recorded their self-titled debut album,in San Francisco during 1967. They were, at the time, a popular draw at parties, school dances and such throughout Northern California, and they opened for such acts as the Turtles and the Beau Brummels. Unfortunately, Afterglow broke up shortly after the release of Afterglow, which went on to become highly coveted by collectors of psych rock. The album was re-issued by Sundazed Records in 1995. The band reunited in 2007 but Tecumseh was unable to participate due to health issues, while a PBS documentary about the band is expected to air in 2012. Tony Tecumseh was 71 when he passed away on January 29, 2012.
Clare Fischer was a pianist, composer and arranger who, besides having his own respectable career as a musician, arranged music for some of pop music’s biggest stars. Fischer was still a child when he first started making music, and after graduating from college and serving in the Army, he pursued a career in music. During the late ’50s, he took on his first gig of note as the pianist and arranger for popular vocal quartet, the Hi-Los. It was his work with the group that helped establish them as a major influence on the likes of the Manhattan Transfer, Brian Wilson, and Quincy Jones. It was around that time that he also arranged music for jazz greats Cal Tjader, Donald Byrd, and 
