Died On This Date (February 1, 2012) Mike Kelley / Influential Visual Artist & Musician

Mike Kelley
1954 – February 1, 2012

Mike Kelley was a respected visual artist as well as a founding member of Detroit underground noise rock band, Destroy All Monsters.  Formed while Kelley was an art student in 1973, the band built a sizable cult following even though they never released a proper album.  Kelley left the group in order to attend California Institute of the Arts in 1976. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth released a 3-CD anthology of the band in 1994.  Perhaps Kelley’s most notable contribution to popular music however, came by way of the iconic cover art he created for Sonic Youth’s 1992 album, Dirty (see below).  Mike Kelley was 57 when he apparently took his own life on February 1, 2012.

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Dirty (Deluxe Edition) [Remastered] - Sonic Youth

Died On This Date (February 1, 2012) David Peaston / Popular R&B and Gospel Singer

David Peaston
March 13, 1957 – February 1, 2012

Born in St. Louis, MO, David Peaston grew up to be a successful Gospel and R&B singer during the ’90s.  After starting out as a teacher, Peaston moved to New York City during the early ’80s in order to pursue a career in music.  After winning several televised singing competitions, he was signed to Geffen Records who released his first single, “Two Wrongs (Don’t Make It Right,” which reached #3 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1989.  Several charting singles and popular albums followed.  His mother, Martha Bass, was part of the Clara Ward Singers, while his sister, Fontella Bass has enjoyed tremendous success as a singer as well. David Peaston died from complications of diabetes on February 1, 2012.  He was 54.

 

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Died On This Date (February 1, 2012) Don Cornelius / Creator & Host Of “Soul Train”

Don Cornelius
September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012

Don Cornelius was the creator, writer, producer, and host of the extremely influential American dance program, Soul Train.  Launched in October of 1961 after Cornelius noticed a void of nationally broadcast television shows that catered to the African-American audience, Soul Train ran until March of 2006.  Cornelius hosted the program from its inception until 1993.  Soul Train has been praised for influencing countless African-American kids while bringing black music into the white neighborhoods.  Over the years, the show featured lip-synched performances by everyone from James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, to Michael Jackson, Ice Cube and Prince.  Two popular segments of the show were the “Soul Train Scrabble Board” where two dancers tried to un-scramble letters to identify a significant person in African-American culture, and the oft-imitated “Soul Train Line” where the dancers formed two lines and then strutted their stuff with a partner down the middle.  In 1987, Cornelius launched the Soul Train Awards, a nationally broadcast program that honored the year’s best artists in R&B, Soul, Jazz and Hip-Hop.  The show ran until 2000.  Throughout the years, Cornelius was honored and/or parodied in countless sit-coms, rap songs, and films.   In the early hours of February 1, 2012, police responded to the home of Don Cornelius where they found him dead of what initially appeared to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He was 75.

Thanks to Bruce Kilgour at Slipped Disc Entertainment for the assist.

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