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Died On This Date (March 8, 2012) Jimmy Ellis / Lead Singer Of The Trammps; Had Huge Hit With “Disco Inferno”

Jimmy Ellis
DOB Unkown – March 8, 2012

Jimmy Ellis is best remembered the lead singer for the popular disco group, the Trammps.  Formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1972, the R&B outfit first flirted with success with their unlikely cover of “Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart,” a song originally made famous by Judy Garland some 30 years earlier.  The following year, they released “Love Epidemic,” widely considered their first disco song.  In 1976, they put out what would become their signature tune, “Disco Inferno,” a high-energy dance number that went on to help define the disco era.  The song wasn’t initially a big hit, but when it was re-released as part of the Saturday Night Fever film and soundtrack in 1978, it hit the mainstream and landed at #11 on the pop charts.  The song then took on a life of its own as it was played in heavy rotation at discotheques around the world and virtually every disco-themed party ever since.  Its celebratory refrain can still also be heard at most major sports arenas around the US.   It has also been covered by the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner.  In 2005, “Disco Inferno” was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.  The Trammps’ other hits included “The Night The Lights Went Out” and “Disco Party.”   Jimmy Ellis was 74 when he passed away in a nursing home on March 8, 2012.

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The Trammps

Died On This Date (March 8, 2012) Bugs Henderson / Texas Blues Great

Buddy “Bugs” Henderson
1943 – March 8, 2012

Bugs Henderson was a Dallas, Texas area blues great who, for the better part of the past 50 years has been playing the kind of electric blues that keeps the crowds on their collective feet.  Henderson was just a teenager working in a local record store when he would sneak out of his house to check out the latest bands performing in nearby roadhouses.  By 1966 he was playing in a band, Mouse and the Traps, who scored a regional hit with “Public Execution.”  By the early ’70s, Henderson was an in-demand studio player while establishing himself as a local draw on the stage.  Over the years, he either opened for, or shared the stage with the likes of the Allman Brothers, Leon Russell, Freddie King, Ted Nugent, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and B.B. King.   Bugs Henderson died from complications of liver cancer on March 8, 2012.  He was 69.

Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.

 

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Bugs Henderson

Died On This Date (March 5, 2012) Robert Sherman / Wrote Several Iconic Disney Songs

Robert Sherman
December 19, 1925 – March 5, 2012

Photo Credit: Howard352 via wikimedia

Robert Sherman was a songwriter who, along with his brother, Richard Sherman, was responsible for numerous Disney film and attraction songs that live on in the souls of countless children of all ages.  Over the years, the Shermans have written songs that have appeared in such classic films as The Jungle Book, Mary Poppins, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  “Chim-Chim Cher-ee,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song),” and “Trust In Me (The Python’s Song)” are just a few of the Sherman Brothers songs that many of us grew up with.  Other credits include several of the jingles heard throughout the Disneyland, most notably, “It’s A Small World (After All).”  They also wrote “You’re Sixteen” which topped the singles charts twice, first by Johnny Burnette, and then again by Ringo Starr.  Over the years, the Sherman brothers shared several nominations for Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Grammys, and Golden Globes.  They won two Oscars for their Mary Poppins contributions.  Robert Sherman was 86 when he passed away on March 5, 2012.

Thanks to Henk de Bruin for the assist.

 

Died On This Date (March 3, 2012) Ronnie Montrose / Rock Guitar Great

Ronnie Montrose
November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012

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Ronnie Montrose was an American guitarist who, since the early 1970’s, has built a reputation as one of hard rock’s leading players.  Montrose was playing in a band called Sawbuck in when he was offered the chance to play with Van Morrison.  He can be heard on Morrison’s Tupelo Honey and Saint Dominic’s Preview.  Within a year or two, he was in the Edgar Winter Group before starting his own band, Montrose, in 1973.  The group, which included then-unknown Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, went on to release such hard rock staples as “Bad Motor Scooter” and “Rock Candy.”  Their self-titled debut sold over a million copies and has been called the first American heavy metal album.  Montrose later formed Gamma who is perhaps best known for “Fight To The Finish” and “Meanstreak.”  As an in-demand session player, Montrose played on records by the likes of Gary Wright, Boz Scaggs, the Beau Brummels, Nicolette Larson, Herbie Hancock, and the Neville Brothers.  Montrose continued to record, tour , and produce well into the 2000s.  Initial reports indicated that Ronnie Montrose died of prostate cancer on March 3, 2012. It was later revealed, however, that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He was 64.

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Montrose - Montrose

Died On This Date (February 29, 2012) Davy Jones / The Monkees

Davy Jones
December 30, 1945 – February 29, 2012

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Davy Jones was and English actor and singer who is best remembered as the lead vocalist for the Monkees, a widely popular pop-rock group that was originally fabricated to star as a band on an American television series.  The weekly comedy followed the hi-jinks of the fictional rock band as they tried to build a music career in Los Angeles.  The show, which premiered in 1966, starred Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith as the group which was loosely based on the Beatles.  The show launched actual music careers for the musicians, even though in the beginning, they contributed very little musically.  Many of the program’s songs, which were showcased like music videos every week, became hits and future staples of oldies radio.  They included “Daydream Believer,” “Last Train To Clarksville,” and “I Want To Be Free.”  The show won two Emmys in 1967 and continued to be popular in reruns ever since.  In later years, Jones recorded and toured the world with the reunited Monkees.  As an actor, Jones also appeared in numerous stage productions as well as on such TV shows as The Brady Bunch, Love American Style, and My Two Dads.  Davy Jones was 66 when he suffered a fatal heart attack on February 29, 2012.  The Monkees co-creator, Bert Schneider passed away in December of 2011.

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The Best of the Monkees - The Monkees