Died On This Date (April 5, 2006) Gene Pitney / Early Rock and Roll Star
themusicsover Gene Pitney
February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006
Not only was Gene Pitney a future member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2002), he was an accomplished songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and sound engineer. Pitney enjoyed much success as a performer, cranking out more than twenty Top 40 hits at a time when most other American acts were being pushed aside by the British Invasion. He didn’t fight the trend, he joined it by working on several of the earliest recordings of the Rolling Stones. Pitney’s first hit came in 1961 with “Town Without Pity” from the film of the same name. He sang it at the Academy Awards ceremony, being the first pop singer to perform at the event. His hits as a singer or songwriter continued with a vengeance. He can count the following as his own (as a writer or singer): “He’s A Rebel,” “Hello Mary Lou,” “Rubber Ball,” Today’s Teardrops,” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” He even gave songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards their first Top 10 hit with his version of “That Girl Belongs To Yesterday.” Pitney continued to record and perform throughout the rest of his life until he died of natural causes in his hotel room while on a tour of the UK in 2006. He was 66.
What You Should Own
Johnny Maestro was a popular doo-wop singer who, over the course of his lengthy career, fronted two equally popular groups. As singer for the Crests, Maestro scored a #2 hit with 1958’s “16 Candles.” The song continues to be one of the most popular records of the era and has been covered by the Stray Cats and the Jackson 5, to name a few. The Crests are also notable for being one of the earliest completely interracial groups in pop music. It was made up of a Puerto Rican, an African American male and female, and an Italian American (Maestro). Ten years later, Maestro had a major hit again, this time with “The Worst That Could Happen” as singer for Brooklyn Bridge. The group has remained active up until the time of Maestro’s passing. On March 24, 2010, Johnny Maestro died from cancer. He was 70 years old.
One of nine siblings, Mark Dinning recycled an old song written by one of his sisters (of the Dinning Sisters) and turned it into an early rock ‘n’ roll hit. That song was “Teen Angel” which is one of those classic tragedies that tells the chilling story of a young lover killed when her car is stalled on the train tracks. It went to #1 on the Billboard charts even though some stations felt it was too morbid to play. Dinning died of a heart attack at age 52.
To many, Dean Paul Martin was best known as Dean Martin’s son, but to music fans he was Dino of Dino, Desi and Billy. The Desi being Desi Arnaz Jr. Forming the group in their early teens, DD&B had a couple of semi hits that targeted the teenage girl crowd. As he grew older, Dino became Dean Paul and went on to make a name for himself playing tennis. He even played Wimbledon. Flying was yet another passion of Martin’s. He got his pilot’s license at just 16 and later earned his wings with the Air National Guard. Then in 1987, Martin was flying his National Guard fighter jet when a bad snowstorm caused him to crash it in the mountains for California, killing him and his Weapons System Officer on impact. He was once married to Olympic ice skater, Dorothy Hammill and actress Olivia Hussey.