Died On This Date (August 2, 2011) Wendy Kale / Respected Colorado Music Journalist
themusicsover Wendy Kale
DOB Unknown – August 2, 2011
Wendy Kale was a music writer who over the course of some 30 years, reported on the Denver, Colorado scene for Boulder’s Colorado Daily. Kale began her music career as a college concert promoter during the late ’70s, eventually working shows by the likes of B.B. King, Jerry Garcia, the Rolling Stones and the Eagles. During the mid ’80s, she began writing a column for the Colorado Daily, and went on to become the one constant at area venues as she soaked in shows for review in the paper. A tireless supporter of the local scene, Kale has been credited for being the first to champion the Samples and Big Head Todd and the Monsters. On August 2, 2011, Wendy Kale’s lifeless body was found in her home. Cause of death was not immediately known, but according to officials, did not appear to be suspicious. She was 58.
Jane Scott was, simply put, a rock critic’s rock critic. For 50 years, she covered nearly every major concert that came through Cleveland, Ohio for the city’s major daily, the Plain Dealer. Born in Cleveland, Scott graduated from the University of Michigan and served in the U.S. Navy before taking up a career in journalism. In March of 1952, just three days after Cleveland DJ, Alan Freed put on what has been called the world’s first rock concert, Scott was hired by the Plain Dealer to cover local society events. In 1958, she took over a column that was aimed at what now would be called “tweens,” and soon morphed it into one of the world’s first rock columns. Scott’s earliest major rock story came in 1964 when she covered the Beatles‘ first show at Cleveland’s Public Hall. She soon found herself covering the band’s tour through Europe. When the Fab Four returned to Cleveland in 1966, it was Scott who scored one of Paul McCartney’s first American interviews ever. By her retirement in 2002, Scott estimated that she had been to over 10,000 concerts, and along the way she earned the love, friendship and respect from everyone from Mick Jagger to Jim Morrison to David Bowie to Bob Dylan. So beloved by the rock community, it took her 80th birthday celebration in 1999 to reunite the Raspberries. And to help celebrate the occasion, Glenn Frey of the Eagles sent a note saying “Jane, you never met a band you didn’t like,” while 
Darryl Morden was a music journalist whose media included radio, print, television and the internet. Over the course of his career, his features could be found in such respected outlets as the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Buzzine, examiner.com, and Launch/Yahoo. At one point, Morden was the head writer and producer of American Top 4o with Casey Kasem, and later Shadoe Stevens. He also created, produced and edited the World Chart Show, the first of its kind dedicated to world-wide audience. Darryl Morden died of cancer on February 25, 2011.
Irwin Sibler was a music journalist and longtime editor of Sing Out! magazine. Co-founded by Sibler in 1950, the quarterly publication is one of the most respected folk music magazines in the world. Sibler acted as editor from its inception until 1967. The magazine and Sibler’s pieces were largely responsible for the folk revival of the ’50s and ’60s. After leaving the magazine, Sibler became more politically outspoken, becoming an editor and movie critic for the radical weekly, The Guardian. He also launched Paredon Records where he released albums that spoke for the radical liberation movement of the ’70s. Irwin Sibler was 85 when he passed away on September 8, 2010.
A man of many hats, Tony Wilson is best remembered as co-owner of Factory Records, home the one-time home of Joy Division, New Order and OMD. He also owned The Hacienda, which became the epicenter of the Manchester music scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Before his foray into music, Wilson was a journalist and BBC television peronaility, most notably hosting So It Goes and After Dark. Suffering from advance stages of renal cancer, Wilson, age 57, died of a heart attack in a Manchester hospital.