Died On This Date (July 18, 1988) Nico / Velvet Underground
themusicsover Nico (Born Christa Päffgen)
October 16, 1938 – July 18, 1988
Nico was a German-born singer, actress and model who is best remembered for her work with Velvet Underground as well as Andy Warhol. As a young adult, Nico worked as a model, appearing in such magazines as Vogue and Elle. After landing the lead in the 1963 French film, The Strip-Tease, Nico recorded the Serge Gainsbourg produced theme song. In 1965, Nico recorded her first single with the help of Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. It was around this time that Nico began working with Andy Warhol who managing the Velvet Underground at the time. The band reluctantly agreed to let Nico sing lead on three songs on their 1967 debut, The Velvet Underground & Nico, considered one of the most influential albums of the era. The partnership soon dissolved with Nico moving on to a critically acclaimed solo career. She recorded and performed into the 1980s. On July 18, 1988, Nico fell from her bicycle after suffering a minor heart attack. Unconscious, she was taken to a hospital where she was misdiagnosed with heat stroke. She died the next day of a cerebral hemorrhage from the fall.
What You Should Own
Mimi Fariña was a folk singer-songwriter who came of age during the ’60s folk revival in America. A few years younger than sister, Joan Baez, Fariña performed at many of the same clubs and festivals, including the legendary Newport Folk Festival. In 1963, she met writer and singer-songwriter, 
Although his professional career was cut short after just twelve years, John Coltrane’s output was legendary. Coltrane is considered one of the greatest saxophonists of all time and helped popularize the free jazz idiom. Besides recording over fifty sides, he supported countless others, including 
Gordon Waller and Peter Asher were the popular ’60s duo, Peter and Gordon. Since Asher’s sister, Jane Asher dated Paul McCartney at the time, Peter and Gordon were lucky enough secure unrecorded Lennon-McCartney songs for their own use. One of those songs, “A World Without Love” became their biggest hit. They broke up in 1968 after which Waller recorded a handful of solo albums and appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Peter and Gordon reunited a few times in later years. Gordon Waller went into cardiac arrest on July 16, 2009 and died the next day.
