Dave McKenna
May 30, 1930 – October 18, 2008
Dave McKenna was a respected swing jazz pianist who worked with, among others, Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, and Eddie Condon. A lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, McKenna was known to listen to Sox games on a transistor radio while performing. He died of cancer at the age of 78.
Thanks to Craig Rosen of Number1Albums
Victor Mizzy
January 9, 1916 – October 17, 2009
Vic Mizzy is best remembered for the scores he wrote for television and film during the ’50s and ’60s. His credits include Green Acres and The Addams Family on TV, and the Don Knotts films, The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Vic Mizzy, 93, passed away on October 17, 2009.
Criss Oliva
April 3, 1963 – October 17, 1993
Criss Oliva was the lead guitarist of Savatage, the progressive metal band he co-founded with his brother, Jon Oliva. The Clearwater, Florida band formed in the early ’80s and by the release of their second album in 1985, they were starting to make some noise outside of the region. Enough so to get the chance to tour with Megadeth and a multi-album deal with Atlantic Records. Savatage’s 1991 release, Streets: A Rock Opera was a tremendous succes, selling in excess of 1 million copies. Criss Oliva was killed instantly in the early hours of October 17, 1993 when an oncoming car reportedly driven by a drunk driver swerved into his lane and hit his car head on. He was 30 years old.
Kazuhiko Kato
March 21, 1947 – October 17, 2009
Kazuhiko Kato was a singer, songwriter and producer whose career began in the mid ’60s as the member of the Folk Crusaders, a Japanese psychedelic folk rock band. The band’s 1967 debut single, “Kaettekita Yopparai (I Only Live Twice)” which was written by Kato, sold over a million copies and is considered one of Japan’s most successful records of the era. Following the break up of the Folk Crusaders, Kato began working as a producer, contributing to hit albums by several Japanese rock artists, his most significant being Sadistic Mika Band, a ’70s rock band formed by he and his wife. The band found moderate success outside of Japan, even appearing on BBC’s popular Old Grey Whistle Test television program in 1975. Kato spent his later life writing and composing for other artists, video games and film soundtracks. His body was found hanging in a Japan hotel room on October 17, 2009, dead at 62. Police discovered a suicide note nearby.
Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums
Chris Acland
September 7, 1966 – October 17, 1996
Chris Acland was the founding drummer for ’90s British shoegaze band, Lush. Formed in 1987, the band released a series of increasingly popular EPs and albums. Critics like them as well, drawing positive comparisons to Cocteau Twins. Following the band’s 1996 tour, 30-year-old Chris Acland took his own life by hanging himself at his parents home.
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