Died On This Date (September 17, 2008) Norman Whitfield / Famed Motown Producer

Norman Whitfield
1943 – September 17, 2008

norman

Norman Whitfield is best remembered as one of the musical geniuses responsible for creating the Motown Sound during the 1960s.  As a house songwriter and producer, Whitfield had his hand in at least three dozen of the greatest pop songs to come out of Detroit.  That list includes “Ain’t To Proud To Beg” by the Temptations, “War” by Edwin Starr, “Too Many Fish In The Sea” by the Marvelettes, and “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Gladys Knight & the Pips.  Whitfield formed his own label in 1973 and enjoyed great success with the big disco hit, “Car Wash” by Rose Royce.  Whitfield was awarded a Grammy in 1976 for the score soundtrack to the film, Car Wash.  A mostly bedridden Norman Whitfield died as a result diabetes and other ailments at the age of 68.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums

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Car Wash (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) - Rose Royce

Died On This Date (September 8, 2008) Hector Zazou / French Composer, Worked With Bjork, Siouxsie Sioux

Hector Zazou
July 11, 1948 – September 8, 2008

Hector Zazou was a much respected French composer and producer who has collaborated with Bjork, Mark Isham, Siousxie Sioux, David Sylvian, Suzanne Vega, Robert Fripp, Peter Buck and many more.  He was celebrated for his ability to fuse classical influences with electronic music.  Hector Zazou, age 60, passed away after after falling ill earlier in the year.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at  Number1Albums for the assist

What You Should Own

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In the House of Mirrors - Hector Zazou & Swara

Died On This Date (September 6, 1978) Tom Wilson / Acclaimed Producer

Tom Wilson
March 25, 1931 – September 6, 1978

With Bob Dylan.  Photo by Don Hunstein
With Bob Dylan. Photo by Don Hunstein

Working as a record producer through the late ’50s and most of the ’60s, Tom Wilson earned a place alongside such better-known contemporaries as Phil Spector and George Martin.  After graduating from Harvard, Wilson started up Transition Records, where he signed Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor.  In the early ’60s, he moved over to Columbia Records as house producer.  While there, he produced such masterpieces as Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’, Another Side Of Bob Dylan, and Bringing It All Back Home. He also produced seminal albums by the likes of Simon and Garfunkel, Frank Zappa, Eric Burdon and the Velvet Underground.  Tom Wilson suffered a fatal heart attack on September 6, 1978.  He was 47.