Died On This Date (August 2, 1987) David Martin / Bassist For Sam The Sham
themusicsover David Martin
1937 – August 2, 1987
Although he had been a professional musician since 1959, David Martin is best remembered as the founding bassist for Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs. Formed in 1963 with Sam “The Sham” Samudio, the group scored a monstrous hit with “Wooly Bully,” co-written by Martin. Although America teens were firmly entrenched in the British Invasion at the time, the song raced to #2 on the pop charts and sold over 3 million copies. And even though the song never hit the #1 position, it was named the #1 single of that year based on its tremendous sales. No other single has ever done that. To this day, no honest music collection of the era is complete without that song. Martin left the group not long after the release of “Wooly Bully” due to a conflict with management. He soon retired from music and opened his own video and television repair shop which he ran until he passed away on August 2, 1987.
What You Should Own
Brian Cole’s first foray into show business was as a stand-up comic and actor, eventually joining the Association as bassist. The group had two pop hits with “Along Comes Mary” and “Cherish.” Their other claim to fame was that the were the opening act for the legendary 1967 Monterey Pop Festival which first introduced many to the Who, 
Dave Hagerty was a singer and guitarist for St. Louis area rock band, Fattback. Formed in 2005, the band quickly built a local following due to their tight musicianship and Memphis-soul infused dance-til-you-drop live shows. According to local police reports, Hagerty and his companion were involved in an automobile accident during the early hours of August, 2, 2010. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene and Hagerty was taken to a local hospital where he later died of his injuries. He was 28 years old.
George Taylor Morris was a popular FM disc jockey who most recently could be heard on XM Satellite’s classic rock channel, Deep Tracks. Morris began his radio career while still in high school in King City, California, and after graduating, he moved to a station in Lake Tahoe to work as programmer and disc jockey. Over the years, Morris worked at popular stations from Santa Barbara, California to New York City. He is perhaps best remembered for sparking a minor phenomenon while on the air at Boston’s WZLX in 1997. He had been tipped off about several remarkable similarities between The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. After syncing the opening of the movie up with the album at home one evening, Morris went on the air the next day and discussed the amazing synchronicity of the two, especially when you’re stoned. The word spread around the world almost immediately, despite the fact that the internet was basically in its infancy at the time. Morris went to work at XM in 2001 where he spun classic rock records and hosted the popular “XM Artist Confidential” interview series where he sat down with many of music’s biggest names. George Taylor Morris died of throat cancer at the age of 62.