Liam Maher was the lead singer for Flowered Up, a London based rock band who achieved some success during the early ’90s. Oft compared to Happy Mondays or the Stone Roses, Flowered Up released a handful of records between 1990 and the band’s break-up in 1993. Their most popular singles were “It’s On” and “Weekender.” Aftet the group disbanded, Maher reportedly battled drug addiction. He resurfaced in the early 2000s and signed to the Poptones label. He had yet to release any records. Liam Maher, 41, died in his home on October 20, 2009.
Eddie “Son” House
March 21, 1902 – October 19, 1988
Son House was a pioneering Delta blues musician who was an immediate influence on the likes of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. His innovative style of slide guitar playing and chain-gaing style of repetitive singing further influenced a slew of contemporary artists as well. His songs have been covered by the White Stripes, John Mellencamp, and Gov’t Mule. Born outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi, House’s early teens were filled with gospel music while he was a practicing Baptist minister. He soon became intrigued by the blues and taught himself to play the guitar in his early 20s. He set his sights on music as a career and started playing with the likes ofCharley Patton and Robert Johnson from Clarksdale to Memphis. In 1928, House served about one year of a 15-year sentence at the notorious Parchman Work Farm for shooting a man in what he claimed was self-defense. The story goes that while House was performing at a juke joint, an unknown man came in and opened fire in an apparent random shooting spree. After being shot in the leg, House grabbed his gun and shot the man dead. Upon his release, House made several recordings for famed musicologist, Alan Lomax. But like so many of his contemporaries, House and his music fell out of favor as the ’50s dawned. Fortunately, he was “re-discovered” like many of the others during the folk revival of the mid ’60s. After years working on the railroad, House found himself touring again and playing high-profile gigs at the Newport Folk Festival. Son House permanently retired in 1974 due to health problems and died from cancer of the larynx in 1988.
Glen Buxton is best remembered as the founding guitarist of Alice Cooper’s original band. Formed while they were still in high school, the band was initially called the Nazz, but since Todd Rundgren already had a band of the same name, they switched it to Alice Cooper, with the former Vincent Furnier taking the name as his own. Buxton co-wrote several of Cooper’s hits, including “School’s Out,” “Elected,” and “I’m Eighteen,” while playing lead guitar on seven Alice Cooper albums. He drifted from Cooper in the ’80s, playing an occasional gig with local musicians. Glen Buxton died of pneumonia at the age of 49.
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 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.