Died On This Date (April 26, 2011) John Cossette / Grammy Telecast Producer

John Cossette
February 22, 1957 – April 26, 2011

John Cossette is perhaps best remembered as a longtime producer of the Grammy television broadcast.  He carried on the tradition started by his father, Pierre Cossette, who produced the very first broadcast in 1971.   Cossette worked on the Grammy show for the better part of the past 20 years, most recently as executive producer.  He served in the same capacity for the Latin Grammys as well.   Outside of the award show, Cossette produced programming for BET as well as the Broadway, Chicago and London productions of Million Dollar Quartet, which is based on the historic 1956 meeting of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.  John Cossette was 54 when he passed away on April 26, 2011.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Thanks to Craig Rosen of Number1Albums for the assist.



Died On This Date (April 25, 2011) Poly Styrene / Punk Pioneer; X-Ray Spex

Poly Styrene (Born Marianne Elliott-Said)
July 3, 1957 – April 25, 2011

Poly Styrene was the lead singer and songwriter for the great British punk band, X-Ray Spex.  Formed in 1976, the band, despite the fact that they initially released just five singles and one long-player, became one of the most important groups of the original punk movement.  After running away from home at 15, Styrene bounced from one music festival to another until she eventually ended up at an early Sex Pistols gig which inspired her to form a punk band.  The band’s first album Germ Free Adolescents is by most accounts one of the greatest punk – if not rock – albums ever made.  Its “Oh Bondage, Up Yours” is widely recognized as a flash point for punk rock.  After the band broke up in 1979, Styrene released a solo album Translucence which had more of a jazzy sound and reportedly inspired the likes of Everything But The Girl.  She continued to release music, both solo and with a reformed version of X-Ray Spex, over the next two decades.  She also lent her name and voice to various social causes throughout the years.  In February 2011, it was announced that Poly Styrene was suffering from breast cancer.  She was 53 years old when she died from the disease on April 25, 2011.

Thanks to Bruce Kilgour, Mike Woodford, and Su for the help

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X-Ray Spex: The Anthology - X-Ray Spex

Died On This Date (April 24, 2011) Huey Meaux / Controversial Record Producer

Huey Meaux
March 10, 1929 – April 24, 2011

Huey Meaux, known to many in the music business as “The Crazy Cajun,” was a successful record producer and studio owner.  Before getting into the music business, Meaux worked as a barber.  He eventually opened SugarHill Studios in Houston, Texas where he discovered the young talents of Doug Sahm and Barbara Lynn.   He is also credited for re-launching Freddy Fender’s career during the mid ’90s.  As a producer, Meaux was responsible for such hits as “She’s About A Mover” for Sahm’s Sir Douglas Quintet,  “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” for Lynn, and “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” and “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights” for Fender.  In 1996, Meaux’s music career was derailed by various sex and drug charges for which he ultimately served 15 years in prison.  Huey Meaux was 82 when he passed away on April 24, 2011.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums for the assist.



Died On This Date (April 23, 2011) Dutch Tilders / Dutch Australian Blues Musician

Matthew “Dutch” Tilders
August 29, 1941 – April 23, 2011

Dutch Tilders was a blues musician born in the Netherlands but who moved to Australia with his family while still in his teens.   Tilders was playing the harmonica by the time he landed his first gig at the age of 15, but soon switched to the guitar.  He went on to release several albums while performing with the likes of Taj Mahal, John Mayall, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry.  Back home in Australia, he was dubbed the “Godfather of Blues,” and even the great B.B. King  once proclaimed that regardless of his European birth, Tilders was a genuine bluesman.  He continued to tour as recently as late 2010 despite the fact that he was diagnosed with lung cancer in May of that same year.  Dutch Childers officially retired in February of 2011 and passed away from the cancer on April 23, 2011.  He was 69.



Died On This Date (April 23, 2011) Tom King / The Outsiders

Tom King
DOB Unknown – April 23, 2011

Tom King was the founder and lead guitarist of the Outsiders, a Cleveland, Ohio rock band that scored a huge hit with 1966’s “Time Won’t Let Me.”   King co-wrote the song which went on to define the era and is generally included in any respectable ’60s rock compilation.  Originally formed in 1958 as Tom King and the Starfires, the band ultimately signed to Capitol Records and changed their name to the Outsiders at the request of the label to sound more like the British Invasion bands of the mid ’60s.  Unlike many of their peers, the band quickly became one of the scenes best live acts thanks to their years performing R&B standards as the Starfires.  After a series of line-up changes and singles that didn’t perform as well as King had hoped, the band broke up in 1968.   The group reformed with different line-ups in later years.  In ailing health, Tom King passed away in a nursing home on April 23, 2011.  He was 68.