Andy Hughes
November 11, 1965 – June 12, 2009
Andy Huhges was a respected UK music producer who is best remembered for his work with the Orb and Basement Jaxx. His work on the Orb’s “Toxygene” single helped it reach #4 on the UK charts back in 1997. He also did work on music by the Cranberries and Tangerine Dream. He died of a short undisclosed illness at the age of 44.
Clinton “Mickey” McMahan
August 23, 1930 – June 11, 2008
Mickey McMahan was a trumpeter for both Lawrence Welk and Les Brown. McMahan joined the Welk show in 1967, and stayed 15 years. Prior to his years with Welk, McMahan played in Brown’s Band of Renown on The Steve Allen Show as well as at military bases around the world when they were Bob Hope’s USO band. Mickey McMahan died of neuropathy and an unrelated blood disease on June 11, 2008. He was 77.
Thanks to longtime Welk staffer Morgana Kennedy for the assist.
Ray Charles (Born Ray Robinson)
September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004
Ray Charles was one of America’s greatest voices. He was called “the only true genius in the business” by none other than Frank Sinatra. The son of a share cropper, Charles lost his sight at the age of five. While attending a school for the deaf and blind, Charles was taught classical piano, but after his mother died, he left the school and changed his focus to the music he loved and would forever be associated with. By the time he was 17, he was making records for Swing Time Records, scoring his first R&B hit, “Confession Blues” in 1949. In 1951, Ahmet Ertegun signed him to Atlantic Records, starting him down the road that would eventually lead him to the status of American icon. Ray Charles died of liver cancer on June 10, 2004.
Huey Long
April 25, 1904 – June 10, 2009
At 105 years old, Huey Long was the last surviving member of Doo Wop legends, the Ink Spots. Long’s career began back in 1925 as a banjoist for one of Houston’s most popular Dixieland bands of the ’20s, Frank Davis’ Louisiana Jazz Band. He later moved to Chicago and switched to the more popular guitar. In 1944, he was asked to join the Ink Spots with whom he stayed for the next 40 years. Long passed away of natural causes on June 10, 2009.
Addie “Micki” Harris
January 22, 1940 – June 10, 1982
Micki Harris was a member of the R&B vocal group the Shirelles which formed in 1958. The group scored several international hits with such recordings as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Soldier Boy,” and “Baby It’s You.” Such hits helped them become the first major female singing group of the rock n roll era, thus defining a genre that would be called “girl groups.” Micki Harris died of a heart attack while performing with the Shirelles on June 10, 1982.
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