Died On This Date (November 16, 1994) Dino Valenti / Popular ’70s Singer-Songwriter
themusicsover Dino Valente (Born Chet Powers)
November 7, 1943 – November 16, 1994
Chet Powers was a singer-songwriter who was better known by his professional name, Dino Valenti. Valenti got his start during the early ’60s in the same Greenwich Village coffeehouses and clubs as Bob Dylan, Josh White and Paul Stookey. Valenti soon moved to Los Angeles where he penned perhaps his most famous song, “Get Together” (under Chet Powers). The song would become popularized by Jefferson Starship and the Younbloods. He soon found himself as a member of San Francisco psychedelic rock band, Quicksilver Messenger Service, but after one of several drug arrests, he was kicked out of the band. Valenti did return to the band’s fold in later years, contributing several songs. Valenti underwent brain surgery in 1981, so his future work was limited to local gigs due to the initial brain illness. He was 57 when he died suddenly in his home on November 16, 1994.
What You Should Own
Derek B was a British rapper who came on the scene during the mid ’80s. He was just 15 when he started and was soon picked up by local radio stations to spin there. He was soon hired by hip UK independent dance label, Music Is Life to do A&R. Derek B released several records during his career, a couple reaching the top 15 on the UK charts. He was one of the first British rapppers to appear on the Top of the Pops program due to his crossover appeal. As a producer, Derek B worked with the likes of Cookie Crew and Eric B & Rakim. Derek B was 44 when he died following a heart attack on November 16, 2009.
Jacques Morali was a French record producer who achieved fame and fortune by creating, producing, and branding the Village People who were arguably the flash point of disco’s crossover during the mid ’70s. While working in a record store during the early ’70s, he began to hear the early records of dance and what would soon become disco, and immediately fell in love with it. He moved to the United States and found work at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia so he could be near the Philly Sound he had learned about in France. While there, he co-produced or co-wrote songs for several albums by the Ritchie Family. While visiting a gay disco in New York’s Greenwich Village, Morali took note of the various manly male stereotypes, and thus the concept of the Village People was born. He put the group together and landed a deal with Casablanca Records. Between 1977 and 1979, he produced a string of hits with the Village People. That list includes such disco staples as “Macho Man,” “YMCA,” and “In The Navy.” During the late ’70s and early ’80s, he produced nearly 70 disco albums. But soon the disco craze would die as fast and as hard as it had burst on to the scene, and Morali all but disappeared from the music industry. Jacques Morali was 44 when he died of AIDS on November 15, 1991.
Speedy West was one of country music’s greatest pedal steel guitarists. He is best remembered for his work with 