Died On This Date (April 8, 2010) Malcolm McLaren / Managed The Sex Pistols & New York Dolls

Malcolm McLaren
January 22, 1946 – April 8, 2010

Malcolm McLaren was a trendsetting English fashion store proprietor who became internationally famous as the manager of the New York Dolls and Sex Pistols.   During the early ’70s, McLaren opened a clothing store on London’s trendy King’s Road.  In no time, it became a favorite destination for the area’s young rock crowd.  While making buying trips to New York, he met up with the New York Dolls and soon began creating their stage costumes.  He eventually took over management duties.  By the middle of the decade, McLaren was managing the Sex Pistols, initially due to their sense of outrageous fashion rather than their musical abilities.  The partnership would quickly evolve into what many credit as being the flash point of punk rock.  After the band’s disintegration, McLaren worked with Adam Ant and Bow Wow Wow.  He also had a moderately successful recording career of his own.  His “Buffalo Gals” and “Double Dutch” were hits in the UK and US.  McLaren continued to stay in the public eye, at least in the UK, well into the 2000s with various projects.  Malcolm McLaren died of cancer on April 8, 2010.  He was 64.

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Duck Rock - Malcolm McLaren

Died On This Date (December 30, 1967) Bert Berns / Legendary Songwriter and Label Head

Bert Berns
November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967

Photo From bertburns.com
Photo From bertburns.com

Bert Berns was a prolific songwriter and record producer whose impact on popular music cannot be denied.   His most celebrated songs as a songwriter include “Hang on Sloopy” (the McCoys), “Twist and Shout” (the Isley Brothers, the Beatles), “Tell Him” (the Exciters), “I Want Candy” (the Strangeloves, Bow Wow Wow), “Piece of My Heart” (Emma Franklin, Janis Joplin), and “Here Comes the Night” (Lulu, Them, David Bowie).  He also produced such hits as Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” Them’s “Gloria,” and “Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters.  Berns also ran his own Atlantic affiliated label, Bang Records who was the one-time home to Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, the McCoys and many more.  Bert Berns was just 38 when he died of heart failure on December 30, 1967.



Died On This Date (November 21, 1995) Matthew Ashman / Adam & The Ants; Bow Wow Wow

Matthew Ashman
1960 – November 21, 1995

matthew

Matthew Ashman was one of the great true guitarists of the new wave era.  He brought in a gritty rockabilly sound thanks to his big Gretsch hollow body guitar. He first came on to the scene during the late ’70s when he was asked to play guitar in Adam Ant’s band, Adam & the Ants.  After the release of the band’s first album, 1979’s Dirk Wears White Sox, Sex Pistol’s manager Malcolm McLaren convinced Ashman and the rest of the band to leave Ant and work with him and his 14-year-old new wave prodigy, Annabella Lwin.  The band they formed with Bow Wow Wow who would prove to be influential on such U.S. bands as Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Their biggest hit came in 1982 with a cover of “I Want Candy,” oringinally recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965.  Bow Wow Wow broke up in 1983, so Ashman continued on with different bands over the next several years, but nothing reached the success he had seen with Bow Wow Wow.  On November 21, 1995, Matthew Ashman, 35, died of complications from diabetes.

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Bow Wow Wow