Died On This Date (December 22, 2003) Dave Dudley / Country Singer
themusicsover Dave Dudley (Born David Pedruska)
May 3, 1928 – December 22, 2003
Dave Dudley was a popular country singer who is best remembered for his truck-driving themed records. Beginning with his 1961 charting record, “Maybe I Do,” Dudley released a string of hits throughout the next two decades. His best known songs were “Truck Drivin’ Son-of-a-Gun,” “Six Days On The Road,” and “The Pool Shark.” Dudley’s record sales waned during the ’80s, but he continued to be a popular concert draw. He also accepted an invitation to join the Nashville Teamsters Truck Drivers Union around that time. On December 22, 2003, Dave Dudley died of a heart attack at the age of 75.
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Amos Heilicher was a Minneapolis music industry icon whose impact was felt well beyond the Twin Cities. Heilicher was still in high school when jumped into the record business by purchasing five jukeboxes. Mercury Records soon came and asked him for help getting their latest singles into other area jukeboxes as well. After that, he brought on RCA and Columbia along with other labels, and quickly became one of the country’s leading jukebox record suppliers. Heilicher soon expanded his distribution, or “rack-jobbing,” to include drug stores, department stores, and eventually, such chains as Discount Records and Musicland. He also had his own label, Soma Records for many years, and has been credited for breaking such hits as the Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” and