Matthew Sztumpf is best remembered as the beloved manager of Madness, the Smiths and Swing Out Sister during the ’80s. It was during the late ’70s that Sztumpf helped set up the successful 2 Tone tours which helped launch the career of Madness. In recent years, he was managing Scouting For Girls. Matthew Sztumpf died from a brain aneurysm on March 21, 2010.
Barbara Acklin
February 28, 1944 – November 27, 1998
Barbara Acklin was a popular soul singer and successful songwriter during the ’60s and ’70s. After singing in church and then Chicago area nightclubs while still a teenager, Acklin was hired by Chess Records to sing backup for the likes of Etta James and Fontella Bass. In 1966, Acklin was hired as a receptionist for Brunswick Records where she had to chance to hand a song she had co-written to Jackie Wilson. That song was “Whispers (Gettin’ Louder)” which Wilson made into a top 5 R&B and #11 pop hit. That was enough to land Acklin a recording contract with Brunswick. Acklin released several charting singles over the next decade, including “Show Me the Way” (a duet with Gene Chandler), “Love Makes a Woman,” and “Am I the Same Girl,” which was later covered by Dusty Springfield, the Manhattan Transfer, and Swing Out Sister. Acklin’s biggest hit as a songwriter came with the release of “Have You Seen Her,” a song she co-wrote with Eugene Record and turned into a chart topping hit by his group, the Chi-Lites. Barbara Acklin was 54 when she died of pneumonia.