Category: Passing

Remembering Rob Grill – The Grass Roots

Midnight Confessions
Image via Wikipedia

Rob Grill, lead singer of the 60’s and 70’s band, The Grass Roots passed away yesterday at the age of 67.  They sold over 20 million records and were once on the Billboard charts for 307 weeks in a row.  Prolific and popular, they were one of those bands that were more listened to than anyone imagined.  They flew under the radar, but were always there.  Rob Grill’s vocals will live on forever with songs such as the one I added, “Midnight Confessions“, as their popularity remains strong and the songs are classics.  RIP Rob Grill.

Related articles

Remembering Dick Williams

Hall of Fame baseball player Dick Williams at ...
Image via Wikipedia

Dick Williams passed away today.  For those who don’t remember, Dick was manager of several baseball teams in the 60’s,70’s and 80’s.  He managed the Boston Red Sox to the 1967 World Series, then led the Oakland Athletics to back to back world series championships in 1972 and 1973.  This was the era of Reggie Jackson and the first team with long hair and moustaches.

Fired by oakland in his 3rd season , went on to the California Angels and then to where I remember him best, managing the Montreal Expos.  He led them from doormats to the NL Final in his tenure, where the Expos lost in heartbreaking fashion.  Steve Rogers, a starter and their best pitcher, came on in relief in the final game to close out the Dodgers.  In a moment that I still can’t bear to relive, Rick Monday tagged one out of the park, giving the LA Dodgers the pennant.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007.  A sad day for ball fans everywhere.  He was, in many ways, one of the icons of baseball in his time.

Remembering Peter Falk

columbo
Image by whatleydude via Flickr

Peter Falk passed away on June 23rd at the age of 83.  He was a major star back in the day and is best remembered for his portrayal of the police officer, Columbo in the TV show of the same name.  I have posted a video of him at a Dean Martin Roast, in which he is character as Lt. Columbo.

Related articles

Remembering Carl Gardner

Remember all those song Ray Stevens used to sing, you know those funny ditty’s like Yakety Yak, or that song Charley Brown, by whoever.  Guess what, someone did them first, the Coasters, and Carl Gardner was the singer and main man for that band.  The video attached is another song made famous by Ray Stevens, “Along Came Jones“.   Enjoy.  Oh, and for the youngsters watching, TV was only black and white back in the 50’s, no colour, no HD.

Continue reading “Remembering Carl Gardner”

Remembering Andrew Gold

Andrew Gold passed away on June 3 at the age of 59.  A singer/songwriter, best know for “Thank You For Being a Friend” (the theme for Golden Girls) and “Lonely Boy“.   His song “Final Frontier” served dual duty as both them theme song for Mad About You and as the wake up call for the Mars explorer Pathfinder in 1996.  The tune inside is a live version of “Lonely Boy”.

Continue reading “Remembering Andrew Gold”

Remembering James Arness

James Arness passed away today. Marshall Dillon from Gunsmoke was an institution on early TV, with characters like Chester, Festus and Miss Kitty. The clip attached is the opening credits from the 1955 show. The link takes you to his website.

http://www.jamesarness.com/

Continue reading “Remembering James Arness”

Jeff Conaway – Passed Away at 60

Best known for his work on Taxi and in Grease, Jeff Conaway died May 27. He had been found unconscious on May 11 of an apparent overdose. He had been on 2 series of Celebrity Rehab in recent years as an addict to cocaine and painkillers. I have attached a video of him in one of the funniest bits ever done on Taxi, “Reverend Jim’s Driver’s Test”

Continue reading “Jeff Conaway – Passed Away at 60”