We have just learned of the passing of Greek composer and singer Demis Roussos in the morning of Sunday, January 25th 2015, in Athens, at the age of 68.
Known worldwide for his international hit singles, it is well known to us "prog heads" that Demis met Evangelos Papathanassiou (Vangelis) and Loukas Sideras when he was 17 years of age in a band called The Idols, and later formed Aphrodite's Child in 1967 with those same band mates.
Although having recorded only three albums together, the band is still recognized today as one of the founders of the early progressive rock movement, thanks mostly to their final record, a concept album called 666.
Founding member and leader of Tangerine Dream, Edgar Willmar Froese, died on January 20, 2015 due to a pulmonary embolism, in Vienna, Austria. The news was made public by his son Jerome on Tangerine Dream's website on the 23rd of January with the following words:
Dear friends & colleagues, the Captain has left the ship ... I'm very sorry to inform you that my father Edgar Froese passed away on Tuesday afternoon (20th of January) in Vienna. And as you already know: Life plays no encores. Rest in peace Edgar, you will be sadly missed.
As the member of Tangerine Dream to have gone through all of its incarnations, Edgar leaves behind him friends, family, and co-workers, as well as an impressive body of work written over the course of 48 years.
Francesco Di Giacomo, long-time vocalist and leader of Italian prog band Banco del Mutuo Soccorso has died today in head-on collision at the age of 67. According to Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper it appears the singer was struck by an illness while driving his car at around 6PM. The car swerved into the oncoming lane and a Rover struck his Toyota. Francesco died on his way to the hospital, the woman in the Rover was treated for shock.
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso was formed in 1969 and with its country-mates, PFM and Le Orme, are part of the first Italian wave of progressive rock, and are still active today. Even though Banco's last studio album dates from 1997 with Nudo, they continued to tour throughout the 2000s and only last year released a DVD of their performance of the classic Darwin!
I have just learned of the passing of a great musician. Multi-instrumentalist Dave Kulju is not a household name, but his music has touched me like no other, and I have had the pleasure of introducing his "oeuvre" to listeners through my humble radio show. His music, mostly instrumental, was magnificiently constructed and nuanced.
I discovered his music by browsing the internet and stumbling on his website. I immediately bought Notes in the Margin after hearing a sample, finding the mix of his music and with lyrics by Australian poetess Amanda Joy sublime. Dave would have turned 44 this coming January. He was working on a new project and had posted some samples on his website. It sounded promising, even surpassing some of the music already out there.
I invite listeners and visitors to this website to keep his music alive by visiting his website and purchasing his music. A great musician is gone, but his music will live on.
Dave Kulju discography:
With Electrum: Frames of Mind (1997) - Out of print Standard Deviation (2002)
Solo work: Abstract Expression (2007) Notes in the Margin (2010)
Peter William Brockbanks, better known as Peter Banks, was found dead on March 8, 2013 in his home in London. He was a founding member of Yes, playing his last concert with Yes on 18 April 1970 at The Luton College of Technology.
Banks released solo material and has guested on several records and with several artists, including Blodwin Pig, Oliver Wakeman, Clive Nolan, and Lionel Richie (he plays guitar on Hello). His last recorded output can be found on The Prog Collective and the all-star tribute to Supertramp Songs of the Century.
British bassist, composer and painter, best known for his work with the group Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s has died of complications brought about by pneumonia. Yesterday, Peter Hammill wrote of his longtime friend and collaborator with these simple words on his Sofa Sound website:
I'm so sorry to have to announce that the great Nic Mozart passed away in
hospital last night. Deeply, deeply missed.
Nic Potter was the youngest member of Van der Graaf Generator and first appeared on the album The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other, as a replacement to Keith Ellis, at the insitance of drummer Guy Evans. He left VdGG halfway through the recording of H to He, Who Am the Only One. Still, Nic remained in contact with his ex-bandmates, often working on Peter Hammill's solo material. In 1977 he rejoined the band for the recording and touring of The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome. His live output with the band was immortalized on the double live-album Vital. He left the band, again, but continued work with Hammill through the 80s and 90s.
As a solo musician he recorded 9 albums, all of whom were remastered and re-released in 2009. He was also part of the short-lived ex-VdGG project The Long Hello.
He was admitted to University College Hospital in January 2013 suffering from pneumonia. He will be sorely missed, but his musical legacy will live on.
Iron Butterfly’s bassist Lee Dorman passed away ‘of heart releated natural causes’ yesterday, Friday December 21, 2012. He was 70.
Here, to remember him by, is a 1968 live recording of In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida. (And if you want to really creep out on this song, go out and rent the Manhunter DVD. It is based on the novel Red Dragon and features the first appearance of Hannibal Lector. It also features this terrific song).
