We note with sadness the following contributors to rock and pop music of the 50s through the 80s – the BEST music ever made! – who passed on last month:
April 01
● Wayne Handy / (Wayne Jackson Handy) → North Carolina farm boy turned rockabilly singer/songwriter with the minor hit “Say Yeah” (1957) and gigs in various bands, including with saxman Boots Randolph, which led to an appearance on American Bandstand and offers to play his music in exchange for money – the pay-for-play (“payola”) scandal of the 60s – declined and left the industry for a career as a mortgage broker, died in hospice care from undisclosed causes on 4/1/2025, age 90.
● Michael Hurley → Singer/songwriter in the Greenwich Village folk revival scene in New York City in the 60s, started writing songs and performing as a youth before embarking on a nomadic lifestyle of touring and performing in small venues, was never commercially successful but developed a devoted cult following over the decades, released 30 albums, the last in 2021, that influenced younger folkies, particularly in the “freak folk” genre, stopped breathing while returning home in Oregon following several concert performances in the previous days and died while being rushed to a hospital on 4/1/2025, age 83.
● Johnny Tillotson → Country, pop, R&B and adult crossover teen idol singer/songwriter with eleven Top 10 hits in the early 60s, including his biggest, “Poetry In Motion” (#2, UK #1, 1960), shifted to a more country sound during the mid-60s British Invasion and won a Grammy for “Heartaches By The Number” (#35, AC #4, 1965), continued to record into the 90s and perform in Las Vegas and on oldies circuit tours into the 00s, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on 4/1/2025, age 86.
April 04
● Chris Youlden / (Christopher Thomas Youlden) → Lead singer and songwriter with British blues-rock Savoy Brown in the late 60s, recorded four albums with the band and wrote the single “I’m Tired” (#74, CA #51, 1969), left ahead of the group’s rise to relative popularity (“Tell Mama,” #83, 1971) and had a moderately successful solo career touring and recording five albums through 2006, dropped out of the music world thereafter except for a collaborative album in 2018, died from bronchial pneumonia on 4/4/2025, age 82.
April 05
● Dave Allen / (David Geoffrey Allen) → English musician and first bass guitarist, starting in 1976, for post-punk quartet Gang of Four (“Damaged Goods,” UK Indie #1, 1978, and one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest debut singles of all time in 2020), left the group in 1981 to form new wave Shriekback, British rock King Swamp in 1988, Los Angeles alt rock Low Pop Suicide in the early 90s, and alt rock The Elastic Purejoy in the mid-90s, moved to Portland, Oregon, in the early 00s and began a career in the digital industry, including stints as a director of consumer services at Intel, a digital marketing consultant and a university lecturer in digital brand strategy, participated in a Gang of Four reunion tour in 2005 and joined Apple Music in 2014, suffered from early-onset dementia and died at home in Oregon from related causes on 4/5/2025, age 69.
April 06
● Al Barile / (Alan Scott Barile) → While a college student and part-time General Electric machinist, founded and played lead guitar for straight edge, hardcore SSD, started a record label, X-Claim in 1982 to release the band’s debut LP, The Kids Will Have Their Say, following dissolution of SSD in 1985 formed heavy metal Gage and performed at various times in the Boston area, all the while continuing an engineering career with GE, retired in the late 10s and died from colon cancer on 4/6/2025, age 63.
● Clem Burke / (Clement Anthony Bozewski) → Answered a mid-70s help wanted ad in New York’s Village Voice newspaper and became the original and only drummer for New Wave pop-rock Blondie (“Heart Of Glass,” #1, 1979), played on all of the band’s eleven studio albums from 1975-1982 and 1997-2025, along the way gigging with The Romantics, occasionally touring with The Ramones (as “Elvis Ramone”), and doing session work forPete Townshend, Bob Dylan, The Gog-Go’s, The Sex Pistols and others, died from unspecified cancer on 4/6/2025, age 70.
April 08
● Lenny Welch / (Leon Welch) → MOR/pop 60s balladeer whose biggest hit was a million-selling cover of the Big Band standard “Since I Fell for You” (#4, 1963), also released fifteen other charting singles between 1960 and 1974, including “Ebb Tide” (#25, R&B #7, 1964, featured in the film Sweet Bird Of Youth), the first vocal version of “A Taste of Honey” (1962), and a torch song version of Neil Sedaka’s “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” (#34, AC #8, 1970), faded from music business in the 70s to drive a New York City cab for a time but played a recurring role on TV’s General Hospital in the 90s and occasionally surfaced on the oldies circuit, died following a long illness on 4/8/2025, age 86.
April 10
● Nino Tempo / (Antonio Bart LoTempio) → Child prodigy jazz-pop singer with Benny Goodman, teenage tenor saxophonist in Maynard Ferguson’s jazz band, 20-something sessionman in The Wrecking Crew, the acclaimed group of L.A. studio musicians, best known for recording, with his sister April Stevens (Carol LoTempio), the Grammy-winning, pre-British Invasion pop duet “Deep Purple” (#1, 1963), in the 70s formed Nine Tempo & The 5th Ave. Sax and released “Sister James” (#53, 1973), the first instrumental hit of the nascent Disco Era, later played sax on John Lennon’s Rock ‘n’ Roll album (#6, UK #6, 1975) and The Kenny Rankin Album (1976), issued two solo albums of mostly jazz instrumentals in the 90s, died at home from undisclosed causes on 4/10/2025, age 90.
● Drew Zingg / (Jonathan Drew Zingg) → Versatile rock, jazz, blues and soul guitarist, played in New York clubs and did session work before and in between tours with Steely Dan and their side project, The New York Rock and Soul Revue from 1989 to 1994, and Boz Scaggs from 1996 and through the mid-00s, at varying times recorded or toured with Rikki Lee Jones, Gladys Knight, Patti Austin and many others, issued an eponymous solo album in 2012 featuring guest vocals by Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs (bandmates in NYRSR) and a previously unreleased instrumental track, “Megashine City” written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan, died from undisclosed causes on 4/10/2025, age 67.
April 11
● Mike Berry / (Michael Hubert Bourne) → “The British Buddy Holly”, pop singer, sometime actor, frontman for a teenage skiffle band and later for Mike Berry & The Outlaws, released over 40 singles during a nearly 65-year performing career from 1961 to 2025, including “Tribute To Buddy Holly” (UK #21, 1961, banned from the BBC Radio for being “morbid”), his biggest hit “Don’t You Think It’s Time” (UK #6, 1963), and the first version of “Drift Away” (1972, a hit for Dobie Gray in 1973), acted in TV commercials and on the British sitcom Are You Being Served? in the 70s and 80s, toured with a rock ‘n’ roll revue show in the 10s and continued to perform in nightclubs until just weeks before dying from undisclosed causes on 4/11/2025, age 82.
● Max Romeo / (Maxwell Livingston Smith) → Prominent and revered figure in Jamaican reggae, starting in the 60s with several hits of love and sex, including the raunchy “Wet Dream” (UK #10, 1969, despite being banned by BBC Radio), in the social turmoil of the 70s, alongside Bob Marley and others, helped lead the transition to a more politically-focused, laid-back sound that took reggae to an international audience, his “Chase The Devil” (1976) and other songs became anthems of class conflict and unrest in Jamaica, continued to record sporadically through the next four-and-a-half decades, eventually releasing a total of 28 studio LPs and nearly 80 singles, the last “Just Like The Rainbow” in 2022, died from heart complications In a Jamaica hospital on 4/11/2025, age 80.
April 12
● Roy Thomas Baker → Teenage assistant sound engineer at Decca Records in London and later at Trident Studios in Soho, engineered albums by The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and The Who by age 25, moved into producer’s chair and created dozens of gold- or platinum-winning albums in the 70s and 80s for rock’s elite artists, including five by glam-prog-rock Queen (plus the Grammy-nominated, operatic mega-hit “Bohemian Rhapsody,” #9, UK #1, 1975), emigrated to the US in the mid-70s, formed RTB Audio Visual Productions and produced albums for Journey, Foreigner and The Cars, joined Elektra Records as A&R executive and signed Metallica, 10,000 Maniacs and Simply Red, among others, continued to produce albums into the 10s, died at home in California from unannounced causes on 4/12/2025, age 78.
April 14
● “Jed the Fish” Gould / (Edwin Fish Gould III) → Legendary Los Angeles FM radio DJ, started at largely unknown KROQ in 1978 and helped build the station into a market powerhouse by targeting a younger audience and showcasing New Wave, synth-pop and alt rock acts, particularly new and up-and-coming artists, hosted the afternoon drive slot from 1978 to 2012, launched the nationally syndicated hits countdown show Out of Order in 1995 and presented the program until 2013, left in 2012 and moved to two other local FM stations but returned in 2019 to host Roq of the ‘80s program on KROQ’s HD2 station, died from small-cell lung cancer on 4/14/2025, age 69.
April 15
● Wink Martindale / (Winston Conrad Martindale) → Pop culture icon with three parallel careers, as a radio disc jockey on stations in multiple markets from the mid-50s into the 90s, as a vocalist with nearly 20 singles from the late 50s to the 80s, including the spoken-word “Deck Of Cards” (#7, Country #11, 1959), best known as an game show industry veteran involved in more than 20 shows as producer and/or host during a six decade career on television, including Gambit (1972-1976), Tic-Tac-Dough (1978-1985) and Debt (1996-1998), received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007, guested on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show and started a YouTube channel with game shows videos in 2014, died from lymphoma on 4/15/2025, age 91.
April 16
● Mac Gayden / (McGavock Dickinson Gayden) → Nashville-based rock and country songwriter, session guitarist, solo artist and record producer, co-wrote the enduring country-pop “Everlasting Love,” the song has been recorded by multiple non-country artists over the years, including UK boy band Love Affair (UK #1, 1968) and Carl Carlton’s R&B/disco version (#6, R&B #11, 1974), played guitar on Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde album (#9, 1966) and did session work with Linda Ronstadt, The Pointer Sisters and J.J. Cale, among others, during the rise of Nashville as a recording hub, after the mid-90s retreated to a life of spirituality and occasional recording, issuing a final album in 2020, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on 4/16/2025, age 83.
April 18
● Clodagh Rodgers / (Clodagh Mary Rodgers) → Northern Ireland-born singer with a debut single “Believe Me I’m No Fool” (1962) at age 17, followed by 30 other singles, seven albums and scores of appearances on UK music variety TV programs from 1962 to 2002, best known for representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin in 1971, clad in a frilly top and hot pants and singing the silly pop song “Jack In The Box” (UK #4, 1971) in conservative Ireland during Ireland’s Troubles period, the appearance leading to death threats from the IRA for being a traitor to the Irish cause, faded from view after the early 80s to raise a family but resurfaced for occasional TV appearances, died following a long, unspecified illness on 4/18/2025, age 78.
April 22
● David Briggs / (David Paul Briggs) → Versatile musician with a remarkable resumé of significant achievements: key player in the early 60s rise of the Muscle Shoals, AL, area as a recording mecca through time spent at Fame Recording Studios; moved to Nashville in 1964 and joined the Nashville A-Team of elite session musicians that developed the “countrypolitan” Nashville Sound in contemporary country music; played in Elvis Presley’s TCB Band from 1966 to 1977; opened a recording studio in 1969 and a second studio in 1982; co-founded two music publishing companies in the 80s; played in progressive country-rock Area Code 615 and released two albums in the 70s; wrote and recorded commercial jingles in the 80s; became music director of the annual Country Music Association awards program from 1988 to 2001; continued to record, perform and operate sound studios through the 10, from complications of renal cancer on 4/22/2025, age 82.
April 23
● David Thomas / (David Lynn Thomas) → Founder, vocalist and frontman for eclectic, proto-punk, underground/art rock Pere Ubu and the only constant member of the self-described “avant-garage” group in its 43-year existence including 20 singles (“Waiting For Mary,” Mod #6, 1989) and 19 studios albums through 2023, managed to successfully juggle multiple projects at all times, including releasing solo albums, fronting several side groups, collaborating with others in various music projects, appearing in theatrical productions, staging his own improvisational “opera” shows, and lecturing on sound and music theory at universities, died from complications of an unspecified kidney disease on 4/23/2025, age 71.
April 24
● Roy Phillips / (Roy Godfrey Phillips) → Vocals, keyboards, principal songwriter and frontman for 60s-70s “cool” Brit jazz/soul/pop The Peddlers with two hits, “Birth” (UK #17, 1969) and “Girlie” (NZ #1, UK #34), twenty-some other singles, nine studio albums and three world tours, emigrated to New Zealand in 1981 after the group split amicably, published more than 200 songs, including the 1996 New Zealand Olympic team song “I Have a Dream,” and recorded and performed as a solo act, as frontman for his own groups, or in collaboration with others for the ensuing three-and-a-half decades, died from undisclosed causes on 4/24/2025, age 83.
April 27
● Wizz Jones / (Raymond Ronald Jones) → English singer/songwriter and acoustic guitarist, first in 50s teenage skiffle bands and then as nomadic busker throughout Europe, settled down in the late 60s to forge a career with over thirty albums from 1969 to 2017, some in collaboration with other folk musicians including Ralph McTell and Bert Jansch, did not enjoy the commercial success of some contemporaries but did develop a cult following and admiration among his peers, suffered from poor health in his later years and died in a hospice on 4/27/2025, age 86.
April 28
● Brian Montana / (Brian Joseph Montana) → Guitarist and songwriter in the first incarnation of Possessed, the San Francisco-based outfit generally credited as the first death metal band, left in 1984 over personal and musical differences with his bandmates, joined thrash metal Abnormal in the 80s but largely dropped out of sight in the 90s, shot up a neighbor’s house with a handgun and rifle during a dispute over trees on their property line, died in a 20-minute shootout with responding police officers on 4/29/25, age 60.
April 29
● Mike Peters / (Michael Leslie Peters) → Welsh musician, lead singer and songwriter for post-punk anthem rockers The Alarm, co-wrote “Sixty Eight Guns” (MSR #39, UK #17, 1983), their highest charting single in the UK, went solo when the band broke up in 1991, issued nine solo albums before restarting The Alarm in 2001, for the next two decades alternated between The Alarm (12 albums), supergroup Dead Men Walking (7 albums), solo work (6 albums), a single album with folk-rock Big Country in 2013, and other gigs and tours, was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2019 for his leadership in fundraising for cancer care, battled various forms of the disease for three decades before succumbing on 4/29/2025, age 66.
