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:
February 01
● Sal Maida / (Salvatore John Maida) → Bass guitarist with short stints in multiple bands over five decades, among them prog rock Roxy Music, power pop Milk ‘N’ Cookies, glam-rock Sparks, punk rock Patti Smith Group, grunge rock Cracker and pop-rock Smash Palace, formed a Lovin’ Spoonful tribute band in the 10s and co-authored (with 55 other collaborators) The White Label Promo Preservation Society’s two volumes of essays on albums that “flopped” or failed to make the Billboard Top 100 album chart, fell at home in December 2024 and died from resulting complications on 2/1/2025, age 76.
February 02
● Colin Earl → Original keyboardist with Brit novelty pop-rock one hit wonder Mungo Jerry, played on their mega-hit “In The Summertime” (#3, UK #1, 1970) before leaving in 1972 to form The King Earl Boogie Band and record with his younger brother Roger’s band Foghat on two albums in the 70s and a third in 2010, died from undisclosed causes on 2/2/2025, age 82.
● Gene “Daddy G” Barge / (James Gene Barge Jr.) → Rock and soul saxophonist and session musician, founding member of 60s R&B band The Church Street Five and co-writer of the exuberant “A Night With Daddy G” (1960), which provided inspiration for three early 60s hits, Gary U.S. Bonds‘ “Quarter To Three” (#1, R&B #3, 1961), The Dovells’ “Bristol Stomp” (#2, R&B #7, 1961) and Dion’s “Runaround Sue” (#1, R&B #4, 1961), later worked with Chess Records and in the 70s recorded with and produced music by Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, LaVern Baker, among other top R&B acts, and acted in several feature films, including Under Siege (1992) and The Fugitive (1993), died a home died in his sleep from natural causes on 2/2/2025, age 98.
February 03
● David Edward Byrd → Graphic designer and artist best known for his iconic, psychedelic-era-defining posters promoting 60s, 70s and 80s rock concerts, music festivals and stage musicals, in particular the first (but unused) poster for Woodstock and dozens for Bill Graham’s Fillmore East venue, worked with Warner Brothers as an illustrator into the 00s and produced the artwork for Looney Tunes and other characters as well as the illustrations for the Harry Potter series of books, died from pneumonia resulting from COVID-related lung damage on 2/3/2025, age 83.
February 05
● Mike Ratledge / (Michael Ronald Ratledge) → Founding member and keyboardist for Canterbury psych-art-jazz-prog rock fusion Soft Machine, left in 1976 to pursue a solo career and build a sound studio to record his and others’ music, wrote the scores to several indie films and composed and produced music for commercials and theater productions, issued four collaborative albums of new age/worldbeat music with Welsh avant-garde musician Karl Jenkins and three solo albums, the last in 2013, died after a short illness on 2/2/2025, age 81.
● Dave Jerden / (David Jerden) → Audio engineer and record producer with a four-decade career starting as a studio engineer for late 80s top rock acts, from Talking Heads (Remain In Light, 1980) and The Rolling Stones (Dirty Work, 1986) to Frank Zappa (The Red And The Black, 1983) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (Mother’s Milk, 1989), went solo during the 90s and produced over 30 albums for mostly lesser-known bands, started his own recording studio in the 00s, produced a handful of albums over the next decade and experimented with transitioning recordings from digital to analogue, retired from the business in 2015 and died in his sleep from natural causes on 2/5/2025, age 75.
February 12
● Tommy Hunt / (Thomas James Hunt) → Soul singer recruited to R&B/doo wop The Flamingos in 1956 and sang on their big hot “I Only Have Eyes For You” (#11, R&B #3, 1959) before leaving in 1960 for a solo career, issued several singles and toured extensively during the 60s, migrated to England in the 70s and found success on the Northern soul scene with three UK charting singles and a Male Vocalist of the year award in 1983, continued to tour, record and front his own soul revival band into the 10s, died from undisclosed causes on 2/12/2025, age 91.
February 17
● Rick Buckler / (Paul Richard Buckler) → Drummer for Brit punk-rock/mod revival The Jam (“Town Called Malice” (MSR #31, UK #1, 1982), after breakup gigged with former Jam bandmate Bruce Foxton in the 80s, produced records for others and managed a Greater London recording studio, abandoned music in the 90s to build custom wood cabinetry but returned in 2007 for a three-year reunion with Foxton as From The Jam, ran a music consulting business n the 10s and published an autobiography in 2015, died following a brief illness on 2/17/2025, age 69.
● Jamie Muir / (William James Graham Muir) → Scottish percussionist for prog rock King Crimson (“The Court Of The Crimson King,” #80, 1969) for a short stint through 1973, left to pursue life as a Buddhist monk but returned to music in the 80s as a session musician and collaborator in various improvisational music project in London, left music for good in the 90s to concentrate on painting and life out of the limelight, died from unpublished causes on 2/17/2025, age 79.
● Gary Stevens → Radio DJ at several stations in the early 60s, including Detroit (WKNR), before joining the “Good Guys” at WMCA in New York in 1965 as weeknight host for the Top 40 format and its legion of teenagers listening at night on transistor radios in their rooms before lights out, left on-air broadcasting in the late 60s, joined Doubleday Broadcasting Corp. in 1977 in a managerial role, rose to President of the company in 1977, left in 1986 when the company was sold and joined an investment banking firm focusing on broadcast transactions, started his own investment advisory business in the 90s, sat on the boards of public companies and industry trade groups, including the National Association of Broadcasters, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on 2/17/2025, age 84.
February 19
● “Snowy” Fleet / (Gordon Henry Fleet) → English-born immigrant and drummer in Aussie pop-rock The Easybeats and fifteen AUS Top 40 hits, among them the international one hit wonder “Friday On My Mind” (#16, UK #6, 1966), left the band in 1967 to join his family’s construction business but joined his bandmates for a one-off Easybeats reunion tour in 1986, ran the business until his death from undisclosed causes on 2/19/2025, age 85.
● Karl Cochran / (Karl F. Cochran) → Multi-instrumentalist session player, touring guitarist and occasional producer best known as the bassist for the hard rock Ace Frehley Band during the 90s and co-writing, with Frehley, “Into The Void” on KISS’s album Psycho Circus (1998), also played guitar with Joe Lynn Turner, Nuclear Assault and The Eric Singer Project, among other hard rock bands, suffered a stroke in 2014 and retired from performing but engineered and produced music for others from a home sound studio, died in an automobile accident on 2/29/2025, age 61.
February 20
● Jerry Butler → Known as “Iceman” for his cool, poised demeanor, original lead vocalist in Chicago R&B/doo wop The Impressions, co-wrote the group’s debut hit “Your Precious Love” (#11, R&B #3, 1958) but left in 1960 for a long and successful solo career with over 60 charting singles, among them “Only The Strong Survive” (#4, R&B #1, 1969) and 15 other Top 40 hits, the last in 1983, continued to perform on tour and in oldies festivals while serving as a member of the Chicago/Cook County Board of Commissioners from 1986 to 2018, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on 2/20/2025, age 85.
● Junior Lowe / (Albert S. Lowe, Jr.) → Electric guitarist and bassist recruited to the house band at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in the early 60s and played on hundreds of songs by top artists over a decade, including Aretha Franklin, Bobbie Gentry, Wilson Pickett and many others, left by 1975 to start a career as a songwriter and independent session musician, along the way touring with Hank Williams Jr. and joining Little Richard’s band in the 90s, suffered a stroke and declining health in later years and died on 2/20/2025, age 84.
February 21
● Gwen McCrae / (Gwendolyn Patricia Mosley) → Southern R&B, gospel and funk diva known best for her pre-disco hit “Rockin’ Chair” (#9, R&B #1, 1975) but scored a dozen other disco and soul hits in the 70s and 80s, often in collaboration with her husband, George McCrae, later found success in the UK and Europe where she performed and recorded until 2012, suffered a stroke following a stage show but continued to record and work with others despite partial paralysis, died in an assisted care facility in Miami on 2/21/2025, age 81.
February 23
● Chris Jasper / (Christopher Howard Jasper) → Classically trained pianist, singer and songwriter, keyboardist, brother-in-law and, starting in 1973, key member of six-decade, multi-generational R&B/soul family group The Isley Brothers, co-wrote “That Lady, Pts. 1-2” (#6, 1973) and several other hits, after breakup in 1984 stayed on with Ernie and Marvin in Isley-Jasper-Isley as lead singer, co-wrote the trio’s big hit, “Caravan Of Love” (#51, R&B #1, 1985) before starting a solo career in 1988 and releasing 16 of his own solo albums, all self-written, self-produced and self-performed, both vocally and instrumentally, through 2023, diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer in December 2024 and died from the disease two months later on 2/23/2025, age 73.
February 24
● Roberta Flack / (Roberta Cleopatra Flack) → Washington, DC, school teacher turned sweet-voiced, Grammy-winning R&B/pop-soul singer and songwriter with multiple middle-of-the-road (MOR) hits including “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (#1, R&B #2, 1973) and five other Top 10 singles, plus duets with Donny Hathaway including “Where Is The Love” (#5, R&B #1, 1972), continued to record and perform into the 10s, with a final single, “Running” released in 2018 at the age of 80, stopped performing after announcing an ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) diagnosis in 2022, died from cardiac arrest while enroute to a New York City emergency room on 2/24/2025, age 88.
● Robert John / (Robert John Pedrick, Jr.) → Falsetto soft rock singer/songwriter with a debut single on the pop chart at age 12 as Bobby Pedrick, Jr., “White Bucks And Saddle Shoes” (#85, 1958), followed by 11 mostly minor charting hits as Robert John from 1968 through 1984 and a lone chart-topper, the self-penned, million-selling “Sad Eyes” (#1, AC #10, 1979), largely dropped out of sight after the 80s but appeared in occasional oldies concerts, suffered a stroke in the late 10s and died from continuing complications thereof on 2/24/2025, age 79.
February 28
● David Johansen / (David Roger Johansen) → Frontman, lead singer and co-chief songwriter for pioneering, if not commercially successful, glam-proto-punk New York Dolls (“Personality Crisis,” 1973), left in 1976 to purse a solo career, issued four studio albums and ten singles by 1985, then adopted the pseudonym and alter ego Buster Poindexter in the late 80s, offered a mix of jump blues, swing and novelty pop songs and charted with “Hot Hot Hot” (#45, 1987), appeared in the Saturday Night Live house band and in several feature films in the 80s and 90s, fronted the blues group The Harry Smiths in the 00s and continued to record and perform until diagnosed with cancer and a brain tumor in 2020, died from the cancer and tumor on 2/28/2025, age 75.
