Deaths this week:
June 08
● Mark James / (Francis Rodney Zambon) → Nashville-based songwriter in a wide range of musical genres, wrote hits for Elvis Presley (“Suspicious Minds,” #1, 1969), Blue Swede (“Hooked On A Feeling,” #1, 1974, originally recorded by B. J. Thomas, #5, 1968) and co-wrote Willie Nelson’s enduring Grammy-winning “Always On My Mind” (Country #1, 1982), plus other songs released by a diverse list of artists, including Jay Z, Pet Shop Boys, Bill Withers and Fine Young Cannibals, died at home from undisclosed causes on 6/8/2024, age 83.
June 11
● Françoise Hardy / (Françoise Madeleine Hardy) → French singer-songwriter and 60s film star with a long career as a melancholy singer of mostly light pop and moody ballads, starting with the 1962 hit, “Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles” (“All The Boys And Girls,” FRA #1, UK #36, 1962), and continuing on dozens of singles and 32 studio albums through 2018, some of which shifted to jazz, bossa nova and, in the 90s and 00s, to a more rock-oriented sound, along the way becoming a muse to top fashion designers, an icon to French youthfulness, and later an outspoken, often controversial social and political critic, died of laryngeal cancer in Paris on 6/11/2024, age 80.
● Gaps Hendrickson / (Arthur Hendrickson) → Frontman and co-lead singer for mixed-race, ska revival The Selecter, the punk- and reggae-influenced band released five Top 40 singles in the UK in 1979-1980, including “On My Radio” (UK #8, 1979) and, along with The Specials, helped launch independent 2 Tone Records, left in 1981 for other gigs but returned to a reconstituted The Selecter in 1991, played and recorded with the band through the album Human Algebra (2023) and a cancer diagnosis that same year, died from complications of the disease on 6/11/2024, age 73.
June 12
● Johnny Canales / (Juan José Canales) → The “Mexican Dick Clark,” TV host and promoter of Tejano (Tex-Mex) music and artists via his bilingual variety program, The Johnny Canales Show, produced and aired in Corpus Christi, Texas, starting in 1983, the program introduced many Tejano stars to audiences in northern Mexico and the southwest U.S., including then-teenaged Selena, particularly when broadcast on TV networks Univision and Telemundo from 1988 to 2005 and on other networks through 2020, suffered a stroke in 2009, recovered and continued through the 10s, started a new program in 2021 with his co-host wife, Nora, until his death following an illness on 6/12/2024, age 81.
June 13
● Angela Bofill / (Angela Tomasa Bofill) → Cuban-Puerto Rican-American R&B singer with a promising career cut short by strokes in 2006 and 2007, enjoyed six Top 40 R&B albums and seven Top 40 R&B singles, including “Too Tough” (R&B #5, Dance #2, 1983) between 1979 and 1993, first as a sultry jazz singer and later as an R&B/dance-pop diva, occasionally appeared on stage and TV after 2007 but was unable to sing due to paralysis on her left side following the second stroke, died from undisclosed causes on 6/13/2024, age 70.
June 14
● Jeremy Tepper / (Jeremy Evan Tepper) → Musician, journalist and radio personality with a long and varied career performing and promoting alt country music (or “outlaw country” or the self-named “rig-rock” music for truckers) through his own band World Famous Blue Jays, in his own magazine Street Beat, on his record label Diesel Only, on his Outlaw Country Cruise of the Caribbean with 1,200 dedicated fans, and on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country and Willie’s Roadhouse channels as program director from the early 00s until his death following a heart attack in a New York City hospital on 6/14/2024, age 60.
June 16
● Buzz Cason / (James Elmore Cason) → Nashville-born musician and songwriter with a long and influential career in the city’s music scene, starting as lead singer in the city’s first rock ‘n’ roll group, teenaged The Casuals in the late 50s, then co-founded doo wop The Statues and sang their cover version of “Blue Velvet” (#84, 1960), the first version of the song to reach the Top 100, recorded as a solo act under the pseudonym Garry Miles and released a version of Garry Mills’ “Look For A Star” (#16, 1960), co-produced The Crickets’ cover of “La Bamba” in 1962 and joined the group for a UK tour in 1964, in the mid-60s worked as a session vocalist under various pseudonyms on soundalike covers of popular hits for budget albums, joined surf-rock Ronny & The Daytonas in 1965 and wrote “Sandy” (#27, 1965) for the band, wrote “Popsicle” (#21, 1966) for Jan & Dean, best known for co-writing “Everlasting Love” (Robert Knight, #13, 1967) one of Nashville’s most successful singles and the only one to reach the Top 40 with four different artists in four different decades, opened a recording studio in 1970 and produced albums by Jimmy Buffett, Dolly Parton, The Doobie Brothers and others through the late 70s, fronted his own rockabilly band, B.C. & The Dartz in the 80s, wrote his autobiography in 2004, continued to write and record until just a few years before his death from unspecified causes on 6/16/2024, age 84.
June 18
● James Chance (aka James White) / (James Alan Siegfried) → Singer, saxophonist, composer and key figure in the launch of the “No Wave” music sub-scene in 70s New York City, fronted punk/funk/free jazz/No Wave dance band The Contortions with a shrieking alto sax, screaming vocals, and the abrasive attitude of a dedicated non-conformist, later fronted several other bands in the 80s, continued to play intermittently in various gigs and several Contortions reunions, appeared on albums by friend Deborah Harry (1986) and her band Blondie (1999), released a solo single backed by The Contortions, “Melt Yourself Down” (2016), suffered from declining health in his last years and died from complications of gastrointestinal disease on 6/18/2024, age 71.
June 27
● Kinky Friedman / (Richard Samet Friedman) → Musician, songwriter, journalist, novelist, and humorist, self-proclaimed “Jewish cowboy” and frontman for satirical country-rock The Texas Jewboys starting in 1973, released a single (“Sold American,” Country #69, 1973) and six solo albums through 1983, thereafter alternated between solo (7) and Jewboys (5) albums through 2018, authored 20 mystery novels and another seven books of humor over 20 years through 2008, wrote a commentary column for Texas Monthly magazine from 2001 to 2005, ran (and lost) for governor of Texas in 2006, ran (and lost) for Texas agriculture commissioner in 2010, supported a wide range of disparate cultural and political causes his entire adult life, his public statements most always colored with witty quotes, died from Parkinson’s disease on 6/27/2024, age 79.
● Martin Mull / (Martin Eugene Mull) → Comedy/novelty singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor and sometime painter known for his witty lyrics and humorous songs on 10 albums in the 70s, including one charting single (“Dueling Tubas,” #92, 1973), started a second career in the late 70s as a comedic actor on film and TV, appeared in over 30 films through 2018, on TV co-starred in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) and fronted its spin-offs, the talk show parodies Fernwood 2 Night (1977) and America 2-Night (1978), played “Leon Carp” on the comedy sit-com Roseanne for 46 episodes in the mid-90s, and as a recurring character or one-off role on dozens of TV programs for 30 years until his last appearance in 2023, died from pancreatic cancer on 6/27/2024, age 80.
