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Pete Fountain
Pierre Dewey LaFontaine Jr., was born July 3, 1930, in New Orleans, the great grandson of a French immigrant who came to the U.S. in the early 19th century. His father would later change his last name to Fountain and Pete followed suit. As a child, he was very sickly, frequently battling respiratory infections due to weakened lungs. He was given expensive medication but it proved to be not very effective. During a pharmacy visit, Pete’s father began a discussion with a neighborhood doctor who was also there shopping and talked with him about his son’s condition. The doctor agreed to see the boy the following day. After a short…
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Prince
It seems like we have been writing way too many of these memorial tributes lately. 2016 had been a rough year, and now we have lost another great musician. Prince Rogers Nelson was an amazing musician, icon and innovator. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7, 1958, Prince had been interested in music from a young age writing songs as young as seven years old. He hit the big time when he was 19, with his first commercial album For You in 1978, He continued his success with four more albums , one of which went platinum. In 1984, Prince and the Revolution, as he had named his backup band,…
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A Wonderful Life
As you all know, my role on the page is purely administrative, but the team very graciously allowed me to add a short post of my own on this occasion. I’m very much a child of music, born to two young people of the sixties, at the start of the seventies, and reached maturity in the eighties. That’s pretty much where my music tastes rest. I like rock and melodies, words and the beat of the drums or the strum of guitar. So it had been a bit of a shock as the favourites of my youth, Lemmy and Phil Taylor, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, John Bradbury, Jimmy Bain and…
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David Bowie
Born David Robert Jones on the 8th of January, 1947 in Brixton, south London. David Jones took to music early in his life, and though his singing voice was deemed only adequate, he excelled in his (newly introduced) music and movement classes as a very imaginative dancer. As he grew and developed, he struggled to establish himself as his own man in a time when so much amazing music was being written. He toyed with new and different stage names (not liking the fact that as Davy or Davie Jones he was often confused for the lead singer of the Monkees). He had a very (VERY) brief stint as one…
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A True Songbird – Eva Cassidy
“You left in autumn, the leaves were turning I walk down roads [of] orange and gold I see your sweet smile, I hear your laughter You’re still here beside me every day . . . ‘Cause I know you by heart . . . “ In November of 1996 the world said goodbye to the great talent that was Eva Cassidy. At the age of just 33, after a short battle with cancer, she passed away in her family home in Maryland US. Eva’s fame would only continue to grow after her death, as new generations discovered her beautiful, soulful voice, and effortless harmonies. Born in Washington, on February 2nd…
