Mic Drop 2025: RIP thread for musicians

[BTExpress]

I saw Johanson open for Pat Benatar back in 1981 or something. Odd pairing to be sure but he was much better than she was. She didn't have the stage chops to be playing arenas in those days.

So did I. The Omni in Atlanta. The "Precious Time" tour.

From my seat in Row XXXXXYYYYYYZZZZZ I couldn't tell much about her stage chops, however. This was pretty much the peak of her career, though, so I don't know how much better those stage chops ever got.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I've seen Benatar twice...once when she was doing her blues album/tour in '91 w/Hall & Oates (that was a fun double bill) and then about 20 years ago as a headliner in my hometown. She seemed to have a perfectly fine stage presence but this was about a 3,000-seat joint, so as Huggy points out, it's much easier to command a place like that. The most memorable part of the evening was when she introduced "Invincible" by noting it was the theme song from "The Legend of Billie Jean," which she called the worst movie of all-time. I'm pretty sure I yelled FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE right after that.

 

[DanOregon]

RIP D'Wayne Wiggins of Tony, Toni, Tone! Met him once, he was a friend of a friend of mine. Seemed like a cool guy. heck of an impact working with Destiny's Child before they blew up. Love Tony, Toni, Tone!

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/entertainment/dwayne-wiggins-tony-toni-tone-death/index.html

 

[Huggy]

Clem Burke of Blondie passes at 70:



An absolute powerhouse drummer who could really drive that band, his work on Dreaming is one of my fave drum tracks ever. Great stuff on Call Me and Heart of Glass too.

 

[mpcincal]

Clem Burke of Blondie passes at 70:



An absolute powerhouse drummer who could really drive that band, his work on Dreaming is one of my fave drum tracks ever. Great stuff on Call Me and Heart of Glass too.

RIP Clem. I was a big fan of Blondie when I was just a kid and was enchanted by Debbie Harry. Only in recent years had I revisited some clips of "Dreaming" on YouTube and agree that is one incredible drumming performance.

 

[Huggy]

RIP Clem. I was a big fan of Blondie when I was just a kid and was enchanted by Debbie Harry. Only in recent years had I revisited some clips of "Dreaming" on YouTube and agree that is one incredible drumming performance.

He was so influenced by Keith Moon (and kicked over his drums as a tribute at their show the night Moon died) that I remember thinking he'd be a great replacement for him. It took a while but Zak Starkey is the perfect guy for that spot.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Still amazed at how funky a bunch of white boys could sound. RIP, Junior.

I can one-up even that. I love the English group, Traffic, both for their jazz inflected rock and for their more acoustic tunes rooted in Anglo-Celtic folk music featuring Steve Winwood and Dave Mason, among others. Unfortunately, there is only a little film or video of Traffic available. The best source I know of is from a concert that they played in Santa Monica in 1972.

The band on that tour included Roger Hawkins on drums and David Hood on bass, both of whom were Swampers. I have no idea how that came together, probably simply as a paying gig for them, but unlike many studio musicians the Swampers seldom signed on as touring band members. It seems odd to put those funky country boys in such a band, but it worked quite well. You can find the full concert on Youtube, along with a couple of other live gigs, but the video and musical quality of this one is quite good.

 

[ChrisLong]

I can one-up even that. I love the English group, Traffic, both for their jazz inflected rock and for their more acoustic tunes rooted in Anglo-Celtic folk music featuring Steve Winwood and Dave Mason, among others. Unfortunately, there is only a little film or video of Traffic available. The best source I know of is from a concert that they played in Santa Monica in 1972.

The band on that tour included Roger Hawkins on drums and David Hood on bass, both of whom were Swampers. I have no idea how that came together, probably simply as a paying gig for them, but unlike many studio musicians the Swampers seldom signed on as touring band members. It seems odd to put those funky country boys in such a band, but it worked quite well. You can find the full concert on Youtube, along with a couple of other live gigs, but the video and musical quality of this one is quite good.

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was known for outstanding acoustics. There were a ton of great concerts there. The T.A.M.I Show in 1964 was unbelievable (from what I've read -- I was only 12). It was across the street from my high school, and just 2 blocks from the beach. The 1968 Academy Awards were there. I remember getting off the bus in front of the Civic Aud and walking past the giant Oscar statues on my way to class. The city put on an annual all-school concert called "Stairway To The Stars." They usually had a renowned musician or conductor to headline the show. But it included an all-city orchestra of elementary school kids, the junior high band, the high school band and the junior college band. I performed on that stage a bunch of times. So we went from sneaking in candy to sneaking in beer. Several friends worked there on the stage crew, so we knew all the secret rooms backstage.