1878 – Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer (German composer, conductor & violinist)
1895 – Sir Charles Hallé (German-British pianist & conductor)
1904 – Teresa Milanollo (Italian violinist & composer)
1907 – Edmund Hart Turpin (English organist & composer)
1926 – Frederick Zech, Jr. (American pianist & composer)
1952 – Sergei Bortkiewicz [Сергі́й Бортке́вич] (Ukrainian composer & pianist)
1960 – José Padilla Sánchez (Spanish composer & pianist)
1963 – Roger Désormière (French conductor)
1963 – Abu Bakr Khairat [بو بكر خيرت] (Egyptian composer)
1980 – Virgil Fox (American organist)
1983 – Hermann Ambrosius (German composer & teacher)
1985 – Morton Downey, Sr. (American popular singer, pianist & TV personality, "The Irish Nightingale")
1991 – Bill Graham (American rock promoter & music venue owner)
1992 – Roger Miller (American country singer, songwriter, musician & actor)
1993 – Danny Chan Bak-keung [陳百強] (Hong Kong cantopop singer, songwriter & actor)
1998 – Warren Wiebe (American adult contemporary singer & session bass guitarist)
2003 – Robert Strassburg (American conductor, composer, musicologist & teacher)
2004 – John Peel (English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer & journalist, BBC Radio 1)
2010 – Gregory Isaacs (Jamaican reggae singer & songwriter)
Welcome to Yestermonth in Dead Musicians.
Yes, I've resigned myself to the fact that it would be impossible for us to get even close to getting caught up at this point. But I guess that's okay. These stiffs aren't going anywhere; they'll be just as dead a month later as they are a day later.
Today, a notable female violinist and composer of the 19th century; the conductor for whom one of Britain's major orchestras is named; and a couple of great musicians who were named Roger, although those respective Rogers aren't pronounced the same. Roger Désormière was one of the greatest French conductors of the mid-20th century, an artist with a remarkably wide repertoire, and with a strong dedication to the music of contemporary composers. Roger Miller was known best for the 'novelty' songs he contributed to country and early rock 'n' roll, songs like "Dang Me," "Chug-A-Lug," "You Can't Roller-skate in a Buffalo Herd," and of course, the classic "King of the Road." He was a very talented singer and guitarist, and a very clever songwriter. Roger that, Houston.
In the non-Roger category, we have Virgil Fox, who started out as brilliant but fairly non-descript pipe organist, but hit it big in the 70s with his "Heavy Organ" concerts and recordings, in which he donned duds of almost Liberace-ish flamboyancy, and attempted to turn young people on to the music of J. S. Bach. I've favorited a couple of videos of him up there on our YouTube channel, if you'd like to check out his schtick.
The really exciting people on our list today, however, aren't discussed in this post. I'm speaking of Bill Graham and John Peel, two guys who proved to be of incalculable importance to the careers of countless rock and pop musicians. They'll be discussed in the next post, later tonight, which will see... yes, you guessed it... THE RETURN OF WAEX, THE LOST ONE !!
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