DCS: jill sobule
This is sad. This is really sad. Jill Sobule, the vivacious, insightful, funny singer-songwriter died on May 1st in a house fire in Woodbury, Minnesota.
What makes Jill’s death particularly sad was that she was so full of life. She had plans for the immediate and long-term future. She had just wrapped up a tour opening shows for 80s icons The Fixx. She was riding high with glowing reviews of her autobiographical musical Fuck 7th Grade. She had plans to tour in support of the 30th anniversary release of her breakthrough self -titled album, best known for its surprise hit “I Kissed a Girl.” The 1995 single is widely recognized as the first LGBTQ+ song to crack Billboard’s Top 20.
Although mostly known for a 30-year old song, Jill never rested on her laurels. She released a dozen albums, tackling topics from rape to depression to anorexia, to anti-Semitism, all presented in Jill’s lovely voice and sardonic attitude. In 2009, she was a pioneer in the crowdfunding movement, financing her album California Years purely with fan donations. Along the way, Jill wrote an entirely new set of songs for the Isaac Bashevis Singer story Yentl, after learning that the author was not happy with the depiction and tone of the Barbra Streisand-led version. She was an outspoken activist for gay rights, women’s right and human rights. She had songs featured on film and television soundtracks. She sponsored and participated in regular songwriting workshops. She had a concert scheduled for Friday, May 2… the day after her untimely death.
Jill had plans. A lot of plans.
Her plans were cut short at 66.
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inktober52: sneaky
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DCS: sib hashian
After disbanding his group Mother’s Milk after just a year of performing, musical impresario Tom Sholz recorded a bunch of demos on which he played all of the instruments except for drums. Those duties were taken by Tom’s friend Jim Masdea. Vocals on the demo tracks were provided by Tom’s friend Brad Delp. Tom’s demo tape was picked up by two record label execs who wanted to expand the songs to a fully-realized album. Tom began to flesh out a group of musicians to replicate his signature sound. He recruited guitarist Barry Goudreau and bassist Fran Sheehan, as well as Delp on guitar. The label was not happy with Jim Masdea. Jim, meanwhile, was ready to leave the group anyway. Tom signed on Sib Hashian to duplicate Jim’s work note for note, drum roll for drum roll — with little to no room for Sib’s own style. The album — Boston — was released in August 1976 and went on to become one of the best selling albums in history.
Legal debates over song ownership delayed the release of Boston’s follow-up, but a lengthy two years later, Don’t Look Back hit the streets. Tom, a lifelong perfectionist, was unhappy with the album. It sold about half as many copies as the band’s debut.
While Tom Sholz concentrated on writing songs and arrangements for a third album, he suggested that his bandmates pursue other opportunities. Barry Goudreau released a solo album, with the help of Brad Delp and Sib Hashian. When Sholz began recording Third Stage, Sib was replaced by Jim Masdea.
Sib grew disillusioned with the music business. He sued Sholz for back royalties and eventually came to an out-of-court settlement. He invested in a chain of tanning salons in the Boston area and also owned a record shop. Occasionally, Sib would drum at a gig, but those were few and far between. He did, however, briefly join Sammy Hagar’s backing band in the early 2000s.
In 2017, Sib was one of a number of musicians on the line-up for the “Legends of Rock” cruise aboard the MSC Divinia. Alongside The Grass Roots, Mark Lindsay (late of Paul Revere & The Raiders), Lou Gramm (former singer of Foreigner), Ron Dante (the voice of The Archies), Sib and his former bandmate Barry Goudreau were scheduled to perform a set of Boston hits. Five days into the cruise, Sib collapsed behind his drumkit during a performance. CPR and defibrillator treatments were unsuccessful and Sib was pronounced dead. He was 67 years old.
Sib was survived by his family, including his daughter Lauren and her soon-to-be husband, former wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
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inktober52: taurus
In late December 1968 and the summer of 1969, up-and-coming British blues-rockers Led Zeppelin appeared at a handful of multi-band music festivals with the American psychedelic band Spirit. Spirit was riding high on the success of their self-titled debut album and its breakout track, the Jay Ferguson-penned “Fresh Garbage.” (Yes, the same Jay Ferguson who had a pop hit with “Thunder Island” in 1978 and wrote the theme to the American version of the TV sitcom The Office.) During those shows, Spirit performed a number of songs from the album, including a two-and-a-half minute instrumental entitled “Taurus,” written by guitarist Randy Wolfe, using the unforgettable stage name “Randy California.” The song is an atmospheric mixture of ethereal strings and keyboards with a series of notes picked out on an acoustic guitar as its centerpiece. As the riff winds its way thorough the tune, the sound of wind and cellos play eerily in the background. It’s a pretty epic composition, considering its short run time. Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant likely paid very, very close attention to the song during the four times they shared the stage with Spirit.
In late 1971, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album. The album was technically untitled but is commonly referred to as “Led Zeppelin IV” or “Zoso” based on four symbols that appear on the record’s label. The tracklist featured eight songs — four per side — each of which would go on to Classic Rock immortality. The jewel-in-the-crown of the album was “Stairway to Heaven,” the eight-minute, three section, progressive rock tour-de force that has topped numerous “greatest of all time” lists compiled by a faction of society that have been collecting Social Security for a couple of years now. The song begins with a finger-picked acoustic guitar riff that Randy California thought hit a little too close to home.
In the following years, Randy California and rock music lovers worldwide informally discussed the similarities between Spirit’s song “Taurus” and Led Zeppelin’s song “Stairway to Heaven.” Randy California even wrote in the liner notes of a 1996 reissue of Spirit’s debut album:
People always ask me why “Stairway to Heaven” sounds exactly like “Taurus,” which was released two years earlier. I know Led Zeppelin also played “Fresh Garbage” in their live set. They opened up for us on their first American tour.
Well, Led Zeppelin didn’t really open for Spirit and “Stairway to Heaven” doesn’t sound exactly like “Taurus.,” but I get his point… and his frustration.
Randy California passed away in 1997, but the story doesn’t end there. As a matter of fact, it sort of picks up speed. In 2014, Randy ‘s family filed a copyright infringement lawsuit on the late guitarist’s behalf. The lawsuit sought a posthumous co-writing credit on “Stairway to Heaven” for Randy California. The trial began on June 14, 2016 and lasted ten days, during which the jury heard hours of testimony from “Stairway to Heaven” co-writer, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. His testimony included his declaration that he had never heard the song “Taurus” until 2014. On June 23, after just one hour of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of “not guilty.” An appeal was filed in 2018 and, after a long and drawn-out series of complaints and claims of errors in the original case, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of the original verdict.
It was also brought up that the guitar riff in question bears a similarity to the opening of Johnny Rivers’s 1967 song “Summer Rain” …but that’s a story for another time.
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DCS: susan tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell was born of the fringe of show business. Through her father’s connections as a talent agent for the mighty William Morris Agency, young Susan was able to land auditions and roles in Broadway and off-Broadway productions. She appeared in a wide range of plays from broad comedy to Shakespeare to period pieces to brooding drama. She dabbled in television, nabbing guest roles on both sitcoms and dramas.
She made her motion picture debut in the 1971 Western Shoot Out opposite Gregory Peck. Just a year later saw her role in John Huston’s Fat City give her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Susan opted for grittier roles, often portraying psychotics, prostitutes, and various other unsavory characters. Her most notable (and notorious) role was that of wild “Queen Doris” in Richard Elfman’s indie cult classic Forbidden Zone. Along the way, Susan did some voice acting and even co-starred in a short-lived sitcom called Open All Night that lasted all of ten episodes.
Susan was closely associated with Andy Warhol and his entourage. She had a short relationship with Warhol disciple Candy Darling before diving into a two-year relationship with actor Hervé Villechaize. After two short failed marriages, Susan had her tubes tied to ensure, as she put it, “no actors come out of me.” Susan was diagnosed with a rare chronic blood disease and underwent two, below-the-knee amputations in 2000. Actor Johnny Depp, a self-professed fan of Susan’s work, organized a benefit to help with Susan’s medical expenses.
Susan moved to Austin, Texas in 2008, to live with a niece, her only family. Four years later, she passed away, writing in a personal journal: “I demand my death be joyful and I never return again.” Susan was 67 years old.
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inktober52: vista
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DCS: miho nakayama
A talent scout discovered 15-year-old Miho Nakayama in Harajuku, Tokyo’s well-known center for youth culture. She released her debut single “C” and was given a starring role in the film Be-Bop High School, based on the manga series of the same name. It was the beginning of a successful career that produced 22 albums and eight Number One singles, as determined by the Oricon charts (the Japanese equivalent to Billboard).
As an actress, Miho was universally praised for her film and television work. She was nominated for Best Actress by the Japanese Film Academy and appeared numerous television shows, including the popular Love Story TV series.
In 2002, Miho married Japanese musician Hitonari Tsuji. Miho gave birth to a son a year later, but the marriage ended in divorce after 12 years. Tsuji moved to Paris and maintained custody of their child.
In December 2024, Miho canceled an appearance on a Christmas show, citing poor health. She was found dead in her home by staff later in the day. Miho was 54 years old. An investigation revealed she had died from “an accident” while bathing, but no further details were released.
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inktober52: axolotl
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DCS: jim feezel
Jim Feezel joined the US Army in 1944 and became a tech sergeant in the 12th Armored Division. He was given the assignment of driver, operating a Sherman tank for the division. One year into his service, on April 29, 1945, Jim’s division pulled up to the front gate of Dachau, the notorious Nazi concentration camp located in southern Germany. Jim’s commanding officer gave the order and Jim drove his tank right though the front gate of the camp, thus initiating its liberation. At the time, there were 30,000 prisoners inside. Jim recalled marveling with disbelief at the stacks of bodies piled up like firewood. He remembered a malnourished man staggering towards his tank and finally sitting down in the dirt, overcome by weakness.
After the war, Jim worked as an engineer for the Amoco Oil Company. In a newspaper interview in 2015, Jim reminisced: “I often reckon with the very fact that I was such a small pebble in a large stream of thousands and thousands of men who went to fight this war.”
Jim passed away on October 15, 2020 at the age of 95. He was haunted his entire life by what he saw in 1945.