Remembering departed music greats

The grim reaper had a great harvest this year. I hope this guy has had enough. Death is part of the natural flow of living but we still cannot help but grieve. We grieve for those we loved and those whose work made us better, more feeling persons and made the life experience all the richer. Here are some of them.

Etta James, 73, died on Jan. 20 of leukemia. She was an uncompromising soulful rocker whose recording of At Last from the ’50s remains one of the finest examples of heartfelt soul singing.

Whitney Houston, 48, Feb. 11. The problematic pop diva drowned in the bathtub of a Beverly Hills hotel on the eve of the Grammy Awards. Beautiful and with a voice like no other, she made hits out of Saving All My Love For You, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, I Have Nothing and the now iconic I Will Always Love You from the biggest selling soundtrack of all-time The Bodyguard. She also starred in that box-office blockbuster opposite Kevin Costner.   

Davy Jones, 68, Feb. 29, a member of the ’60s boy band The Monkees, died of a heart attack. The first manufactured boy group, the Monkees were stars of music and television and had hits like I Wanna Be Free, I’m A Believer and Last Train To Clarksville. Davy was generally regarded as the best-looking Monkee of all.

Bodgie Dasig, 48, March 13 of cancer. He was the songwriter with the witty turn of phrase and the ready smile. He had hits with Sana’y Dalawa Ang Puso Ko, Ale Nasa Langit Na Ba Ako, Kamandag, Bakit Ba Naman Ngayon Pa Umulan, Iba Na’ng Babae Ngayon and others. He was married to fellow songwriter Odette Quesada.  

Karl Roy, 43, also March 13, of heart failure. The gifted punk vocalist and songwriter lived the rock and roll lifestyle. He was part of the success of three of Pinoy Rock’s best bands, Advent Call, P.O.T. and Kapatid. 

Dick Clark, 82, April 18, radio disc jockey and television host and producer, who founded the American Music Awards and who helped propel the careers of many pop idols through exposure in his shows. Because of his youthful looks, he was fondly referred to as America’s oldest teenager.

Donna Summer, 63, May 17 of cancer. She was the greatest disco diva, whose hits like Whispering Waves, Could It Be Magic, Love To Love You Baby, Last Dance and many others dominated the ’70s era. Summer made Eurodisco acceptable to America and other parts of the world.

Robin Gibb, 62, May 20 of cancer. Along with his brothers Barry and Maurice, he brought the now legendary falsetto style of singing to pop recordings. This resulted in hits like Tragedy, I Started A Joke, Words, Disco Fever and How Deep Is Your Love from one of the biggest selling albums of all-time, the soundtrack of the movie Saturday Night Fever.

Marvin Hamlish, 68, Aug. 6 after a brief illness. The prolific Hamlish was one of only two composers to win at the Academy Awards, the Grammys, Tonys and even a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  The other one was Richard Rodgers. Marvin got his for the musical The Chorus Line. He also wrote songs like The Way We Were, What I Did For Love, Fallin’, The Last Time I Felt Like This, Looking Through The Eyes Of Love and others.

Hal David, 91, Sept. 1 of a stroke. Burt Bacharach’s favorite lyricist made enduring poetry out of the mundane with songs like I Say A Little Prayer, Alfie, What’s New Pussy Cat, I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, One Less Bell To Answer, Do You Know The Way To San Jose and many others.

Andy Williams, 84, Sept. 25 of cancer. A romantic balladeer whose easy style and charming ways resulted in hundreds of hits over three decades. Moon River, Music To Watch Girls By, Almost There, Speak Softly Love, Loss of Love, The Most Wonderful Time of The Year and the sweetest one of all, May Each Day.

We remember our loved ones all our lives in so many ways but more so at this time of the year, when the thoughts of everyone turn to the dear departed. For them, for our friends, for these music greats and for all those souls who are now in eternal rest, we offer our prayers.