DAVIS, CALIF., U.S.A. -- A singer-songwriter who had been a member of America’s most successful and influential musical group of the late 1950s and early ’60s and wrote one of the biggest-selling songs of the 1960s revealed late in his life that he was bipolar. One ’60s era singer who initially established himself as a rock-and-roller before re-emerging as a smooth balladeer recently divulged a secret that not even his mother knew: as a youth, he had spent a night in jail. Another popular teenage heartthrob who amassed 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1960s hired a then-obscure backup piano player by the name of Elston Gunnn (with three n’s) -- who later became known to the world as Bob Dylan. The guitarist for a record-breaking American band who severed part of his thumb in later life while building a boat was able to resume performing by switching to bass guitar. After the breakup of one of the most revered “British invasion” groups, its financially struggling lead singer reluctantly took a job with an insurance brokerage, then re-emerged as a singer under a different name before finally reverting to the name by which his fans knew him.
That's the first paragraph of the official press release for Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? -- Volume 1, published in July of 2011. Written by Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March, Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? -- Volume 1 is a treasure trove of information on twenty-six artists from the 1950s and 1960s, catching up on the lives and careers of Bobby Vee, Chris Montez, and members of The Kingston Trio, The Spiral Starecase, Herman's Hermits, The Association, and The Zombies. Loaded with information and filled with quotes from most of the principals (including several who are no longer with us), the book is an entertaining read as well as an educational one. As of this writing, seven out of the seven reviews on Amazon.com gave the book a five-star rating.
24 - Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones), 1936; Ted Templeman (Harper's Bizarre), 1944; J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), 1930 (died 1959)
25 - Helen Reddy, 1941; Jon Anderson (Yes), 1944; John Hall (Orleans), 1947
26 - Keith Hopwood (Herman's Hermits), 1946
27 - Simon LeBon (Duran Duran), 1958; Byron Allred (Steve Miller Band), 1949; Garry Tallent (E Street Band), 1949; Lee Greenwood, 1942
28 - Thelma Hopkins (Dawn), 1948; Charlie Daniels, 1936; Wayne Fontana, 1940; Curtis Lee, 1941
29 - David Brigati (The Starliters), 1940; Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac), 1946; Leon Redbone, 1929;
Denny Laine (Wings), 1944; Randy Jackson (The Jacksons), 1961
30 - David Green (Air Supply), 1949; Timothy B.Schmidt (The Eagles), 1947; Otis Williams (The Temptations), 1949; Grace Slick (Jefferson Starship), 1939
In remembrance of those who left us:
25 Oct 1992 - Roger Miller
29 Oct 1971 - Duane Allman
Did I forget anybody? If so, please let me know in the Comments.
Mark Wirtz is going to be the guest of honor at a release party for his new CD, Lost Pets 2, at Rock and Roll Heaven in Orlando, Florida. This will take place on Saturday, October 8, 2011, beginning at 12:00 noon. Mark will be meeting and greeting fans and signing autographs. If you live in the area (or even if you don't), here's a rare opportunity to rub elbows with the artist himself. Be there or be square!
03 - Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac),1951; Chubby Checker, 1941; Eddie Cochran, 1938 (died 1960)
05 - Bob Geldof, 1954; Steve Miller, 1943; Richard Street (The Temptations), 1942
07 - John Mellencamp, 1951; David Hope (Kansas), 1949
09 - Jackson Browne, 1948; John Lennon, 1940 (died 1980); John Entwistle, 1944 (died 2002)
In remembrance of those who left us:
04 Oct 1970 - Janis Joplin
05 Oct 1992 - Eddie Kendricks
Did I forget anybody? If so, please let me know in the Comments.
Today, 27 September 2011, is the official release date in America for the newest CD by singer/songwriter/producer Mark Wirtz, entitled Lost Pets 2. All of the baker's dozen tracks were composed or co-composed by the artist, and LP2 is a collection that has "hit" written all over it, from the rocking, rollicking title cut "Lost Pets (Loose Ends)" to the wistful "I Need to Fall In Love" (co-written by Jim David, the son of legendary Brill Building composer Hal David, and "Elusive Butterfly" composer/singer Bob Lind); from the energetic, electric-guitar-laden "Sindee" to the excruciatingly romantic "For Just You."
Mark Wirtz first came to prominence during the 1960s, after he moved from his native Germany to London, became an Englishman, and began working at the fabled Abbey Road Studios (then called EMI Studios) alongside Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. By 1966 Wirtz had written, produced and arranged "A Touch of Velvet - A Sting of Brass" which was released under the name Mood Mosaic and subsequently became the signature tune of Radio Caroline's deejay Dave Lee Travis. In 1967, Keith West recorded "Excerpt From a Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack)," which he co-wrote along with Wirtz and which Wirtz produced and arranged. These two songs remain among Wirtz's most well known efforts; but they are far from his only efforts. With the exception of some fifteen years away from the music business while raising his daughter as a single parent during the '80s and '90s, Mark Wirtz has been a working arranger, producer, songwriter and singer ever since he first set foot in EMI Studios (which, as it happens, was on the same day in 1962 when The Beatles were auditioning for George Martin). During the last several years, Wirtz has realized a long-held dream by adding stand-up comedy work to his list of accomplishments.
In the late 1970s, Mark Wirtz began work on an album, Lost Pets, but the project was abandoned when two of his band-mates, Jeff Poccaro and David Hungate, departed to record and tour with their newly successful group, Toto. Tracks from the "lost" Lost Pets album were subsequently released on two CDs: Kitschinsync: The Hollywood Years, Vol. 1 - 1971-82 and Dreamer of Glass Beach: The Hollywood Years, Vol. 2 - 1971-82. A few years later, in 2005, Wirtz released the delightful collection Love Is Eggshaped. The most recent Wirtz release up to now had been Wirtz and Music, which is a reissue of Maestro Wirtz's albums, Latin A Go-Go and Smooth and Easy. Lost Pets 2 brings Wirtz full circle, in a sense; for, as Wirtz points out on the CD booklet: "Only by returning to where we lost ourselves can we hope to find ourselves again."
