Abdul Halim of Kedah –
Malaysian monarch, Sultan, gilded grandpaw.
November 28, 1927 – September 11, 2017.
Aged 89 years.
Most recognized for: Malaysia is a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy. In short, they elect their monarchs. Old what’s-his-name here was their elected “king” twice. And since he still held title in his state, was considered the second longest-reigning living monarch in the world after Queen Elizabeth II. Stupid monarchs.
Blake Heron –
Child actor, Disney kid, smack addict.
January 11, 1982 – September 8, 2017.
Aged 35 years.
Most recognized for: In 1996, he played lead character Marty Preston in the sappy boy-and-his-dog flick “Shiloh.” He was also in Disney’s “Tom & Huck,” fought alongside Mel Gibson in “We Were Soldiers,” and recently appeared in a documentary called “A Thousand Junkies.” Take a wild guess what he was doing in that one… and how it got him here.
Rick Stevens –
Singer, murderer, parolee.
April 2, 1940 – September 5, 2017
Aged 77 years.
Most recognized for: Oakland 1972… Rick had it all. A bitchin’ band, broads, bellbottoms, and an afro that would make Colin Kaepernick green with envy… and then came the dope. In a drug deal gone south, he blasted three fellow degenerates and then got sent to the slammer for 3 life sentences. 36 years later, he got paroled and reunited with his soul/funk brethren in Tower of Power. Redemption…. then cancer.
Don Williams –
Singer/songwriter, Country Music HOF’er,
May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017
Aged 78 years.
Most recognized for: His large frame and deep, warm voice earned him the nickname “Gentle Giant of Country music.” Don started out with folk-pop group The Pozo-Seco Singers before going solo in 1971. 27 albums, 62 singles, and 21 number one hits later, emphysema showed up & slayed the giant.
Troy Gentry –
Musician, KY boy, canned hunter.
April 5, 1967 – September 8, 2017.
Aged 50 years.
Most recognized for: He was the “Gentry” in the radio-friendly country duo Montgomery Gentry. They made lots of hit records.. and money… money Troy used to purchase domesticated bears from wildlife organizations… to “hunt” inside a 3 acre electrified enclosure. After his body was pulled from a fatal helicopter crash in New Jersey, coroners failed to recover his testicles… eventually coming to the conclusion: “sounds like he never had any to begin with.”
Gene Michael –
MLB Shortstop, manager/exec, “stick”man.
June 2, 1938 – September 7, 2017.
Aged 79 years.
Most recognized for: He turned a mediocre 10 year stretch as a player into a fairly-successful career as a team manager & scout. Gene laid the foundation for what would become the Yankees dynasty team of the late 90’s, having signed all members of the “core four.”
Novella Nelson –
Actress, singer, mean old mammy.
December 17, 1938 – September 3, 2017.
Aged 77 years.
Most recognized for: She’d been landing small to medium roles in movies & TV shows for the last 40 years. Her most famous performances would be as abusive foster mother Mrs. Tate in the Denzel Washington film “Antwone Fisher” and voodoo queen Mobu in “Weekend at Bernies 2.” She also recorded a few albums that no one bought in the early 70’s.
Holger Czukay –
Musician, Danziger, weird noise maker.
March 24, 1938 – September 5, 2017.
Aged 79 years.
Most recognized for: Holger was the eccentric founder, leader, & bassist for krautrock group Can… who were kinda the German version of Pink Floyd. Regarded as one of the pioneers of sampling, his work wound up being sampled extensively. Perhaps the horror of learning his music was incorporated into a Kanye West song is what dropped him.
Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos –
Boxer, Cuban, killer pugilist.
December 2, 1941 – September 3, 2017.
Aged 75 years.
Most recognized for: He actually beat a few fukkers to death. Most notably, in a 1963 title bout against world featherweight champion Davey Moore. The nationally televised deathmatch drew the ire of Pope John XXIII and became the inspiration for the Bob Dylan tune “Who Killed Davey Moore?” Yep. That’s a 2nd Dylan song about a boxer, for those of you keeping score at home.
Murray Lerner –
Filmmaker, Oscar winner, one trick pony.
May 8, 1927 – September 2, 2017.
Aged 90 years.
Most recognized for: His breakthrough 1967 documentary “Festival” covered the Newport Folk Festival over 4 years… and captured rare early performances from some of the era’s most prolific acts. Immediately afterward, Murray got into a groove (or rut, depending on how you look at it) of cranking out rock docs about the Isle of Wight Festival‘s 1968-1970 run… and eventually, milked that cow dry.
Gastone Moschin –
Actor, Italian, US cinema one hit wonder.
June 8, 1929 – September 4, 2017.
Aged 88 years.
Most recognized for: In the Godfather II, he played the neighborhood extortionist Don Fanucci, also referred to as the ‘Black Hand.’ Although his US screen time was cut short by De Niro, he was an award winning actor in Italian film & TV. If he’d leaned to speak English, he could have done more that just ‘wet his beak’ in Hollywood.
Dave Hlubeck –
Guitarist, songwriter, Southern man.
August 28, 1951 – September 3, 2017.
Aged 66 years.
Most recognized for: Not only did he found Southern rock band Molly Hatchet in 1971, he was also the principal songwriter for all their hits… including the all-too-familiar “Flirtin’ with Disaster.” After leaving the band in ’86, he returned to lend what little credibility an “only original member” could to a rag-tag cover band calling themselves Molly Hatchet… which was last seen playing on the suburban Catholic church festival circuit.