“Legendary songwriter Nick Ashford - who penned some of music’s best known rock and soul classics with his wife - has died.
The 70-year-old Motown giant died in a New York City hospital, his publicist Liz Rosenberg said today.
He had been suffering from throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment.
Ashford was one-half of the songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson who helped sell millions of records for some of the world’s biggest artists.”
Waist
“Blessed with a six (“and a half,” he was quick to note) octave voice, Darryl had been ill for the last several months, which lead to several benefits held on his behalf in the Chicagoland area. He first came to prominence following the early (and completely unexpected) success in the United Kingdom of “Love Can’t Turn Around”; the track was one of the few re-issues in House Music to become a hit twice when the 1997 re-release with Farley Jackmaster Funk reached the Top 40 Billboard chart in the UK.”
Waist
“With a style similar to Moodymann’s take on Detroit tech-house as a melange of distorted disco-funk and boogie, Theo Parrish originally grew up in Chicago but moved to the Motor City by the time of his late-1996 Baby Steps EP on Elevate Records, a subsidiary of 7th City. From the EP, his Chicago tribute “Lake Shore Drive” later appeared on the Kenny Dixon/Moodymann release “Inspirations of a Small Black Church,” and Parrish also worked on tracks by Rick Wilhite, Dewayne Davis and Norma Jean Bell. He continued through 1997 with singles for his own Sound Signature label plus Music 15 and Filth. In late 1998, Peacefrog released two Theo Parrish LPs, both of which were issued on CD as First Floor. Also a stellar DJ, Parrish is renowned around Detroit for his sets of downtempo jazz-funk and disco.”
Waist
“Morricone has received two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, five BAFTAs during 1979–1992, seven David di Donatello, eight Nastro d’Argento, and the Polar Music Prize in 2010. In 2007, he received the Academy Honorary Award “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music”. The composer also has been nominated for five Oscars in the category of Best Original Score during 1979–2001, but has never won competitively.”
Waist
“Octave One is a group of American Techno musicians composed of siblings Lenny Burden and Lawrence Burden, sometimes associated with their three other brothers, Lorne Burden, Lynell Burden and Lance Burden. In 1989, The band debuted on Derrick May’s Transmat record label with the single “I Believe”. In 1990, “I Believe” was included on the compilation Techno 2: The Next Generation (10 Records). Also In 1990, with their brother Lynell, they formed the record label 430 West Records to release the vinyl record Octave One “The Octivation EP”. Octave One have remixed recordings for Massive Attack, Joey Negro, DJ Rolando, Steve Bug, John Thomas, The Trammps, Rhythm is Rhythm, and Inner City. In 2000, Octave One released their most commercially successful recording, “Blackwater”. In 2002, “Blackwater” was remixed by the band with a reworked live string arrangement performed by the Urban Soul Orchestra in London, England. The single was re-released by Concept Music (United Kingdom), Ministry of Sound/Voidcom (Germany), Vendetta Records (Spain), and Tinted (Australia) in the same year. It peaked at #47 (February 2002) and #69 (September 2002) in the UK Singles Chart.”
Zip
“He never sold as many records as some of the other Chicago house producers, but Larry Heard is arguably the best to come out of the scene, providing the crucial marriage between the warmth and communal feeling of disco with the energy and futurism of house music. His classic mid-’80s singles on Trax Records — as Larry Heard and Mr. Fingers, as well as Fingers Inc. with the addition of vocalists Ron Wilson and Robert Owens — set the template for every house-influenced producer to come later, and scores of dance artists have name-checked him as providing the best moments in house music’s history. Unlike many of his Chicago house contemporaries, Heard’s discography is quite large, with several albums released under each of his three major pseudonyms, plus several albums during the ’90s recorded as by Larry Heard. “
Waist
Waist
