New Members of Rock & Roll Heaven, Part One

The number of Rock Era deaths in 2016 came close to 200, more than doubling the record set last year.  We have 17 segments, each of which will be presented within 2 minutes of each other.  They are organized so that they will be in alphabetical order when finished.  

You will be astounded at the depth of the losses this year, and not just from the artists you may have heard from "major" news sites.  Join us for all 16 segments to our feature:



Signe Anderson was an early member of Jefferson Airplane.  Anderson died of a heart condition in Beaverton, Oregon on January 28 at the age of 74.

Anderson was the group's lead singer before Grace Slick joined.

But she gave birth to her first child after the group recorded their debut album, and realized that it would be difficult to raise the child and be on the road as a rock star.  Anderson's last performance was October 15, 1966, and Slick made her debut with the group the following night.  

Robert Bateman, songwriter who wrote the #1 "Please Mr. Postman" for the Marvelettes and other songs for the group and also worked with Wilson Pickett, died October 12 of a heart attack in Los Angeles.

Bateman was 86.

1946:  Lennie Baker, vocalist and saxophonist with Danny & the Juniors and vocalist and saxophone player of Sha Na Na for 30 years, died February 24, 2016 in Weymouth, Massachusetts at age 69.  (Note:  some websites report that Lenny Baker of Sha Na Na was born on this date.  There was no such member of the group; the correct spelling of his name is Lennie.)

The group had an uncanny ability to perform some of the era's best songs and sounding great on them.

David Bowie died January 10 of liver cancer in Manhattan, New York at the age of 69.  He scored six Top 10 hits in his career.

Although he had bigger hits, one of the songs he is best known for is "Changes", an underrated hit in 1975.



Another song Bowie is best known for is "Space Oddity".

Later that year, Bowie and John Lennon teamed up to write "Fame", which Lennon also sang on.

Bowie scored another #1 with "Let's Dance" in 1983.