Part three in the annual Heavy Friends series that pays respects to the departed.
Part one October 18
https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/410/72462.html
Part two November 29
https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/410/73046.html
Pictured: Steve Leckie, The Viletones, Crash ‘n’ Burn, Toronto
photo by Isobel Harry
The frontman and founder of Toronto punk rock band The Viletones has died, aged 67. In July 1977, The Viletones joined The Diodes and Teenage Head at CBGB in New York at a showcase featuring "three outrageous punk bands from Toronto, Canada".
"When Steve got up on stage at [punk mecca] CBGBs that hot summer night on July 7, (7-7-77) and he cut his arms open with shards of beer glass picked off the floor, he blew away all the New York poser punk rockers. They had never seen anything like that! He was what they were pretending to be. Steve and I laughed about that night often in the years to come."
- filmmaker Peter Vronsky
https://ca.billboard.com/fyi/steven-leckie-viletones-obituaries
https://youtu.be/HmJIGSKUfPI
(to embiggen the show icon, right-click and choose "Open image in new tab")
| Hour one |
| Tènèsh Kèlbé Lay (Tenesh Kelebe Lie) Muluqèn Mèllèssè (Muluken Melesse sadly passed) - (single) - Amha - 1975 |
| In producing last week's Chance Meeting, marking the 82nd birthday of Ethio-jazz founder Mulatu Astatke, I read about the passing of Muluqèn Mèllèssè, who died in 2024. It's a year late, but if I don't take this opportunity to play his music, who will?
Mèllèssè was a singer and drummer, a member of the Dahlak Band, and rose to fame at a time of enormous political and social unrest in Ethiopia, as the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution gave way to a military dictatorship. The communist Derg assassinated Emperor Haile Selassie. It was tough to be an artist in a country under military rule. There was very heavy censorship. Many musicians left Ethiopia, including Mèllèssè and keyboardist Hailu Mergia, both of whom lived in Washington DC. Mèllèssè was 73. Mulatu Astatke ሙላቱ አስታጥቄ - Chance meeting on a vibraphone of Yèkèrmo Sèw (a man of experience and wisdom) https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/581/73284.html |
| When Fate Deals Its Mortal Blow The Scientists (James Baker sadly passed) - Blood Red River - Au Go Go - 1983 |
| Fade Away Junior Byles (sadly passed) - (single) - Well Charge - 1975 |
| Doctor Marvello Klaatu (Terry Draper sadly passed) - 3:47 E.S.T. - Daffodil - 1976 
|
| The Great Banana Hoax The Electric Prunes (James Lowe sadly passed) - Underground - Reprise - 1967 |
| When I Die Motherlode (Kenny Marco sadly passed) - When I Die - Buddah - 1969
|
| Hang On Sloopy The McCoys (Rick Derringer sadly passed) - Hang On Sloopy - Bang Records - 1965 |
| Monotony Four Horsemen (Paul Dutton sadly passed) - Canadada - Griffin House - 1974
|
| Calypso Frelimo Miles Davis (Al Foster sadly passed) - Get Up With It - Columbia - 1974 |
| Spiral Galaxy 28948 Hawkwind (Simon House sadly passed) - Warrior On The Edge Of Time - United Artists - 1975 |
| ALF Theme Song Alf Clausen (sadly passed) - - Alien Productions, Lorimar Television - 1986 |
| Stella By Starlight 今田勝 Masaru Imada (sadly passed) Trio - Blue Eyes - Yupiteru - 1979 |
| Panne D'Essence Frankie Jordan (sadly passed) & Sylvie Vartan [orig. Floyd Robinson] - (single) - London - 1961 |
| Parlez Moi De Lui Nicole Croisille (sadly passed) - Parlez Moi De Lui - Deram, Spot - 1974 |
| Harima Mandingo Featuring Foday Musa Suso (sadly passed) - Watto Sitta - Celluloid - 1984 |
| London Town Kobo Town (Patrick "PK" Giunta sadly passed) - Where The Galleon Sank - Stonetree Records - 2017
|
| Everyday People Sly and the Family Stone (Sly Stone sadly passed) - Stand! - Epic - 1969 |
| Murderous Nitzer Ebb (Douglas McCarthy sadly passed) - (single) - Power Of Voice Communications - 1986 |
| Two Winds, ◯ Ariel Kalma (sadly passed) & Asa Tone - ◯ - Good Morning Tapes - 2025 |
| Hour two |
| Surf's Up The Beach Boys (Brian Wilson sadly passed) - The Smile Sessions - Capitol - 2011 (rec. 1967) |
| Screaming Fist The Viletones (Steven Leckie sadly passed) - (single) - Vile Records - 1977
|
| Romantische Attacken? Sven-Åke Johansson (sadly passed) - Für Paul Klee - Jazzwerkstatt - 2012 |
| Don't Stop The Music Yarbrough and Peoples (Cavin Yarbrough sadly passed) - The Two Of Us - Mercury - 1980 |
| Barazinbar Assagai (Louis Moholo sadly passed) - Zimbabwe - Philips - 1971 |
| Pour Un Instant Harmonium (Serge Fiori sadly passed) - Harmonium - Celebration - 1974
|
| To The Limit Luís Jardim (Luis Jardim sadly passed) - Jingles 2 Dance And Disorder - Atmosphere - 1986 |
| Devil's High Concern Rare Bird (David Kaffinetti aka David Kaff sadly passed) - (single) - Philips - 1970 |
| On Growing Older Strawbs (Dave Cousins sadly passed) - Strawberry Music Sampler No.1 - Strawberry Music - 1969 |
| Mister Poussy Raymond Guiot (sadly passed) - Jazz Panorama - Tele Music - 1972 |
| Pretty Little Baby Connie Francis (sadly passed) - Connie Francis Sings - MGM - 1962 |
| Pop singer Connie Francis was the top selling female artist from 1958-64. That style and era of music were supplanted by rock and she soon fell out of fashion.
In May 2025, "Pretty Little Baby" went viral on Tik Tok, garnering over 10 billion cumulative streams and became her #1 song on Spotify, leading to a 7" record. Francis was 24 when she had recorded the song, and was 87 years old when it went viral in 2025. Upon the chart debut of "Pretty Little Baby", she was surprised, as she was previously unfamiliar with social media, remarking "What's viral? What's that?" Her publicist's son assisted in creating an account for her. Francis had initially forgotten the song's existence (she had only remembered it upon listening to it again), but nevertheless thanked her supporters, and was grateful that even kindergarteners had become familiar with her music, describing it as "thrilling". |
| The Elephant The London Double Bass Sound (Gary Karr sadly passed) - The London Double Bass Sound - Cala - 1999 |
| Raindrops Red Wyng (Laura Vinson sadly passed) - First Flight - Royalty - 1977
|
| (Darling) Patricia Owen Gray (sadly passed) - (single) - Island - 1962 |
| Junior Smith's Tribute to Owen Gray on Reggae In The Fields
https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/132/71184.html |
| Crinkly Grin Family (John "Poli" Palmer sadly passed) - Fearless - Reprise - 1971 |
| Point Of View Hal Galper (sadly passed) - The Guerilla Band - Mainstream - 1971 |
| Feels So Good Chuck Mangione (sadly passed) - Feels So Good - A&M - 1977 |
| Chuck Mangione Compilation | King of the Hill
https://youtu.be/TFqp2Bcekwk |
| Twilight Zone Golden Earring (George Kooymans sadly passed) - Cut - Mercury, 21 Records - 1982 |
| All-time excellent 1980s music video
https://youtu.be/msg-inxE8NU |
| Black Sabbath Black Sabbath (Ozzy Osbourne sadly passed) - Black Sabbath - Vertigo - 1970 |
| A Triumph of the Unprivileged: Ozzy Osbourne Remembered
https://thequietus.com/news/remember-them/ozzy-osbourne-obituary/ |
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Hi. I was 15 in 1973, and had my first sound system. Started buying records. Soul and rock. By 1977, i was listening to Chicago, Deodato, and Chuck Mangione. Loved my Chuck Mangione record. I also listened to Supertramp, Peter Frampton and Donovan... Alice Cooper turned me off of rock... RIP Phil Upchurch...
2:40 AM, December 27th, 2025