January 16 RIP

Remember a little while ago when we talked about the Battle of Manila, or at least about Admiral Dewey, the US commander who won it?  Well he died on this date in 1917.  He lived to a ripe old age, being a Civil War veteran and all.  We won't recap the whole thing, but he was quite good at his job, and showed talent and courage from an early point in his career. 

Oooooooh, big news.  In 1972, Ross Bagdasarian Sr.  died.  Who, I hear you cry?  He's better known as David Seville.  In the 1950s, he spent almost his last dollar on a new type of tape recorder.  He varied the speed of the tape, and then got a song called "Witch Doctor" out of it.  I presume he made back the money he spent on the recorder.  If not, he surely did a few years later when he decided to name three singing rodents after record company executives Simon Waronker, Ted (or Theodore) Keep, and Alvin Bennett.  Simon, Theodore, and Alvin.  Recognize those names?  Yeah, Big Ross and his son, who I presume is Little Ross made it onto the proverbial gravy train for life after that.  Not that he was a terrible songwriter even for normal music, as he was talented enough to make his squeaky, fast-sounding critters a success, something that his imitators all failed to do.  So good on him.  He was still a relatively young man when he died (early 50s), and eventually Little Ross took up the mantle and has been doing more Chipmunks stuff since then.

Here's one I didn't know about, and sorta care about:  RIP John Morris Rankin of the Rankin Family.  They're one of the better known musical acts to come out of Cape Breton.  John was one of the many Rankin kids, and helped the group make a name.  However, the family as a whole decided to pursue other interests in 1999, and the next year John was killed in a car wreck.  He survived the group by about 4 months, actually.  Too bad.  If you want to hear him (he was sort of second fiddle to his brother Jimmy- ironic since only John played the fiddle) he's featured in the song "You feel the same way too", which is one of their better songs. 

We'll end there- he's the last interesting death, anyway.  And its kind of sad when the person you're noting is someone you are a fan of, and also somebody you didn't really realize was even dead.  Oh well.