Cleaning out the Inbox-Musical Passings

    It's not often that we have enough tributes at one time to devote to the musical world, but sadly, there has been a run of passings from that world.

Goodbye to Tom Lehrer at the age of 97.

A musical parodist in the fifties and sixties, Lehrer influenced many in the world of music and comedy with his songs, which often poked fun at news items and popular culture.

Lehrer entered semi-retirement from music in the early seventies, preferring a career in education, teaching mathematics and musical theatre, but wrote and performed a few songs for the children's show "The Electric Company" that so many of my era recall fondly.

Lehrer worked for the NSA (National Security Agency) in the fifties and claimed to have invented the "Jello Shot" there to circumvent his base's alcohol restriction.

Goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne at the age of 76.

The frontman for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Osbourne had a successful solo career after leaving Black Sabbath and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath.

Between the two, Osbourne sold over one hundred million albums and later became a reality television star with his wife, Sharon.

Osborne also appeared at WrestleMania 2 as the cornerman for the British Bulldogs in their tag team title victory over Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake.

Goodbye to Connie Francis at the age of 87.

Francis sold over one hundred million records during her career, was the first woman to hit number one on the Top 100 chart, and was the first woman to hit number one three times among her 53 hits.

Hits such as "Who's Sorry Now," "Stupid Cupid," and "Lipstick on Your Collar" were all part of the Francis sound, and until the British invasion, Francis was the most popular female singer in the country.

Goodbye to Chuck Mangione at the age of 85.

Mangione's 1978 hit "Feels So Good" reached number four on the charts as a rare instrumental hit, and he continued to create instrumentals, including several themes used during the Olympics.

Mangione is also known for his cameos on "King of the Hill" as the celebrity endorser for the department store "Mega Lo Mart".

Cleaning out the Inbox: Non-Sports Passings

 The tributes to recent passings continue with a non-sports version.

Goodbye to Raquel Welch at the age of 82.

Welch wound up being remembered more as a sex symbol than her actual acting, which I've always thought was a shame because while she wasn't an elite-level thespian, she was far from wooden and deserved better than most of the dreadful films in that she starred.

Welch didn't have many classic films but a pre-school R.S. was smitten with the actress (showing even then that your author had wonderful taste) and I remember her pillow and poster available in the back of the first comic books that I recall reading.

An early memory involved me wanting to see Welch's roller derby film "Kansas City Bomber" in 1972 at the age of four.

Now I knew nothing of roller derby or anything one or anything else about the film (it was rated PG for the record) but I wanted to see Raquel Welch and I remember my aunt and uncle taking me to the long-defunct Hager Drive-In to see that film, which I likely haven't seen since it's occasional "late show" viewings when I still lived at home.

It's a good memory involving people that I don't see often anymore and whenever I would see Raquel Welch mentioned or seen on television, it was Kansas City Bomber that I thought about and that trip to the drive-in.

Goodbye to Stella Stevens at the age of 84.

The mother of actor Andrew Stevens, Stella Stevens appeared in many roles in television and film with notable roles in "Girls Girls Girls" with Elvis Presley, the original "Nutty Professor" with Jerry Lewis, the "Courtship of Eddie's Father" with Glenn Ford, with Dean Martin in "The Silencers", and the original "Poseidon Adventure" with numerous big-name stars.

Stevens transitioned to television in the 1970s and became a regular guest star on just about any hour-long drama that you could think of from the time as well as a staple of the three networks' made-for-television movies.

Goodbye to Lance Kerwin at the age of 62.

The seventies child star was featured in made-for-television films but most notably was the star of James at 15/16, which was broadcast by NBC for one season in 1977-78.

James featured Kerwin as the title character, tackling some controversial subjects of the day, and usually would have James as a Walter Mitty-like character with daydreams that has trouble fitting into his new school after a family move from Portland to Boston.

Despite critical acclaim, the series was canceled after one season and while Kerwin would work steadily for the next few years, Kerwin would never star in a series again, although he did have a key role in a CBS mini-series based on the Stephen King novel Salem's Lot,  and his work seriously declined by the middle-eighties.

Goodbye to Mark Russell at the age of 90.

Russell, known for his political satire set to music, was a staple of PBS from 1975-2004 with usually six specials a year that poked fun at the political news of the day as who I would say was the parody successor to Tom Lehrer.

Russell also made appearances on the NBC program "Real People" in the early eighties, the six episodes of the CBS variety show "The Starland Vocal Band Show" ( I didn't even know that!), and would make an annual appearance on "Meet the Press" on the Sunday before Labor Day.

However, my favorite Mark Russell moment wasn't even a Mark Russell appearance.

A TRS favorite sitcom "NewsRadio" had an episode where Phil Hartman as "Bill McNeal" spent the day impersonating Russell around the office, including in an elevator!

Hartman was asked in the episode if he was impersonating Russell and he responded "I don't think I'm familiar with that name"!

Cleaning out the inbox-Non-Sports Edition

The non-sports edition of the inbox features quite a few interesting notes...

Buzzfeed looks at the comet-like career of acerbic musical comedian Tom Lehrer.
The now 86 (or 88 depending on your source) year old Lehrer isn't quite a recluse,but he also isn't in the public eye and hasn't been so very often over the last 50 or so years.
One thing that I didn't know about Lehrer is that he briefly wrote for the PBS show The Electric Company in the 1970's,which was such a staple of school children during that time.
Lehrer's "It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier" was parodied in Ball Four as "Makes a fellow proud to be an Astro"
John Edwards may drink too much and call some long home runs,indeed...
If you've never heard of Lehrer-check out his work on YouTube-think of Mark Russell crossed with Weird Al Yankovic,If you are twisted,like me,I think you'll love it...

Joe Plum sends us this interesting note from Noisey on the wave that was Morrissey and his fans takeover of the most traditional of Hollywood's kingmaker-the Johnny Carson version of the Tonight Show.
I never saw this (As readers should know,I was a Letterman guy),but it looked like one interesting night as the Morrissey fans basically took over the show and made Carson and Bill Cosby range from angry to uncomfortable!.
Ryan's favorite all time musical act is Morrissey,so I'm sure he found this to be quite funny!

Krista Anderson offers a rare local note that caught my eye as one of our newer parks (Kiwanis Park) is going to be a sanctuary for the Monarch Butterfly,which is seeing its numbers decrease in the Eastern U.S.
I've often talked of setting up some milkweed (the Monarchs preferred food and egg laying site) here,but I never seem to find the plants,although I do faintly remember getting some seeds that must have either gone away or failed to take!

This is a sports note,yet it isn't as UniWatch finds the man responsible for designing a logo that has followed an NBA team through four cities,a name change,multiple colors and now has returned to close to the original design.
Check it out as Robert Grove is found and answers questions about the logo,how it came to be,how much he was paid for it and why he never did another logo....

You all know how much I rave about Strat O Matic baseball,but I never played their football game,which is reported to be a tremendous head to head game.
NFL.com's Marc Sessler writes about the game and what it takes to be a good SOM football player.
It also discusses how SOM football was different than fantasy football and the recent Madden video game versions.
Good Stuff.

Boston,com sends word of the sunken wreck of the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria is in worse shape than expected with the bow of the vessel nearly broken off.
The Doria,which was famously hit by the Swedish ship Stockholm,killing 46 and sunk eleven hours later in 1956,lies 50 miles off the American coast.
The ship is over 240 feet under water and has claimed the lives of 16 visitors to its site.

The Presidential History Blog posts about the death of President Warren Harding.
Harding,who has had his death surrounded by controversy and by conspiracy theorists throughout the years,died of a heart attack in San Francisco in 1923.
This article briefly touches on the conspiracy types,but focuses more on Harding's wife and doctor along with Harding's ailments...

We wrap up with the return of the river herring to the Wynants Kill tributary as the city of Troy,New York has removed a lock to open the Hudson River to various fish that could not reach their natural spawning areas due to the various man-made obstacles from the early 20th century.
The herring quickly returned to the area after an 85 year absence once the lock was popped and as other cities along the river continue to remove these obsolete blockades,more and more native fish will spread across the area.
Stories like this just make sense in an easy effort to revitalize both species and the environment.