Echoes Artists Who Left the Planet in 2016
We’ve lost many artists this year, and many who have contributed to the soundscape of Echoes over our 27 years. Some of them are icons of our age: David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, George Martin, Keith Emerson & Greg Lake. Others ploughed idioscyncratic and experimental terrain, crushing the envelope of contemporary music: Pauline Oliveros, Don Buchla, Tony Conrad. While others just made some great music. Most of these are Echoes artists, but there are a couple, like Gato Barbieri, who were just important to me I have a Spotify Playlist below: Ascension-Deaths in 2016. Hopefully there will be no additions.
Passenger Manifest for Last Ascension Ship Out of 2016
Lemmy (December 24, 1945 – December 28, 2015) of Motorhead & Hawkwind (technically died in 2015, but as Lemmy Kilmister might say, “Close enough for Rock and Roll” or alternatively, “Who gives a fuck.” Represented on Spotify by Hawkwind.
Paul Bley (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016)
Pierre Boulez (March 26, 1925 – January 5, 2016)
David Bowie (January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016)
Giorgio Gomelsky (February 28,1934 –January 13, 2016) (Producer Yardbirds, Soft Machine, Material, represented on Spotify by The Soft Machine)
Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016)
Signe Toly Anderson of Jefferson Airplane (September 15, 1941 – January 28, 2016)
George Martin (Represented by The Beatles (January 3, 1926 – March 8, 2016)
Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (November 2, 1944 – March 11, 2016)
Gato Barbieri ( November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016)
Tony Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016)
Prince (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) (missing from Spotify)
Isao Tomita (April 22, 1932 – May 5, 2016)
Jack Miller (1937 – May 12, 1953 (producer/engineer) Represented on Spotify by R. Carlos Nakai)
Attrel Cordes/Prince Be of PM Dawn (May 15, 1970 – June 17, 2016)
Chris Squire of Yes (March 4, 1948 – June 27, 2015)
Rob Wasserman (April 1, 1952 – June 29, 2016)
Alan Vega of Suicide (June 23, 1938 – July 16, 2016)
Roy Albrighton of Nektar (July 26, 2016)
Bobby Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016)
Gilli Smyth of Gong (June 1, 1933 – August 22, 2016)
Rudy Van Gelder (Engineer, represented on Spotify by John Coltrane) (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016)
Don Buchla (April 17, 1937 – September 14, 2016)
Jean-Jacques Perrey (January 20, 1929 – November 4, 2016)
Leonard Cohen (September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016)
Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016)
Allan Zavod (Frank Zappa) (October 16 , 1945 –November 29 2016)
Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (November 10, 1947 – December 7, 2016)
Bob Krasnow (Elektra Records) (July 20, 1934 – December 11, 2016)
Alphonse Mouzon (November 21, 1948 – December 25, 2016)
Debbie Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) (Yes, nothing to do with Echoes, but I listened to “Tammy” endlessly when I was 5)
How could you forget Leon Russell who died suddenly in November?
We didn’t forget Leon. It’s just that he wasn’t somebody who we played on Echoes. (Yes, neither was Lemmy, but he was a member of Hawkwind who we’ve played and who is part of the DNA of the show.)
What about Pierre Boulez? I know his classical and jazz works were what he was most known for. However, surely one of his works with electronica should’ve been played at least once on Echoes.
You’re right. Boulez was missed. I’ll put him on it.
Good to see you recognize Alan Vega. Saw little coverage on his death.