Read MoreGreg Kihn Band
Speaking of 80s, The Greg Kihn Band had two big hits ("The Breakup Song" and "Jeopardy"), which you can probably hear live at one of their show. Oddly enough, he is releasing a novel called Rubber Soul
…
As you know, I am a pretty big fan of The Greg Kihn Band. They have two big hit songs, ‘The Breakup Song’ and ‘Jeopardy’... and both of them were co-written by Steve Wright! We’ve just learned that he recently died of a heart attack, according to gregkihn.com.
Greg Kihn wrote:
My soul brother and songwriting partner, Steve Wright, has passed away. He died of a heart attack on January 16, 2017 (Monday) at 1:00am at UC Davis Hospital in Sacramento, California.
Steve and I started the Greg Kihn Band back in 1975 and we were like brothers. We composed all the hits like “Jeopardy,” “Lucky,” and “The Breakup Song,” and dozens of others. Steve was the driving force behind the band and always kept it fresh and new. We had many adventures over the years and lived our lives to the fullest.
(excerpt)
I’ll always remember the day in 1983 when he dropped by my house to show his new toy, a new-fangled battery powered Casio keyboard with a built-in drum machine. It had a cheesy clavinet sound and Steve played me a riff he just wrote. I heard the now infamous riff from “Jeopardy.” What happened next was magic. I spontaneously started singing “our love’s in jeopardy, baby, whoo-who-hoo.” That song wrote itself in about 15 minutes. It was as if the song was floating around in the air and we just snatched it up. Magic! Steve was always sensitive to the magic.
To the millions of fans around the world who loved Steve’s music, I say go back and listen to the albums. Listen to the sound of his genius.
Steve was a life partner for the greatest years of my life, and I’ll always love him. My career certainly wouldn’t have been the same without songs like “Jeopardy” and “Breakup.” Of the five original guys who cut “Breakup Song,” only two remain, Larry Lynch and me.
Good-bye Steve, I’ll miss you, my brother. It’s been a hell of a ride. I’ll see you in the next life. Have fun jamming with all the greats in Heaven.
They sure don’t write ‘em like they used to... and hey, if “Weird Al” Yankovic parodied one of your songs, you’ve got it made.
Below are more deaths for the month of January - for the full death list: Musicians who died in 2017.
January (40)
[16 Jan 2017] Steve Wright (American bass guitarist for The Greg Kihn Band), heart attack
[16 Jan 2017] Franz Jarnach (German musician from The Rattles), 72, heart attack
[15 Jan 2017] Thandi Klaasen (South African jazz singer), 86, pancreatic cancer
[15 Jan 2017] Richard Divall (Australian conductor and musicologist), 71
[15 Jan 2017] Greg Trooper (American singer-songwriter), 61, pancreatic cancer
[14 Jan 2017] Yama Buddha (Nepalese rapper), 29, suicide
[13 Jan 2017] Dick Gautier (singer, actor on Get Smart and Bye Bye Birdie), 85
[13 Jan 2017] Mark Fisher (British writer, music journalist for The Wire), 48, suicide
[13 Jan 2017] Muhammad Fachroni (Indonesian singer of Project Pop), 44, diabetes
[13 Jan 2017] Horacio Guarany (Argentine folkloric singer and writer), 91
[13 Jan 2017] Anton Nanut (Slovenian conductor of classical music), 84
[13 Jan 2017] Magic Alex (Greek British engineer for EMI), 74
[12 Jan 2017] Meir Banai (Israeli singer), 55, cancer
[12 Jan 2017] Milton Metz (American radio and television host), 95
[12 Jan 2017] Larry Steinbachek (English keyboardist of Bronski Beat), 56
[11 Jan 2017] Tommy Allsup (American rockabilly and swing musician), 85
[11 Jan 2017] Tony Booth (British poster artist, including The Beatles), 83, cancer
[10 Jan 2017] Buddy Greco (American jazz and pop singer, actor in The Girl Who Knew Too Much and pianist), 90
[09 Jan 2017] Crazy Toones (American rap DJ), 45, heart attack
[09 Jan 2017] Travis Peterson (American music video director), 40
[08 Jan 2017] Buddy Bregman (American arranger, producer, and composer), 86
[08 Jan 2017] Peter Sarstedt (English singer-songwriter), 75, progressive supranuclear palsy
[07 Jan 2017] Eddie Kamae (American musician for Sons of Hawaii), 89
[07 Jan 2017] Jerzy Kossela (Polish guitarist and vocalist Niebiesko-Czarni), 74
[07 Jan 2017] Nat Hentoff (Jazz critic for Village Voice), 91, natural causes
[06 Jan 2017] Johnny Dick (Australian drummer for John Paul Young, Fanny Adams), 73
[06 Jan 2017] Sylvester Potts (American soul singer for The Contours), 78
[05 Jan 2017] Dave Franklin (punk band Vision), 47, unknown
[05 Jan 2017] Géori Boué (French soprano, known for Thaïs opera), 99, not known
[04 Jan 2017] Mike Gaborno (aka Gabby Gaborno; singer of Cadillac Tramps, Manic Hispanic), 51, liver cancer
[04 Jan 2017] Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan (Indian sitar player and composer), 89, cardiac arrest
[04 Jan 2017] Bade Fateh Ali Khan (Pakistani singer), 82, lung disease
[04 Jan 2017] Georges Prêtre (French orchestral and opera conductor), 92
[04 Jan 2017] Vlastimir Trajković (Serbian composer), 69
[03 Jan 2017] Sam Lovullo (producer and casting director for Hee Haw), 88, not given
[02 Jan 2017] Auriel Andrew (Australian country musician), 69
[02 Jan 2017] Barbara Fei (費明儀) (Chinese opera singer), 85
[02 Jan 2017] Anand Yankaran (Chutney singer), suspected heart attack
[01 Jan 2017] Stuart Hamilton (Canadian musician and broadcaster, first music director of Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble), 87, unknown
[01 Jan 2017] Memo Morales (Venezuelan singer), 79, heart attack
vu (vu@weheartmusic.com)
♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic