Red Around Town, October 2012

Singer Andy Williams has died at the age of 84. Andy appeared here many times at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. He also appeared on a locally produced CBC-TV show hosted by Paul Anka. The last time I saw him was in Branson, MO at his Moon River Theatre. His guest that was Petula Clark. That was five years ago. Andy’s Christmas tradition was a nationally televised Christmas show. He sold millions of recordings in his long career including Butterfly, Can’t Get Used To Losing You, The Days of Wine and Roses and Moon River:

His legacy will be the 14 years of the Andy Williams Show, where he constantly introduced new talent like the Osmond Brothers.  His incredible voice helped him to become one of the most successful ballad singers in pop history.  He will be missed… Heard from Vancouver jazz singer Tammy Weis, who lives in London, that her new album is about to appear. The album is being produced by Tony Platt, who worked with David Bowie and Bob Marley. Some tracks were produced by James Bryan, who produced for Nelly Furtado. Working title is The Long Road Home. Tammy also wrote a song for the forthcoming Michael Bublé CD. Tammy once worked in sales at Vancouver’s Z95.3 radio with Buzz Bishop. Buzz does the mid day show on XL 103 FM in Calgary. On his blog he said he liked one of his boys better than the other. Yes he came out and admitted his preference which was son Zacharie over the younger Charlie. Well, it has gone viral and has been picked up by the international media. Imagine being Charlie! Buzz always knew how to get publicity, but frankly in this case I disagree with him as all children are treasures and one shouldn’t go through life like a Smothers Brothers punch line. In this age of media fluff it has taken off. Personally, I believe in leaving family matters in a private space… Farewell to a Canadian icon: Sam “The Record Man” Sniderman who created a monster record store (remember records?) in Toronto, and later swept the country with many stores in major markets has died at 92. He was recognized as a major driving force for Canadian content on radio in its early days. Sam is in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, he is a member of the Order of Canada and won the Governor General’s Award. That famous Yonge street address will live on in memory… Old associate Jerry Dennon, who created Jerden Records and later Sound Source, has his companies up for sale. Jerry was responsible for Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen becoming a national hit. It almost became the theme for the state of Washington.

Jerden made hits from 1960 through 1969 and his catalogue sales have always been popular. An era passes… When the latest James Bond movie hits the silver screen you will recognize the singer on the soundtrack as Adele. This Bond movie is titled Skyfall and stars Daniel Craig… I get many calls asking if the Beach Boys will be coming to town. The answer is a definitive NO. The band decided to break up after their show in London. There is no love lost between Mike Love and Al Jardine. The bickering continues but the tour has ended.