Post by Rob Durkee on Mar 5, 2010 21:36:28 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Two lead singers for 1970's groups who each had two top 40 hits passed away on Thursday, March 4, 2010, according to Claire Noland of the Los Angeles Times.
Lolly Vegas, the lead singer of Native American band Redbone, died in his sleep at his home in Reseda in California's San Fernando Valley. He was 70.
Ron Banks, the lead singer of the Dramatics, died of an apparent heart attack at his Detroit home. He was 58.
Vegas had been suffering from lung cancer and had been in poor health since suffering a stroke 15 years ago, according to the group's manager Michael Stone. Redbone was most famous for the song "Come And Get Your Love," which peaked at #5 on its Cash Box pop chart run. The song spent 22 weeks on the Cash Box chart, earning enough popularity to rank as the #2 song for 1974. "Show And Tell" by Al Wilson was named Cash Box's top single for that year.
Redbone first broke through on the pop music scene with "Maggie," which twice made the Cash Box chart but never climbed higher than #60. The group then had a modest #19 hit with "Witch Queen Of New Orleans." The group's only other Cash Box pop chart it was 1974's "Suzie Girl," which reached #76.
Vegas was born on October 2, 1939, in Coalinga, California and grew up in Fresno. He and his brother, Pat, performed as Pat and Lolly Vegas in the 1960's and wrote the song "Nikki Hoeky" for P.J. Proby. Redbone's members often performed in Native American clothes and pointed out their native American Indian roots with songs like "We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee."
Banks was born on May 10, 1951. He and his group, the Dramatics, formed in Detroit in 1962. They were first known as the Dynamics but changed their name to the Dramatics in 1967, according to Wikipedia. The group burst onto the pop music scene in late 1971 with the #14 hit, "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get." The group's biggest hit, though, was the 1972 ballad "In The Rain," which reached #3 on the Cash Box pop chart and would rank at #55 for the year.
The Dramatics had 10 other Cash Box pop chart singles that failed to reach the Top 40. The biggest among them was 1975's "Me And Mrs. Jones," a remake that would peak at #46. The group also had over 30 hits on the R&B chart.
Two lead singers for 1970's groups who each had two top 40 hits passed away on Thursday, March 4, 2010, according to Claire Noland of the Los Angeles Times.
Lolly Vegas, the lead singer of Native American band Redbone, died in his sleep at his home in Reseda in California's San Fernando Valley. He was 70.
Ron Banks, the lead singer of the Dramatics, died of an apparent heart attack at his Detroit home. He was 58.
Vegas had been suffering from lung cancer and had been in poor health since suffering a stroke 15 years ago, according to the group's manager Michael Stone. Redbone was most famous for the song "Come And Get Your Love," which peaked at #5 on its Cash Box pop chart run. The song spent 22 weeks on the Cash Box chart, earning enough popularity to rank as the #2 song for 1974. "Show And Tell" by Al Wilson was named Cash Box's top single for that year.
Redbone first broke through on the pop music scene with "Maggie," which twice made the Cash Box chart but never climbed higher than #60. The group then had a modest #19 hit with "Witch Queen Of New Orleans." The group's only other Cash Box pop chart it was 1974's "Suzie Girl," which reached #76.
Vegas was born on October 2, 1939, in Coalinga, California and grew up in Fresno. He and his brother, Pat, performed as Pat and Lolly Vegas in the 1960's and wrote the song "Nikki Hoeky" for P.J. Proby. Redbone's members often performed in Native American clothes and pointed out their native American Indian roots with songs like "We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee."
Banks was born on May 10, 1951. He and his group, the Dramatics, formed in Detroit in 1962. They were first known as the Dynamics but changed their name to the Dramatics in 1967, according to Wikipedia. The group burst onto the pop music scene in late 1971 with the #14 hit, "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get." The group's biggest hit, though, was the 1972 ballad "In The Rain," which reached #3 on the Cash Box pop chart and would rank at #55 for the year.
The Dramatics had 10 other Cash Box pop chart singles that failed to reach the Top 40. The biggest among them was 1975's "Me And Mrs. Jones," a remake that would peak at #46. The group also had over 30 hits on the R&B chart.