The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (391 page)

JUNE

Saturday 5

Tony Peluso

(California, 28 March 1950)

The Carpenters

(Paul Revere & The Raiders)

(Various acts)

Starting out as founder of sixties pop band The Abstracts, singer, writer, guitarist and producer Tony Peluso forged a prestigious path behind some big names in pop music. Later in the decade the musician found an occasional home with ever-evolving US favourites Paul Revere & The Raiders–however, he had to wait until the seventies to enjoy chart success.

Peluso may not have been a ‘Carpenter’ by name, but he did much to shape the duo’s sound during their seventies heyday. Karen having called him personally, Peluso accepted the invitation to play lead behind the brother-and-sister duo, recording the powerful solo and coda to ‘Goodbye to Love’ (1972, US/UK Top Ten) ‘ as The Carpenters went supernova. Following this, he became a full-time touring member of The Carpenters’ set-up. (Peluso’s voice can also be heard as an alien broadcaster on The Carpenters’ British Top Ten hit version of ‘Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft’ (1977).)

On Karen’s passing
(
February 1983
), Peluso began producing at Motown, his impressive credits including major hits for Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops and The Temptations. Peluso was particularly active during the eighties, overseeing recordings by a number of other US pop and Latin acts, and earning himself a quantity of silver and gold discs. He also hauled an impressive four Grammys, the last of which came just a few years before his passing, Peluso and Argentine musician Gustavo Santaolalla recording the soundtrack to the popular 2005 movie
Brokeback Mountain.
Tony Peluso died from heart disease in Los Angeles.

Sunday 6

Marvin Isley

(Cincinnati, Ohio, 18 August 1953)

The Isley Brothers

The sudden death of young Vernon Isley
(
Pre-1965
) made Marvin the youngest of the musical Isley brothers. As yet, he was too young to take part in the developing family vocal group–a venture that, after the tragedy, so nearly hadn’t happened. Instead, while the original Isley Brothers were slowly becoming stars with Motown, bassist Marvin–with brother Ernie (drums) and brother-in-law Chris Jasper (keyboards)–fashioned a rhythm section. This New Jersey-based unit were to join his singing brothers to create The Isley Brothers band by the end of the 1960s.

The combined group really made its name with the platinum
3+3
album (1973, T-Neck), a record that spawned evocative hits in ‘That Lady’ (1973, US Top Ten; UK Top Twenty), ‘Highways of My Life’ (1974, UK Top Forty) and ‘Summer Breeze’ (1974, UK Top Twenty). The Isleys reached their zenith with
The Heat Is On,
a double-platinum record containing the hit ‘Fight the Power’ (1975, US Top Five; US R & B number one); ‘Harvest for the World’ then gave the group a UK Top Ten hit the following year. Although their pop profile was to diminish over the next couple of years, The Isleys scored regular R & B chart-toppers and briefly embraced disco to some effect during the late seventies. The group mutated again in 1984, the three instrumentalists forming Isley Jasper Isley, who also performed extremely well in the specialist listings, their memorable ‘Caravan of Love’ topping the R & B charts in 1985. This was followed by the sad and sudden passing of O’Kelly Isley
(
March 1986
).

The loss understandably prefaced another coming-together of the family group; however it saw yet another reinvention, and yet more commercial success. The brothers’ ability to reshape themselves to fit fashion was shown yet again as they signed with happening label Def Soul and collaborated with popular R & B star R Kelly. There was to be further sadness, however. Marvin Isley had developed diabetes at this time, which, tragically, required the amputation of both of his legs in 1997; this effectively ended his career with The Isley Brothers.

The bassist rallied for some years with his disability, but it was from complications of the disease that Isley passed away at Chicago’s Weiss Memorial Hospital.

Monday 7

Stuart Cable

(Aberdare, South Wales, 19 May 1970)

Stereophonics

(Various acts)

In his own sweet way, Stuart Cable lived a rock ‘n’ roll life, and–just three weeks after his fortieth birthday– died a rock ‘n’ roll death. Drummer Cable was one of the founder members of big-selling Welsh rockers Stereophonics, forming the band in his adopted home village of Cwmaman with singer/guitarist Kelly Jones and bassist Richard Jones (no relation).

With a band name borrowed from the Cable-family gramophone, Stereophonics made it big at a time when Welsh pop music was at its most fertile (Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia, Super Furry Animals, etc). Around the turn of the millennium they were arguably the biggest of them all in Britain, having scored multiplatinum albums with
Word Gets Around
(1997),
Performance and Cocktails
(1999) and
Just Enough Education to Perform
(2001)–plus a consistent string of major hit singles. But, despite some US-friendly titles such as ‘Have a Nice Day’ (2001) and ‘Dakota’ (2005–the group’s one British charttopping single), Stereophonics found it harder to break America any further than the Modern Rock charts.

However, Cable’s other commit-ments–and an increasing alcohol and drug habit–saw the drummer dismissed on somewhat bad terms by Jones and Jones in 2003, who replaced him with Javier Weyler. The always-affable Cable took it in his stride, presenting his own radio programmes plus the television showcase
Cable TV
(scripted, coincidentally, by the author of this book). He was never far from his drum kit, however, playing with a number of bands including Killing For Company, who opened for The Who on a Welsh tour. The drummer had been due to appear with the group at the annual Download Festival–but this never happened.

Stuart Cable had presented his BBC radio show as usual on the evening of 6 June (ironically while his old band played before 30,000 fans in Cardiff) before setting off on a marathon drinking session at his local pub and then at home. It appears that the musician choked on his own vomit, as he was found dead in his bed at seven o’clock the following morning.

Golden Oldies #115

Crispian St Peters

(Robin Smith–Swanley, Kent, England, 5 April 1939)

(Various acts)