Departed Cultural Icons 2023

[von Corax]

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Caribbean-American pop star, he popularized Jamaican mento folk songs which was marketed as Trinbagonian Calypso musical style with an international audience in the 1950s.

Harry Belafonte, legendary performer and activist, dead at 96

[Sir Henry]

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Caribbean-American pop star, he popularized Jamaican mento folk songs which was marketed as Trinbagonian Calypso musical style with an international audience in the 1950s.

Harry Belafonte, legendary performer and activist, dead at 96

One thing about his songs that I loved was that the lyrics tended to have strong social messages that were hidden in the joy of them. His most famous song (at least over here), Day-O The Banana Boat Song is about working all night at the plantation, trying to avoid the poisonous spiders and then having to wait for the foreman to count up what has been picked as the workers are paid per bunch.

(I made the mistake of looking at the lyrics of Shaggy's cover of the song. It's all about partying all night...  )

[von Corax]

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Caribbean-American pop star, he popularized Jamaican mento folk songs which was marketed as Trinbagonian Calypso musical style with an international audience in the 1950s.

Harry Belafonte, legendary performer and activist, dead at 96

One thing about his songs that I loved was that the lyrics tended to have strong social messages that were hidden in the joy of them. His most famous song (at least over here), Day-O The Banana Boat Song is about working all night at the plantation, trying to avoid the poisonous spiders and then having to wait for the foreman to count up what has been picked as the workers are paid per bunch.

(I made the mistake of looking at the lyrics of Shaggy's cover of the song. It's all about partying all night...  )

By his own description he wasn't a performer who became an activist, he was an activist who became a performer.

[Synistor 303]

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Caribbean-American pop star, he popularized Jamaican mento folk songs which was marketed as Trinbagonian Calypso musical style with an international audience in the 1950s.

Harry Belafonte, legendary performer and activist, dead at 96

One thing about his songs that I loved was that the lyrics tended to have strong social messages that were hidden in the joy of them. His most famous song (at least over here), Day-O The Banana Boat Song is about working all night at the plantation, trying to avoid the poisonous spiders and then having to wait for the foreman to count up what has been picked as the workers are paid per bunch.

(I made the mistake of looking at the lyrics of Shaggy's cover of the song. It's all about partying all night...  )

By his own description he wasn't a performer who became an activist, he was an activist who became a performer.

I think you will find he was working all night loading bananas on a boat - can't work at night on the plantation as you would have to be able to see what you were doing.

[Sir Henry]

I think you will find he was working all night loading bananas on a boat - can't work at night on the plantation as you would have to be able to see what you were doing.

Fair enough. Still, he was hefting 6/7/8 foot bunches of bananas all night rather than partying like Shaggy.

[Synistor 303]

I think you will find he was working all night loading bananas on a boat - can't work at night on the plantation as you would have to be able to see what you were doing.

Fair enough. Still, he was hefting 6/7/8 foot bunches of bananas all night rather than partying like Shaggy.

Yep, and no doubt the work was far worse than working in daylight hours, where at least you can see the tarantulas...

Of course down here our banana growers/harvesters have to contend with angry brown snakes as well as spiders. They also have other work/life options if they really don't want to continue that work.

Traditionally, a Queenslanders first job was always in the banana-bending factory.

[von Corax]

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. CC OOnt (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and was known internationally as a folk-rock legend. Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."

Canadian folk music icon Gordon Lightfoot dead at 84

[von Corax]

Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was an American-born and naturalized Swiss singer, dancer, actress, and author. Widely referred to as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer.

CBC: Tina Turner, powerhouse singer dubbed the queen of rock 'n' roll, dead at 83

[von Corax]

If you are of an age to remember the popularity of bossa nova in the 1960s, you will know the song "The Girl from Ipanema." The singer who made that song famous, Astrud Gilberto (29 March 1940 – 5 June 2023), passed away on Monday.

[J. Wilhelm]

If you are of an age to remember the popularity of bossa nova in the 1960s, you will know the song "The Girl from Ipanema." The singer who made that song famous, Astrud Gilberto (29 March 1940 – 5 June 2023), passed away on Monday.

You beat me to it. It's sad, but most people today will say "Bossa-what?"

Astrud, together with João Gilberto, Luis Bonfa, all from Brazil, and American saxophonist Stan Getz, were at the epicenter of the birth of a new Jazz Genre called Bossa Nova, which is a blend of Brazilian "Samba" and American "Cool Jazz." The genre became popular in the US and around the world in the 1960s, but by the 70s it died out in the US and continued as a "national music" of sorts in Brazil.  During the early 2000s it was reborn into a new genre called "New Bossa" or"Electronic Bossa Nova" which blended Acid Jazz with Bossa Nova and was popularized by Bebel Gilberto, the American born daughter of João Gilberto and Brazilian singer Miucha.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sVdaFQhS86E

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxd4LKSecEM

[RJBowman]

Not every cultural icon is a hero:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/unabomber-ted-kaczynski-found-dead-jail-cell/story?id=99984583

The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is dead.

[J. Wilhelm]

I don't know if this man could be a cultural icon, but he might as well be, because we all use his co-invention every day.

Dr. John Goodenough from my alma mater (and whom I knew personally, though never taught me) passed away at the age of 100. He's the co-inventor of the Lithium Ion battery together with two other scientists and they were awarded the Nobel Price of Chemistry for their work recently. Just before the pandemic, his graduate students were working on solid electrolyte batteries which promise to triple the energy storage of Lithium Ion batteries and it also prevents the formation of string like metallic "dendrites" that tend to form over time inside the liquid electrolytes of batteries and which make a old charged battery short circuit and ignite.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/ut-professor-john-goodenough-worlds-oldest-nobel-prize-recipient-dies-aged-100/amp/

[Sorontar]

When I saw him mentioned on the news, I thought
- Got a Nobel Prize for his scientific contributions to society
- Lasted till 100 years old

After all of that, I certainly would consider his life to have been good enough in name and nature.

Sorontar

[von Corax]

Popular and renowned Canadian sex educator Sue Johanson, host of the radio shows Sunday Night Sex Show and Talk Sex with Sue Johanson, has died at the age of 93.

Sue Johanson, beloved Canadian sex educator, dead at 93
Sex educator Sue Johanson 'broke all the rules — and it was fabulous,' says daughter
Remembering Sue Johanson, Canada's no-nonsense sex-ed pioneer

[von Corax]

Alan Wolf Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter. In a career spanning eight decades, he received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. For his work on television, he received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Alan Arkin, Oscar-winning character actor known for Little Miss Sunshine and Argo, dead at 89

[J. Wilhelm]

American singer Tony Bennett has died at age 96. May he rest in piece.

Wiki:
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett amassed many accolades throughout his career, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He was named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree, and was the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York. Bennett has sold more than 50 million records worldwide.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r6DUwMnDxEs

[rovingjack]

a complicated and controversial one but in the words of captain jack sparrow, "but you have heard of me." Sinéad O'Connor has passed away at the age of 56.

[Synistor 303]

a complicated and controversial one but in the words of captain jack sparrow, "but you have heard of me." Sinéad O'Connor has passed away at the age of 56.

Loved her music. Not the least bit controversial to us. Tragic childhood.

[RJBowman]

Paul Reubens passed away today after struggle with cancer. He was the waiter in The Blues Brothers, the arcade owner in Midnight Madness, the Penguin's father in Batman Returns, and the vampire Amilyn in the original film Buffy the Vampire Slayer among numerous other movie roles, but he was best known and will forever be remembered as Pee Wee Herman.

[Rockula]

William David Friedkin (August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023).
American film and television director, producer, and screenwriter.
The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Sorcerer (1977),Cruising (1980) and many others.

[von Corax]

Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson OC (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician, guitarist, songwriter and music producer. He is recognized for his work as lead guitarist for Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s; as guitarist and songwriter with The Band from their inception until 1978, and for his career as a solo recording artist.

[RJBowman]

I was saddened to hear that Arleen Sorkin passed away today. She was the original voice of Harley Quinn. Her passing may not get much press attention but she is much beloved among the fandom.

[Cora Courcelle]

David McCallum 19 Sept 1933 - 25 Sept 2023
Most famous for 'The Man From Uncle', but I enjoyed him most in 'Sapphire and Steel'.

[LukeHogbin]

David McCallum 19 Sept 1933 - 25 Sept 2023
Most famous for 'The Man From Uncle', but I enjoyed him most in 'Sapphire and Steel'.

I loved him as Dr. Mallard "Duck" in NCIS. He will be sorely missed but at least he lived a long and fruitful life. May he rest in peace.

[J. Wilhelm]

Richard Moll, of "Night Court "fame passed away yesterday at age 80.  Honestly, I didn't know that he was still alive. The whole cast except for John Larroquete are gone.