Don't Fear the Reaper...Unless You're Famous and in Your Eighties

Not a great month to be a revered elder statesman of entertainment, is it?

This morning's announcement that legendary jazz drummer Max Roach had passed away comes fast on the heels of two other music-world departures. Tony Wilson, cofounder of Factory Records and former Granada TV host of And So It Goes, died of a heart attack last Friday after a year-long battle with kidney cancer. The man behind Joy Division, Durutti Column, A Certain Ratio, and The Happy Mondays, Tony was nothing short of a postpunk demigod. Wilson died as he lived: in Manchester. (If you haven't seen Michael Winterbottom's amazing Wilson biopic 24 Hour Party People, please do so immediately.) A mere week before, maverick/genius/svengali producer Lee Hazelwood also succumbed to a long battle with renal cancer. The man behind "Some Velvet Morning," "These Boots Are Made for Walking," and countless others, passed away in Henderson, Nevada.

As you are undoubtedly aware, two of world cinema's leading lights also kicked the bucket recently: Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman called it a wrap on July 30 and 31, respectively. (Read Woody Allen's great New York Times memorial piece on Bergman before they make you pay for it.) Add to that the recent passing of TV impresario Merv Griffin (who apparently died a closeted homosexual... who knew?) and Yankee great Phil Rizzuto, and we're already looking at one hell of a year-end video montage of dead celebrities.

(Full disclosure: I'm not proud of it, but this month has put me ahead in my 2007 dead pool. I had Bergman and Brooke Astor on the list.)

In honor of these fallen heroes, the management presents a solemn selection of MP3s:

Max Roach - "Freedom Day"
Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra - "Some Velvet Morning"
Nine Inch Nails - "Dead Souls" (Joy Division cover)
Belle & Sebastian - "Don't Fear the Reaper" (Live Deep Purple cover)
Slayer - "Angel of Death"
Magnetic Fields - "Epitaph for My Heart"
Gary Numan & Tubeway Army - "Every Day I Die"
The Meters - "Rigor Mortis"
Real Life - "Send Me an Angel"
Europe - "The Final Countdown"