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The Polyester Ball, Sterlington, LA (2025)

11/04/2025

Actress DIANE LADD has díed. She was 89. The Oscar-nominated actress passed away at her home in Ojai, California, from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease. She appeared in classic films like “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974), “Chinatown” (1974) and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989) during her long career that spanned more than 60 years.

Ladd’s passing was announced in a statement from her daughter, fellow actress Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in several films including “Wild at Heart” (1990) from director David Lynch, where they played mother and daughter, and “Rambling Rose” (1991), which made them the first mother and daughter to be nominated for Oscars for the same film.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” Dern wrote at her mother’s bedside after she passed away. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Bruce Dern, the ex-husband of Ladd and father of Laura, told the “Hollywood Reporter” that Diane was a tremendous actress: “I feel like (she was) a bit of a ‘hidden treasure’ until she ran into (director) David Lynch. When he cast her as Laura’s mom in “Wild at Heart,” it felt like the world then really understood her brilliance. She lived a good life. She saw everything the way it was.”

The Laurel, Mississippi, native’s television career kicked off in the late 1950s and ran through the early 2020s with guest appearances in TV shows such as “77 Sunset Strip,” “Perry Mason,” “The Fugitive,” “Hazel,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Big Valley,” “Alice,” “Touched by an Angel,” “L.A. Law,” “Young Sheldon” and dozens of others.

In the ‘70s Ladd moved to the big screen with starring roles alongside Jack Nicholson in “Chinatown,” and shared billing with Ellen Burstyn in director Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed comedy-drama “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” Her performance in the film earned Diane Ladd a Best Supporting Actress nomination, the first of her three Academy Award noms. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Diane Ladd guest starring in “Gunsmoke” in 1967 (credit: CBS); (left inset) Ladd in a publicity photo in the mid-‘60s (credit: Curt Gunther / TV Guide, via Everett Collection); (right inset) (l-r) Diane Ladd and daughter Laura Dern in 2015 (credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez / WireImage) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

10/28/2025

Remembering actress NANETTE FABRAY. Born on October 27, 1920, in San Diego, California, she played a mom on several 1970s sitcoms including “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Coach” and “One Day at a Time.” Fabray passed away in 2018 at the age of 97 at her home in Palos Verdes, California.

When she was 28-years-old, the actress won a Tony Award for her stage work. By the mid-1950s Fabray was well known to television audiences, winning three Emmy Awards while appearing as a regular on the NBC sketch comedy program “Caesar’s Hour.” She also starred in her own early ‘60s sitcom, “The Nanette Fabray Show.”

The San Diego native remained a familiar TV face for the next several decades, appearing on “The Carol Burnett Show,” “The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,” “Laugh-in,” “Love, American Style,” “The Love Boat,” “Murder, She Wrote” and numerous ‘60s and ‘70s variety shows like “The Dean Martin Show,” “The Hollywood Palace” and “The Andy Williams Show.”

Also in a memorable episode of CBS TV’s “Maude,” Fabray played an old friend of Bea Arthur’s character who had suffered a stroke. In the early ‘90s, Nanette appeared in three episodes of the TV comedy “Coach” along with her real-life niece, Shelley Fabares (Shelley is the same actress who had a brief singing career in 1962, earning a No. 1 song with “Johnny Angel.”)

Nanette Fabray overcame a severe hearing impairment and became a long-time advocate for the rights of persons who are deaf or hearing impaired. Her honors for representing people with disabilities include the President's “Distinguished Service Award” and the “Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award.” She also was the 1986 recipient of the Screen Actors Guild’s “Life Achievement Award,” the acting union’s highest honor. In 1960, Fabray was awarded a star located at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Nanette Fabray in a promo pic for TWA in 1948 (credit: Keystone Press); (inset) Fabray in 2000 (credit: John O’Hara/Chronicle) (Graphics Creator: glory2glory graphiX)

10/20/2025

It was 48 years ago that a deadly air disaster took the lives of three band members of southern rock and roll band LYNYRD SKYNYRD. The plane crash kïlled frontman Ronnie Van Zant; guitarist and vocalist Steve Gaines; Steve's older sister and back-up singer, Cassie Gaines; assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick; pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.

On October 20, 1977, the legendary rock band’s leased aircraft went down near the Mississippi/Louisiana state line en route to a performance at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Convair CV-240 aircraft had taken off at approx. 5:00 p.m. from Greenville, South Carolina, on the 600-mile trip to Louisiana’s State Capital city. The plane’s right engine sputtered throughout the flight, but after flying over McComb, Mississippi, its engine died completely. Despite having refueled in Greenville, the pilot and co-pilot shockingly discovered the airplane was dangerously low on fuel.

According to the NTSB’s accident report, at approx. 6:42 p.m. pilot Walter McCreary radioed traffic control in Houston, Texas, and told the controller the band’s aircraft needed to get to the closest available airport immediately. McCreary was given headings to McComb-Pike County Airport, but was by now almost 20 miles behind them. Before the pilots could maneuver the plane around and begin to return to McComb, Mississippi, the aircraft’s left engine also stalled.

This disastrous chain of events caused the aircraft’s steering mechanism to fail, which initiated a free-fall from an attitude of about 4,500 feet. A forced landing was then made in a heavily wooded area a few hundred yards south of State Highway 568. The plane came to rest approx. one quarter mile east of the Tickfaw River about five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi, in Amite County.

Strangely, only a few days earlier the band's sound technician, Ken Peden, reported seeing 10 foot orange flames shooting out from the rear of the starboard engine on this same airplane during their flight from Miami to Greenville. After the crash the sound tech told reporters that several members of the band had voted to stop flying on the 30-year-old airplane after the LSU concert that was scheduled for that Friday night.

On the afternoon of October 20th, several of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s bandmates were nervous as they were getting ready to board the chartered plane at Greenville’s Downtown Airport. Back-up vocalist Cassie Gaines told others on the tour she was going to ride in the equipment truck to their next show in Baton Rouge, but finally agreed to reluctantly get on board the three-decade-old Convair for just one more trip.

In 1988 Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper that frontman Ronnie Van Zant remained almost eerily calm before the fateful flight took off, telling some of the hesitant passengers, “Hey, if the Lord wants you to die on this plane, when it’s your time, it’s your time.“

Rossington reported the last thing Van Zant told the band members and road crew before they all boarded the prop plane, “Let’s go, man. We’ve got a gig to do.” But it was less than three hours later the twin-engine aircraft dropped from the dark sky into an isolated swamp in southwest Mississippi. Twenty survivors — band members Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Leon Wilkeson, Artimus Pyle, Billy Powell and backup singer Leslie Hawkins, several roadies, a cameraman, and other flight crew members — lived but were seriously injured.

Here is an excerpt from a November 1977 “Rolling Stone” interview with crash survivor Billy Powell:

"We had decided the night before that we would definitely get rid of the plane in Baton Rouge. So we started partying to celebrate the last flight on it. The right engine started sputtering, and I went up to the cockpit. The pilot said they were just transferring fuel from one wing to another—everything’s okay. Later, the engine went dead. Artimus (Pyle) and I ran to the cockpit. The pilot was in shock. He said, ‘Oh my God, strap in.’"

Powell continued: "Ronnie (Van Zant) had been asleep on the floor and Artimus got him up and he was really p****d. We strapped in and a minute later we crashed. The pilot said he was trying for a field, but I didn’t see one. The trees kept getting closer, they kept getting bigger. Then there was a sound like someone hitting the outside of the plane with hundreds of baseball bats. I crashed into a table… people were hit by flying objects all over the plane. Ronnie was kílled with a single head injury. The top of the plane was ripped open.”

“Artimus crawled out the top and said there was a swamp… maybe alligators. I kicked my way out and felt for my hands… they were still there. I felt for my nose and it wasn't… it was on the side of my face. There was just silence. Artimus… with his ribs sticking out… and Ken Peden and I ran to get help,” Powell recounted.

The aircraft had actually skipped and skidded across the tree tops for about 100 yards, then smashed into a swampy area, twisting the cockpit to the left. When the plane split open down the middle of the fuselage, the impact threw several of Skynyrd’s entourage to the ground, spilling the plane's contents throughout the mangrove located on a timber company’s acreage.

Johnny Mote, a 22-year-old dairy farmer and factory worker who lived near the crash site, told reporters that the plane "sounded like a car skidding in gravel" as it clipped the trees. "When it hit the ground it was a deep rumble, like it was underground… it sounded like wrinkling metal," he said.

Mote recalled that he was putting out some hay when three bloody crash survivors, who had made their way through the woods, called to him for help. "One of them was hugging me around the neck and telling me, 'We got to get them out.'"

The thick undergrowth of the swamp hampered rescue operations, and several emergency vehicles became stuck in the thick Mississippi mud when they tried to drive through the woods to get closer to the aircraft. Rescue crews were also hindered by a 20-foot wide, waist deep creek that had to be crossed first to reach the plane.

Everyone on board who didn't die on impact was injured and taken to one of the nearby hospitals. Identification of the victims was made more complicated by the fact that several of the passengers were apparently playing poker before the plane crashed, and had taken their wallets out of their pockets — with their IDs inside — and laid them on the card table.

According to the official accident report from the National Transportation Safety Board, the probable cause of the crash was "fuel exhaustion and a total loss of power on both engines due to the crew’s inattention of fuel supply. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion was inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in a higher than normal fuel consumption."

After several years of recovering from the tragic event, some of the crash survivors felt the time was right for another go at the entertainment business. Billy Powell was the first of the band’s members to return to music, playing on an album released by rock band .38 Special, and also working on several other projects.

In 1987, keyboardist Powell and bass player Leon Wilkeson formed a contemporary Christian band they named Vision. That same year, several of the other surviving band members formed a new version of Lynyrd Skynyrd, which has now performed together for almost 40 years, although there are no original members. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: The Convair CV-240 crash site (credit: AP file photo); (inset) Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977 — (from left to right) Leon Wilkeson, Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle, Steve Gaines and Billy Powell (credit: MCA Records) (Graphics Creator: glory2glory graphiX)

10/14/2025

Happy 79th birthday to JUSTIN HAYWARD of THE MOODY BLUES. Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, on October 14, 1946, the English singer-songwriter and guitarist answered a newspaper ad in 1966 to audition for a vocalist and guitarist position in the group. Within a few days he was contacted by band member Mike Pinder, and Justin was hired to replace their departing frontman Denny Laine.

Hayward began his career by singing the old blues-inspired repertoire of the early Moodies. But the band soon released their new album, Days of Future Passed, which is one of the first and most influential symphonic rock albums to fuse rock with classical music. Justin wrote the album's hit singles "Tuesday Afternoon" and the massive, chart-topping record "Nights in White Satin," which sold over two million copies and appeared on the Billboard charts multiple times in 1967, 1972 and 1979.

Becoming the band's most prolific songwriter during their 1967 to 1974 period, Hayward also composed such memorable songs as "The Story in Your Eyes," "Question," "The Voice" and "Your Wildest Dreams." In all, he wrote 20 of The Moody Blues’ 27 post-1967 top 40 singles.

Along with early Moody Blues band members Denny Laine, Graeme Edge, John Lodge, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas — Hayward was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Sir Justin was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2022 during Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honors for his services to music.

The Moody Blues have sold more than 70 million albums worldwide and have been awarded 18 Platinum and Gold record awards. Hayward continues to play concerts in the fall of 2025 on “The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward’s Blue World Tour.” He has dates coming up in Europe and the United Kingdom with stops in the Netherlands, Belgium, Cardiff, Truro, Bournemouth, Basingstoke, London, Brighton, Birmingham and other cities in the U.K. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: The Moody Blues in 1970 — (l-r) Justin Hayward, Graeme Edge, Ray Thomas, Mike Pinder and John Lodge (credit: Marc Sharratt/Shutterstock); (inset) cover art of Hayward’s 2016 compilation album “All the Way” (credit: justinhayward . com) (Graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

10/11/2025

According to People© magazine, actress DIANE KEATON has díed. She was 79.

“PEOPLE can confirm the legendary actress died in California. Further details are not available at this time, and her loved ones have asked for privacy, according to a family spokesperson.

Keaton rose to fame in the 1970s thanks to her role in The Godfather films and her collaborations with director Woody Allen. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for 1977’s Annie Hall. Her long career included movies like The First Wives Club, multiple collaborations with director Nancy Meyers and the Book Club franchise.

The actress was born in Los Angeles in 1946 as Diane Hall, and was the oldest of four children. Her father was a civil engineer, while her mom stayed at home.

Still, Keaton thought her mother dreamed of something bigger. "Secretly in her heart of hearts she probably wanted to be an entertainer of some kind," the actress told PEOPLE in 2004. "She sang. She played the piano. She was beautiful. She was my advocate.”

Keaton performed in plays in high school, and after graduating in 1964, she pursued drama in college. But she soon dropped out and moved to New York to try to make her way in theater. She took her mother’s maiden name, Keaton, for her professional name, because there was already a Diane Hall registered with Actors' Equity.

In 1968, Keaton was cast in Broadway’s Hair as the understudy for Sheila. In 2017, Keaton told PEOPLE that she struggled with bulimia during this time after the director of the show told her she needed to lose weight, though she didn’t blame him for her illness. “Believe me, it had to do with an overabundant need for more. Too much. It was a mental illness,” she said.

“I became a master at hiding. Hiding any evidence — how do you make sure no one knows? You live a lifestyle that is very strange. You’re living a lie,” she explained about her illness. She eventually recovered thanks to therapy, but said bulimia also robbed her of the ability to enjoy her time on Broadway.

Next, Keaton starred in Allen’s Broadway show Play It Again, Sam, which premiered in 1969. She received a Tony nomination for the role.

Her film debut was in 1970’s Lovers and Other Strangers, but her big break came when Francis Ford Coppola cast her as Kay Adams, the girlfriend of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in The Godfather, released in 1972. The movie was based on the novel by Mario Puzo but Keaton didn’t read the bestseller before her audition and didn’t really know what the film was about.

"I think the kindest thing that someone's ever done for me ... is that I got cast to be in The Godfather and I didn't even read it. I didn't know a single thing," she told PEOPLE in 2022. "I just was going around auditioning. I think that was amazing for me. And then I had to kind of read the book."

The film was a massive success and won Best Picture at the Oscars. Keaton reprised her role in 1974’s The Godfather Part II, which was also a triumph and won Best Picture. She returned for 1990’s The Godfather Part III, the last film.

Keaton also continued to collaborate with Allen, appearing in the film version of Play It Again, Sam, released in 1972, 1973’s Sleeper and 1975’s Love and Death. Despite her early success, Keaton’s insecurities still plagued her, and she would never watch her own films. "I just don't like the way I look and sound," she told PEOPLE in 1975.

In 1977, Keaton starred in Allen’s Annie Hall as the title character. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for the role. Annie’s wardrobe mimicked Keaton’s own, full of menswear, vests, and structured trousers, and the film cemented the actress’s place as a style icon. Many speculated that the movie was based on Keaton and Allen’s relationship. She told The New York Times in 1977, “It's not true, but there are elements of truth in it.”

Keaton’s other film roles included 1977’s Looking for Mr. Goodbar, 1981’s Reds, 1982’s Shoot the Moon and 1984’s The Little Drummer Girl. She worked with Meyers for the first time on 1987’s Baby Boom. They would reunite three more times: in 1991’s Father of the Bride, 1995’s Father of the Bride Part II and 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give, which garnered another Oscar nom for Keaton. Asked which of these projects she loved the most, Keaton told Vulture in 2020, “Honestly, you can think it’s sappy, but I love the Father of the Bride movies. They were so touching.”

Keaton starred with Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler in 1996’s The First Wives Club, about three women whose husbands had left them for younger women. The comedy famously ended with all three singing Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.” Keaton told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that she was “always kind of anxious and a little worried” while filming it because Hawn and Midler were “really amazing actresses.”

Later roles for Keaton included The Family Stone, Because I Said So, Finding Dory, Book Club (and its sequel) and Poms. She made a rare TV appearance with a starring role in HBO’s 2016 miniseries The Young Pope. Keaton also worked as a director, helming the 1987 documentary Heaven, 2000’s Hanging Up and an episode of Twin Peaks. She also was a prolific Instagram user, posting updates on her life, reflections on her career and friendships and praising those she loved.

Looking back on her career, Keaton told PEOPLE in 2019, "I don't know anything, and I haven't learned. Getting older hasn't made me wiser. Without acting I would have been a misfit."

Keaton never married. “Today I was thinking, I'm the only one in my generation of actresses who has been a single woman all her life,” she explained to PEOPLE in 2019. “I'm really glad I didn't get married. I'm an oddball. I remember in high school, this guy came up to me and said, ‘One day you're going to make a good wife.’ And I thought, ‘I don't want to be a wife. No.’” She was romantically linked to Allen, Pacino and Warren Beatty throughout her life.

Keaton had two children, daughter Dexter and son Duke, whom she adopted in 1996 and 2001, respectively. "Motherhood was not an urge I couldn't resist, it was more like a thought I'd been thinking for a very long time. So I plunged in,” she told Ladies' Home Journal in 2008.

Keaton is survived by her children.”

(by Victoria Edel, Nicholas Rice and Julie Jordan)

-Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Diane Keaton (center) with Jack Nicholson (left) and Warren Beatty in “Reds” (1981) (credit: Paramount Studios); (inset) Diane Keaton at the premiere of STX's "Poms" in 2019 (credit: Rachel Luna/Getty Images) (graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

10/10/2025

Legendary English musician JOHN LODGE of THE MOODY BLUES has díed. He was 82. Lodge was the bass guitarist, a vocalist and one of the main songwriters with the legendary progressive rock band. John’s family confirmed his dėath in a statement today, saying he “has been suddenly and unexpectedly taken from us.” The former Moody Blues singer and bassist suffered a stroke in 2023 but had recovered and returned to writing new music and touring last year.

When The Moody Blues’ original bass player left the band in the mid-1960s, Lodge became one of their vocalists and the bassist during the same time that vocalist and guitarist Justin Hayward replaced original frontman Denny Laine. The innovative group fused rock with classical music on their landmark 1967 album “Days of Future Passed.” John's distinctive falsetto voice was heard as a featured, co-lead or on harmonies on all but one of the group’s 16 studio albums and on over a dozen of the Moody’s top 40 hits.

John was a prolific songwriter, and composed such signature Moody Blues classics as "Ride My See-Saw," "Isn't Life Strange,” "I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)” and "Gemini Dream." Also a talented musician, “Bass Player” magazine’s readers once voted him as one of their top ten bassists of all time. The Moody Blues sold more than 70 million albums worldwide, and were awarded 18 Platinum and Gold records. Lodge and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

The rock and roll singer was married to his wife, Kirsten, for over 50 years, who were living in Surrey county in southeast England. The couple were parents of two adult children. In several interviews, John Lodge spoke about being an Evangelical Christian, and credited his religious beliefs for keeping him from “sinking into the more dangerous elements of the rock music business.”

Born on July 20, 1943, the Birmingham, England, native released his own live version of the iconic Moody Blues album “Days of Future Passed” in 2023 (the project was only available on CD as a special Fan Club release, and was sold at Lodge's concerts and through his website.) With his 10,000 Light Years Band, he toured this past summer on his “The Moody Blues’ John Lodge Performs Days of Future Passed” tour, and performed the classic album in its entirety along with a selection of some of the Moody’s hit songs. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

(Thanks to my old friend Neil Shaw for informing me of John Lodge’s passing.)

Pictured: The Moody Blues in 1972 — (left to right) Mike Pinder, Justin Hayward, Ray Thomas, Graeme Edge and John Lodge (credit: Chipster PR); (inset) Lodge publicity photo (ca. 2022) (credit: Chipster PR) (Graphics Creator: glory2glory graphix)

10/06/2025

Happy birthday to singer-songwriter STEVE MILLER. The 82-year-old guitarist began his career playing blues music but evolved to a more top 40 radio singles sound in the mid-1970s.

Born on October 5, 1943, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he formed the Steve Miller Blues Band in 1966, and backed up legendary rock and roller Chuck Berry on his "Live at Fillmore Auditorium" album released the following year.

After shortening their name to The Steve Miller Band, the group released seven studio albums with four that reached the top 40 on the Billboard 200 albums chart although all of these LPs failed to yield a major hit single.

During this period, Miller established several different fictional characters on songs as the "Gangster of Love" (from the album, "Sailor"), the "Space Cowboy" (from the "Brave New World" LP), and "Maurice" (from his "Recall the Beginning… A Journey from Eden" project). Miller referred to all of these "personas" in his first big radio hit, "The Joker".

His 1973 album, "The Joker,” marked the start of the second phase of Steve Miller's career where his work was less blues or hard-rock oriented but simpler in composition. This combination live and studio album received significant radio airplay, which helped the title track single to shoot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Miller’s next studio release was 1976’s "Fly Like an Eagle,” following up the next year with his "Book of Dreams" album. These two projects represented the peak of Miller's commercial success, with both LPs reaching the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart and spawning a series of more hit singles for the band including "Rockin’ Me," "Take the Money and Run," "Jet Airliner" and "Jungle Love."

The band’s biggest selling project, “Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits 1974-1978," sold over 13 million LPs, 8-tracks and cassettes. In 1987, Miller received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the Capitol Records Tower on 1750 Vine Street in L.A. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016.

Steve Miller was honored with the Les Paul Spirit Award by the Les Paul Foundation at the Gibson Garage in Nashville in June 2025. The prestigious award recognized Miller for his innovation, musicianship, and exemplifying the spirit of the late Les Paul. The award has a special significance for Miller, since Les Paul was his godfather and a close family friend.

The renowned guitarist is returning to New York City in fall 2025 to the Jazz at Lincoln Center event on November 14th and 15th at 7:30 p.m. each night. The concerts will celebrate legendary musicians saxophonist Eddie Harris and drummer Chico Hamilton, as Steve Miller brings his blues-rock guitar style accompanied by an all-star band, along with the Louisiana Cajun music of Lil’ Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: The Steve Miller Band in 1968 – Lonnie Turner, Tim Davis, Steve Miller, Jim Peterman and Boz Scaggs (credit: Capitol Records); (inset) Miller in June 2025 accepting the Les Paul Spirit Award (credit: the Gibson Foundation) (graphics creator: glory2glory graphiX)

09/16/2025

THE MONKEES songwriter BOBBY HART has díed at his Los Angeles home after breaking his hip almost a year ago and going through a time of “poor health.” He was 86. Hart co-wrote several songs with his writing partner Tommy Boyce for Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith of the 1960s pop band The Monkees.

The band members also starred in an NBC television series from 1966 to 1968 about the antics of four friends in a rock and roll band. Born Robert Luke Harshman in Phoenix, Arizona, he helped write the ”(Theme from) The Monkees,” the opening credits song for the TV show, as well as was a co-writer on the group’s No. 1 hits “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Valleri,” the top 10 single “Words” and the top 20 song ”(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone.”

Hart and Tommy Boyce also co-produced the chart-topping and 10x Platinum albums “The Monkees” (1966) and ”More of The Monkees” (1967).

At the same time they were writing and producing for The Monkees, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart enjoyed a successful recording career. Boyce & Hart released three albums on A&M Records, and scored a No. 8 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968 with “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite?,” which sold over one million copies, and was issued a Gold record award.

Hart and his musical partner also wrote the theme song for the daytime NBC TV drama “Days of Our Lives.” The soap opera began airing in 1965, and after 60 years still runs on the NBC streaming service Peacock.

During their professional partnership, Boyce & Hart wrote more than 300 songs, and placed nine singles on the charts with sales of over 42 million records. Also Bobby and Tommy appeared together on the television shows “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Flying Nun,” and wrote songs for several Columbia Pictures films including “Winter a-Go-Go” (1965), “Murderers' Row” (1966), “The Ambushers” (1967), “Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows” (1968) and “Three's a Crowd” (1969).

Tommy Boyce díed by suícíde in 1994 when he was 55-years-old after suffering a brain aneurysm and clinical depression that followed. Bobby Hart published an autobiography in 2015 called “Psychedelic Bubble Gum: Boyce & Hart, The Monkees, and Turning Mayhem into Miracles” (SelectBooks). - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Bobby Hart with his songwriting partner and two members of The Monkees in 1975 (l-r) Micky Dolenz, Tommy Boyce, Hart and Davy Jones (credit: Andre Csillag/Shutterstock); (inset) Hart at an autobiography book signing in Brooklyn, New York, in 2015 (credit: Glenn Ballantyne via AP)

09/06/2025

MARK VOLMAN, a founding member of ‘60s pop band THE TURTLES, has died. He was 78. Volman sang harmonies with musical partner Howard Kaylan on their No. 1 hit song “Happy Together” and the top 10 singles “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “She’d Rather Be with Me” and “Elenore.”

Volman died today (Fri., Sept. 5, 2025) in Nashville after revealing a couple of years ago that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. Volman and Kaylan founded the annual “Happy Together” pop oldies concert tour in 1984, and Mark continued to perform each year up to the last show for the summer of 2025 on August 31st. in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Volman was a founding member, vocalist, and songwriter of The Turtles alongside his stage partner Howard Kaylan. After the band folded, Mark and Howard joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, changing their names to the pseudonyms of "Flo" (Volman) and “Eddie” (Kaylan).

Mark and Howard started The Turtles in 1965 with the band selling over 60 million records worldwide, and earning six top 10 hit singles with “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “Elenore,” “You Baby,” “She’s My Girl,” “You Showed Me,” and the chart-topping single “Happy Together.” At the height of their popularity, co-frontman Volman reportedly insured his distinctive frizzy hair for $100,000 “against fire, theft or loss due to illness.”

As the decade of the 1970s began and The Turtles’ success faded, Volman and Kaylan discovered in the terms of their record label contract they were forbidden to use the band’s name—or even their own names—if they wanted to perform outside of the group.

Mark and Howard were forced to use the stage names Flo & Eddie after they were recruited for the satirical rock band Mothers of Invention (they joined in time to appear on the soundtrack of Frank Zappa's humorous pseudo-documentary film “200 Motels”.)

After leaving Zappa’s band, Flo & Eddie wrote songs and provided voices for several animated films including “The Care Bears Movie” and “Strawberry Shortcake,” and also worked in radio broadcasting.

At the age of 45, Volman went back to school at Loyola Marymount University to study for his Bachelor's degree. In 1997, he graduated Magna cm Laude with a B.A. in Communication and Fine Arts, and was the class Valedictorian speaker. During his speech, he led his fellow graduates in a chorus of his band’s biggest hit, "Happy Together."

The kinky-haired tambourine player and backing vocalist of The Turtles eventually earned a Master's degree in Fine Arts from Loyola Marymount. Volman was hired to teach Music Business and Industry courses in the Communications department at the university, and also taught courses in the Commercial Music program at Los Angeles Valley College.

A few years later, Mark Volman became an associate professor and coordinator of Entertainment Industry Studies at Christian college Belmont University in Nashville. He also conducted music industry seminars around the country at various academic institutions and schools.

Volman and Kaylan were the founders of the annual “Happy Together” concert series that featured various ‘60s and ‘70s Oldies acts, and criss-crossed the US every summer (except during the pandemic years.) The summer of 2025 leg of the tour kicked off on May 29th in Melbourne, Florida, with the lineup of Mark Volman and Ron Dante (substituting for the retired Howard Kaylan) performing the hits of The Turtles, Jay & The Americans, Little Anthony (of Little Anthony & the Imperials), Gary Puckett (of Gary Puckett & the Union Gap), The Vogues and The Cowsills.

Volman was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, but was given a clean bill of health after undergoing treatment. For many years, the Los Angeles native conducted seminars as an Artist in Residence at the Church of God college Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. In addition, he offered Music Business and Entertainment consulting through his website “Ask Professor Flo.”

Mark Volman and his wife, Emily, were both active members of Harpeth Presbyterian Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, where they served as Youth Ministers. - Chuck Halley, Classic Music/TV/Film Blogger

Pictured: Mark Volman (second from left) and The Turtles - Howard Kaylan, Jim Pons, John Barbata and Al Nichol (ca. 1967) (credit: Alamy/Minnesota Public Radio); (inset) blogger Chuck Halley (sitting) with (l-r) Mark Volman (The Turtles), Gary Puckett (Gary Puckett & the Union Gap), Howard Kaylan (The Turtles) and Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere & the Raiders) at the "Happy Together” tour at the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2013.

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