NEW YORK, May 6, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Southern California Condors middleweight Jeremy Williams, 27, of Laguna Niguel, Calif. The Orange County, Calif., Sheriff’s Department – Coroner Division confirmed that Williams died Saturday and that an autopsy will be performed to determine cause of death. “This is a very sad day for the Williams family, Jeremy’s teammates and all of the Mixed Martial Arts community,” IFL Co-founder and Commissioner Kurt Otto said. “Jeremy was a tremendous competitor and teammate, as well as being a very strong person who lifted the spirits of everyone around him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jeremy’s wife, Lauren, their young daughter and the rest of his family, as well as his coaches Marco Ruas and Debi Purcell and all his teammates. Everyone at the IFL, as well as the entire MMA community, will do everything we can to support them in their hour of need.”
Williams owned a professional record of 7-2 and was undefeated in his first two IFL fights, last competing at the Forum in Los Angeles on March 17, when he defeated the Tokyo Sabres’ Kazuhiro Hamanaka. One of the rising stars of the first-year league, Williams was going to miss the Condors’ next matchup at the Sears Centre in Chicago on May 19, due to a recent recurrence of a sternum injury.
Memorial details will be announced as they become available.
About the IFL
International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s first professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York, NY and offices in Las Vegas, NV. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you~!
You can also subscribe by going to meanfilipine.blogspot.com, scroll down the page and on the right side of the page you will see this bar: Enter your email address in the white bar, press the "Subscribe me!" button and you should begin receiving Strong Style Shimko articles and updates in you inbox.
Note: you may have to check your spam inbox for these updates and mark them and "not spam" in order to receive the emails in your regular email inbox.
-- The legendary Hawaiian crooner, best known for his song Tiny Bubbles died of heart failure Saturday morning at age 76. More info here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you~!
You can also subscribe by going to meanfilipine.blogspot.com, scroll down the page and on the right side of the page you will see this bar: Enter your email address in the white bar, press the "Subscribe me!" button and you should begin receiving Strong Style Shimko articles and updates in you inbox.
Note: you may have to check your spam inbox for these updates and mark them and "not spam" in order to receive the emails in your regular email inbox.
For those of you who have not heard the news, Darren McMillan, who wrestled as Dynamite D, passed away last night at about 8 PM from complications related to cancer.
D had a storied history in the So Cal wrestling scene and gained a measure of international stardom with his "Mr. 80's" Dynamite D persona in XPW.
Most recently D served as a coordinator for the pilot episode of Wrestling Society X. WSX co-creator/producer Kevin Kleinrock has credited D with being responsible for his career in wrestling and said that without Darren, XPW and therefore WSX would never have come to be.
The following is from SoCalUncensored.com : SCU has learned Darren McMillan, who wrestled in SoCal as Dynamite D passed away around 8:00 PM on April 11th. Dynamite D is best known for his time in XPW, however it had been wrestling locally since 1990. D was also responsible for training or helping to train countless SoCal wrestlers including Kaos, Damian Steele, and Ed Ferarra.
D also hosted a radio show that was responsible for helping to promote Southern California indy shows in the days prior to the explosion of the Internet.
More information will be posted as it becomes available. SCU wants to send our best wishes to all of Dynamite D's friends and family.
If you want to post your thoughts or condolences, you may do so here.
Dynamite D in SoCal (brief history Bio)
1989 - 1994 Host of popular radio talk show Wrestle Talk on Cable Radio Network - over 500 shows, including two live ringside broadcasts of WCW at the Great Western Forum. Prompted many to join the ranks of Pro Wrestling including but not limited to: Kriss Kloss, Mace the Ref, Beautiful Jack Studd & Joey Ryan.
1889-90 Trained in wrestling by: Verne Langdon, Sam Houston, Terry Funk & The Fabulous Moolah at Slammers Wrestling Gym.
1990-1996 Appeared in dozens of promotional pieces for Slammers for FNN, USA Network, Channel 7 Eyewitness News, Mc Donalds and many others.
1990-1996 Office Manager Slammers Wrestling Gym
1990-1996 Top Instructor for Slam U, Slammers University of Pro Wrestling. Trained over 50 superstars including: Hombre de Oro/Carlito Montana (who trained Angel and Messiah) Poncho Killa (Samoan Kid at Slammers) Johnny Webb ("Spider" Pete Malloy at Slammers) Homelss Jimmy (his cousin) Ed Ferarra (Beautiful Bruce Beaudine at Slammers) The Real Deal Damien Steele Jesus Zapata/Felony Mace the Ref (& wrestler) Superstorm/Beautiful Jack Studd and many others
1991-1996 Wrestler & Booker - Slammers Wrestling Federation (SWF)
1994 Cracked the PWI top 500 wrestlers
1991-1996 Producer on 15 SWF Videos (Co-Hosted 3 of them)
1997-1998 Southern California Championship Wrestling (SCCW) - Owner
1999 Helped develop and launch XPW. Served behind the scenes and wrestled
2000-2002 Instructor at XPW's Asylum
2001-2002 Created and wrestled as the Mr. 80's character tribute wrestler
2003 Worked as consultant for GSCW
2005 Worked as Agent & Booker for FCW
2006 Worked as a coordinator on MTV's WSX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you!
You can also subscribe by going to meanfilipine.blogspot.com, scroll down the page and on the right side of the page you will see this bar: Enter your email address in the white bar, press the "Subscribe me!" button and you should begin receiving Strong Style Shimko articles and updates in you inbox.
Note: you may have to check your spam inbox for these updates and mark them and "not spam" in order to receive the emails in your regular email inbox.
-- The body of 29-year-old MMA fighter Gilbert Aldana was found at Lake Pleasant. Aldana, out on a boating trip Sunday with friends and family, dove into the water to retrieve a shirt and never resurfaced. Roland Sarria, Aldana's trainer, told Sherdog.com:"He went out with his best friend and his family," Sarria said. "His wife, his friend's wife and the kids. It was a weird thing that happened, because it happened as they were entering the lake. They were going like five miles-per-hour and that's when it happened. So they never got a chance to even get out in the lake. It happened in the early stage.
"It was really a freak accident." . Aldana's last fights were in UFC 61 and Rage In The Cage 90. Our condolences to Aldana's family and friends. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you!
photo: World Wrestling Entertainment -- www.F4WOnline.com has reported former pro football player and WWE Hall of Famer Ernie Ladd has died. The News-Star out of Louisiana also has a report.
We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll. - Boston's website
photo credit: BenDeVries/The Daily Nonpareil, via Associated Press -- We are sad to report the death of Brad Delp who was the lead singer for veteran rock group Boston since the 1970's when the band formed. Delp was found on Friday in his Atkinson, N.H. home, foul play has been ruled out and an investigative report on his cause of death will be released on Monday. Born 1951 in Danvers, MA, Delp's love for the Beatles as a teen lead him to sing in bands and eventually met MIT student and future Boston leader Tom Scholz. Scholz recruited Delp along with other musicians recorded demo tapes which caught the attention of CBS Records and went on to record their 1976 self-titled debut album that sold 17 million copies ranking it the best selling debut in US history. In a Musician Magazine interview with Scholz in 1986 he said about Delp, “The nice thing about Brad was his incredible ability in the studio. He was a master at controlling his voice — he could do things over and over, changing one note and doing everything else the same. He’s a natural overdubber, he can perfectly match what’s on tape, he can sing harmonies with himself and keep dozens of parts in his mind.” Delp has a distinct voice that really fit the sound of Boston and provided a blueprint for future rock singers to refer to as how a perfect rock vocalist sounds. Between Scholz taking a long time writing material for a follow-up to 1978's Don't Look Back and further delay by a lawsuit filed by CBS, Delp went off to record albums with fellow Boston member Barry Goudreau and the group RTZ, Delp returned to the group in 1985 for Third Stage (the follow-up to Don't Look Back) and again left before returning in 1994 for the Walk On tour although he did not sing on that album. Delp remained with Boston up to their 2002 Corporate America album and tour. Boston was one of the first rock bands I ever heard thanks to my father and recently we were talking about hearing of a possible Boston tour and how we both hoped to see them live. Well looks like that's not happening, and if Scholz does decide to tour with a new singer it just won't be the same. We here at Strong Style Shimko send condelences to Delp's family and friends. (sources: [CBC News] Boston lead singer dies at 55; [NY Times] Brad Delp, 55, Lead Singer for Boston, Dies; Boston-Wikipedia entry)
-- Eddie Van Halen released a statement on Van Halen's website on Thursday: I would like Van Halen fans to know how much I truly appreciate each and every one of you. Without you there is no Van Halen.
I have always and will always feel a responsibility to give you my best. At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best. That’s why I have decided to enter a rehabilitation facility to work on myself, so that in the future I can deliver the 110% that I feel I owe you and want to give you.
Some of the issues surrounding the 2007 Van Halen tour are within my ability to change and some are not. As far as my rehab is concerned, it is within my ability to change and change for the better. I want you to know that is exactly what I’m doing, so that I may continue to give you the very best I am capable of.
I look forward to seeing you in the future better than ever and I thank you with all my heart.
Love,
Ed So Eddie's headed to rehab meaning this further delays any plans for a supposed reunion tour.
-- Track listing for Rush's upcoming Snakes & Arrows out on 5/1: 01. Far Cry 02. Armor and Sword 03. Workin’ Them Angels 04. The Larger Bowl 05. Spindrift 06. The Main Monkey Business 07. The Way The Wind Blows 08. Hope 09. Faithless 10. Bravest Face 11. Good News First 12. Malignant Narcissism 13. We Hold On
-- BX. 'SEX' TEACH FACES MUSIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you!
-- Tons of news from the last week, a week-in-review type of deal... -- 2007 gears up to be one for a few big reunions, from a one-off Rage Against The Machine reunion at this year's Coachella to bands like Smashing Pumpkins and the Eagles back in the studio recording new albums, to veterans like The Police and Van Halen with David Lee Roth heading out on the road for huge summer tours. * The Police announced last Tuesday that they would open the Grammys on 2/11, their first time onstage together since 2003 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Still no official word at press time on actual tour dates. * Van Halen's publicist confirmed last week that David Lee Roth will be touring with the group this summer, Wolfgang Van Halen will be playing bass replacing longtime member Michael Anthony. Yeah, you cross them VH brothers by touring with Sammy Hagar and you're BANISHED~! * Don Henley told a concert crowd last weekend in Las Vegas that the new Eagles album that's been worked on for almost four years will be out in 60 to 90 days, if we don't kill each other first as Henley put it. However Eagles and Henley spokesman Larry Solters wouldn't confirm or deny Henley's statement.
-- Other artists are planning upcoming treks on the road: * Guns N' Roses are playing their first ever African concert dates on 4/27 at the New Market Racecourse in Johannesburg to headline My Coke Fest 2007 and on 5/1 at the Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town. The group's Chinese Democracy is due out on Interscope on 3/6. * This year's Ozzfest will be FREE. You read that right. The 25-city tour, which begins in L.A. on 7/7, will be coasting by through sponsorship deals. "For the last few years, ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours," says tour creator Sharon Osbourne. "We certainly want everybody to make money; however, we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year." * Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd will be touring together this spring beginning 4/11 at the VBCC Arena in Huntsville, AL. Other cities on the itinerary include Tampa, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Nashville, Detroit, Minneapolis, New Orleans and Atlanta, tickets go on sale 2/10. * Bob Marley's sons Stephen, Ky-Mani, Damian and Julian will be holding a concert on 2/10 to commerorate their father's 62nd birthday at his birthplace of Nine Miles in St. Ann parish in Kingston, Jamaica. * Nora Jones begins a spring tour on 4/13 at the Chevy Theater in Wallingford, CT and concludes in Montreal at the St. Denis Theater on 5/12.
-- Rick Rubin may be headed to Columbia Records as co-chairman, but seeing that he moved his American label to Warner last year there's a chance Warner may block the deal as Rubin has three more years left on his agreement with the label.
-- iPod creator Apple Inc. and the Bealtes' Apple Corps Ltd settled an ongoing trademark dispute early this week that gave Apple the rights to the trademarks for "Apple" and the Apple logos with Apple licensing certain trademarks back to Apple Corps. This settlement can now pave the way for Apple to distribute The Beatles' catalogue in its iTunes store.
-- Once again the RIAA nazis are total assholes chasing people down and suing them for tons of money for downloading music illegally online. Well 16-year-old Robert Santangelo denied ever doing such a thing yet FIVE record companies are suing this kid and his sister. Santangelo accused the record companies forviolating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats as stated in papers from him and his lawyer Jordan Glass last Tuesday. Best of luck to this kid, I hope he fucks the RIAA hard.
-- Nine Inch Nails new album Year Zero comes out 4/17 with an accompanying site launched to reveal its tracklisting. So far two track titles are "The Beginning Of The End" and "God Given".
-- From CMJ.com: Clear Channel Communications Inc. will hold a shareholders' meeting on March 21 to vote on an $18.7 billion private buyout. After announcing its plans to sell close to 40 percent of its radio stations (and its 42 TV stations) in November, the media giant is now considering transferring its ownership to the family of L. Lowry Mays, who co-founded the company in 1972, and two private equity firms. The company’s board of directors, excluding the interested Mays family members and fellow co-founder B.J. McCombs, has unanimously agreed the proposition was fair to shareholders. The company is expecting opposition from shareholders who have watched its billboard and other non-broadcast holdings rise in value recently.
-- Spector Wins Settlment Against Ex-Assistant -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you!
-- Tons of pro wrestling and mixed martial arts news from the last few days... -- Doug Gentry, who was an important figure in starting up Ring Of Honor and RF Video with Rob Feinstein, passed away Friday morning at the age of 34. Gentry was recently diagnosed with a rare bacterial infection of the heart and was to have surgery to clear a clogged heart valve from the infection. He was hospitalized Thursday night after having trouble breathing with an pneumonia as well, Gentry then went into cardiac arrest at 3AM. Gentry became a major part of behind-the-scenes duties for ECW in its early years and also RF Video and Ring Of Honor. After ROH split from RF Video in 2004 Gentry continued to work with other independent wrestling promotions such as PWX and Pro Wrestling Elite. Condolences go out to Gentry's family and friends during this tragic time. For more on Gentry there are articles on PWInsider.com, SLAM! Wrestling, www.pwbts.com and thoughts from Eric Gargiulo.
-- I'm watching the Wrestling Society X premiere as I type this, here's an article about it. The show airs again on Tuesday at 10:30PM on MTV up against the last half-hour of ECW and features Matt Sydal vs Jack Evans and a TLC Battle Royal.
-- This weekend's the Royal Rumble PPV, Casey, Euan, Ric, myself and the gang will be previewing the show on Ric's site CanvasChronicle.com this weekend.
-- ROH at the Inman Sports Club in Edison, NJ on Saturday night: - ROH World Title (If Homicide is still champion): Homicide vs. Samoa Joe - I Quit Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave - Last Man Standing: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs - Six Man Tag Team Match: Austin Aries, Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. Delirious, Davey Richards & Shingo - Tag Team Challenge Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes - Three-Way Match: ROH World Tag Team Champion Christopher Daniels with Allison Danger vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney (if Hero wins the World Title on 1/26 he will defend it in this match) - Mixed Tag Team Match: Colt Cabana & Daizee Haze vs. Brent Albright & Lacey - Grudge Match: Adam Pearce vs. Pelle Primeau
-- Winter Heat 2007 MMA event this Saturday at the James H. Rainwater Convention Center in Valdosta, GA
-- World Best Fighter “Fearless One” Mixed Martial Arts and Sanda on Saturday 2/3 at the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City: Tank Abbott vs Ji Hoon Kim, Eric Tavares vs Okuda Masakatsu, Greg Soto vs Hyun Kyu Lim, Lee Gibson vs Jong Man Kim, (WBF North American Light Heavyweight Championship) Bryan Vetell vs Jon Murphy, (WBF North American Light Heavyweight Championship) Tim Boetch vs John Doyle
-- An MMA event scheduled for 2/17 at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in California has been canceled. According to Jay Perry of Perry's Athletic Training Center in Grass Valley who was promoting the event, his fighters were unable to meet new CSAC requirements for complete EKG tests and MRI brain scans on time for the event. Perry canceled an MMA event last month because of problems with his promtor's license.
-- A clipping from the Great Falls Tribune in Montana: Michael Hall's next women's self-defense class runs from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Feb. 3, at Gold's Gym. Thanks to support from the Great Falls Clinic, Dahlquist Realtors Jim and Annette Dea and Gold's Gym, the seminar is free. For more information, call 727-8888
-- Pillow fighters make their case -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you!
-- An article in the Calgary Sun about the next generation of the Hart Family in professional wrestling, including Harry Smith, Nattie Neidhart and TJ Wilson in WWE developemental and Teddy Hart who is wrestling on MTV's Wrestling Society X TV show.
-- Audio recap of Chris Nowinski on NPR's All Things Considered from this past week discussing his book Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis.
-- The New Haven Coliseum, which hosted many WWE live events, was imploded early this morning.
-- From Eric Gargiulo's website: The news is true and I regret to inform CZW fans that January's CZW broadcast was my last. Originally I was not even going to comment as I did not want to make a big deal out of it. I have decided to move on and I want to thank all of the fans, the wrestlers, and the entire crew for making the last 7 plus years some of the best. I may have had my ups and downs with some fans, but the emails and messages I have received over the last several hours have truly touched me. We (the fans and I) may not have always seen eye to eye on everything but anything I ever said or did was always with the best intentions for CZW. I wish CZW and the boys nothing but the best for the future.
-- CMLL (FRI) 01/19 Arena Mexico Results [ova, El Alburero de Box Y Lucha Forum] (www.thecubsfan.com/cmll) 1) Mini Olímpico, Último Dragoncito b Mini Damian 666, Mini Halloween 2) Dark Angel, India Sioux, Luna Magica b Amapola, Princesa Sujei, Rosa Negra 3) Averno, Ephesto, Mephisto b Felino, La Máscara, Sagrado 4) Blue Panther, Maximo, Negro Casas b Eclipse, Olímpico, Sangre Azteca 5) Atlantis, LA Park, Ultimo Guerrero DQ Dr. Wagner Jr., Shocker, Universo 2000
In the main event, LA Park faked a foul from Shocker and got the call for the win. Park worked oppisite Shocker most of the match, not Wagner despite his insertion into this match.
-- From www.puroresupower.com: (All Japan) Weekly Pro reports that Akebono & The Great Muta will work All Japan's 2/17 Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan event.
-- Maine-iac says fight will be a Natural disaster -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or referencing commentary from this site please include a link to meanfilipine.blogspot.com as opposed to "Strong Style Shimko", "From The Mean Filipine Blog" or derivatives. Thank you!
I found out at work today that Bam Bam Bigelow died, sad to see yet another pro wrestler from our generation pass away so soon, again in his forties like his contemporaries who've passed on as well. Bigelow was a big part of my wrestling watching as a kid, I was amazed at how agile a huge man could be. Rest in peace Scott, hope you're in a better place now. WWE's report is below...
WWE.com has learned that former WWE Superstar Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow has passed away in Florida.
Kevin Doll, the Public Information Director for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Bigelow was found dead early this morning in his home in Hudson, Fla.
"We can confirm that Scott Bigelow was found in his home this morning. At this time the cause of death is unknown," Doll told WWE.com.
Doll also confirmed that the Pasco-Pinellas Counties medical examiner has taken the body and an autopsy will be performed.
Bigelow, 45, worked for WWE, ECW and WCW extensively throughout his 20-year sports-entertainment career. A former ECW Champion, ECW Television Champion and WCW Tag Team Champion, he is perhaps best known for his rivalry with Lawrence Taylor that culminated in the main event of WrestleMania XI in 1995.
Stay tuned to WWE.com as more on Bigelow's passing becomes available.
By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer Sun Jan 14, 5:42 AM ET
NEW YORK - Michael Brecker, a versatile and influential tenor saxophonist who won 11 Grammys over a career that spanned more than three decades, died Saturday. He was 57.
Brecker died in a hospital in New York City of leukemia, according to his longtime friend and manager, Darryl Pitt.
In recent years, the saxophonist had struggled with myelodysplastic syndrome, a cancer in which the bone marrow stops producing enough healthy blood cells. The disease, known as MDS, often progresses to leukemia.
Throughout his career, Brecker recorded and performed with numerous jazz and pop music leaders, including Herbie Hancock, James Taylor, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell, according to his Web site. His most recently released recording, "Wide Angles," appeared on many top jazz lists and won two Grammys in 2004. His technique on the saxophone was widely emulated, and his style was much-studied in music schools throughout the world. Jazziz magazine recently called him "inarguably the most influential tenor stylist of the last 25 years," according to a press release from his family.
Though very sick, Brecker managed to record a final album, as yet untitled, that was completed just two weeks ago. Pitt said the musician was enthusiastic about the final work.
"In addition to the love of his family and friends, his work on this project helped keep him alive and will be another jewel in his legacy," Pitt said.
Brecker, who had a home in the New York City suburb of Hastings-on-Hudson, was born in 1949 in Philadelphia to a musically inclined family. His father would take his sons to performances of jazz legends such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington.
Brecker, who first studied clarinet and alto saxophone, decided to pursue the tenor saxophone in high school after being inspired by the work of John Coltrane, according to his Web site. He followed his brother, Randy, a trumpet player, to Indiana University, but he left after a year for New York.
In 1970, he helped found the jazz-rock group Dreams. He later joined his brother in pianist and composer Horace Silver's quintet. Michael and Randy also started the successful jazz-rock fusion group the Brecker Brothers. The two also owned the now-defunct downtown jazz club Seventh Avenue South.
His solo career began in 1987, when his self-titled debut was voted "Jazz Album of the Year" in both Down Beat and Jazziz magazines.
His struggle with the blood disease led him and his family to publicly encourage people to enroll in bone marrow donor programs. His own search for a donor led to an experimental blood stem cell transplant that "did not work as hoped," according to a May 2006 entry on his Web site.
Brecker's survivors include his wife, Susan; his children, Jessica and Sam; his brother, Randy; and his sister, Emily Brecker Greenberg. Memorial services are being planned.
Ramen noodles inventor and Nissin Food Products Co. founder Momofuku Ando has died in Osaka, Japan at age 96. Ando died of a heart attack Friday night, the Mainichi Daily News reported Saturday. The Taiwan native initially set up a trading company in Taipei before founding a wholesale company in Osaka in 1933. Later, he began developing instant noodles in a lab at his home, succeeding in 1958 with creation of the "Chicken Ramen." The instant noodle was a big hit and his company began marketing instant "Cup Noodles" in 1971, Mainichi said.
By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer 45 minutes ago
ATLANTA - James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
Copsidas said the cause of death was uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.
Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style. If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.
"James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. "To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close."
His hit singles include such classics as "Out of Sight," "(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Say It Loud .. I'm Black and I'm Proud," a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.
"I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," Brown said in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society."
He won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (best R&B recording) and for "Living In America" in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male.) He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
He triumphed despite an often unhappy personal life. Brown, who lived in Beech Island near the Georgia line, spent more than two years in a South Carolina prison for aggravated assault and failing to stop for a police officer. After his release on in 1991, Brown said he wanted to "try to straighten out" rock music.
From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, "Please, Please, Please" in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business" and often tried to prove it to his fans, said Jay Ross, his lawyer of 15 years.
Brown would routinely lose two or three pounds each time he performed and kept his furious concert schedule in his later years even as he fought prostate cancer, Ross said.
"He'd always give it his all to give his fans the type of show they expected," he said.
With his tight pants, shimmering feet, eye makeup and outrageous hair, Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.
In 1986, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And rap stars of recent years overwhelmingly have borrowed his lyrics with a digital technique called sampling.
Brown's work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers. "The music out there is only as good as my last record," Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
"Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I'm saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 percent of their music is me," he told the AP in 2003.
Born in poverty in Barnwell, S.C., in 1933, he was abandoned as a 4-year-old to the care of relatives and friends and grew up on the streets of Augusta, Ga., in an "ill-repute area," as he once called it. There he learned to wheel and deal.
"I wanted to be somebody," Brown said.
By the eighth grade in 1949, Brown had served 3 1/2 years in Alto Reform School near Toccoa, Ga., for breaking into cars.
While there, he met Bobby Byrd, whose family took Brown into their home. Byrd also took Brown into his group, the Gospel Starlighters. Soon they changed their name to the Famous Flames and their style to hard R&B.
In January 1956, King Records of Cincinnati signed the group, and four months later "Please, Please, Please" was in the R&B Top Ten.
Pete Allman, a radio personality in Las Vegas who had been friends with Brown for 15 years, credited Brown with jump-starting his career and motivating him personally and professionally.
"He was a very positive person. There was no question he was the hardest working man in show business," Allman said. "I remember Mr. Brown as someone who always motivated me, got me reading the Bible."
While most of Brown's life was glitz and glitter .. he was the singing preacher in 1980's "The Blues Brothers" .. he was plagued with charges of abusing drugs and alcohol and of hitting his third wife, Adrienne.
In September 1988, Brown, high on PCP and carrying a shotgun, entered an insurance seminar next to his Augusta office. Police said he asked seminar participants if they were using his private restroom.
Police chased Brown for a half-hour from Augusta into South Carolina and back to Georgia. The chase ended when police shot out the tires of his truck.
Brown received a six-year prison sentence. He spent 15 months in a South Carolina prison and 10 months in a work release program before being paroled in February 1991. In 2003, the South Carolina parole board granted him a pardon for his crimes in that state.
Soon after his release, Brown was on stage again with an audience that included millions of cable television viewers nationwide who watched the three-hour, pay-per-view concert at Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.
Adrienne Brown died in 1996 in Los Angeles at age 47. She took PCP and several prescription drugs while she had a bad heart and was weak from cosmetic surgery two days earlier, the coroner said.
More recently, he married his fourth wife, Tomi Raye Hynie, one of his backup singers. The couple had a son, James Jr.
Two years later, Brown spent a week in a private Columbia hospital, recovering from what his agent said was dependency on painkillers. Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, said the singer was exhausted from six years of road shows.
Brown was performing to the end, and giving back to his community.
Three days before his death, he joined volunteers at his annual toy giveaway in Augusta, and he planned to perform on New Year's Eve at B.B. King Blues Club in New York.
"He was dramatic to the end .. dying on Christmas Day," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a friend of Brown's since 1955. "Almost a dramatic, poetic moment. He'll be all over the news all over the world today. He would have it no other way."
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
I'm a graphic designer from Philadelphia, PA. I enjoy pro wrestling, mixed martial arts, boxing, racing, the arts, music, movies, various beer and alcohol. Contact me at here
