Music World Loses Dick Clark and Levon Helm...Robin Gibb "Flickers"

Dick Clark

Levon Helm

Robin Gibb

I've spent the last several days checking regularly on the condition of BeeGee Robin Gibb. I'd heard he was  very ill, but he has now been in a coma and, like others worldwide, we're expecting the worst. The latest story on line is that he has shown some "flickers of life" that are slightly encouraging. That would be a wonderful thing. It's been a tough week for the music business.

First, Dick Clark, who, at 82 and 8 years after a serious stroke, finally left us. New Year's Eve will never be the same. Much has been said about Dick over the last few days. Face it--we loved the guy and he did a lot to legitimize and mainstream rock and roll through the years by giving it his blessing.

Then, we lost Levon Helm, of the Band, another man who has been battling health issues. In his case, it was cancer, and he fought it for more than a decade, finally succumbing at 71. My band, Red Paint, played The Weight in his memory last night. It's part of our repertoire, but had a special meaning for us this time.

So, the vigil for Robin continues. A few days ago, I shuffled all the BeeGees albums in my iPod and heard a mixture of performances by Robin and his brothers. I don't have any of the disco era material, though.

Whew.