Looking Back (Part 1)

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The new year starts tomorrow. It’s already started for some of you (let us know if we should run away from 2025 ). As usual, I’ll start by looking back. The month of January will remember 31 of the music individuals that we lost in 2024. While there were many “big names,” these are ones that particularly struck me. I’ve already mentioned who #1 will be (unless something happens before midnight tonight, which I hope doesn’t!!!). I’ve had to update the list twice in December, which is awful. Still, as I mention every month, music touches all of our lives in some way. You heard about the “big names,” but most of the people I’ll be highlighting didn’t make the year-end lists of a number of news organizations. And you know it’s tough when someone as magnificent a producer as Quincy Jones is relegated to the teaser! He died November 3 at the age of 91 after a career that featured his own music, the memorable “Quincy Jones Productions” that dotted TV and movie shows throughout the 60s (along with his music), and his long stint as a record producer. You probably know he produced Michael Jackson’s Thriller, but did you know that Jones also produced one of the songs I just used in my “Judy” countdown: “Judy’s Turn to Cry” by Lesley Gore? Here’s a song that Jones produced on the Brothers Johnson’s Look Out for #1 album, “Thunder Thumbs and Lightnin’ Licks.”