Passages

[Lemmy Caution]

Joe Melson, 91. Helped re-direct Roy Orbison from rockabilly to operatic pop singer. Along with the Big O, Melson co-wrote Only the Lonely (1960), Running Scared & Crying in '61, Blue Bayou and other songs. That's Melson contributing the dum dum dum, dumby-doo-wa on Only the Lonely. Wrote songs for many artists and had his ow small solo career.

[Aunt Peg]

English born Australian actor Terence Donovan, 90, star of the small & large screen: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-19/ ... /106933112

[beamish14]

William Wisher, co-writer of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Exorcist: The Beginning/Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, and The 13th Warrior

[okcmaxk]

Peter Lassally

Born in Germany, went to school with Anne Frank, survived two concentration camps and WWII proper (all before he was 18!). Ended up being the actual producer of Carson while De Cordova schmoozed, then did the same for Letterman/Ferguson. What a life.

[Buttery Jeb]

Kaylee Hottle, the young deaf actress who appeared in the last two Legendary Godzilla films.

[Gregory]

Saxophonist Plas Johnson, known for solo on The Pink Panther Theme, dies aged 94

My kids watched the Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection DVD set many, many times, and I was usually in the room or the next room, so I logged countless hours with that song, which was usually used as background music in those cartoons, but I never got sick of it.

[Roger Ryan]

Saxophonist Plas Johnson, known for solo on The Pink Panther Theme, dies aged 94

My kids watched the Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection DVD set many, many times, and I was usually in the room or the next room, so I logged countless hours with that song, which was usually used as background music in those cartoons, but I never got sick of it.

Not mentioned in the obituary notice is the fact that Plas Johnson was a notable LA session presence on pop and rock albums throughout the 60s and 70s; his woodwinds work is featured on half of the tracks off the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album including the single "Wouldn't It Be Nice".

[hearthesilence]

He's got a pretty humongous resume, which is probably given for a top session player. I scanned what's likely an incomplete list, but personal favorites include Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees, Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, three of Ella Fitzgerald's great "songbook" albums for Verve (the ones for Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer), Dr. John's Gris-Gris, Ry Cooder's Paradise and Lunch, and quite a few of Sam Cooke's latter day studio recordings (not the pop ones, the great soul/R&B ones).

Nothing against Pink Panther though, for whatever reason the Pink Panther cartoon was all that played on a cafeteria's TV monitor whenever I had my freshman year lunch breaks, and that became a ritual for maybe eight straight months: lunch watching the Pink Panther with a humongous pink lemonade to go with it. (Somehow I can't remember a single episode.)