Jon sent me this link and remembered that I had done a fashion show with the great bass player Michael Rhodes, who died on Saturday. Although I hadn’t seen Rhodes since 1991 he came to mind immediately. I searched for images from the 1991 Yamamoto menswear shows in Paris or Tokyo – I think Michael was in both shows, as was I – and quickly found this image on somebody’s Yamamoto Pinterest.
Michael Rhodes, David Lindley, and Wayne Shorter gone, all in a week.
It’s hard to watch people, one by one, leaving this existence. I was broken up by the death of Doris Day, among many others. I always took comfort knowing she was still on the planet.
And I’ll never Forget the Day Elvis Presley died. I was working at MGM at that time, where I read VARIETY regularly. That day, Elvis’s picture was on the front page with a headline, Elvis Dead at 41. Gut punch! Everyone at MGM was so, so sad. He visited there once in a while. I was anticipating seeing him come in the office one day. Never happened. Most of the secretaries had met him, and he treated everyone with great charm.
One girl was absolutely in love with him – had a number of scarves (he had sweat on at performances) in boxes on pedestals at her apartment, and she had made huge rugs with Elvis’s image on them, hanging on her walls. She had accidently bumped into him in the hall one time. He hugged her and was very concerned that she was OK! She could never get over that. Jeeze!
In 1986, Daniel Balavoine, a french singer died. I was 11 years old. For me, he was a modern hero to me, a kind of saint in jeans and sneakers who travelled the African deserts to bring water to the people. I died in a sandstorm on a humanitarian mission. I was 35 ans. I cried a lot this January. Daniel is still in my heart today. For two years, I have been learning to sing. I was very proud to sing « Love Linda » my favorite Daniel song. For me, it’s the most beautiful love song. A declaration of love that I would like to hear !