Dan Fogelberg, 1951-2007
Dan Fogelberg, the folk-pop titan of ’70s and ’80s adult-contemporary radio, died Sunday after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 56.
A few Fogel-facts:
1. Fogelberg launched legendary manager Irving Azoff’s career. In the early ’70s, Azoff was managing REO Speedwagon in Illinois when he heard Fogelberg playing at a frat party. Azoff decided he needed to take this folkie to Los Angeles and start working the guy. By the end of the decade, Azoff was managing Eagles and Steely Dan, and by 1983, he was running MCA. That’s right: with just the power of his (non) rocking, Dan Fogelberg set the tone of the music business for the next three decades.
2. Did more for flute than Zamfir, but not as much as Jethro Tull. In 1978, having recorded three albums but not yet going great guns, Fogelberg decided to record a duet album with flautist Tim Weisberg — this was at a time when left-field side projects with the appearance of financial disaster were not discouraged by the industry. The album was a big hit, and FogelWeisberg scored a huge mellow-rock single with “The Power of Gold.” Try something that crazy in 2007, and before you know it, Doug Morris will exile you to a permanent engagement at a Holiday Inn in Kuala Lumpur.
3. Mom and Dad loved them some Fogelberg. Young George fell asleep. Until Fogelberg landed his big hit “Longer,” the sleepiest song on radio was probably Judy Collins’ “Send in the Clowns,” with Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” running a close second. But “Longer” could send me into Snoozeland faster than either of those plodders when I was stuck in the back seat of Mom and Dad’s sedan, listening to Tulsa’s KRAV. Something about the flute, I think. And “Same Old Lang Syne” threw a serious wet blanket on New Year’s Eve. What was that guy doing in the frozen food section on New Year’s, anyway? Clearly, he was trolling for bad vibes.
At any rate, Staticblog’s condolences.
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