Jan 31, 2016 6 min read

When the Grammy Awards Show presents its “In Memoriam” segment, it’s generally representative of an entire year of losses in the music industry.

This year, the segment could well be limited to January 2016.

While the passing of Natalie Cole, David Bowie and Glenn Frey were well-covered by the media, news of other artists’ deaths were relegated to quick notations or bypassed altogether. The following is a partial list of those we lost over 31 days in January.

Jimmy Bain, 68. The bassist for Rainbow, Wild Horses and Dio, Bain had just formed a new group called Last in Line. He also was a songwriter, having penned “Holy Diver” and “Rainbow in the Dark” for Dio.

Black, 53. Colin Vearncombe, professionally known as Black, died 16 days after being involved in a serious car accident in Ireland. He’s best known for the 1988 hit “Wonderful Life.”

David Bowie, 69. Known for his ever-changing theater-rock persona, Bowie’s hits included “Fame,” “Let’s Dance,” “Space Oddity” and a song that first broke in Western Pennsylvania, “Changes.” He also appeared in movies, such as “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “Labyrinth” and “Absolute Beginners,” and performed in Broadway’s “Elephant Man.”

Nicholas Caldwell, 71. He was an original member of the Whispers (“Rock Steady,” “And the Beat Goes On,”), an R&B group that formed in 1964, but did not have its biggest hits until the 1980s.

Otis Clay, 73. A 2013 Blues Hall of Fame inductee and rhythm and blues icon, Clay was perhaps best known for “Trying To Live My Life Without You” and gospel songs, such as “When the Gates Swing Open.” He performed often with Pittsburgh’s Billy Price.

Natalie Cole, 65. Cole technically died on Dec. 31, but her passing wasn’t released to the public until New Year’s Day. She was the winner of the 1975 Best New Artist Grammy, and among her many hits were “Pink Cadillac,” “I’ve Got Love on My Mind,” “This Will Be” and her studio duet with her father, “Unforgettable.”

Glenn Frey, 67. Co-founder of the Eagles, the singer-songwriter-musician had numerous hits in the ’70s and ’80s, including “Take It Easy,” “Life In the Fast Lane,” “One of These Nights” and “Hotel California,” and the second-best selling album of all time, “The Eagles Greatest Hits.” Frey later had several solo hits, including “The Heat Is On,” “The One You Love,” “You Belong to the City” and “Smuggler’s Blues.” He also was an actor, appearing on TV’s “Miami Vice,” “Wiseguy” and “Nash Bridges” and the movie “Jerry McGuire.”

Mic Gillette, 65. He played brass with Tower of Power (“You’re Still A Young Man,” “What Is Hip?” and “So Very Hard To Go”). He also was a member of Cold Blood and Sons of Champlin.

Dale Griffin, 67. Griffin was the drummer for Mott the Hoople (“All the Young Dudes”). He also was a producer for Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana.

Long John Hunter, 84. The Texas blues guitarist, singer and songwriter recorded seven albums. He was best known for the song “Alligators Around My Door.”

Pete Huttlinger, 54. The Nashville-based guitarist recorded and/or toured with John Oates, John Denver, Faith Hill, Jimmy Bufffett and LeAnne Rimes.

Kitty Kallen, 94. A big-band singer with Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James and Artie Shaw, Kallen later had solo hits with “Little Things Mean A Lot” and “My Coloring Book.”

Paul Kantner, 74. He was a founding member of Jefferson Airplane, an iconic psychedelic band of the ’60s and ’70s that had hits with “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit,” among others. Kantner and co-member Grace Slick later formed Jefferson Starship, which also scored multiple hit albums and singles.

Gary Loizzo, 70. He was lead singer of the American Breed (“Bend Me Shape Me,” “Step Out of Your Mind”) and producer of many Styx albums.

Rusty Paul, 74. Paul was the son of legendary guitarist Les Paul and a performer as well. He toured regularly with the Rusty Brown Band.

Clarence Reid, 76. He had hits with “Nobody But You Babe,” “Funky Party” and “Good Old Days,” but perhaps is best known as the composer of “Clean Up Woman” for Betty Wright and “Rockin’ Chair” for Gwen McRae.

Troy Shondell, 76. The pop-country singer is best known for 1961’s “This Time” (“We’re Really Breaking Up”) and earned a gold record recognizing 1,000,000 sales of the single.

Robert Stigwood, 81. He was longtime manager of the Bee Gees and creator/producer of the “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” films. He discovered Cream, later managed Eric Clapton and also was founder of RSO Records.

Craig Strickland, 29. Strickland was lead singer of the country band Backroad Anthem (“Torn”). He died while hunting over the holidays.

T.J. Tindall, 65. Tindall was considered an architect of ’70s soul music, playing on the O’Jays “Love Train,” among many others. He also was a member of Philadelphia International’s House Band – MFSB, which had the No. 1 instrumental hit, “TSOP” (also the theme song for TV’s “Soul Train”). Tindall later joined the Salsoul Orchestra, which scored with “Tangerine.”

At one time, radio was a reliable communicator for noting music industry passings. But with the increase in voice-tracking (with no “live” disc jockey in the studio), even deaths of major artists are ignored. It happened with Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston in the past, and was certainly noticeable with Glenn Frey’s passing.

Although music of the Eagles and Frey may have been on predetermined playlists on the night Frey’s death was reported, many rock, classic rock and oldies stations never mentioned that he had died. Sadly, that’s what occurs when the only light on at the radio station is one that says “autoplay.”