Rant 2,292: Hello Goodbye

Well, I made it back here, and didn't need to do what I thought I had to do.

That being said, yesterday ended up being a somewhat sad day, because we lost a group of people who had touched our lives in one way or the other during the past 40 years or so, and we lost them all in one single day.

The first person of some notoriety that we lost was "Mean Gene" Okerlund, perhaps the most famous professional wrestling announcer of them all.

With his personable demeanor and professional delivery, he, along with the long-departed Gordon Solie, were the top announcers of this sport/entertainment genre that is a world unto itself.

Okerlund, 76, was the announcer for the then WWF--which morphed into the WWE--when pro wrestling was still thought of as a sport, and he played along in this game with the top wrestlers of the day, including Jesse "The Body" Ventura--who allegedly game him his "Mean Gene" name--and, of course, Hulk Hogan, and he is almost as big a part of Hogan's legacy as the wrestler himself was.

Okerlund was the announcer during the era when rock and roll was melded with wrestling, bringing the WWF to an entirely new audience and expanding its reach, the first steps in making pro wrestling the global phenomenon it is today.

He, himself, was involved in numerous storylines, including one that I remember with ancient women's pro wrestler Mae Young which was one of the funniest things--wrestling or otherwise--that i have ever seen. The camera panned at a lonely door, and after a few seconds, Okerlund emerged, completely disheveled and looking like he had seen a ghost. After he exited, Young emerged, with a big smile on her face, walking with some authority and looking 20 years younger than she actually was. Taken out of context it might not have the same impact, but I am sure that when Okerlund read the script for this scene, he rolled his eyes but as a good employee, went along with the gag.

Daryl Dragon, the cap wearing member of the husband and wife duo of the Captain and Tennile, whose music projected marital peace and happiness but whose union was actually just the opposite of that, also passed away yesterday.

Dragon, 76, had a long history in music before teaming with his then-wife, appearing as one of the Beach Boys at one time.

In the mid-1970s, the duo had their hits, including the chart-topper, "Love Will Keep Us Together," which proved to be the re-emergence of the song's writer, Neil Sedaka, on the pop music scene.

Tennile did almost all the talking for the duo, while the Captain pretty much hid behind his piano, and with numerous hits in the tank, including "Muskrat Love," the husband and wife had a short-lived TV show, which accentuated the love they had between each other.

However, later on, years after their hitmaking period, Tennile came out with some terrible allegations on her husband, soon to be her ex, including various forms of abuse, abandonment, and other charges.

The couple eventually divorced.

Also dead at 76 was comedian Bob Einstein, who became a TV staple starting in the late 1960s through numerous roles, including "Super Dave" Osborne.

Einstein first came to the public's attention when he played the strained-voiced police officer on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," the notorious show that was canned by CBS for its anti-establishment leanings. On the show, he often was supposed to be the voice of reason explaining other cast members' faults, some of them leaning to the perception of drug usage.

He was also part of the writing staff of that show, a group that included Steve Martin, and he won Emmys for his writing and producing of that show and many others, including the various Sonny and Cher variety shows.

He went on to create the Osborne character, the bumbling character who thought he could do anything and really could do nothing, and Einstein starred in his own shows with the character at its centerpiece.

Most recently, he was on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and that unmistakable voice was heard on numerous commercials and TV specials.

As a footnote, his brother is Albert Einstein--Albert Brooks to the world--another very successful TV writer/producer/performer.

Probably the least known of the famous people whose death was announced yesterday was Roy Sawyer, the parrot-hatted, eye-patch suited leader of the popular band Dr. Hook. He was 81 years old.

From the early 1970s--as Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show--through the early 1980s, the very visual band was seemingly always on the Hot 100, with a number of huge hits that were borderline novelty songs, including "Sylvia's Mother" and "On the Cover of the Rolling Stone."

Being such a visual act, they moved into the MTV era with a bang, with "Sexy Eyes" being their biggest hit from that time period.

But because of his state persona, Sawyer, who died at age 81 on December 28, actually WAS Dr. Hook, and that look propelled the band to a long-lasting career, one of the few acts of the time to do well on both AM Top 40 and the fledgling FM rock frequency.

I think that is it.

Although none of these people were huge superstars, all of them touched the golden ring at least a few times, and they will be remembered by the various mediums that they starred in, whether it be video, recordings, or a combination of the two.

They will all be missed.