‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper (Roderick "Roddy" George Toombs)
(April 17, 1954 – July 30, 2015)

Canadian born Piper suffered a heart attack shortly before his death at
his home in California. He rose to fame in the 1980s as one of the biggest
stars of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) organization.

He took part in WrestleMania I back in 1985 and faced off against Hulk
Hogan and Mr. T, and after racking up 34 championships, he was inducted
into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

In late 1978-early 1979, local wrestler Buddy Rose talked Piper into leaving
the California for even more fame in Don Owen’s Pacific Northwest Territory
where he teamed with Killer Tim Brooks, Rick Martel, and Mike Popovich to
win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship. Piper also won the
NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship with victories over both
Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose.

Piper also moved into acting, landing starring roles in John Carpenter film
"They Live" in 1988 and in "Hell Comes to Frogtown."

Lynn Rene Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015)

(AP) – Lynn Anderson, whose strong, husky voice carried her to the top
of the charts with "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," has died.

A statement from the family said she passed away at Vanderbilt University
Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday. Her publicist said
the cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Anderson first soaked up the national spotlight as a young singer on "The
Lawrence Welk Show" between 1967 and 1969. Although she was signed
to an independent label, the exposure helped her nab a deal with Columbia
Records in Nashville.

Ed Donahue

 
Joanne "Jo" Rowling is 50 today.

The song  “I’ve Heard That Song Before” was recorded by Harry James and
his Orchestra with Helen Forrest on vocal on July 31, 1942. This was the last
day of recording before the Musician Union’s ban. The recording was issued
on Columbia and became a number one hit on both the pop and the Harlem
Hit Parade in the USA in early 1943. This version of the song can be heard
in Woody Allen’s 1986 movie Hannah and Her Sisters.