We’ve lost a couple great music guys this past week. Tom McEntee was regarded as the founder of the Country Music Seminar, an event that has lasted 40 years and has become the backbone of the country radio community. Tom was also National Promotion Director of the now-defunct GRT Records Tom & Scott Tutt were the original guys that discovered super group Alabama. Tom fought leukemia a long time. He died last weekend at his sister’s home in Florida. I remember Tom as a writer in New York for Cash Box Magazine, then a leading music industry publication. This was long before he moved to Nashville. He was always fun to visit with. Also on that staff were Nashville restaurant (Tin Angel) owner Rick Bolsom and the late legendary record/music executive Neil Bogart. What a group!! Tom also was a Special Forces soldier in Vietnam............

Also passing away over the weekend was music executive Buzz Ledford
of an aneurism. Buzz was 60. We all loved Buzz. His last gig was handling the career of Ricky Van Shelton. While Buzz was National Promotion Director at Step One Records, he discovered blues diva Celinda Pink. I first met Buzz while he was booking rock and country groups into colleges and clubs in the Carolinas. He was one hot booking agent. Nobody loved the music industry more than Buzz Ledford. We’ll miss Tom & Buzz.

We’re happy to be listing a couple of R&B needs for ace producer Jet Penix. If you’re not into R&B music, don’t send songs…….please! We recently lost the listings of a soul producer in Memphis who got tired of listening to material from writers and publishers who didn’t have a clue about soul/black/R&B music. Please send producers only the music that you are good at. Don’t help close the doors on others who do know this specialized form of music. Thank you!!