Richard Blue BLUE--Richard, September 18, 1946 - May 16,
2009. Beloved husband to Amanda and wonderful father to
Kathleen, Rich was a remarkable human being, loved by all. A
great contributor to the music world, Rich had early success
as a member of the Association (as Ted Bluechel Jr.) and
progressed to write many great songs. In later years he
entered the world of finance and joined the Corporate Bank
at Chase Manhattan, where he met Amanda. After their
marriage in 1981, they moved to Burlingame and established
their home. In the mid 1990s, Rich retired from the business
world and devoted himself to raising his daughter, Katie, a
role which he considered the greatest achievement of his
life. In 1998, Rich and his family moved to London, England,
where they spent ten interesting years before returning home
to Burlingame in 2008. He will be greatly missed by his wide
circle of friends and family.
>Paid obits, today's NY Times
>
>
>Richard Blue BLUE--Richard, September 18, 1946 - May 16,
>2009. Beloved husband to Amanda and wonderful father to
>Kathleen, Rich was a remarkable human being, loved by all. A
>great contributor to the music world, Rich had early success
>as a member of the Association (as Ted Bluechel Jr.) and
>progressed to write many great songs.
Most web searches show 1942 as the DOB for Ted Bluechel Jr. and links
to The Association inlcluding youtube. Both share the September 18
birth date though.
I find no conformation that Richard Blue == Ted Bluechel Jr. or links
of "Richard Blue" with the Association.
I'm not arguing that Richard Blue /= Ted Bluechel Jr. but I have a bit
of uncertainty even given the paid obit.
I was a pretty big Association listener but only quite briefly, for
maybe three weeks or so in 1970. Their writing and performing the
title song over the opening credits of my for-about-three-weeks fave
movie of "Goodbye, Columbus" pointed me toward them, and then they
(and The Baja Marimba Band) helped serve as my bridge from my steady
pop diet to my first serious listening to serious rock.
BUT...I can't even remember any Ted in The Association! What
instrument did he usually play, and did he sing lead on any songs?
Existentially,
BRYAN STYBLE/somewhere
It's an odd choice for a stage name, given his non-showbiz name.
--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."
I think he played the marimbas!
Ted Bluechel Jr was the band's drummer from its formation in 1965
until he left in 1984. All of the group members shared vocals,
one reason that details of who sang what leads are sketchy for
other than their biggest hits, but I have found him credited as
lead on "Songs in the Wind" and "Standing Still" and co-lead
(with Brian Cole) on "The Nest".
Someone at the Association Fanclub has written to me to say that Ted
Bluechel is alive and well. She's been "putting out fires all day."
Wonder who this guy was who told the world he was in the band.
There was no better song than Cherish, for the record.
Thanks. The name discrepancy (and the thoughts of others,
that no one would change their name FROM Richard Blue to
Ted Bluechel Jr) caught my hair on fire. And the age
discrepancy. Anyone who was an Association fan, knew
they weren't teenagers.
Who was he? Someone who apparently knew a lot of
gullible people.
Next, we'll hear that he was actually a Vietnam POW.
Kris
There was a man named Paul Van Valkenburgh who spent half his life
bragging he wrote Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini,
using the pen name of Paul Vance. When he died in 2006, the local
paper publicized it and it quickly became a minor national news story.
It also surprised the real Paul Vance who got to read his own obituary
and field countless phone calls from confused friends and relatives.
Retractions quickly followed.
.
------------------------------------
Thanks for that memory! .
For those who don't "get" the POW reference, here's our previously
most-recent poseur:
http://snurl.com/izfcw [groups_google_com]
Kris
"Never My Love" was my favourite of the Association.
- nilita