Rest In Peace Tom Terrell
Veteran D.J. and legendary music scenester Tom Terrell passed away Nov. 29, Bobby Hill, program director for WPFW says, and he will be greatly missed.
"He was a musical genius," Hill says. "He knew dates, he knew facts. Music was his love and he knew a lot about it."
Terrell, who hosted a program for WPFW before moving on to WHFS, was planning a return to WPFW when he succumbed to cancer last week. "We were making plans in that direction and he was very much looking forward to it," Hill says.
Hill last saw Terrell on July 29, when the 9:30 Club held a benefit in his honor. A press release circulated before the event described Terrell as "a close friend to and an early moving force for d.c. space and its non-profit off-shoot, District Curators Inc., as well as WPFW and the Nightclub 9:30."
According to the release, he was a graduate of Howard University, an accomplished D.J., a radio programmer, concert promoter, tour manager, photographer, and music journalist for a slew of publications that included the Washington City Paper.
"In Washington he’s known for pioneering radio 'Stolen Moments' (WPFW), 'Sunday Reggae Splashdown' and 'Cafe C’est What' (WHFS), and is currently the jazz reviewer for NPR’s 'All Things Considered,'" the release says.
"Tom's passion for music transcended boundaries and was, as Duke Ellington used to say, beyond categories," longtime friend and Birchmere promoter Michael Jaworek says. "He helped promulgate music wherever he encountered it."
Details about services to be held in Terrell's honor to follow.
6:58 am
Tom was an enthusiastic, fun guy. He also briefly dj'd at the University of Maryland's WMUC, was a tour manager for Steel Pulse and Thomas Mapfumo, and wrote liner notes for a recent Miles Davis box set.
Celebration Of Life For Tom Terrell"
Friday, December 7, 2007 "Wake" - 6:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
Stewart Funeral Home, Inc., 4001 Benning Road, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20019 (202) 399-3600
Saturday, December 8, 2007 "Celebration of Life"
9:00 A.M. Viewing 11:00 A.M. Funeral Service
Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel at Howard University
6th Street and Howard Place, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20059
(202) 806-7280
4:11 pm
I was always a fan of the Clone Ranger/Tom T. reggae sets on WHFS in the 80's, and had the good fortune of getting to know Tom better when he and I worked for years at the Record and Tape Exchange in College Park, Md. Tom was a preternaturally energetic, opinionated, intelligent man of distinctly broad musical tastes who turned me on to so much good stuff.
He was also a great spinner of tales : about everything from seeing brothers freaking the hell out at Betty Davis' first DC show at Howard U. (?), road stories of his globetrotting tours with Steel Pulse, hanging out with Marley and the Wailers during their awesome run of shows at the Apollo in NY...more besides.
For my part, I could always count on cracking Tom up at work with a character I made up, based on all the bottomfeeding music industry locals who'd skulk in to RTX to sell promo LP's. I called him 'Sammy Sleazeball'; Sammy talked like the sprog of Damon Runyan and Tony Soprano, and was forever trying to con Tom into working for him at his record co., offering outrageous sums of money and perks, never forgetting to include in his per diem 'an extra ten per cent for the tootski' (Tom never indulged in that sort of thing, of course, but this was the 80's). Seeing Tom crumple up with laughter over the record bins made all the crap that came with working in such a place (sorry Anton) almost worthwhile.
After that, our paths diverged, but even after moving to the Bay Area I'd on occasion spot his byline, and always be glad to read his thoughtful and articulate musings on music, culture, even mortality (a column he wrote for the GLOBAL RHYTHM ezine about the funeral of Shirley Horn, who I was surprised to discover was family, was an especially moving latterday TT gem).
Though I was never able to come back East for any of the amazing benefit shows done in his honor, after some detective work I tracked down his sister's phone number, and I seriously cherish the brief chat he and I had one afternoon a few months back...even in his condition at that time, he was still optimistic about the future, cheery, and as he had been from the first, encouraging of my own lit.-crit. career, such as it is.
Now Tom's gone, and I miss him terribly. And somewhere in his bling-encrusted high rise condo, even Sammy Sleazeball is shedding a few tears right now.