June 04 1990 was the date that I lost one of my Rock and Roll heroes. Born Steven John Bator in Ohio back on October 22, 1949, Stiv passed away on this day in June almost thirty years ago! Shit is it really that long? Bator was taken to a Paris hospital but reportedly left before seeing a doctor, after waiting several hours and assuming he was not injured after being hit by a car near his Paris home. Reports indicate that he died in his sleep as the result of a traumatic brain injury. Dave Tregunna said that Bators, a fan of rock legend Jim Morrison, had earlier requested that his ashes be spread over Morrison’s Paris grave and that his girlfriend complied but not after some friends of Stivs snorted some of the singers ashes it was later revealed in the movie about the singer (‘Stiv’) Which was released yesterday as it happens (pick it up Here) 

Stiv not only fronted the amazing punk rock legends The Dead Boys back in the mid-’70s but after he split he had a successful solo career releasing the amazing ‘Disconnected‘ album back in 1980 Batos then went on to front the punk supergroup the Wanderers who managed one very underrated album ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ along with Dave Parsons, Dave Tregunna and Ricky Goldstein but that was short lived and it wasn’t long before BAtors was onto his next project with help from Tregunna he formed another supergroup – The Lords Of The New Church  featuring Brian James of The Damned, Tregunna from Sham 69 and The Wanderers and Nicky Turner from The Baraccudas. The band released their first self entitled album in ’82 and arguably their finest work.  Over time it has to be considered a stone wall classic.

The Lords continued for the next half a dozen years and some before imploding onstage that fateful night at the Astoria when Stiv came onstage for the encores wearing the t-shirt of the advert that James and Tregunna had made to replace Stiv.  I was there that night and couldn’t believe what I’d seen but it was pre-internet and pre multi news updates so it wasn’t until I had it confirmed in Sounds that what I’d thought happened really did.  gutted to see one of my favourite bands bite the dust was an understatement, to say the least.

It was then that Stiv moved to Paris and embarked on his next phase and a solo record. The rest is history.  There were no reunions and Stiv passed in such tragic circumstances.  He has been the subject of the much-covered movie ‘Stiv’ and his Legacy is the records and concert footage and memories he has left with us all.  Stiv Bator Rest In Piece you were one of a kind and should be remembered as a legend. That certainly what RPM will look back and think when his name is mentioned.

Ronald Frederick “Ronnie” Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was  best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two English rock and roll bands: The Small Faces followed by The Faces.  With Small Faces, he was nicknamed “Plonk”. After their breakup, reorganisation and Lane’s losing the band’s frontman slot to Rod Stewart, he earned the nickname “Three-Piece”.

In the late 1970s, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was supported by charity projects and financial contributions from friends, former bandmates and fans. After suffering from the disease for 21 years, he died at 51.

born in Plaistow Maternity Hospital, to Elsie Lane and Stanley Lane, a truck driver. Lane later described his father as a “saint”, who would work a long work day, and then return home to nurse his wife and two sons, all of whom were diagnosed with M.S.  Doctors assured Lane as a child that the destructive disease was not necessarily inherited, although he found out later in his life that he had indeed inherited it.

After leaving school at the age of 16, Lane met Kenney Jones at a local pub, and they formed a group they named The Outcasts. Initially playing lead guitar, Lane quickly switched to bass. When shopping for a  bass, Lane visited a Bar (shock horror), where he met Steve Marriott, who was working there. Lane bought his bass and went to Marriott’s house after work, where Marriott introduced him to his record collection. Lane and Marriott set out to form a band, recruiting friends Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, who switched from guitar to organ. Marriott was chosen to be the frontman and singer.

The name “Small” was chosen as they were all under 5’5″ in height. They made their debut in 1965, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston in November 1965. Lane and Marriott began writing hit songs consistently, including “Itchycoo Park” and “All or Nothing”. At least a dozen successful songs credit Lane, and the 1968 concept album ‘Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake’ features songs co-written by Lane with one exception. The band imploded in 1969 as Marriott left the group.

In 1973 Ronnie Lane moved to Fishpool Farm in the village of Hyssington, Montgomeryshire, Wales, just over the border from England, off the Shrewsbury to Bishop’s Castle road. With Ronnie already beginning to feel the effects of MS, he moved back to London in the late 70s After leaving the Faces, Lane formed his own band, Slim Chance.

Lane emigrated to Texas, USA, in 1984 (first to Houston, then Austin), where the climate was more beneficial to his health and he continued playing, writing, and recording. He formed an American version of Slim Chance, which was, as always, a loose-knit conglomeration of available musicians. For much of the time, membership included Alejandro Escovedo. For close to a decade Lane enjoyed “rock royalty” status in the Austin area. He toured Japan but his health continued to decline. His last performance was in 1992 at a Ronnie Wood gig alongside Ian McLagan.

In 1994 Ronnie and his wife Susan moved to the small town of Trinidad, Colorado. Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood funded his medical care as no royalties from the Small Faces work was forthcoming – until Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan were eventually able to secure payments, by which time Steve Marriott had died in a house fire and Lane had also died.

Lane finally lost his life due to pneumonia, in the final stages of his progressive multiple sclerosis, on 4 June 1997 and was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Trinidad, Colorado.

A street was named after him, “Ronnie Lane”, in Manor Park in 2001and if you’ve got an hour spare check out this beautiful documentary on Ronnie.  Rest In Peace both – Legends