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Don
Kirshner
April
17, 1934 - January 17, 2011
The Passing
of a Legend
It
is with sorrow that I share the news that the world has lost a great music man and the creative genius responsible
for The Archies. Don Kirshner, the Man with the Golden Ear who was behind so many successful singers and composers
and hit records, passed away in Boca Raton, Florida, on January 17, 2011 at the age of 76. As an impresario, music publisher,
record producer and artist manager, Mr. K (as he was affectionately called) was a driving force in the business, and he helped
to launch the careers of several singers and groups, including Ron Dante and The Archies. Kirshner was the music supervisor
for The Archie Show on Saturday-morning television, and it was he who assembled the vocalists and musicians
to comprise the fictional Archies group. Ron Dante, who had first met and worked with Kirshner as a teenager in the
early 1960s, won the role of the singing voice of Archie and recorded more than a hundred tracks over the course of three
and a half years. Ron D and "Donnie" became lifelong friends, and it is understandably a difficult time for Ron as he
has had to say goodbye to his friend and mentor of such long standing.
Condolences to Don Kirshner's
wife of 50 years, Sheila, the couple's son and daughter, Ricky and Daryn, and their children, and all of Kirshner's
family and friends. Rest in peace, Mr. K, and thanks for the music.
Don Kirsher
(left) with Ron Dante and Toni Wine, c. 1963
Ron Dante (left)
with Don Kirshner, 2007
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