Ray Sawyer, co-lead singer of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, dies at 81
Sawyer is at front of their titular "cover of the Rolling Stone"As a struggling musician, Sawyer initially decided to seek a more practical career in the late 1960s, but lost an eye in a car accident while pursuing work as a logger. As he put it, he "went back to the beans and music" and, with his eyepatch making him resemble a pirate, came up with his new gimmick: the band would now be known as Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show (Hook after the Peter Pan pirate, the doctor/medicine schtick from the various drugs the band reputedly took). Although the band still struggled (albums like
Bankrupt and
Belly Up! were regular in the era), the band secured the services of famed songwriter Shel Silverstein, who gave the group several hits such as "The Cover of the Rolling Stone."
In the late 1970s, the band, increasingly under the influence of the other co-lead singer Dennis Locorriere, broke through to consistent fame by moving toward a disco-influenced soft rock styling. Sawyer eventually left the band around 1980. Although Locorriere still owns the rights to the Dr. Hook name, he allowed Sawyer a license to continue touring under the name.
He eventually stopped performing in 2015, in part because of illness and in part because Locorriere decided there should only be one group using the Dr. Hook name.
Obituary from the New York PostWikipediaSorry...
